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10/05/2005
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1) US Plays Key Role in Resolving Deadlock in Turkey-EU Talks
2) Campaign Kicks-off for November 27 Referendum on Constitutional Reforms
3) Uruguay Armenians Stage Protest against Turkey's Accession to EU
4) Opposition, Police Clashes Jar Azerbaijan Election Campaign
5) Armenia Receives $4 Million to Combat HIV/AIDS
1) US Plays Key Role in Resolving Deadlock in Turkey-EU Talks
ANKARA (AFP)--US lobbying was instrumental in breaking a deadlock that
threatened, until the last minute, the start of Turkey's membership talks with
the European Union.
The talks opened early Tuesday in Luxembourg when the 25 EU foreign
ministers,
after more than 20 hours of wrangling, overcame Austria's insistence to
include
in the negotiating guidelines an offer to Turkey of `privileged partnership'
instead of full membership.
Another sticking point--less in the limelight but just as vital for Turkey
--was a demand that Ankara refrain from vetoing attempts by EU member
states to
join other international bodies.
The Turkish government interpreted this as a possible means of forcing it to
agree to an eventual bid by EU-member Cyprus, which it does not recognize, to
join NATO.
That is where US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stepped in `to underline
Washington's interest in support for Turkey as they begin their accession
talks
with the EU,' as State Department spokesman Sean McCormack deftly put it.
As EU foreign ministers struggled to broker a deal in Luxembourg, Rice called
Austrian leaders and asked them to drop their objections to Turkey.
She then called Turkish leaders to hear their complaints, and then persuaded
Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos to soften his stance, paving the way for
Turkey to clinch a deal with the EU.
`We think that decisions about NATO membership should be left to NATO
members,' US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington on
Monday, without going into details of Rice's calls.
The intervention was much appreciated by Turkey, a predominantly Muslim but
strictly secular state Washington praises as a role model of co-existence
between Islam and democracy.
`We are very content' with the US support, foreign ministry spokesman Namik
Tan told reporters here Wednesday.
`They backed this project because of the importance they place on the
expansion of the space where common values, such as democracy, rule of law,
and
market economy, prevail,' he said.
The United States attracted storms of criticism from EU leaders in the past
for meddling in the bloc's internal affairs by actively lobbying on behalf of
Turkey.
When US President George W. Bush said during a visit to Ankara last year that
Turkey `ought to be given a date' for EU entry, French President Jacques
Chirac
angrily retorted that the US leader had gone too far.
But both Turkish and US diplomats say the picture was different this time.
`They [the US] did not mean to twist the EU's arm but to help them understand
the global repercussions of their decision,' said Turkish diplomat, who did
not
wish to be named.
`The US displayed a very strategic vision... If the talks had collapsed, the
idea of an alliance between civilizations would have suffered; there would
have
been a great frustration in the East,' he said.
An Ankara-based foreign diplomat said Rice's mediation should not be seen as
`an attempt by the US to insert itself in EU decision-making.'
`The US was not a leader in the negotiations, it only saw an opportunity to
play a supportive role' to help Turkey's EU bid, the diplomat, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, told AFP.
Turkey's Vatan newspaper, meanwhile, linked the lack of any European
criticism
of Rice's mediation this time to improved EU-US ties, strained because of
French and German opposition to the war in Iraq.
`Nowadays, the US acts together with Paris and Berlin on sensitive issues
such
as Iran and Syria,' the daily said.
But it warned that seeing Washington's support as a `kiss of life' for
membership talks would be an `exaggeration.'
`The real battle in Europe was essentially waged by Turkish diplomats and
politicians,' it said, `...and the first to say thank you abroad are, rather
than
Bush and his team, the left-wing and Green parties and the intellectuals of
Europe.'
2) Campaign Kicks-off for November 27 Referendum on Constitutional Reforms
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)Official campaigning for a referendum on proposed
constitutional reforms kicked-off in Armenia on October 4, after President
Robert Kocharian signed a law establishing the nationwide vote would take
place
on November 27.
