“MEETING OF CIVILIZATIONS” IN HATAY
Turkish Press
Sept 26 2005
PRESS REVIEW
SABAH
The southern city of Hatay with its ethnically and religiously
diverse population is now hosting the “First Meeting of
Civilizations.” Addressing a speech yesterday at the opening of
the five-day gathering, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
that people from different faiths, languages and races should live
together in peace in the world. Present at the meeting are scholars,
leaders of Turkey’s Greek Orthodox, Jewish and Armenian communities,
and ambassadors from 45 countries. /Sabah/

CONTROVERSIAL ARMENIAN CONFERENCE HELD IN ISTANBUL
Turkish Press
Sept 26 2005
PRESS REVIEW
TURKIYE
A controversial conference on Armenians in the late Ottoman era which
was once postponed and then later suspended was held at Istanbul’s
Bilgi University over the weekend. The two-day conference was carried
out under tight security amidst protests. Scholars speaking at the
gathering underlined that through the conference, Turkey had broken
taboos on the subject. /Turkiye/

BAYKAL: “THE ARMENIAN CONFERENCE WASN’T SCHOLARLY”
Turkish Press
Sept 26 2005
PRESS REVIEW
STAR
Appearing on television over the weekend, opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said that he didn’t believe
that the controversial Armenian conference had been organized with
good will or with the intent to explore the truth. “This is not a
scholarly conference,” he said. However, Baykal stated that blocking
the conference would not have been appropriate. /Star/

OSCE, PACE SHOULD COOPERATE IN GARABAGH CONFLICT RESOLUTION – RUSSIAN CO-CHAIR
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 26 2005
The OSCE Minsk Group mediating settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan
Upper Garabagh conflict and the special committee of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) may cooperate on a number
of issues, the MG Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov said.
He was commenting on the hearings on the Garabagh conflict held in
Paris within the PACE committee last week.
“The OSCE MG co-chairs are mediating the talks and presenting
proposals, while PACE may contribute to mobilizing public opinion in
the two countries to achieve the compromise needed for the conflict
resolution. It may also be actively involved in ensuring implementation
of commitments that the sides assumed upon admission to the Council
of Europe, with a pivotal obligation being the peaceful settlement
of the Garabagh conflict.”
Merzlyakov stated that CE and PACE may take up ‘control over
every ceasefire violation and influence the sides to honor their
commitments’.
“The belligerent statements that sound every now then and calls for
settling the conflict with the use of force certainly do not promote
conflict resolution…We are ready to share our credentials with PACE
to ensure such statements are not made any longer.”
Merzlyakov said the mediators are concerned over the growing military
budgets of Azerbaijan and Armenia, which ‘may affect the process of
implementing their commitments on the peace conflict settlement’.

TURKEY EMBARRASSED BY COURT RULING
Financial Mirror, Cyprus

Sept 26 2005
Just over one week before it was due to start EU accession negotiations
on October 3, Turkey found itself embarrassed on Friday after a court
in Istanbul banned a conference to discuss the Armenian genocide 90
years ago that was due to be held at two universities, saying that
it needed more information about the qualifications of the speakers
and who was paying for the conference.
In the end, the conference went ahead, with heavy police protection,
at a third university, but embarrassed a government that has been
trying to prove its European credentials.
Suggesting that there was systematic genocide of Armenians by the
Turkish military in the first world war, rather than deaths caused
by partisan conflict, can still land people in deep trouble.
Novelist Orhan Pamuk faces a jail sentence if he is found guilty of
“denigrating Turkish identity” by supporting genocide claims.
But under pressure from the EU, the government has given the go ahead
for a debate among historians, rather than politicians.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the court verdict had “nothing
to do with democracy”, Reuters reported, while Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul said “There is no one better than us when it comes to
harming ourselves.”

IRAN TO BUILD 170M POWER PLANT IN ARMENIA
Mehr News Agency, Iran
Sept 26 2005
TEHRAN, Sept. 26 (MNA) – Mohsen Shaterzadeh, an official of MAPNA
International Company, said on Monday that Iran would construct
a combined cycle power plant in Armenia at an overall cost of 170
million euros within the next three years.
Initially, several gas units will be added to the current steam
units. The Harazdan Power Plant was constructed by Russia nine years
ago with 80 percent physical progress. However, it remained incomplete
due to the internal situation of Russia after the collapse of the
USSR and separation of Armenian, he stated.
Shaterzadeh added that in his recent visit to Iran, the Armenian
energy minister held negotiations with the managing director of
MAPNA Co. as well as the Iranian energy minister of the time, and
called for completing Harazdan by the Iranian company. Finally, the
cooperation agreement was signed between MAPNA and the Armenian part,
he further said.
According to the agreement, the Iranian expertise team was dispatched
to Armenia last winter for conducting the primary estimations; they
set the figure at 9 million euro for completing the fifth unit of
Harazdan Steam Power Plant, he explained.
He also maintained, “The production capacity of Harazdan power plant
is 325 MW and the whole equipment were provided by Russia.” MAPNA
has allocated credit facility of nearly $2 million to the Armenian
part to conduct the primary studies.
The construction project of the combined cycle power plant comprises
three phases, he said. “In the first phase, the standing steam power
plant is to be completed by 2007 based on the projections made. Since
the majority of the equipment has been provided by Russia, we held
discussions with an Armenia-based Russian engineering company whose
experts will soon pay a visit to Iran to finalize the cooperation
agreement.” Therefore, the steam power plant will be jointly completed
by the Iranian and Russian engineers, he added.
In the second phase of the project, a gas power plant will be set up
by the Iranian engineers and the local Armenian workers. In this phase,
the Iranian equipment will be used, he noted.
He added, “In the third phase of the construction, the Iranian and
Russian engineers will have a joint cooperation.”
According to Shaterzadeh, Armenia has held negotiations with the
Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to receive a loan and the bank has
given a positive go-ahead on approving it.

BAGHDAD PATRIARCH WARNS AGAINST IRAQI CONSTITUTION
ChristianToday, UK
Sept 26 2005
Iraqi bishops have warned that the draft constitution “opens the door
widely to passing laws that are unjust towards non-Muslims”.
Catholic bishops in Iraq are growing increasingly fearful that the
draft Iraqi constitution “opens the door widely” to discrimination
against Christians and other non-Muslims, the patriarch of Baghdad
for the Chaldeans has told Iraqi officials.
The Prime Minister of Iraq, Patriarch Emmanuel III Dely, pushed for a
last-minute change to the constitution in a meeting with the president
after bishops argued that the constitution contradicts itself on the
issue of religious rights for minorities.
According to Internation Christian Concern, President Jalal Talabani
and Dely discussed a recent statement by the country’s 12 bishops,
including prelates from the Chaldean, Armenian, Latin and Assyrian
Churhces, in which they voiced fears for the future of the Christian
community in Iraq.
In the statement, the bishops praised Articles 2.1(b) and 2.2 which
provided for freedom and religious rights but denounced Article 2.1(a)
which states: “No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed
rules of Islam.”
The bishops concluded in the statement: “The bishops’ conference
expressed a grave concern and fear…about Article 2.1(a). This opens
the door widely to passing laws that are unjust towards non-Muslims.
The conference insists that this clause be amended or deleted.”
On the release of the statement to the international charity Aid
to the Church in Need, Auxiliary Bishop Andreas Abouna of Baghdad
stressed that the problem was not the propagation of Islam as the
majority-religion: “We are definitely not against the fact that in
Iraq Islam is the religion of the state.
“We know that the majority in Iraq is Muslim but the problem is that
the constitution is not clear. There are parts of the constitution
that are good but what about the other parts? For example, would
Christian women have to wear the veil?”
The bishops remain fearful that the “vague” constitution will fail
to protect Christians if the Iraqi government becomes less tolerant.
A referendum will be held on the constitution on 15 October.

