US MILITARY SPECIALISTS APPRECIATE SKILLS OF ARMENIAN OFFICERS DURING EXERCISES ‘MEDCEUR-RESCUER-05’
ARMINFO News Agency
September 22, 2005
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22. ARMINFO. Armenian officers of the
Military-Medical Faculty of Yerevan State Medical University received
high appraisal of US specialists during NATO
PFP exercises ‘MEDCEUR-RESCUER-05’ in Georgia September 8-19. Press
Secretary of Armenian Defense Minister, Colonel Seyran Shakhsouvaryan
told ARMINFO.
The source reports that the exercises ‘RESCUER-06’ will probably be
organized in Armenia. US military specialists think the exercises
were a good practice for Armenian specialists.

US AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN THINKS ISSUE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE NEEDS STUDYING
ARMINFO News Agency
September 22, 2005
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22. ARMINFO. US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Rino
Harnish thinks the issue of Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in
the beginning of the 20th century needs studying, the 525th newspaper
reports.
In response to journalists’ question about the recent discussions
of two resolutions on the Armenian Genocide at the US Congress,
the Ambassador said that the US Congress has not approved any of the
resolutions, and the issue is discussed at the level of committees
only. The Ambassador thinks the Turkish historical may present
historical facts to bring light to that “bloody stage” of the history.
To note, on September 15, the US Congressional Committee for Foreign
Relations adopted two resolutions concerning the Armenian Genocide
in Ottoman Turkey.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN DEMANDS AZERBAIJANI ORGANIZATION OF KARABAKH LIBERATION TO STOP THREATENING THE EMBASSY
ARMINFO News Agency
September 22, 2005
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22. ARMINFO. French Ambassador to Azerbaijan,
Roland Blatmann, demands the Azerbaijani Organization of Karabakh
Liberation to stop threatening the Embassy, the OKL press-service
informs APA. Earlier, in its letter to the French Embassy, OKL
protested against the cooperation of French companies and Nagorny
Karabakh authorities in the sphere of communication. Ambassador
Blatmann replies: “The French Government informs French companies of
the situation in the region and asks not to launch activity in the
given region.” The Ambassador expresses readiness for discussions and
demands not to use the situation against his country and compatriots.
However, OKL thinks the French Government must display more objective
position in the region.

PLOT, SCHMOT, IT’S THE SKIN THAT REELS THEM IN: ATOM EGOYAN IS DISTRAUGHT
The Toronto Star
September 22, 2005 Thursday
His latest movie includes a scene depicting non-traditional sex,
which is a shifting concept since almost every depiction of sex in
movies these days was once considered non-traditional but now amounts
to the new missionary position.
So let me rephrase that. His latest movie includes a scene depicting
not-yet-traditional sex: two men, one woman, going at it gangbusters,
directed – and acted – with what reviewers salute as scrupulous
attention to detail.
The way things are going, and once the United Church gets involved,
if he had waited until a few years from now and turned out the
identical scene, it would be regarded as a sentimental presentation
of contemporary spousal obligations being fulfilled by a happily
married triple.
For the moment, however, it’s a dirty part.
While I have never seen an Atom Egoyan movie, one that has cinema
buffs hyperventilating because there is a dirty part in it, as opposed
to because there is a cri de coeur for a lost Armenian homeland,
tweaked my interest.
It’s the only reason I’ve ever gone to movies.
Yet it turns out to be Atom Egoyan’s black capsule.

TURKISH COURT ORDERS CANCELLATION OF ACADEMIC CONFERENCE ON ARMENIAN MASSACRE
By Benjamin Harvey
The Associated Press
09/22/05 13:45 EDT
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) – An Istanbul court on Thursday ordered the
cancellation of an academic conference on the massacre of Armenians
during the Ottoman Empire, casting greater doubt on whether Turkey
is prepared to accept open discussion of controversial subjects.
The conference was originally scheduled for May but was postponed
after Justice Minister Cemil Cicek severely criticized it, saying it
went against government efforts to counter an Armenian campaign to
have the killings recognized as genocide.
The case to close the conference was brought by the Turkish Lawyers
Union and other lawyers.
The conference was scheduled to deal with one of the most sensitive
issues in Turkish politics – the killings of Armenians during
the collapse of the Ottoman Empire around the time of World War I,
which an increasing number of governments have officially recognized
as genocide.
Turkey says the killings took place during civil unrest and backing
the genocide claim in Turkey can be a cause for prosecution.
There was no immediate word from court officials on why the conference
was canceled.
The Anatolia news agency reported that the court said the hosts could
appeal, but demanded a number of documents including the academic
backgrounds of the participants, proof that invitees were of varying
viewpoints and documents listing the financial backers of the speakers.
Turkey came under international scrutiny after the original conference
was postponed, with some critics saying it showed Turkey would not
allow freedom of expression on sensitive subjects.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately condemned the court’s
decision Thursday. Courts are independent in Turkey, however, and
the prime minister has little power to overturn their decisions.
Last month, Turkey opened a case against one of the country’s most
acclaimed contemporary writers, novelist Orhan Pamuk. Pamuk, who is
often mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature,
is scheduled to go before a Turkish court in December for the crime
of insulting the Turkish national identity. His offending comment was
made to a Swiss newspaper in regard to Turkey’s killings of Armenians
and Kurds.
European Union officials have said they will be watching the Pamuk
trial very closely, and some have suggested that Turkey’s refusal
to permit free expression could be a cause for halting EU membership
negotiations, which are to begin Oct. 3.

TURKISH COURT BLOCKS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONFERENCE
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
September 22, 2005, Thursday
16:59:05 Central European Time
Ankara
A Turkish court has banned an academic conference on the massacres
of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman Turks, planned for this week, CNN
Turk reported Thursday
The Istanbul 4th Administrative Court ordered the ban on Monday
after a group from the Lawyers Union Foundation applied to have the
conference cancelled. Bogazici University, where the conference was
due to start on Friday, received news of the order on Thursday.
The circumstances surrounding the 1915 massacres of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians continue to arouse controversy in Turkey today,
with the official line being that while many died the incidents cannot
be regarded as a genocide.
More than a dozen European countries have passed resolutions
specifically stating that the events of 1915 did constitute a genocide
and that Turkey should accept this and make appropriate apologies.
The conference was to include a number of Turkish historians who
are critical of the official stance. It was originally to have taken
place on May 25 but organizers decided to postpone it after Justice
Minister Cemil Cicek described the gathering as a “stab in the back”.
Cicek’s comments came despite assurances from Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey has completely opened its archives and is
prepared to allow historians discuss the issue.
Erdogan said Thursday he regretted the court’s decision saying it
did not comply with democratic rights.
The court decision comes two weeks after prosecutors filed charges
against Turkey’s internationally famous author Orhan Pamuk for
“denigrating the country” when he told a Swiss news magazine that
“a million Armenians were killed”. Pamuk faces up to three years
imprisonment if found guilty.
The latest court decision is sure to embarass the government as it
attempts to convince European countries to give the go ahead for E.U.
membership talks to begin on October 3. dpa cw sr

US ENVOY SAYS UN DISCUSSION WON’T HAMPER KARABAKH PEACE TALKS
Regnum, Moscow, in Russian
22 Sep 05
22 September: The US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Reno Harnish,
has commented on Armenia’s statement on the readiness to quit the
settlement process of the Karabakh conflict, if the UN is involved
in the discussions of the issue.
“The talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents,
including the Kazan meeting [on 27 August], have been fruitful. The
two sides have reached an agreement regarding discussions of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in the UN. That is why, the discussions
in the UN are not an obstacle to the settlement process of the
conflict,” the ambassador said.
Harnish also said that the US Congress had not adopted any document
on genocide of Armenians. This issue is being discussed at the
level of [Congress] committees for the time being, he added. “The
US administration believes that this issue should be thoroughly
examined. We call on Turkish specialists to take part in this as well,”
Harnish said.
He said that the USA will render assistance to Azerbaijan in holding
a democratic election, a Regnum news agency correspondent reported.
Asked about the election situation in Azerbaijan, Harnish stressed
that under the current circumstances, it is possible to hold an
election in compliance with international standards. “The authorities,
however, should demonstrate their will and fulfil the commitments of
the presidential decree [on improving election practices] on 11 May
this year. Candidates and voters should be active during the election
and the US government is ready to give its support to ensure that
the election is conducted in a democratic way,” he added.

KUWAIT SUPPORTS AZERBAIJAN IN NAGORNO KARABAKH QUESTION
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2005
Foreign minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov met the
Kuwait-Azerbaijan Inter-parliamentary Group’s delegation lead by
Kuwait’s MP Hamood Mansour El-Hajiri.
Noting that opening of the Azerbaijan embassy in Kuwait creates
favorable atmosphere for close cooperation between the two states,
Minister Mammadyarov wished Kuwait to open its embassy in Azerbaijan,
too, which, according to him, would promote significant impact on
development of bilateral links.
Minister Mammadyarov updated the guests on current situation in the
negotiations concerning the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh
conflict and Azerbaijan’s position in these process, emphasized that
settlement of the conflict is possible only in the frame of territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan.
Underlining that the State of Kuwait supports Azerbaijan in settlement
of the conflict, Mr.
Hamood Mansour El-Hajiri expressed hope for further development of
bilateral cooperation.
Touching upon the situation in Iraq, Mr. Mammadyarov said strengthening
of territorial integrity of this country is necessary; otherwise,
it will cause threat in region.
The sides also had exchange of views on cooperation in the political,
economic, cultural and tourism fields between the two counties.

ARMED SEPARATISM SHOWCASED IN SOUTH OSSETIA
By Vladimir Socor
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
The Jamestown Foundation
Sept 22 2005
On September 19-20 in Tskhinvali, South Ossetian authorities led
celebrations of the 15th anniversary of the declaration of secession
from Georgia. Although the September 20, 1990, declaration and some
subsequent documents speak of “independence” and a “sovereign state,”
the authorities in practice seek outright annexation to Russia via
North Ossetia. A giant billboard just outside Tskhinvali, showing
Russian President Vladimir Putin with the caption, “Our President,”
in effect advertised that program during the festivities.
Yevgeny Trofimov (chairman of the Russian Duma’s Nationalities
Committee), Konstantin Zatulin (who is also director of the
government’s Institute on CIS Affairs), and other Duma deputies
attended the celebration, along with the Abkhaz de facto leader
Sergei Bagapsh (arriving directly from Moscow) and delegations from
Transnistria and Karabakh. These delegations, as well as guests from
North Ossetia, crossed the Russia-Georgia border unlawfully through
the Roki tunnel, which is controlled by Russian troops.
Ossetian troops with some 20 tanks and other armored vehicles,
anti-aircraft installations, and 10 infantry battalions took part
in a military parade in Tskhinvali’s central Stalin Street and
Stalin Square. The “defense ministers” of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
Maj.-Generals Anatoly Barankevich and Sultan Sosnaliev — both seconded
by the Russian military to these posts — attended the parade.
The Russian “peacekeeping” commander, Maj.-General Marat Kulakhmetov,
pre-notified Tbilisi of some of the movements of those troops and
hardware toward Tskhinvali and conceded that those movements were
unlawful. However, his troops did nothing to stop this massive
breach of multiple agreements among Russia, Georgia, South Ossetia,
and the OSCE on force-reduction and demilitarization measures in the
“security zone.”
South Ossetia’s de facto leader Eduard Kokoiti signed with Bagapsh
a “treaty” on friendship and cooperation between Abkhazia and
South Ossetia — the type of move intended to suggest that the two
territories’ secession from Georgia is irreversible: “Our celebration
will demonstrate to the world that we are full-fledged democratic
states.” However, they made no secret of the shared goal for their
territories to become eventually parts of Russia.
Kokoiti signed an agreement with Russia’s North Ossetian republic
leader, Teimuraz Mansurov, to create a commission on “special
relations” and draft a comprehensive agreement to that effect. The
document proclaims the goal of “striving to preserve the unity of
Ossetia.” “There can be no other option than unification,” Mansurov
declared. In a similar vein, Kokoiti told the press conference, “We see
our future only in a single political, economic, and cultural space
with Ossetia and Russia.” Kokoiti also made a speech on “Ossetian
self-determination” in Russian. He and others at the celebration
summarily dismissed Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s offer
of autonomy and devolution of powers to South Ossetia as a “publicity
exercise for international consumption,” thus avoiding discussion of
the offer on its merits.
Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a protest with Russia’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs over Mamsurov’s actions in Tskhinvali.
“Inasmuch as the Russian side is fully responsible for actions of the
executive branch, Georgia regards the step taken by the head of North
Ossetia as an unfriendly move by Russia that encourages separatism.”
Parliament chairwoman Nino Burjanadze in turn “ask[ed] the
international community: Do we really need a peacekeeping force
under whose nose the separatist authorities are staging military
parades? A peacekeeping force that sits idly by while two separatist
presidents are proffering threats?” The parliament’s international
affairs committee chairman, Kote Gabashvili, noted that Russia is
now engaged in an ongoing annexation of South Ossetia after having
supported their secession. The Georgian parliament is now drafting a
resolution calling for basic changes to the “peacekeeping” operations
in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
On September 21 in the evening, three projectiles were fired from
grenade-launchers into Tskhinvali, injuring seven persons, most of
whom were released from ambulatory care that same evening, Kulakhmetov
announced. Both he and Russia’s MFA statement did not blame any side
for the incident. The festivities were not affected.
Georgia’s Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili and parliamentary
defense committee chairman Givi Targamadze — who were visiting
nearby Georgian villages that day — rejected any suggestions that
Georgians were responsible. They, as well as State Minister for
Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava, noted that only Georgia’s
adversaries were interested in provoking such incidents. Saakashvili
promised an investigation and declared that Tskhinvali residents’
safety was “a matter of honor” to him.
In his speeches on September 14 at the summit of world leaders in
New York and on September 18 in Tbilisi, Saakashvili decried the
“intensive annexation” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia “with direct
support from outside,” and vowed that Georgia would never accept such
“despicable annexations” of parts of its territory.
The Tskhinvali events demonstrated also the OSCE’s irrelevance
regarding South Ossetia. The organization has only five or six military
observers, dual-based in Tbilisi and Tskhinvali, who are pathetically
under equipped with transport and communications, and thus unable
to detect most breaches of the agreements on force-reduction and
demilitarization in the “security zone.” The OSCE interprets its
mandate as being confined to the “security zone” around Tskhinvali,
which forms only a small part of South Ossetia’s territory. The
Mission declines to monitor Java, where Ossetian troops and their
heavy weaponry are stationed for quick deployment in Tskhinvali.
Politically, the Mission failed to react to the September 19
demonstration of military force, just as it had failed in June
2004 to react to the expedition of armed “volunteers” from Kuban,
Abkhazia, and Transnistria to South Ossetia and their exercises
with Ossetian troops. As custodian of the Helsinki Final Act and the
Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, the OSCE would be obligated
to respond at least declaratively to the ongoing annexation of
Georgia’s territories and the parades of CFE-banned combat hardware
(“unaccounted-for treaty-limited equipment”). However, the OSCE
Mission — like the organization itself — is hostage to Moscow’s
veto in Vienna and thus unable to act unable to act in Tskhinvali.
(Rustavi-2 TV, Interfax, Russian TV Channel One, September 18-21)

TURKISH COURT STOPS CONFERENCE ON ARMENIAN KILLINGS
Reuters
09/22/05 19:23 ET
ISTANBUL, Sept 22 (Reuters) – A Turkish court has ordered the
postponement a university conference called to debate the deaths
of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during World War One, the state news
agency Anatolia said on Thursday.
The conference, already postponed in May after a minister accused its
organisers of treason, was meant to give a platform to intellectuals
who question Turkey’s official view of the Armenian killings. It was
due to start on Friday.
Turkey denies claims the death of 1.5 million Christian Armenians
in the dying days of the Ottoman empire was genocide, but is under
pressure to change its stance as part of its bid to become the first
Muslim country to join the European Union.
The court unanimously awarded the temporary injunction after various
lawyers and organisations filed complaints demanding the cancellation
of the conference, which was to be held at Istanbul’s Bosphorus and
Sabanci universities.
“Istanbul 4th Administrative Court suspended ‘Ottoman Armenians
during the collapse of the Empire’ conference until the defendant
Bosphorus and Sabanci universities give their defence,” Anatolia news
agency said.
The court asked the universities to provide more information on the
content of the conference and on its speakers but gave no further
details. Turkish law prohibits any comments which are considered
insulting to Turkish national identity.
Turkey’s pro-European government, breaking with past administrations,
has said it is willing to discuss historical differences with
Armenians. But official policy still rejects claims that 1.5 million
Armenians were slaughtered.
It accepts that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks, but says even more Turks died in a partisan conflict
that erupted as the Ottoman empire collapsed.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said he regretted the court’s decision.
“It is not possible that I approve such a decision during a time of
steps for a more advanced democracy, and a more free Turkey.”
Turkey is due to start European Union accession talks in October,
and has taken wide-ranging political reforms to bolster freedom of
expression and improve human rights.
The EU has said Turkey should improve ties with neighbouring Armenia,
and some European leaders have said Turkey must acknowledge the deaths
of Armenians as genocide.
The conference was postponed in May after Justice Minister Cemil
Cicek accused the organisers and participants of treason.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress