HÃœRRIYET EKLER
10.04.2005

Gul: Turkey could be a model for Algeria

Hurriyet

Talking to a group of journalists on his plane to Algeria for a
two-day visit, Foreign Minister Gül demonstrated the difference
between Turkey and Algeria, a country that has also suffered from
fundamentalist terrorists in the past. Drawing comparisons between
Turkey and Algeria, Gül said that the Turkish democracy has the
potential to influence Algeria.

“Turkey’s experience can make a significant impact on Algeria, just
as it has done on many other countries. First of all, democracy is
much more rooted in Turkey than it is in Algeria. The general public,
political leadership and NGOs alike behaved more rationally when we
were going through hard times. People did not fall into the pitfalls
of provocations. They took concrete and rational steps bearing in
mind Turkey’s future, future generations and fraternity.”

Gül also talked about the alleged Armenian genocide and expressed his
belief that Turkey fell short of efforts in the past. Revealing that
he will be making some announcements in the parliament on Wednesday,
Gül said, “Turkey has been lagging behind. We have to recognise this
fact, whether we like it or not.”

Expressing his conviction that the matter is a long-term one, Gül
continued, “Turkey could have been much more active and courageous
when tackling the issues.”

“We are currently working on new methods and strategies.”

When asked about the recent developments reagrding the Incirlik
air-base, Gül said there was nothing “extraordinary” and that the
matter will not be brought up in parliament.

“US Forces are requesting a more regular flight schedule. We are
currently dealing with the matter, although it is still in the early
stages. There is no political decision-making involved just yet.”

–Boundary_(ID_8/GsfJ5JWDtaI5qwpnCZcQ)–

Turkey to debate strategy against Armenian genocide campaign

10/04/2005   AFP

ANKARA, April 9 (AFP) – 15h47 – Turkey’s parliament next week will
debate counter-action against a damaging Armenian campaign for the
recognition of the killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as
genocide, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying Saturday.

Gul told journalists accompanying him on a trip to Algeria he would
take the floor at a special parliamentary session, scheduled for
Wednesday, to detail Ankaraâ’s strategy, Anatolia news agency
reported.

“Like it or not, Turkey has gotten behind on this issue,” Gul said.
“Turkey should have been more active and addressed this problem with
more courage to better enlighten the international community.”

On April 24 the Armenians will mark the 90th anniversary of the
beginning of the controversial World War I massacres, which have
already been acknowledged as genocide by several countries, including
France which is home to a large Armenian diaspora.

Ankara worries that the Armenians are using the anniversary to step up
their campaign, particularly in the United States, whose traditionally
close ties with Turkey are today markedly strained amid differences
over Iraq.

Some European Union politicans also maintain that Turkey should
address the genocide claims and mend fences with neighboring Armenia
as it prepares to launch membership talks on October 3.

The mass killings and deportations of Armenians during World War I
is one of the most controversial episodes in Turkish history.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen perished in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire,
the predecessor of modern Turkey, was falling apart.

Ankara categorically rejects claims of genocide and argues that
300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were killed in what was
civil strife during World War I when the Armenians rose against their
Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month called for an unbiased
study of the genocide allegations and declared Turkeyâ’s state
archives open to all historians.

–Boundary_(ID_QzJfYf9KZiH6/B3YCFKj5Q)–

Araz Azimov: “Armenia tries to gain extra time by creating tension in borderline”

08 April 2005 [16:33] – Today.Az

“I am sure that the meeting between the leaders of foreign policy
offices of Armenia and Azerbaijan planned to be held on April 14-15
will be realized”.

This was stated to APA by vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Araz Azimov.

He stated that both meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and
the presidents are of great importance.

“In Prague discussions that began in 2004 the maters of eliminating
the results of the conflict, liberation of the territories from armed
forces, restoring the infrastructure, sending the population back to
their homes, establishing normal relations and forming cooperation are
being discussed. Armenia must obey the ceasefire. Regular violation of
ceasefire regime has the purpose of straining the situation. Armenia
wants to use the strained situation as a pretext and get some time. But
losing time is not for the benefit of any side”.

MARKING MALE HEALTH DAY BECOMES TRADITION IN ARMENIA

Arminfo

YEREVAN, APRIL 8. ARMINFO. Starting from today, all the Armenian men
are given an opportunity to undergo free urological examination and
treatment at the Urological CLinic of the Republican Medical Union
“Armenia” for a month.

Talking to ARMINFO, Head of the clinic Armen Muradyan says the Ministry
of Public Health, the Ministry of Defense and the union “Armenia”
pledged to finance the action. Muradyan says that the first week of the
action will be for men without age restrictions, and all the veterans
of the Great Patriotic War will be able to use the urological service
of the clinic till May 8. Hew says that the action aims improvement
of the quality of diagnostic and treatment of male diseases.

Muradyan says that observations of specialists showed that during the
last 8-10 years in Armenia cases of urinary bladder and proistate gland
cancer among men at the age of 40-45 doubled. They apply to specialists
only at the stage when already no effective assistance is possible. 70%
of men applying to specialists are at the 3-4 stages of the disease.

