Mayor of Armenian town arrested for gunning down local electric
utility chief
.c The Associated Press
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – Police arrested the mayor of a small Armenian
town on Saturday after he was accused of shooting and killing the head
of the local electric utility.
Mayor Armen Kelishyan allegedly shot Ashot Mkhitaryan after accusing
him of inflating his electricity bill, according to a police spokesman
in in Nor Adzhi, a town about 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of the
capital, Yerevan. The spokesman refused to give his name.
Officials with the Armenianskyie Electroseti company said the shooting
happened around 10 a.m. (0600GMT).
Mkhitaryan also supported a candidate challenging Kelishyan in
upcoming municipal elections, utility officials said.
Prosecutors refused to comment on the incident.
09/24/05 13:37 EDT

Turks address painful question: Did ancestors commit genocide?
By BENJAMIN HARVEY
.c The Associated Press
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) – Scholars held the first-ever public
discussions in Turkey on Saturday about the early 20th-century
massacre of Armenians, choosing words carefully, avoiding emotional
language and picking apart history year by year at a gathering that
nationalists denounced as traitorous.
The European Union called the academic conference a test of freedom of
expression in Turkey, which is hoping to begin talks for membership in
the bloc next month.
The academic conference had been canceled twice, once in May after the
justice minister said organizers were “stabbing the people in the
back,” and again on Thursday when an Istanbul court ordered the
conference closed and demanded to know the academic qualifications of
the speakers.
“This is a fight of ‘can we discuss this thing, or can we not discuss
this thing?”’ Murat Belge, a member of the organizing committee, said
at the conference opening. “This is something that’s directly related
to the question of what kind of country Turkey is going to be.”
The Armenian issue stirs deep passions among Turks, who are being
pushed by many in the international community to say that their
fathers and grandfathers carried out the first genocide of the 20th
century.
“There are so many documents in hand with respect to the destruction
of Armenians,” said Taner Akcay, a Turkish-born professor at the
University of Minnesota, and author of books on the subject including,
“A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish
Responsibility.”
Dozens of officers in riot gear kept hundreds of shouting protesters
at bay. Some protesters pelted arriving panelists with eggs and
rotten tomatoes.
Inside, the audience of more than 300 people was restrained, as only
those invited by the organizing committee and preapproved members of
the media were allowed past security.
The issue has been a taboo for many years in Turkey, with those who
speak out against the killings risking prosecution by a Turkish
court. But an increasing number of Turkish academics have called for a
review of the killings in a country where many see the Ottoman Empire
as a symbol of Turkish greatness.
The panelists, all Turkish speakers, carefully avoided any emotional
language during the first day of the two-day conference.
“Everyone waits for you to pronounce the genocide word – if you do
one side applauds and the other won’t listen,” Halil Berktay, program
coordinator of the history department at Sabanci University, said at
the conference Saturday.
Several governments around the world have recognized the killings of
as many as 1.5 million Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire as
genocide.
Turkey vehemently denies the charge, admitting that many Armenians
were killed, but saying the death toll is inflated and that Armenians
were killed along with Turks in civil unrest and intercommunal
fighting as the Ottoman Empire collapsed between 1915 and 1923.
After the conference was shut down Thursday, Turkey drew condemnation
from the European Commission.
Organizers skirted the court order by changing the venue of the
conference.
The court-ordered cancellation Thursday was an embarrassment for the
country’s leaders, who are set to begin EU negotiations on Oct. 3.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul lamented that “there’s no one better at
hurting themselves than us,” and sent a letter wishing the organizers
a successful conference. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also
condemned the court’s decision, saying it did not befit a democratic
country.
The participants were all Turkish speakers and included members of
Turkey’s Armenian minority like Hrant Dink, the editor in chief of
Agos, a weekly Armenian newspaper in Istanbul. There are some 70,000
Armenians living in Istanbul.
09/24/05 16:12 EDT