CONFERENCE ON ARMENIANS CONCLUDES
NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Sept 26 2005
A conference discussing Armenians in the declining years of the
Ottoman Empire found there was strong evidence that massacres and
widespread deportations had been carried out, but stopped short of
describing the acts as genocide.
Guncelleme: 04:29 ET 26 Eylul 2005 PazartesiISTANBUL – Turkey could
not be held responsible for the actions of a state that no longer
existed, Professor Oran said.
The conference, dealing with what has been described as the last taboo
in Turkey, concluded in Istanbul Sunday, despite delegates having to
run the gauntlet of nationalist protestors throwing eggs and tomatoes
at them as they entered the conference hall at Bilgi University.
The conference was staged even though on Friday an Istanbul court
had imposed a ban on its being held. After the ruling by the court,
deans of many of Turkey’s universities said they would opposed the
decision, saying it threatened the autonomy of their institutions.
Addressing the conference on Sunday Professor Baskin Oran of Ankara
University’s Political Sciences Department said that the event had
broken down the last taboo in Turkey. “Concept of class, criticisms
of Ataturk, Cyprus, socialism, communism and Kurdistan are no more
taboos in Turkey,” he said. “There was only one taboo left, and it
was Armenian issue. Now, it is no more a taboo.”
According to Associate Professor Taner Akcam, the leaders of the Party
of Union and Progress had decided to remove those non Turkish-ethnic
groups not of Turkish in the part of the Ottoman Empire that is
now Turkey.
“The Ittihat and Terakki Party (Party of Union & Progress) had a plan
to purify whole Anatolia of the non-Turks, starting from the Aegean
Region, before the World War I, and this plan was carried out in entire
Anatolia during the years of the war,” Taner told the conference.
“Ottoman documents indicate that the decision to relocate the Armenians
was made to end a deeper problem defined as the ‘eastern problem’
and to end the dissolution process of the Ottoman Empire.
This decision was not a result of a need that erupted during the war.
There are many documents in hand with respect to the destruction
of Armenians.”
However, Dr Ahmet Kuyas of Galatasaray University said that the policy
of relocation, decided upon by four of the leading figures in the
Ittihat and Terakki Party, had had a darker side, with a series of
massacres also taking place. Those responsible for these acts were
the Minister of War Enver Pasa, Talat Pasa, Dr Bahattin Sakir and Dr
Nazim, he said.
A surprise speaker in the conference was Cevdet Aykan, formerly a
minister from the long defunct right wing Justice Party (AP), who
spoke on the Armenian community in the Tokat region in eastern Turkey,
which he had covered in his published memoirs. According to Aykan,
out of Tokat’s population of 28,000 in the early years of the 20th
century, 8,800 were Armenian. He said that in the census of 1924 the
Armenian population was down to about 700.
“It was not a good thing,” he said “Thousands of Armenians lost their
houses, country, homeland and some cases their lives,” he said. Aykan
said he had chosen to take part in the conference to repay debt
of conscience. The events of 1915 were interpreted differently by
different parliaments and that Turkey should not see the civilised
world and those that run it as enemies, he said.
Another delegate at the two day conference, Professor Dr Ilhan
Cuhadaroglu, said that he felt a feeling of mourning at the conference
that almost moved him to tears.
“I feel like asking was I in Bulgaria or Greece,” he said.

LIONS, CHEETAHS ON THE PROWL
Mumbai Newsline, India
Sept 26 2005
Express News Service
Mumbai, September 25: There are whispered apprehensions that rugby in
India may go the soccer way – with foreign players shaping the outcomes
of the first round matches in a big way, at the 72nd Hutch all-India
and South Asia tournament, currently underway at Priyadarshini Park.
The grumbling turns into a convenient excuse, if the team in question
has lost its opening encounter.
The irony is that all teams, save the cops and armymen who fought
valiantly before going down to the UK-based British Asian Rugby
Association (BARA), have included players with some degree of
experience abroad and the general consensus is that their presence
can only improve the standards of Indian rugby, as long as the trend
is tempered and number restricted to four.
Meanwhile, holders Chennai Cheetahs, had an indifferent first half,
sluggish by their standards (leading 21-0), against Delhi Hurricanes
as they kicked off their title defence.
Led by their Armenian duo of Emil Vartazarian and Henrik Trechonian,
the Cheetahs did go full blast after the changeover. Second-half
introduction Kiwi Brad Cari spurred them on with his twin-tries as
they finished with a convincing 62-0 margin against the minnows.
BARA – the Cheetah’s potential roadblocks to the finals, were
tested initially by Indian Army ‘A’, but were loaded with too much
muscle-power to trouble their opponents on way to a 37-0 win.
Delhi Lions won the third match of the day 34-18 against Kolkata
Police.
Results Chennai Cheetahs 62 (Emil Vartazarian 1 try, 6 conversions,
Antony Rehutai, Suresh Kulathuagan, Moorthy Vinayaka, Conrade Gomes,
Manmandir Samra (1 try each), Henrik Trechonian and Brad Cari 2 tries
each) bt Delhi Hurricanes 0 (HT 21-0). Delhi Lions 34 (Saminder Davas
3 tries, Davinder Lauchab 1 try, Aadesh Kumar 1 try, Rajesh Kumar 1
try, Happy Lauchab 2 conversions) bt Kolkatta Police 18 (Ajit Rehman,
Subroto Das, Subrotoik Pramanik (1 try each), Pintu Das 1 penalty
conversion) (HT 17-3). BARA 37 (Phill Khan 2 tries, Rashid Mehmood 2
tries, Manny Rehmaul, Zenad Malik (1 try each), Paul Akaday 1 try &
1 Conversion) bt Army ‘A’ 0. (H T – 15-0).

JUSTICE MINISTER ATTENDS ARMENIAN EMBASSY RECEPTION
WAM – Emirates News Agency, United Arab Emirates
Sept 25 2005
Abu Dhabi, 25 Sept. 05 (WAM) – Mohammed bin Nakhira Al Dhahiri,
Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Awqaf attended here today a
reception hosted by Arshak Poladian, Armenian Ambassador, to celebrate
his country’s national day anniversary.
The reception was also attended by Abdullah Al Masoud, Speaker of
the National Consultative Council, Obeid Salim Al Zaabi, Director of
Protocol at the Foreign Ministry and heads of the Arab and foreign
missions accredited in the UAE.
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