If passed, the amendments would create a strict separation of powers between
the judicial, executive, and legislative branches, and pass greater powers
from
the president to parliament and the prime minister, They would also remove the
President from the Council of Justice, a body that plays a key role in
appointing judges, and would eliminate a clause outlawing dual citizenship for
diaspora Armenians.
Besides the Council of Europe, the amendments have been publicly endorsed by
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as the US and
Great Britian.
To pass, the amendments must be backed by at least one third of Armenia's 2.4
million eligible voters, and would enter into force two years from the
referendum.
3) Uruguay Armenians Stage Protest against Turkey's Accession to EU
YEREVAN (Yerkir)--Members of Uruguay's Armenian community demonstrated outside
the European Union (EU) mission in Montevideo, to protest the start of
membership talks with Turkey, and to demand the latter recognize its genocide
of Armenians before being granted membership into the Union.
Ethnic Armenian member of the Uruguay Parliament Lilian Keshishian,
accompanied by another member of parliament Iván Posadas joined the October 3
protest, organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's `Armenia' Youth
Union.
Protesters held posters reading `Historic truth cannot be hidden,' `Turkey,
admit to your crime--the Armenian Genocide,' and `No to Turkey's accession to
EU unless Armenian Genocide recognition.'
A delegation handed an EU representative a petition signed by 30,000 people,
demanding the EU deny Turkey membership, unless the country recognizes the
Armenian genocide.
4) Opposition, Police Clashes Jar Azerbaijan Election Campaign
(Eurasianet.org)--With just five weeks to go before Azerbaijan's parliamentary
elections, the chances for constructive dialogue between Azerbaijan's
opposition and the government seem to be fading.
On October 1, after a breakdown in talks between the authorities and
opposition leaders, about 700 protestors took to the streets of central
Baku to
call for a fair and transparent parliamentary vote on November 6.
Truncheon-wielding riot police moved in quickly to break up the protest, the
second such unauthorized gathering in a week.
Authorities have warned in recent weeks that they will use force to prevent
opposition groups from staging `provocations' against the government during
the
final weeks of the election campaign. The city government had refused to
sanction the October 1 rally in the city center, offering instead a site far
from the city center.
The opposition has presented the government's reaction to the October 1
gathering as a violation of their right to free assembly. `We will fight for
citizens' rights to assemble and to create a democratic pre-election
situation,' said Ali Kerimli, the leader of the opposition Popular Front. `The
government's illegal bans will not stop our battle.'
Police report that they detained 34 people during the October 1 rally,
although Kerimli claims as many as 200 were arrested. Riot police could be
seen
at times making free use of their truncheons to beat back protestors from the
planned demonstration site, and several participants were reported badly
injured
The October 1 protest followed an attempt by the opposition a week earlier to
hold an unauthorized demonstration in Jafar Jabbarli Square. The protest was
suspended after the Azadliq bloc, which includes the Popular Front Party of
Azerbaijan, Musavat Party and Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, agreed to resume
talks with government officials under the mediation of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s Baku office.
Fuad Mustafayev, deputy chairman of the Popular Front, said that the decision
to negotiate with the government was taken following an appeal to the bloc's
leadership from Ali Hasanov, head of the public-political department of the
presidential staff. Opposition leaders said talks took place after US
Ambassador Reno Harnish called President Ilham Aliyev's chief of staff, Ramiz
Mekhtiev.
Up to 100 supporters of the Azadliq bloc were reportedly detained during the
September 25 protest. They were released following the start of the
OSCE-mediated talks. Kerimli said that the negotiations focused on the
`guaranteeing of our constitutional right to hold a meeting in the center of
the city.' He said Azerbaijani law states that opposition political parties do
not need permission to hold rallies, but must only notify the authorities
ahead
of time. The government disagreed, but consented to holding to further
discussions on the issue, according to Kerimli.