The Anatolian Times
Published: 9/24/2005
Conference On Armenians During Collapse Of Ottoman Empire
ISTANBUL – Associate professor Halil Berktay of Sabanci University said on
Saturday that the word ”genocide” should be left aside, and noted that
everybody should try to understand what had happened in 1915 and 1916.
The Conference entitled ”The Armenians during the Collapse of the Ottoman
Empire” is being held at Istanbul’s Bogazici University.
During the conference, professor Fikret Adanir of Faculty of History in
German Ruhr University said, ”a Turkish government may have to accept
genocide accusation one day due to impositions. This may please some
circles. But, I don’t think a concession made as a result of such
impositions will be beneficial for the future of Turkish-Armenian
relations.”
Adanir said that ”he was using the expression ‘Armenian genocide’ in his
academic works”, and added, ”the dimension of the 1915-16 relocation is
far beyond than mass killings. A whole nation, regardless of whether they
were women, men, elderly or children, were relocated and died on the roads.
Their properties were seized, while those who survived this incident were
not allowed to return. There was an Armenian nationalism and a project to
establish an Armenian state. Majority of the Ottoman Armenians might have a
sympathy towards the enemies of the state (Ottoman Empire) those days. But,
all these cannot compensate the tragedy which was intentionally caused by
the Ottoman government and which it (the empire) ignored.”
On the other hand, associate professor Oktay Ozel of Bilkent University said
that days between the War of 93 and 1923 was a period of tension and
clashes. ”At the end of this period, the Black Sea region was purified from
non-Muslim population,” added Ozel.

Pan Armenian News
ICRC REPRESENTATIVES VISITED ARMENIAN CITIZENS DETAINED IN AZERBAIJAN
24.09.2005 05:18
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Representatives of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) have visited “Armenian citizen Albert Abrahamyan, who was
detained in Azerbaijan a few days ago”. As ICRC Baku Office reported, the
organization controls the issue and expresses interest to the fate of
detainee. It should be noted that “according to the reports of
law-enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan Abrahamyan was detained September 20 in
a forest near Chilyagir village in Gusar region. He had presumably come to
Azerbaijan having crossed the Russian-Azeri border. Soon it was cleared out
that he is resident of Zavajugh village of Marni region of Armenia. In a
conversation with journalists Azeri Minister of Internal Affairs Ramil
Usubov reported investigation over the case is under way. According to the
Minister, A. Abrahamyan wrote in his explanation that he had arrived in
Azerbaijan to visit his brother”, reported the Caucasian Knot.

Pan Armenian News
RUSSIA’S EXPERIENCE IN PENSION SYSTEM REFORM USEFUL FOR ARMENIA
23.09.2005 08:01
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met with
Chairman of the Russian Pension Fund Gennady Batanov, who is in Yerevan on
working visit, RA President’s press center reported. During the meeting the
parties discussed the issues referring to the reformation of the pension
system. Gennady Batanov stated that the Russian party is ready for active
cooperation and that the signing of a corresponding agreement will become an
advance. Robert Kocharian welcomed the initiative and noted that Russia’s
experience in pension system reform will be useful for Armenia.

AZG Armenian Daily #171, 24/09/2005
UN-region
UN FAVORS KARS-AKHALKALAK RAILWAY PROJECT
UN Deputy Secretary-General Advarul Choudhuri stated in New York that the UN
approves of the negotiations between Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan over
construction of Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi-Baku railway. Radio Liberty quoted
Choudhuri as saying that the railway will allow the countries of the Caspian
basin to transport passengers and goods to Europe through Turkey. Director
of the UNDP in CIS and Eastern Europe, Kalman Mijei, also highlighted the
railway as an important

The Guardian, UK
Protesters Denounce Conference in Turkey
Saturday September 24, 2005 9:16 PM
AP Photo IST107
By BENJAMIN HARVEY
Associated Press Writer
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) – Scholars held the first-ever public discussions in
Turkey on Saturday about the early 20th-century massacre of Armenians,
choosing words carefully, avoiding emotional language and picking apart
history year by year at a gathering that nationalists denounced as
traitorous.
The European Union called the academic conference a test of freedom of
expression in Turkey, which is hoping to begin talks for membership in the
bloc next month.
The academic conference had been canceled twice, once in May after the
justice minister said organizers were “stabbing the people in the back,”
and again on Thursday when an Istanbul court ordered the conference closed
and demanded to know the academic qualifications of the speakers.
“This is a fight of ‘can we discuss this thing, or can we not discuss this
thing?”’ Murat Belge, a member of the organizing committee, said at the
conference opening. “This is something that’s directly related to the
question of what kind of country Turkey is going to be.”
The Armenian issue stirs deep passions among Turks, who are being pushed by
many in the international community to say that their fathers and
grandfathers carried out the first genocide of the 20th century.
“There are so many documents in hand with respect to the destruction of
Armenians,” said Taner Akcay, a Turkish-born professor at the University of
Minnesota, and author of books on the subject including, “A Shameful Act:
The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility.”
Dozens of officers in riot gear kept hundreds of shouting protesters at bay.
Some protesters pelted arriving panelists with eggs and rotten tomatoes.
Inside, the audience of more than 300 people was restrained, as only those
invited by the organizing committee and preapproved members of the media
were allowed past security.
The issue has been a taboo for many years in Turkey, with those who speak
out against the killings risking prosecution by a Turkish court. But an
increasing number of Turkish academics have called for a review of the
killings in a country where many see the Ottoman Empire as a symbol of
Turkish greatness.
The panelists, all Turkish speakers, carefully avoided any emotional
language during the first day of the two-day conference.
“Everyone waits for you to pronounce the genocide word – if you do one side
applauds and the other won’t listen,” Halil Berktay, program coordinator of
the history department at Sabanci University, said at the conference
Saturday.
Several governments around the world have recognized the killings of as many
as 1.5 million Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Turkey vehemently denies the charge, admitting that many Armenians were
killed, but saying the death toll is inflated and that Armenians were killed
along with Turks in civil unrest and intercommunal fighting as the Ottoman
Empire collapsed between 1915 and 1923.
After the conference was shut down Thursday, Turkey drew condemnation from
the European Commission.
Organizers skirted the court order by changing the venue of the conference.
The court-ordered cancellation Thursday was an embarrassment for the
country’s leaders, who are set to begin EU negotiations on Oct. 3.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul lamented that “there’s no one better at
hurting themselves than us,” and sent a letter wishing the organizers a
successful conference. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also condemned
the court’s decision, saying it did not befit a democratic country.
The participants were all Turkish speakers and included members of Turkey’s
Armenian minority like Hrant Dink, the editor in chief of Agos, a weekly
Armenian newspaper in Istanbul. There are some 70,000 Armenians living in
Istanbul.
,1280,-5300221,00.html