To note, days of male health have been marked in Armenia for already
third years in succession. It has become a tradition that male health
days are held immediately after April 7, Day of Maternity and beauty
in Armenia. Talking to ARMINFO earlier, Public Health Minister Norayr
Davtyan said that “The best present to a woman is a healthy man.”

NO ARMENIAN CITIZENS WERE AMONG CASUALTIES IN A TERRORIST ACT IN CAIRO

Arminfo

YEREVAN, APRIL 8. ARMINFO. No Armenian citizens were among the
casualties in a terrorist act in Cairo on April 7 2005. Press Secretary
of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Hamlet Gasparyan informs ARMINFO’s
correspondent today.

The POlice version is that yesterday approximately at 21:00 a terrorist
on a motorbike threw an exploitive at the tourists in the historical
center of Cairo. According to the preliminary data, 4 were killed and
20 injured in the terrorist act. The whole area is surrounded by the
police, details are being determined.-

ARMENIAN KHACHKARS TO BE DISPLAYED IN LOUVRE

Arminfo

YEREVAN, APRIL 8. ARMINFO. Armenian khachkars (cross-stones) will be
displayed in Louvre within the framework of the Year of Armenia in
France, which will be held in 2006-2007.

France’s Ambassador to Armenia Henry Cuny informed ARMINFO,
French experts of the famous museum arrived in Yerevan recently,
who must select Khachkars from the funds of a number of museums of
Armenia for the Louvre. Numerous cultural arrangements, as well as
trade exhibitions of food and other products made in Armenia will be
organized within the framework of the Year of Armenia in France. The
ambassador mentioned that the apricot will become the main fruit symbol
of Armenia, as Armenian apricots are famous for its flavouring quality
already all over the world. Henry Cuny mentioned that the holding
of the Year will help to present wide sections of the population of
France with rich culture of Armenia, which, in its turn, will attract
the interest of the French to visit Armenia. “Armenia is one of the
most stable countries of the world”, the ambassador mentioned.

The Vatican

APOSTOLIC VOYAGE IN ARMENIA
FAREWELL CEREMONY
ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II
Zvartnotz International Airport
Yerevan, 27 September 2001

Your Excellency President Kocharian,
Your Holiness,
Dear Armenian Friends,

1. The time has come to say farewell and to thank you, Mr President,
and the members of the Government for the wonderful hospitality I
have found in Armenia. I am grateful to everyone, authorities and
collaborators, civil and military, the men and women of the media, to
all who have given their time and skills to make this visit a success.

With deep emotion I express my thanks to you, Your Holiness, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos, and to the hierarchy and faithful of
the Armenian Apostolic Church for the spirit of brotherly love and
communion which we have shared in these days.

2. Farewell to you, dear Archbishop Nerses, Archbishop Vartan, Bishop
Giuseppe, and to the priests, men and women religious, and laity of
the Catholic Church. With intense joy we have celebrated together
the mystery of our faith, and I have experienced at first hand your
desire to work with all your fellow citizens for greater justice and
a better life for all Armenians. The Pope keeps you in his heart, and
God himself will give you strength to meet the challenges before you.

I express once more my esteem for the representatives of all the
Churches and Ecclesial Communities who have taken part in the events of
my visit. May all the followers of Christ grow in trust and ecumenical
friendship as we move into the Third Millennium and travel the path
of ever closer union and cooperation!

3. Thank you, people of Armenia, for the warmth of your friendship,
for the prayer we have shared, for your yearning for Christian
unity. Thank you most of all for the witness of your faith, a faith
you have not abandoned in dark times, a faith which remains deeply
rooted in your families and in your national life.

Throughout history, Mount Ararat has been a symbol of stability and
a source of confidence for the Armenian people. Yet time and again
that stability and confidence were sorely tested by violence and
persecution. The Armenian people have paid dearly for their frontier
existence, so much so that the words “holiness” and “martyrdom” have
become almost identical in your vocabulary. The terrible events at
the beginning of the last century which brought your people “to the
brink of annihilation”, the long years of totalitarian oppression,
the devastation of a disastrous earthquake: none of these has been
able to prevent the Armenian soul from regaining courage and recovering
its great dignity.

4. It is true, these are difficult years, and your heart is sometimes
weary and unsure. Many of your young people have left the land of their
birth; there is not enough work and poverty persists; it is hard to
keep striving for the common good. But, dear Armenian Friends, hold
on to hope! Remember that you have put your trust in Christ and said
yes to him for ever. Supported by your Armenian brothers and sisters
throughout the world you are committed to the task of rebuilding in
freedom your country and your society.

The time is ripe for your nation to gather its cultural resources
and spiritual energies in a great concerted effort to develop and
prosper on the basis of the fundamental truths of your Christian
heritage: the dignity of every human being, the centrality of the
person in every relationship and situation, the moral imperative
of equal justice for all, and solidarity with the weak and the less
fortunate. I pray to the Lord that the leaders of Armenia and of the
other peoples of the region will have the wisdom and perseverance
to move forward courageously on the path of peace, for without peace
there can be no genuine development and prosperity.

5. In saying farewell, I am filled with confidence, for I have seen
your resilience and the nobility of your aspirations. May Armenian
hearts ever repeat the words of your great poet Hovhannès Tumaniàn
about the homeland:

“But still you live, standing erect in spite of all your wounds
on the mysterious journey of time, past and present,
still standing, wise and pensive, and sad, with your God . . .
And the dawn of life’s happiness will come,
its light at last in thousands upon thousands of souls;
and on the sacred slopes of your Mount Ararat
will shine forth at last the flame of the time to come.
Then, with the dawn, new songs and new poems
will be on the lips of the poets”.

May Saint Gregory the Illuminator and the great host of Armenian
Martyrs and Saints watch over you now and in the future! And may the
Mother of Christ, Ark of the New Covenant, guide Armenia to the peace
which lies beyond the great flood, the peace of God who has set his
bow in the clouds as a sign of his everlasting love (cf. Gen 9:13).

Thank you, Mr President! Thank you, dear Brother Karekin! Thank
you all!

–Boundary_(ID_rj71TLnORnxiNEgbUQCOfQ)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DURING FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2005, FRONTIER GUARDS OF FRONTIER
DEPARTMENT OF RUSSIAN FEDERAL SERVICE DETAINED 50 VIOLATORS OF RA
STATE BORDER

YEREVAN, APRIL 8. ARMINFO. During the first three months of 2005,
the frontier guards of the Frontier Department of the Russian Federal
Service detained 50 violators of the state border of the Republic
of Armenia, Head of the Frontier Department of the russian Federal
Security Service in Armenia Lieutenant General Sergey Bondarev
informs ARMINFO.

He says that 49 violators trying to enter Armenia with forged
documents and then to leave to remote countries were detained at
the international airport “Zvartnots.” A Kurd “seeking better life
in Armenia” was detained by Gyumri frontier division and then was
transferred to the Turkish party by the Armenian National Security
Service after necessary investigation measures, the russian general
says.

GEORGIAN MP REFUTES INFORMATION OF GEORGIAN NEWSPAPER

Arminfo

AKHALKALAKI, APRIL 8. ARMINFO. Gergian MP Van Bayburyan has refuted
information published in a Georgian newspaper “Alia.”

According to the publication in the above newspaper, in the course
of April 5-6 negotiations between Armenian and Georgian presidents,
the issue of the Armenian President’s contribution to dispersal of
demonstration sentiments in Akhalkalaki and easing the situation
in Samtskhe-Javakhetia was discussed. The newspaper says that in
return Robert Kocharyan allegedly asked Mikheil Sahakashvili to
activate Abkhazian railway branch in direction Sochi-Yerevan as soon
as possible.

A-INFO reports today that Van Bayburyan participating in the meeting
of Armenian and Georgian presidents says in connection with the
publication in the above newspaper that it does not correspond to
reality. He does not rule out that activation of the railway section
was discussed by the presidents tete-a-tete. However, he categorically
refutes the information of the Georgian newspaper. “No bargaining
was and could be between the two presidents as ‘Alia’ writes,”
Bayburyan says.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONCURS THAT ARMENIAN KARABAKH CAN NEVER AGAIN BE
GOVERNED BY AZERBAIJAN

Arminfo

YEREVAN, APRIL 8. ARMINFO. said Ross Vartian, Executive director
Armenian Assembly of America in a letter to the editorial office of
The Washington Times.

AAA informs ARMINFO that the letter was a response to the article of
the head of Caspian Energy Consulting company Rob Sobhani. Vartian
says in the letter that Karabakh Armenians have long made their
choice for freedom and democracy and have defended that choice
in a war forced on them more than a decade ago. Besides he writes
that in “A ‘warehouse of evil,’ ” Mr. Sobhani claims that Armenian
authorities are unable to manage their armed forces and armaments. The
FBI disagrees and just two weeks ago praised “the professionalism and
active cooperation of the Armenian authorities” in a sting operation
in which would-be smugglers were nabbed before they attempted to move
the weapons into the United States. In fact, Washington has praised
Armenia’s military cooperation, calling the country a “key partner”
in the war on terror. To claim that Azerbaijan, as compared to Armenia,
has been unfairly penalized in foreign aid misrepresents the situation
on the ground. Mr. Sobhani could have added that U.S. assistance to
Armenia would not be so critical if Turkish and Azeri blockades were
not strangling its eastern and western borders, he writes.

“While Mr. Sobhani correctly notes that Armenia’s president supports
a peaceful resolution to the Karabakh conflict, his Azeri counterpart
does not. President Ilham Aliyev has declared repeatedly that he is
“not in a hurry” to settle the conflict and would start a new war at
the time of his choosing.”