LATVIA TO SUPPORT ARMENIA IN THE EU

A1+
07-03-2005

This year is the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and
Parliaments of many European countries have already referred this
problem. Armenia expects that the Latvian Parliament will also take
proper steps.

During the visit to Armenia the Latvian side offered its support to
raise the problem of the Armenian Genocide in the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly summer session to take part in Washington. Cooperation was
suggested among parties, non-governmental organizations and woman
delegates.

Today the delegation headed by the Latvian Saeyma President Ingrida
Udre honored the memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian
Genocide going to Tsitsernakaberd and putting flowers at the eternal
flame.

DESPARATE TURKS

A1+
07-03-2005

In the process of creating Turkish history Turkey has taken a new
cunning step lately; animals will help them in this business.
According to the electronic newspaper Day.az, by the decision of the
Turkish Ministry of Environmental and Forest Protection, the names of
the animals in which there are the adjectives â~@~Armenianâ~@~] and
â~@~Kurdishâ~@~] have been changed.

>>From now on the reddish fox, the international name of which is
â~@~Kurdish foxâ~@~], has lost the adjective â~@~Kurdishâ~@~]. The
â~@~wild Armenian ramsâ~@~] living in the Anatolian mountains have
become â~@~Anatolian wild ramsâ~@~] and the â~@~Armenian goatsâ~@~]
have become simply goats.

â~@~]At present games are played about our country. Some people use
the names of animals of our fauna to prove that Armenian and Kurds
have lived here. Changing the names of the animals, we have put an
end to the gamesâ~@~], announced the naïve Turkish official.

–Boundary_(ID_aXSevABggLfIfYztxT/JDg)–

ARMENIA SEES PROBLEMS IN THE EUROPEAN FAMILY

A1+
07-03-2005

The RA NA deputy president Vahan Hovhannisyan has found the
cooperation in the international structures important and has
mentioned, â~@~Armenia sees a serious obstacles in the realization
of the program â~@~Enlarged Europe â~@~S New Neighborsâ~@~] as the
problem of Turkey’s acceptance into the EU is being discussed. Turkey
has put Armenia into a blockade and his aggressive announcements do
not contribute to the solution of the problem.â~@~]

The Armenian delegates have represented this complaint to the President
of the Latvian Parliament. It was also mentioned that Turkey has not
recognized the Armenia Genocide, and in the problem of the acceptance
in the EU the Armenian blockade and the recognition of the Genocide
must be preconditions. It has also been warned that 700 000 Armenian
living in Europe are citizens of the EU and their opinion about
Turkey’s acceptance into the EU cannot be ignored.

–Boundary_(ID_MLv02+dKZeiQtYDnWjud2g)–

Zaman, Turkey
March 7 2005

Turkish FM: Reforms Underway
By Suleyman Kurt
Published: Monday 07, 2005
zaman.com

The EU Commission’s Enlargement Commissioner, Olli Rehn, and the EU
Term President, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselbor, met with
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday while in Ankara for a
European Union (EU)-Turkey meeting. Gul assured them that the reform
process will be sustained.

Rehn said it is normal for Turkey to take a “breather” after the
December 17th EU summit, but that it is necessary to continue reform
work. Rehn referred to remarks made by the EU Commission’s Ankara
Representative Hansjorg Kretschmer who said, “Turkey has slowed down
on the reform process.” Rehn said, “Reforms in Ankara may have slowed
down, but there seems to be no problem in Brussels.” Meanwhile, Gul
reiterated Turkey’s expectations of the EU and said, “If the EU
remains loyal to its assurances, we are ready to take the process
further.”

Gul first met with Rehn and briefed him about Turkey’s performance
since the December 17th summit. The Turkish Foreign Minister stressed
that Turkey has confirmed its guarantee to sign the adaptation
protocol, saying, “This protocol, when the time comes, will be
signed. In the EU process, there is no slowing down because of us. We
decisively claim the reform process and its implementations.” Gul
also conveyed Turkish demands for the Accession Partnership Document
and underlined the sensitivities. He asked the EU to prepare the
document with consideration of Turkish sensitivities. Gul urged EU
not to discriminate against Turkey and not to act differently than
they did during the Croatian process. Turkey does not want Alevi,
Kurdish, and Armenian issues to be included in the documents. Gul
also raised the discarding of regulations to lift sanctions in the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and emphasized that the
Greek Cypriots have prevented a solution. He warned that they are
seeking shelter behind the EU. Rehn admitted there are “difficulties
with the Greek side.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Zaman, Turkey
March 7 2005

Turkey on List of Humanitarian Crimes
By Foreign News Services
Published: Monday 07, 2005
zaman.com

The latest genocide and bloody events list published by the
“Conscience Committee” of the Genocide Commemoration Museum in the US
claims that Turkey killed 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey.