BBC
Saturday, 24 September 2005, 13:45 GMT 14:45 UK
Turks protest at Armenian forum
Hundreds of Turkish nationalists have been protesting outside a
controversial conference on the mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman
rule.
They chanted slogans and booed delegates entering Istanbul’s Bilgi
University for the two-day event.
The conference had been due to open on Friday, at another venue, but was
stopped from doing so by a court order.
Debate of the killings has been taboo in Turkey but there is outside
pressure for greater freedom of speech.
“Treason will not go unpunished” and “This is Turkey, love it or leave it,”
shouted the demonstrators.
“The Armenian genocide is an international lie,” read a huge banner carried
by members of the minor left-wing Workers’ Party.
Taped mouths
Armenians worldwide have been campaigning for decades for the deaths –
thought to have been more than a million, around the time of WWI – to be
recognised universally as genocide.
The conference discussing the issue was due to be held at Istanbul’s
Bosphorus University, but it was banned by an Istanbul court after
complaints by nationalists that the historians behind it were “traitors”.
The historians challenge official Turkish accounts of the killings, which
give a much smaller death toll and link Armenian losses to civil strife in
which many Turks also died.
The court ruling brought emotionally charged scenes on the Bosphorus campus
on Friday, said the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul.
Students, angry that the conference was cancelled, taped their mouths while
small groups of nationalists gathered to condemn plans for the forum.
EU condemnation
Bilgi University stepped in “in the name of freedom of expression and
thought”, said its president, Aydin Ugur.
Government leaders regretted the court ruling which “cast a shadow on the
process of democratisation and freedoms”, according to Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
“If we have confidence in our own beliefs, we should not fear freedom of
thought,” he told separate gathering of academics on Saturday.
EU enlargement commissioner Krisztina Nagy said Brussels strongly deplored
the court’s “attempt to prevent the Turkish society from discussing its
history”.
Turkey begins talks on joining the EU in two weeks’ time.

Pan Armenian News
ORGANIZERS OF SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE ON ARMENIAN ISSUE IN TURKEY SURE IT WILL
BE HELD
24.09.2005 03:11
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The scientific conference to discuss the Armenian
Genocide, which was canceled at Bosphorus and Sabanci Universities by a
court decision, will nevertheless be held, however at another Istanbul
university, hold organizers of the event. CNN-Turk TV company reported that
the leadership of Istanbul Bilgi University had agreed to host the
conference. The Turkish court ban to hold the conference was censured by the
Turkish Government and the European Commission, reported RFE/RL.

A1+
| 14:22:59 | 24-09-2005 | Politics |
PRE-ELECTION KILLING
Today at about 10 a.m. local time Mayor of Armenian town of Nor Hajn Armen
Kelishyan shot dead head of the town electric network Ashot Mkhitaryan.
To remind, the election of the Mayor in Nor Hajn will be held in two weeks.
The incumbent Mayor put in his nomination. Ashot Mkhitaryan supported his
rival.
It should be noted that Kelishyan fired the pistol presented to him by Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan.