EU-TURKEY: ANOTHER SLIGHT FOR ANKARA
AKI, Italy
Sept 28 2005
Strasbourg, 28 Sept. (AKI) – The European Union’s parliament has
approved a resolution in which it supports the start of membership
talks with Turkey but lays down a series of provisos. The parliament
says recognition as genocide of the killing of more than a million
Armenians in 1915 was “a prerequisite for accession”. Euro-MPs also
postponed a vote on extending Turkey’s customs agreement to the
ten newest member states, because of Ankara’s refusal to recognise
Cyprus. The parliament’s decisions do not affect the start of
entry talks on 3 October but are seen as a further sign of European
reluctance towards Turkey’s bid.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, described the
postponement of an important vote on the trade agreement as ‘an
own goal’.
The decision was motivated by Turkey’s recent declaration that
signing the protocol of the Ankara Agreement did not mean any form of
recognition of Cyprus, which became an EU member last May. Euro MPs
wanted assurances that this declaration would not be part of Turkey’s
parliamentary ratification of the protocol. Turkey also refuses to
admit naval vessels and airplanes from Cyprus.
Armenia and Armenians abroad accuse Turkey’s Ottoman rulers of carrying
out genocide when 1.5 million of their people died in 1915.
Turkey denies there was any systematic killing, saying the death toll
was much lower and that the deaths occurred during a civil war. Last
week a Turkish court cancelled a historians conference which was due
to have discussed the highly taboo subject.
More negotiations are scheduled for Thursday to resolve outstanding
issues in the framework for Turkey’s entry negotiations which
officially kick of on 3 October.
Austria has been seeking to push a “privileged partnership”, also
seen positively by the German centre-right leader Angela Merkel,
while Ankara insists nothing short of full membership will do.
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MEPS DEFY TURKEY ON EVE OF ENTRY TALKS
EUobserver.com, Belgium
Sept 28 2005
28.09.2005 – 17:44 CET | By Mark Beunderman EUOBSERVER/ BRUSSELS –
In a strong message of frustration with the Turkish stance on Cyprus,
the European Parliament on Wednesday postponed the ratification
of a key customs agreement with Ankara – dismaying the commission,
but not endangering the start of entry talks on 3 October.
Under EU law, the European Parliament has to formally ratify an
agreement on the extension of the customs agreement between the EU
and Turkey to all new member states – including Cyprus, which Ankara
does not recognise.
But the conservative EPP group in the parliament today (28 September)
successfully achieved suspension of ratification of the deal, with
311 against 285 MEPs voting to postpone the ratification.
EPP group leader Hans-Gert Pottering said ahead of the vote that there
had not been any “appropriate statement” by the Turkish government
on Ankara’s commitment to the customs agreement.
MEPs had demanded a public guarantee from Turkey that the Turkish
parliament, in its ratification process, would not at the same time
endorse Ankara’s unilateral declaration issued last June saying that
Turkey does not recognise Cyprus.
Formal ratification of the agreement by the European and Turkish
parliaments is no precondition for the opening of EU membership talks
with Turkey, scheduled for 3 October.
But the commission said today it regretted the Parliament’s decision.
Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn stated “Unfortunately today’s
decision does not strengthen our position in urging Turkey to stick
to its commitment, that is following the signature, to ratify and
implement the protocol without delay”.
The commission and member states are pressing Ankara to first ratify
and then fully implement the customs agreement, meaning that Ankara is
obliged to stop blocking Cypriot ships and planes from its territory.
But now the commission claims MEPs have complicated these efforts by
blocking ratification by the EU itself.
Socialist and liberal MEPs also regretted the postponement of the
ratification, with liberal MEP Andrew Duff describing the decision as
“stupid, short-sighted and mean-spirited”.
Resolution seeks tough human rights guarantees The Parliament in a
separate resolution backed the opening of membership negotiations
with Turkey on 3 October.
But the resolution, which is non-binding, further pressurises Ankara
by highlighting Turkish failures in meeting human rights standards.
The text explicitly mentions the case of Orhan Pamuk, a well-read
author who was recently charged by a Turkish prosecutor to have
“denigrated” the nation by publicly raising the issue of the Armenian
genocide in 1915.
MEPs urged the commission to suspend the accession talks once started,
in case of a persistent breach of human rights or the principles of
democracy and the rule of law.
The parliament called for further guarantees by demanding that each
session of the negotiations at ministerial level be preceded by “an
assessment of the political criteria in both theory and practice, thus
exerting permanent pressure on the Turkish authorities to maintain
the pace of the necessary reforms”.
Following an amendment by French MEPs, the parliament resolution also
calls on Turkey to recognise the genocide of Armenians by Ottoman
forces in 1915, considering this a “prerequisite for accession to
the European Union”.
The Euro-Armenian federation last week staged a high-profile conference
in the parliament, drawing attention to the issue.

EUROPARLIAMENT SAYS TURKEY MUST RECOGNISE CYPRUS, ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Cyprus News Agency, Cyprus
Sept 28 2005
CNA – Strasbourg-France – 28/9/2005 19:20
Strasbourg, Sept 28 (CNA) – The European Parliament backed Wednesday
the opening of EU entry talks with Turkey next week, but insisted
that Ankara recognise Cyprus and the genocide of Armenians during
the negotiations.
The European Parliament has also postponed a vote to ratify Turkey’s
extended customs union with the EU with 311 votes in favour, 285
against and 63 abstentions. The delay was demanded by the European
People’s Party (EPP), the biggest party in the EU parliament, due to
Ankara’s refusal to let Cypriot ships and planes use its ports and
airports, as required under the extended customs deal.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

‘EP DECISION HAS NO EFFECT ON NEGOTIATION PROCESS’
By Cihan News Agency
Zaman, Turkey
Sept 28 2005
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey’s accession
process to the European Union will not be affected by today’s decision
taken in the European Parliament.
The EP earlier today decided in favor of a call for Turkey to recognize
the so-called Armenian genocide allegations and for imposing the
recognition as a pre-condition for membership.

EP APPROVES DECISION DRAFT ABOUT TURKEY
By Cihan News Agency
Zaman, Turkey
Sept 28 2005
The European Parliament (EP) has approved the decision draft about
Turkey by 356 yes votes to 181 no votes.
It also approved the article requiring the recognition of the so-called
Armenian genocide.
The EP has delayed the approval of the Supplementary Protocol related
to the extension of the Customs Union Agreement for the new European
Union (EU) members.
The EP General Council accepted the EP Christian Democratic group’s
offer not to approve the protocol by 311 yes votes to 285 no votes.

ANOTHER ARRIVAL
A1+
| 20:14:07 | 28-09-2005 | Official |
Today the RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan received the delegation
of the EU special representative to Southern Caucasus, Ambassador
Heikki Talvitie.
The sides referred to the present situation in Southern Caucasus,
in particular to the course of settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

PRESSED GAS IS SAFER
A1+
| 20:12:08 | 28-09-2005 | Politics |
The second official who made speech during the Governmental briefing
today was the Transportation and Communication deputy Minister Hrant
Beglaryan. He gave some information about the documents processed in
order to make the exploitation of transport safer and more civilized.
The most important point was that the Ministry will not allow the
installment of gas-cylinders into the cars which are initially not
supposed to have them. According to Hrant Beglaryan, the number of
such cars is high.
Today there are about 40 000 cars with gas-cylinders in the
Republic. The deputy Minister voiced hope that about 3-4 thousand
cars will become subject of investigation annually, and the violations
will be eliminated by special organizations.
The deputy Minister did not deny that there are gas-cylinders in the
route taxis; instead he claimed that in 4-5 years they will be ousted
from the system of transportation. He considered pressed gas safer and
excluded the possibility of increasing the fares as a result of usual
“reforms”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EXPENSES INCREASED
A1+
| 20:04:53 | 28-09-2005 | Politics |
By the budget of the coming year the Government will allot 270 million
ARMD more to the city transport. 462 million AMRD has also been
allotted as compensation to those who had deposits in the unfinished
buildings’ construction.
this information was given by the Finance and Economy deputy Minister
Pavel Safaryan during today’s Governmental briefing. He also mentioned
that there is not much chance for getting financing from the USA by
the program “Millennium Challenges” till the end of next year.
On the whole, the 2006 budget expects grants of about 9 billion,
but is will also take credits of about 56 billion.
The military expenses will also be expanded by 13 billion ARMD and
will form about 150 million USD. In connection with the announcements
of Azerbaijan to equal their military budget to that of our whole
country, Pavel Safaryan said, “We also have the desire of equaling
our military budget to the budget of Azerbaijan”.

THE ARMENIAN COLOR OF REVOLUTIONS – CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
A1+
| 19:04:19 | 28-09-2005 | Politics |
According to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the adoption of
the draft Constitution will have the effect of a revolution. “Our
social-political life has the possibility to be subverted in case
of voting for the draft Constitution”, said member of the ARF,
chief editor of the weekly “Yerkir” Spartak Seyranyan today during
the seminar “The RA Amended Draft Constitution on the Eve of the
Referendum” in the “Tekeyan” cultural center.
The representative of ARF Armen Roustamyan made it clear for those
who say “revolution” and understand “change of authorities” that “the
revolution is not an end in itself”. Pointing at the post-revolution
developments in Georgia and Ukraine, Mr. Roustamyan said, “We saw what
revolutions can result in. They must be ended after coming to power,
not with it”.
Referring to the Constitutional referendum Mr. Roustamyan said
that in case of saying “No” we will have serious problems with the
CoE. According to him, only the positive answer will open a door to
the processes of realization of democratic and human rights.
According to the head of the non-governmental organization “Democracy”
Vardan Pogosyan, the constitutional reforms are a step forward from the
previous one, “which had one primitive conception – to give everything
to the RA President as he is always right”. But in the amended version
the mechanisms of the relations between the President and the NA are
not processed either.
According to the head of the program “Armenia to Europe” Aram
Safaryan who had organized the seminar, this discussion is not the
last one. The next seminar will be devoted to the theme “Armenia
after the referendum”.

TURKEY CONFRONTS HISTORY
Opinion By Suat Kiniklioglu
Turkish Daily News
Sept 27 2005
Two weeks ago I was fortunate enough to visit a photo exhibition of
the Sept. 6-7, 1955, street riots in Istanbul. For me it was truly
an experience and cause for reflection. Seeing such graphic evidence
of those events made me genuinely uncomfortable. The exhibition and
the debate it sparked was a great leap forward in the quest towards
confronting some of the unpleasant episodes of our recent history.
Although the opening of the exhibition was marred by a protest of
a small group of nationalists, the exhibition marked an important
change in Turkey. Fifty years later, Turks on both sides of the debate
intensely deliberated the Sept. 6-7 events. The debate allowed Turks
to become aware of some of the unknown aspects of those events.
Similarly, the infamous Armenian conference, which was scheduled to
take place in May of this year, finally took place at Istanbul’s
Bilgi University last week. The conference became an important
event in itself when, in the aftermath of Dec. 17, some European
countries that are opposed to Turkey’s European Union accession
began to emphasize the Armenian issue as a precondition to Turkey’s
accession negotiations. The Turkish debate surrounding the events of
1915 had already tested new territory in the fall of 2004. Contrary
to Armenian diaspora allegations, Turks are intensely debating what
happened in 1915. A preview of the Turkish media coverage of the
Armenian issue would provide ample evidence of both the extent and
depth of the Turkish debate.
The organization of a conference on the Armenian issue that included
scholars describing the events of 1915 as “genocide” sparked widespread
protests from diverse segments of Turkish society. Coupled with the
earlier comments by Orhan Pamuk on the issue, the atmosphere became
poisoned. However, the last-minute cancellation of the conference
by Bosporus University in May and developments in the aftermath also
raised eyebrows about academic freedom in Turkey.
Contrary to claims by critics, the conference was not organized
to determine whether the events of 1915 constituted “genocide” but
instead was to be a healthy starting point for an honest discussion
on the subject. Some of the presentations that emphasized the need
to avoid the word “genocide,” to de-emotionalize the debate, were
seen as very constructive.
The Turkish government’s stance, particularly Justice Minister Cemil
Cicek’s turnaround on the conference, not only reflected an acute
awareness about the potential damages a second cancellation would have
brought about but also provided evidence of the political courage
of the AKP on these sensitive issues. The handling of the Armenian
conference, once again, confirmed the government’s determination to
start EU accession negotiations on Oct. 3.
The fact that the conference took place despite the sensitivity and
strong criticism surrounding it was also a positive step in terms of
assertion of academic freedom by the three universities involved. I
hope the bold steps taken by the three universities will set an
example to other foundations and universities.
All in all, we are experiencing a very significant but equally
difficult process. Turkey is opening up to the world, confronting
its recent history and discovering the many different shades of its
social fabric. For this process to continue in a constructive fashion
we need Armenians to confront some of the dark episodes of Armenian
history as well. It would be most helpful if an Armenian conference
could acknowledge that Armenian soldiers returning to Anatolia with
the Russian army took revenge and killed many Turks in the process.
It would be a constructive step if somewhere along this process
Armenians could come to terms with the terror unleashed by the
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), which
claimed the lives of 32 Turkish diplomats in the 1970s. I know we are
not there yet and that the Turkish side still needs to develop the
debate internally, but Turks and Armenians should ready themselves
for a historic reconciliation along these lines. Neither Turks nor
Armenians should continue to live with this historic burden on them.
The events of 1915-1923 and the 1970s with ASALA are too tragic and sad
for both sides. We need to find the courage and will to move forward.
There is no doubt the EU drive provides the primary catalyst
for progressive Turks to push through this process. A lot of
commentators expressed their skepticism when it was argued that the
accession process itself is as important as accession. However,
recent developments on the economic and political side confirm
the significance of the process itself. Despite the increasingly
“revanchist” atmosphere in the domestic political arena, facing up to
Sept. 6-7 and beginning to debate 1915 provide reason for optimism. I
am confident that the internal dynamics of Turkey are adequate to
sustain this process provided the target remains full EU membership.
* Suat Kýnýklýoðlu is director of the Ankara office of the German
Marshall Fund of the United States.
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