It is said in a news article published in the Washington Post that
the mass genocide of civilians and other humanitarian crimes have
taken place in the century-long bloody wars. The article reports that
the number of lives lost and crimes committed have been recorded,
however, the exact number can never be known.

Humanitarian crimes that took place in various places around the
world have also been recorded in the list where it is claimed that
Turkey had “murdered” 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1918.

According to the list, seven million people had been murdered in
Ukraine by the former Russian leader Joseph Stalin in 1932-33, the
Japanese killed 300,000 Chinese in the Nanjing massacre, six million
Jews had been murdered in Nazi Germany between 1938-1945, two million
people under the Pol Pot regime had been killed in Kampuchea in
1975-79, 200,000 people in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995, and 800,000
people in Rwanda in 1994 had been murdered.

The Armenian society in Armenia controls a lobby that issues a
statement alleging the genocide by Turkey in the media each year
prior to April 24, the accepted date for the commemoration of the
alleged Armenian genocide.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Bllomberg.com

Europe

EU’s Rehn Says Turks Must Implement EU-Sought Changes (Update1)

March 7 (Bloomberg) — Turkey must keep implementing measures needed to join
the European Union as it prepares for membership talks in October, EU
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said.

Turkey should continue to strengthen minority and women’s rights in all
areas of the country, including the mainly Kurdish southeast, Rehn told
reporters in Ankara late yesterday, after meeting Turkish Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul.

“It’s very important that the momentum of the reforms is kept up, that
Turkey keeps up the momentum of the legal, political and also increasingly
the economic reforms, especially as regards the implementation of these
reforms,” Rehn said.

Turkey says the membership talks with the EU will help it reduce the cost of
servicing its $250 billion debt and attract foreign investment. Hansjoerg
Kretschmer, the head of the European Commission in Turkey, last week said
Turkey’s implementation of EU- backed laws had slowed since it won a date to
start membership talks with the EU three months ago.

The EU will run the so-called “screening process” for membership parallel
with accession negotiations when talks with Turkey begin in October, Rehn
said. Turkey before then should maintain zero tolerance for torture and
respect freedom of expression and the rights of non-Muslims, he said.

The U.S. and Britain says the EU must embrace a country that’s both Muslim
and democratic to help win the war on terror and encourage democracy in the
Middle East. Turkey, which became a candidate for membership of the EU in
1999, borders countries including Iraq, Iran, Syria and Armenia. It’s the
only member of the North Atlantic treaty Organization that’s 99 percent
Muslim.

Government Denial

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied that his government has
slowed the pace of legislative change aimed at meeting EU and International
Monetary Fund criteria, the daily Sabah said, citing comments made by
Erdogan in Ankara yesterday.

The European Union aims to publish a framework for the negotiations with
Turkey by the end of June, Rehn said. The document outlines the political
and economic steps the nation must take before it can join the 25-nation EU.

“The work will have to go on, the reforms have to be consolidated and
continued,” he said. “This means that we will continue monitoring and we
will support the reform work done by Turkey to make the rule of law apply in
all walks of life, in all areas of Turkey. This is a process, not a
one-stop.”

EU Talks

Rehn, Gul and Jean Asselborn, the foreign minister of Luxembourg, which
currently holds the EU presidency, are meeting in Ankara today for talks on
Turkey’s candidacy. They are due to hold a news conference at 3 p.m. local
time.

“The government has perhaps been too busy with other domestic and political
issues,” said Volkan Kurt, an economist at Finans Yatirim Securities in
Istanbul. “The problem of course has been on the implementation side. The
government needs more time for implementation of the reforms.”

Turkey’s government says it displays “zero tolerance” toward torture in
the nation’s police stations and jails. The government must do more to
implement that policy, particularly in the mainly-Kurdish southeast of the
country, Yusuf Alatas, head of the Human Rights Association, said in an
interview on March 3.

The government must tackle problems with freedom of expression that have
resulted in several court cases against the media in the past year, the EU’s
Kretschmer said last week.

Turkey can’t join the EU because its culture and history isn’t sufficiently
European, say some EU politicians including Nicolas Sarkozy, leader of
French President Jacques Chirac’s Union for a Popular Movement Party. Chirac
last year said the talks may take 15 years to complete.

By 2025, Turkey would swallow up EU farm and regional subsidies equal to
about 0.17 percent of annual European economic output, or about $20 billion
in today’s terms, the European Commission said in a report published in
October. France, the biggest beneficiary of the EU’s $47 billion budget for
agriculture, gets $9 billion in farm aid.

The EU’s political leaders agreed at a summit on Dec. 17 to start the
negotiations with Turkey after the government curbed the political influence
of the military and improved cultural and language rights for the nation’s
12 million Kurds.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Mark Bentley in Ankara at [email protected].

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Catherine Hickley in Berlin at [email protected].
Last Updated: March 7, 2005 04:20 EST

The Messenger, Georgia
March 7 2005

Noghaideli succeeds in lifting railway blockade
By M. Alkhazashvili

New Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli has managed to persuade President
Ilham Aliev of Azerbaijan to lift the quasi railway blockade from
Azerbaijan to Georgia.

The breakthrough happened during the recent working visit of PM
Noghaideli to Azerbaijan and his personal negotiations with President
Aliev during which he promised to lift the blockade in the coming
days.

Misunderstanding concerning cargo transported from Azerbaijan to
Georgia started in 2004. The Azeri leadership stated then that some
cargo entering Georgia from Azerbaijan was being rerouted to Armenia.

By detaining railway freight cars at the border, Azeribaijan hoped to
identify any goods being sent to Armenia via Georgia. But this
activity unintentionally resulted in serious damage to the
reliability of the South Caucasus transport corridor. Georgian
importers incurred major losses and many international forwarders
started exploring other for cargo transportation.

However Friday’s visit of Noghaideli to Azerbaijan and his meeting
with Aliev proved that the relationship with the two countries is
still very good. President Aliev mentioned that there is a better
understanding and support between Georgian and Azerbaijan, reports
24-Saati.

Still this temporary misunderstanding occurred and as the head of
Georgian Railways, David Onoprishvili, says, because the delays of
freight at the Azeri border, Georgia has lost more than USD 1
million.

Due to an agreement signed by both Baku and Tbilisi, it is clear that
transiting of goods bound for Armenia via the Azeri-Georgian border
is prohibited. It is also a fact that some of the goods entering
Georgia from Azerbaijan ended up in Armenia. But a question remained
as to why Azerbaijan does not check the cargo at its other border
when it first enters Azerbaijan.

The Georgian paper 24-Saati asks if there is a suspicion or ways of
identifying and detecting such goods, why doesn’t the Azeri
administration detects such goods upon their arrival in Azeri
territory and turn it back or confiscate at that time.

Georgian media tries to explain the situation with two arguments:
Azerbaijan avoids spoiling its relationship either with Russia or
Turkmenistan and secondly Azerbaijan wants to involve Georgia in the
blockade of Armenia.

Some analysts however think that Azeri activities in blocking cargo
bound for Armenia may be an indication that Azerbaijan is preparing
for war to retake the Karabakh province.

Considering history, it is ironic that now during a time of peace
Azerbaijan is seeking stricter trade measures against Armenia. The
circulation of goods between two countries via Georgia did not stop
even during the hottest battles between the two countries.

Irish Times
March 7 2005

Syrian generals hold power in Lebanon’s real capital

Lara Marlowe in Anjar, Bekaa Valley

On the road to Damascus, the Syrian presence starts faintly in the
Lebanese capital Beirut; grows more visible as you cross the Mount
Lebanon range; becomes so prevalent by the time you reach the Bekaa
Valley that you’d think you were in Syria.

As Syria begins pulling back its forces from Lebanon today, these
ragamuffin soldiers, with their worn boots and faded uniforms,
delivering oranges and Arabic bread from the back of a lorry on
Mederij Ridge, are the subject of the Middle East’s big showdown.

A Soviet-made, tracked anti-aircraft gun is parked outside their
derelict outpost and the Syrians’ radar turns like a windmill
overhead.

An equestrian statute of Bassel al-Assad, the elder brother of the
Syrian president Bashar, killed in a car crash, welcomes you to
Chtaura, the entry to the Bekaa Valley.

Here is the first Syrian checkpoint, manned by agents in leather
jackets, moving traffic along with a desultory jerk of the head.

Other checkpoints are manned by Syrian soldiers in camouflage
uniforms. This road is usually packed on Sundays, with farmers from
Syria selling cut-price fruit, vegetables and milk, but when Arabs
sense danger they stay at home.

Anjar is the real capital of Lebanon, the place where the head of
Syrian intelligence, Gen Rustom Ghazale, summons Lebanese politicians
to give them orders.

Just five kilometres from the Syrian border, most of Anjar’s
population are descendants of Armenians brought here in 1939. Anjar
is famous for Roman and Phoenician ruins, fresh trout restaurants and
Syrian mokhabarat (secret police).

Gen Ghazale’s headquarters is a modern villa with a flowering cherry
tree in the garden. The Mercedes of Lebanese justice minister Adnan
Addoum is in the driveway.

My interpreter trembles as she asks the gunmen at the gate if we can
see Gen Ghazale. They send us to another house tucked away amid
orchards to look for Gen Ghazale’s assistant, Gen Elias.

A tall, thin plainclothes agent tells us Gen Elias doesn’t work on
Sunday. “Anyway, we are not in the habit of giving interviews,” he
says.

A framed poster of President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon, shoulder to
shoulder with the late president Hafez al-Assad of Syria, catches my
eye. A child posing between them reminds me of the threat of King
Solomon of the Old Testament to slice an infant in two; half of his
bonnet and scarf are a Lebanese flag, the other half Syrian.

The plainclothes agent nods towards the poster. “There is no
difference between the Lebanese and Syrian people,” he smiles.

KurdistanObserver
March 7 2005

The Most Distinguish Characteristic of Modern Turkish Nationalism:

Denial of Reality, Xenophobia, Racism, and Anti-Semitism

By: Amed Demirhan

Mar 7, 2005

The people in Turkey from elementary school and on are indoctrinated
with denial of historical realities and socio-ethnographical and
cultural diversity in their country. All form of mass media daily
reinforces this abnormality, and any one that questions this, will
become subject of the witch-hunt. When, one listens to mainstream
Turkish politician and “educated class” one wonders if they are from
the plant of Earth or somewhere else? The recent debate in Turkey is
a typical example of this abnormalities: the government foreign
policy; the mass medias which hunts against writer Orhan Pamuk
statement in regards to Armenian genocide and crime against Kurds,
and the Ministry of environment and forest changing name of wild
animals just to exclude words Kurdistan and Armenian, and the
increase in Anti-Semitism are typical characteristics of modern
Turkish nationalism. This type of nationalism as evidenced in many
historical examples is harmful to every one including the nation it
advocate for, therefore, standing against current Turkish nationalism
is as important as standing against Nazism, Stalinism, Saddams~R
Regime and Bathism. It is in the best interest of Turkish people to
be liberated from this illness.

The government of Turkey still refuses to call Bath~Rsist
(Sunni-Hanafi) and Islamic Fascist in central Iraq terrorist. In the
past many time Turkey had strongly protested United States lead
freedom forces victory in the city of Falluga and Tell Afar, in Iraq,
but until now it never protested terrorist attacks against civilian
in Iraq. At the same time it had characterized Israel~Rs shelve
defense acts against terrorist Islam-I Jihad organization as state
terrorism. Recently a Turkish news portal “Haber X (3/2/050) reported
that about 400 Turks are fighting against the USA lead freedom forces
in Iraq with terrorist leader Al-Zarkavi. It noted that these
fighters are veterans from Bosnian war against Serbia. This indicates
that Turkish government knows who are these “Turkish ~V Islamic”
fighters because almost all of those fighters that went to Bosnia,
Chechnya, and in the past to Afghanistan went via Turkish
intelligence services. In addition, in March first of this year 200
Turkish “intellectuals”: journalists, professors, writers, and some
“civic” organization representative visited Syria to show their
solidarity with Syrian dictatorship against Western pressure and the
United Nation request for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. Most of
these 200 people are closely related to the state (its hard to call
them civilian). March 1, is significant, it is the day Turkish
Parliament under Turkish military pressure refused to let the USA
lead forces go through Turkey and open a second front against Saddams
regime. This indicate that Turkish regime is the most
anti-Westernization and democratization of the Middle East because it
sees freedom as a treat to its regime.

One may expect a Turkey that had received a negotiation date from
European Union (EU) may act little better internally but looking in a
recent debate it is doubtful and domestic policy like its foreign
policy is anti-democratic. Last week one of the most famous Turkish
writers Orhan Pamuk in an interview stated, that One million Armenian
and 30,000 Kurds had been victim of the state (Turkish state). About
90% of media commentators started a lynching company against the
author and political organization like infamous “Gray Wolfe” movement
send death treat to the author. In fact Mr. Pamuk~Rs statement could
have been subject of a serious debate and his statement is very
questionable because more than one million Armenian and
Assurian/Keldan have been killed and the number of Kurds have been
killed since foundation of the Turkish republic is very high and
millions were deported from their homes. This shows how much free
debate is possible in Turkey that prepares to join to EU?

The republic of Turkey prohibited every thing that wasn~Rt Turkish in
historic multinational and cultural diverse geography and named them
in Turkish from beginning. Apparently they have forgotten few wild
animals name like: “~QVulpes Vulpes Kürdistanicum” (A fox in Kurdistan
area) and “Ovis Armeniana” (wild sheep in old Armenia) in their
scientific classification. The ministry of environment and forest
acted right away on this discovery and changed their name to Turkish.
( 3/5/05). I wonder if any one knows or heard
this kind of xenophobia, racism and hatred anywhere? Even Sheep and
Foxes cannot be Armenian or Kurdistani? The modern Turkish
nationalism is founded of the denial of reality and has been
indoctrinating its population in this denial and hatred on any thing
that is not Turkish. This is fundamental problem for every one who
has to deal with Turkish regime. Despite every thing the official
doctrine is totally bankrupted and regime is very weak. Change of
regime is unavoidable in Turkey and its necessary.

–Boundary_(ID_gGXljxoaulp5oib4N368xw)–

PRESS RELEASE
MARCH FOR HUMANITY
104 N. Belmont St. Suite 206
Glendale, CA 91206
Contact: Serouj Aprahamian, Vicken Sosikian
Tel: 818.507.1933
Fax: 818.240.3442
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

215 Mile Walk Will Honor Victims of Forgotten Genocide
March for Humanity Campaign Marks 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Los Angeles, CA March 7, 2005 ~W California youth will walk from Fresno
Calif. to the State Capitol starting on April 2, 2005. The 215-mile 19-day
journey, titled March for Humanity, aims to raise awareness about the
unpunished crime of genocide committed against the Armenian people between
1915 and 1921.

“Ninety years ago innocent Armenians also marched, but not willingly, not
just 215 miles, and not just 19 days,” said Serouj Aprahamian, March for
Humanity Coordinator. “They were forced to death marches across deserts –
hundreds of miles for months with no food or water, left to starve and die
in a premeditated act of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks. This
April we will pay tribute to the 1.5 million lives lost during the Armenian
Genocide by marching in their memory and the memory of all those who have
been victims of genocides. From the Armenian Genocide to the Holocaust, from
the Cambodian genocide to the hell of the Rwandan Genocide, our generation
has an obligation to stand against genocide and its denial.”

Upon arriving in Sacramento, March participants, human rights activists, and
Armenian American community members will gather at the State Capitol for a
rally organized to thank the California State Legislature and 36 other
states~R legislatures for officially recognizing the Genocide. The rally will
also promote public involvement in securing justice not only for the
Armenian Genocide, but also for all unpunished crimes against humanity.

“To avoid accountability for the murder of 1.5 million Armenians, the
Turkish government denies that the systematic annihilation of the Armenians
was genocide,” said Vicken Sosikian, director of the March for Humanity. “We
turn to our nation~Rs leaders, President Bush and the U.S. Congress, in the
name of truth, righteousness, and justice, ask him to condemn the genocide
of 1.5 million Armenians by holding the government of Turkey accountable for
this crime against humanity.”

Organizers are expecting hundreds of supporters and activists from across
the country and Canada to join the March for Humanity. Participants will
sleep in community centers, churches, schools and in tents on the road side.
They will walk, rain or shine, for about 15 miles each day.

Raffi Maronian, a participant who will walk the entire 215 mile distance, is
confident that the march will open people~Rs eyes up to the threat genocide
poses for all of humanity. “Those of us who are familiar with the genocide
carried out against the Armenians bear a special responsibility to make sure
the lessons of such crimes are never again repeated. The recent events in
Sudan serve to demonstrate that we have not done an adequate job. It~Rs time
to raise our level of activism and put an end to the cycle of genocide,”
said Maronian.

                                          # # #

For more information about the March for Humanity, visit
or call (818) 507-1933.

–Boundary_(ID_gmRD8LU6zgRUk2DZoabAVA)–