However, government representatives failed to show for a September 29
round of
talks on potential venues for the October 1 rally. Maurizio Pavesi, head of
the
OSCE office in Baku, blamed the authorities for the breakdown in dialogue,
adding that Hasanov had `personally told me' that he would attend the OSCE
talks that day. `I am very surprised by the behavior of the government
representatives,' Pavesi told reporters on September 29.
`Frankly speaking, we had opportunities to find compromises. The failure of
the Baku executive authorities and the ruling New Azerbaijan Party to attend
the meeting shows that they have no will to continue a dialogue with the
opposition,' Pavesi went on to say.
The OSCE mission chief stated that while some of the routes proposed by the
opposition for a demonstration in central Baku were problematic, others could
have served as the topic of further discussion. An OSCE report issued
September
30 complained that Azerbaijani authorities were not acting on OSCE
recommendations for improving the election process.
The head of the presidential executive staff, Ramiz Mehdiyev has maintained
that the government sees no need for dialogue with the opposition. In a letter
forwarded to opposition leaders by the Baku mayor's office, Mehdiyev said that
the government had proposed five potential venues for a Baku demonstration.
`They may choose one out of the five and hold their rally. In my view,
everything is clear as for venues, and there is no need for extra conversation
there,' he stated.
Ali Hasanov, the presidential aide, seconded that view. He maintained that
the
opposition could stage demonstrations only in places assigned by the mayor's
office. `The number of such places is limited and we are not going to discuss
other routes', Hasanov said.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Azadliq bloc insist on holding rallies in the
center
of the city. `We were prepared for negotiations with authorities, but we will
not abandon the idea to hold a rally,' Kerimli said. The next demonstration
has
already been scheduled for October 8.
Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Zakir Garalov that authorities would act
swiftly and firmly to any illegal assembly, adding that the Azadliq bloc held
responsibility for keeping its supporters within the law. Hasanov, meanwhile,
urged the opposition to avoid confrontation with police, noting that strict
measures will be taken against `those breaking the law.'
Mediators appear to be losing hope that a dialogue between authorities and
opposition leaders can be resumed. `The OSCE will spare no efforts to arrange
meetings. We tried to eliminate the likelihood of the 25 September
confrontation in Baku once again,' said Pavesi, commenting on the failed talks
that preceded the October 1 protest. `Regrettably, we did not manage it and
the
government did not understand the problem.'
5) Armenia Receives $4 Million to Combat HIV/AIDS
YEREVAN (Armenpress)--The Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria (GFATM) has committed $4 million to support the National Program on
HIV/AIDS prevention in the Republic of Armenia for the next 3 years
The grant comes in the second of a two-phased, $ 7.2 million GFATM program.
The first grant of $3.2 million was successfully completed in September 2005,
with Armenia receiving a high score for implementation.
Established in January 2002, the Global Fund aims to rapidly disburse grants
to supplement existing spending on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria while maintaining sufficient oversight of financial
transactions and programs.
The Country Coordination Commission on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
issues in Armenia (CCM) overseas the implementation of the grant as the
coordinating commission for the National Program on HIV/AIDS activities in the
Republic of Armenia.
World Vision was nominated as the Principal Recipient (PR) of the grant in
2003 by the CCM and, in partnership with different bodies experienced in the
area of HIV/AIDS, works to support the implementation of the National Program
on HIV/AIDS prevention.
For the first time in Armenia PLWH gained access to the antiretroviral (ARV)
therapy thanks to the GFATM grant. Presently, 23 PLWH are receiving ARV
treatment, including 3 children.
Through partnership with the Ministry of Health, the National Center for AIDS
Prevention, Ministries, and local and international NGOs, Phase II will build
on the success from Phase I, and continue to implement prevention, care, and
support targeting the general population, with particular emphasis on the
youth, key groups, and PLWH.
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