TURKISH NOVELIST FACES CHARGES FOR MENTIONING GENOCIDE
Socialist worker, UK
Sept 6 2005
Turkey’s most acclaimed novelist, Orhan Pamuk, faces a possible three
years in jail after being charged last week with “publicly denigrating
Turkish identity”.
The attack on the 53 year old novelist stems from an interview he
gave to the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger in February this year.
During the interview Pakuk said, “Thirty thousand Kurds were killed
here, one million Armenians as well. And almost nobody talks about
it. Therefore, I do.”
The references to the Turkish government’s murderous suppression of
the country’s Kurdish minority, and to the massacre of Armenians by
Turkish soldiers in 1915, have enraged Turkey’s ultranationalists.
This has resulted in the author facing a criminal trial on 16 December
under the country’s new penal code.
Pamuk’s novels have been translated into over 20 languages. They
include My Name Is Red and his latest book Snow, which examines the
conflicts between Turkey’s secular elite and Islamist opposition
movement.
The charges against him have drawn condemnation from human rights
groups around the world.
The international row is caught up with negotiations over Turkey’s
entry to the European Union. The EU is insisting that Turkey’s human
rights record is brought up to “European standards”.
Ironically, under the Ottoman Empire Turkey had historically been very
tolerant of subjects from different cultural backgrounds. The country’s
elite turned to racism and genocide in the early years of the twentieth
century precisely as they came to emulate Western “civilisation”.

SELF-PROCLAIMED REPUBLIC LEADER DOES NOT EXPECT ‘SPEEDY CONFLICT SETTLEMENT’
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 7 2005
Baku, September 6, AssA-Irada — Leader of the self-proclaimed
Upper Garabagh Republic Arkadi Gukasian has said he does not expect
the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh to be settled
soon. Gukasian told a news conference held jointly with the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel in
Yerevan on Tuesday that official Baku is refusing to compromise
on several issues. “The sides should take risks to settle the
conflict. You must give something to get something in return. But
Azerbaijan does not want to give anything.” Gukasian said, however,
that ‘Baku is adhering to a constructive position, unlike in previous
years’. Rupel highly assessed the ongoing talks on the resolution of
the Garabagh problem. He said that the OSCE does not back either party
to the conflict, as the organization is a partner of both countries
and its goal is to settle the conflict peacefully. The OSCE chairman
cited some progress in the negotiations, saying that efforts in this
area should be continued.*

“HAVE YOU BEEN TO NORTH AVENUE?..”
A1+
| 18:26:05 | 06-09-2005 | Social |
Yesterday the Yerevan city administration started negotiations with
the residents of the future North Avenue, who are not content with
the compensation offered and refuse to abandon the territory on their
own free will. During today’s’ press conference head of the investment
and construction department Karen Davtyan said he is surprised at the
complaints. In his words, 400 contracts had to be signed. 375 of them
were signed without any conflicts.
According to K. Davtyan, people registered real estate incorrectly
and did not privatize illegal territories, that is why they are not
satisfied with the compensation offered. As fort he income tax imposed
on the compensation, the problem can be solved after introducing
certain changes to the law.
Karen Davtyan considers that the compensation is enough for purchasing
a new flat. In his words, $400 was allocated for a square meter of
dwelling in Buzand Street, some residents were even paid $925-980. When
asked in which Yerevan districts it is possible to by a flat K. Davtyan
said, “For example Angetta Muradyan can buy 30 square meters in the
center of Yerevan. However, he could not tell how a family consisting
of 10 members will leave on 30 square meters. (to note, Muradyans’
house has been already pulled down)
Karen Davtyan did not rule out the possibility of increasing the
amount of compensation if “the investor wishes to do it.”

CAMP INSTEAD OF BARRICADES
A1+
| 17:32:56 | 06-09-2005 | Social |
Today at 9 a.m. policemen pulled down the barricades at Byuzand
Street. They met no resistance as the street residents were afraid
of arrests.
Last evening at about 7 p.m. policemen arrived at Byuzand
street. However, seeing a crowd they retired. Maybe they refrained
from rough actions because pictures of Robert Kocharian were stuck
to the walls to be pulled down.
To note, today the residents of Buzand Street sent an appeal to
Mayor of Yerevan Yervand Zakharyan. The appeal said that a camp for
children will open between Abovyan and Zakiyan Streets. The Mayor
has not granted permission yet, however the residents have already
started preparatory works.

KARABAKH SETTLEMENT NEAR?
A1+
| 17:01:28 | 06-09-2005 | Official |
Today Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan received the
delegation headed by OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign
Minister Dimitrij Rupel.
The head of the Armenian government highly appreciated the attention
paid by the OSCE leadership to the Karabakh conflict settlement
process. Andranik Margaryan confirmed Armenia’s official position,
according to which the OSCE Minsk Group possesses the potential
needed for the conflict settlement. In the Premier’s words, the
meeting held at the presidential level are efficient and should
continue without ruling out NKR’s participation in the negotiation
process. Andranik Margaryan supported Mr. Rupel’s opinion, who stated
of inadmissibility of opposing the principles of territorial integrity
and nation’s self-determination taking into account the peculiarities
of the conflicts.
According to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office the meetings and discussions
held within the visit framework have hastened the settlement process
despite the fact that are some difficulties connected with the
parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.
Mr. Rupel also noted that he is informed of the reforms carried out
in Armenia and gave a high estimate to the process of adoption of
the constitutional amendments, which proves that Armenia is trying
to bring its legislative structures to the European standards.

FREE SPEECH FOR TURKEY
Washington Post, DC
Wednesday, September 7, 2005; Page A24
Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey’s most acclaimed writers, is facing
up to three years in prison. His offense, according to the state
prosecutor? “Public denigrating of Turkish identity.” Specifically,
Mr. Pamuk told a Swiss newspaper in February that certain topics were
off-limits for discussion in Turkey — citing the massacre of Armenians
in 1915 and the more recent conflicts between Turkish security forces
and Kurdish separatists. “Thirty-thousand Kurds were killed here,
1 million Armenians as well. And almost no one talks about it,”
he said. “Therefore, I do.”
As mild as these comments sound to American ears, they touched off a
firestorm in Turkey, where the government line is that the Armenian
deaths were the consequence of war, not genocide, and public discussion
of the issue is hazardous. The uproar over Mr. Pamuk’s remarks,
which included death threats and burnings of his books, culminated
with the filing of the criminal case under Article 301/1 of the
Turkish Penal Code, which applies criminal penalties to “a person
who explicitly insults being a Turk, the Republic or Turkish Grand
National Assembly.” Under Turkish law, Mr. Pamuk isn’t even permitted
to comment on the charges before his case is heard in December.
The prosecution of Mr. Pamuk is, of course, outrageous; the charges
should be dropped as soon as possible. The ill-advised use of
this ill-advised provision to punish Mr. Pamuk contravenes Turkey’s
commitment to comply with the free-speech provisions of international
agreements such as the European Convention on Human Rights. It’s
exactly the wrong signal for Turkey to be sending as Europe debates
its admission to the European Union. As Mr. Pamuk’s translator,
Maureen Freely, wrote in the British newspaper the Independent,
“There is no doubt that it will raise questions about the wisdom of
Turkey’s EU membership bid. How can it possibly claim to be a European
country if it has such laws on the books, and if public prosecutors
can bring such cases?”
This reaction, indeed, may be exactly what those pushing for a
prosecution intended; the timing of the charges, as European ministers
meet in Wales to discuss Turkey’s membership, is suspicious. That
makes it even more important for the national government, though it
doesn’t control the prosecutor who brought the case, to do what it
can to halt this case and others like it. Turkey has made important
strides in protecting freedom of expression in recent years, including
reforming its penal code. The charges against Mr. Pamuk underscore
how far it still has to go.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTY SPLITS OVER FOREIGN POLICY
Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep.
Sept 7 2005
(RFE/RL)
7 September 2005 — Several top members of a leading opposition
party said yesterday that they are quitting in protest over what they
described as the party’s pro-Western stance.
Albert Bazeian, who left the Anrapetutsiun (Republic) party along
with six comrades, said its leaders’ push for Armenia’s membership
in NATO and withdrawal from the Russian-dominated alliances was wrong.
The Anrapetutsiun party leader, former Prime Minister Aram Sarkisian,
has recently called for Armenia to quit the Commonwealth of Independent
States, a loose alliance of ex-Soviet countries.
Armenia has remained a staunch Russian ally and hosts a Russian
military base.
Russia’s energy monopoly assumed financial control of Armenia’s only
nuclear plant in 2003, and earlier this year it also has acquired
the right to manage and receive profits from Armenia’s national grid
company for the next 99 years. Armenia also depends on Russia for
natural-gas supplies.

IN SEARCH FOR ISLAMISED ARMENIAN ORPHANS
By Hakob Tsulikian
AZG Armenian Daily #159
07/09/2005
According to a BBC message published in Armenian Mirror Spectator
weekly, a Turkish documentary filmmaker Berke Bas left for his
birthplace of Ordu at the Black Sea to look for Armenian orphans to
shoot a documentary about them. Speaking to her relatives there, she
found out that her parents once adopted at least 5 Armenian children.
No one has so far taken up the story of Armenian children spared by
the Armenian Genocide and converted into Islam. Discussions of the
Armenian Genocide issue incited by Turkey’s furious efforts to join
the European Union were apparently the cause for removing the taboo
from these issues.
“I’m sure it will be difficult. People are unwilling to respond to my
initiative and ask why I dig the past”, Bas confessed, noting that many
Turkish families refuse that they once had Armenians in their families.
“But we know that there were many such families to the extent that the
Ottoman authorities issued a secret order to punish all those saving
Armenian children by hiding them in their families”, Prof. Selim
Deringil of Bosphorus University of Istanbul assures.
“Those Islamised Christians fear to speak about their past. If a Turk
says that his parents were Armenians, he will be labeled “gyavur”
(unfaithful) and classified as an outcast”, editor of Akos newspaper
Hrant Dink said during the talk with Bas.

ARMENIA-RUSSIA VISIT ORDER CHANGED
A1+
| 20:51:09 | 06-09-2005 | Politics |
Documents referring to the agreement “On non-visa visits of RF and
RA citizens” underwent some changes.
According to the information provided by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs since September 24,2005, the citizens of both countries can
enter or leave the country, move inside the country or stay on the
territory of the other state only in case of possessing the following
documents.
For the RA citizens:
Valid passport of RA citizen, diplomatic passport, certificate on
return /only for entering Armenia/, birth certificate /for children
under 16/. The document is in force till March 23, 2005.
For Russian citizens:
Foreign passport of Russian citizen, service passport, diplomatic
passport, certificate on return /only for entering the RF/.

RUPEL HINTS ON NKR FUTURE?
A1+
| 19:34:31 | 06-09-2005 | Politics |
Today in Yerevan OSCE Chairman-in-Office Dimitrij Rupel stated that
he held meetings with the heads of the Azeri community of NKR. “I
also met with the NKR top officials”, he added.
Mr. Rupel also informed that this December the OSCE will hold a
conference in Ljubljana, during which he is likely to make a report
on Karabakh. When asked of his attitude to Azerbaijan’s militaristic
statements he said, “Maybe the statement I heard differ from those you
mean…The Azerbaijani government’s position is rather conciliatory.”
However the OSCE Chairman-in-Office refrained from drawing parallels
between the future status of Kosovo and Karabakh. “There is a number
of interesting proposals. A 4-stage settlement was suggested for
Kosovo. At the last stage Kosovo will join the EU. Thus it will not
need self-government”, the Slovenian Foreign Minister said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress