Deputy FM doesn’t rule out another monitoring in occupied lands

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 9 2005

Baku, February 8, AssA-Irada – A fact-finding mission may be sent
to the occupied regions of Azerbaijan in any stage, Araz Azimov,
Deputy Foreign Minister, the President’s special envoy on the Upper
Garabagh conflict has told journalists.

Azimov did not rule out the conduct of another monitoring of illegal
settlement of Armenians in the occupied regions. “The parties to the
conflict are waiting for the OSCE fact-finding mission to prepare
a report on the results of the monitoring and it is early to give a
political assessment to the issue,” he underlined.

Azimov said that the OSCE mission has completed part of its mission
by registering the facts on illegal settlement of Armenians.*

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri officer’s trial postponed

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 9 2005

Baku, February 8, AssA-Irada
The trial of Senior Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, an officer of the
Azerbaijan Army, originally scheduled to be held in Budapest on
Tuesday, has been adjourned for May 10.
Safarov is accused of murdering his Armenian counterpart Gurgen
Markarian during the NATO training-courses held in the Hungarian
capital.
According to Safarov’s defense lawyer Adil Ismayilov, during the
hearings held on Tuesday, the Hungarian advocates of the Azerbaijani
officer expressed their dissatisfaction with the activity of the
psychiatrists, who made reviews on Safarov during the investigation,
and plead to re-make the examinations.
Ismayilov said that the Armenian side did not lay any claim in the
hearings, underlining that one of the reasons for postponement of the
trial was absence of people, who were to make testimonies, from the
process. The judge approved the advocates’ plea.
Ramil Safarov, who comes from Jabrayil District, Azerbaijan’s region
occupied by Armenia, murdered the Armenian officer in a state of
affect after the latter humiliated his honor and dignity.*

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
02/09/2005
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1) White House Proposes Maintaining Armenia-Azerbaijan Military Assistance
Parity
2) Patriarchate Chancellor Remarks on Melkonian Grant
3) Sargsian’s Iran Visit Continues; Meets with Khatami
4) Deputy Russian Parliament Chairman Proposes New Approach to Calm Tensions
over Karabagh
5) Hungarian Court Postpones Safarov Trial

1) White House Proposes Maintaining Armenia-Azerbaijan Military Assistance
Parity

ANCA welcomes recognition of the role that military aid parity plays in
regional stability

WASHINGTON, DC–In a move welcomed as a contribution to regional stability
and
the search for peace, the Bush Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 budget
proposal, released February 7, called for maintaining parity in military
assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA). This decision represents a break from the last year’s
widely criticized FY 2005 budget request, which, although later reversed by
Congress, initially proposed providing four times more military aid to
Azerbaijan than to Armenia.
“We are gratified that the President’s Fiscal Year 2006 budget calls for
parity in military aid appropriations to Armenia and Azerbaijan,” said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We welcome this request as a contribution
toward regional peace, and want to extend our appreciation to Congressman
Knollenberg, Senator McConnell and the other key legislators who impressed
upon
the Administration the wisdom of this course of action.”
The budget request includes $5 million in Foreign Military Finance (FMF)
assistance and $750,000 in International Military Education and Training
(IMET)
for both Armenia and Azerbaijan. The FY 2006 White House proposal also
includes a $55 million earmark for Armenia, $7 million less than the figure
proposed by the Administration last year, and $20 million less than the actual
assistance appropriated by Congress for 2005. Azerbaijan and Georgia have
been
budgeted $35 million and $67 million, respectively. The overall foreign aid
budget for the former Soviet Union is $482 million, a $74 million reduction
from last year.
For the first time, the budget document also makes specific reference to
‘Nagorno Karabagh,’ citing that a portion of a $48.5 million allocation for
Eurasia would include funding for humanitarian assistance to Mountainous
Karabagh Republic.
“We were pleased that the Administration’s request, for the first time,
specifically cited humanitarian aid to Nagorno Karabagh,” continued
Hamparian.
“We were, however, troubled by the White House’s proposed reduction in aid to
Armenia. We will, in the coming weeks and months, work with Congressional
appropriators in support of an increased allocation for Armenia.”
The Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the Senate and House Appropriation
Committees will now review the budget and each draft their own versions of the
FY 2006 foreign assistance bill.
The agreement to maintain parity in US military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan
was struck between the White House and Congress in 2001, in the wake of
Congressional action granting the President the authority to waive the Section
907 restrictions on aid to Azerbaijan. The ANCA has vigorously defended this
principle, stressing in correspondence, at senior level meetings, and through
grassroots activism, that a tilt in military spending toward Azerbaijan would
destabilize the region, emboldening Azerbaijan’s leadership to continue their
threats to impose a military solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. More
broadly, the ANCA has underscored that breaching the parity agreement would
reward the leadership of Azerbaijan for walking away from the OSCE’s Key West
peace talks, the most promising opportunity to resolve the Nagorno Karabagh
conflict in nearly a decade. Finally, failing to respect the parity agreement
would, the ANCA has stressed, undermine the role of the US as an impartial
mediator of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.

2) Patriarchate Chancellor Remarks on Melkonian Grant

Concerning the press release of the AGBU Central Board of Directors, on the
lawsuit filed by His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and
all Turkey, the Rev. Dr. Krikor Damadyan, the Chancellor of the Patriarchal
See
[of Turkey], released the following statement:
“It is difficult to comprehend how the closure of a prestigious school in the
Middle East, and one of the very few Armenian educational institutions in the
European Union could be in the best interests of the Armenian nation. We
believe that this decision, taken by a few executives, is a wrong one.
“The AGBU Central Board of Directors claims that it will continue to honour
the vision of its many generous benefactors including the late Garabed
Melkonian, for the benefit of all Armenians worldwide. This is a remarkable
statement since the AGBU is confessing publicly that the Armenians in Turkey
are not considered part of “all Armenians worldwide,” since, unlike the
Gulbenkian Foundation and the Apcarian Trust, the AGBU has not taken much
interest in how Armenians in Turkey have wrestled to maintain their community
organisations during the last seventy-five years. However, we do acknowledge
receipt of minor sums sent us by donors through AGBU means.
“The only way to honour the vision of the Melkonian Brothers is to keep the
Melkonian Educational Institute in Cyprus open. The AGBU should refrain from
closing down the MEI and selling the property, lest she should declare herself
untrustworthy before all Armenians worldwide. Why should people make grants to
a charity organisation such as the AGBU, if following their demise a few
executives will deal with the grant in a way that will not do justice to the
benefactor’s memory?
“The AGBU should also publish how she has executed the Melkonian Trust since
1926. As the present successor to Patriarch Zaven of blessed memory, His
Beatitude Patriarch Mesrob takes dutiful interest as to whether the terms of
the grant have been implemented responsibly. Every charity organisation should
be accountable to the public and should not take offense when asked for
accounts. AGBU executives who donate their own family wealth on charity are
appreciated dearly by all Armenians worldwide. Nevertheless, that should not
allow them any right to do as they please with the grants made by other
benefactors.
“His Beatitude Patriarch Mesrob has magnanimously made it known to those
Californian Armenians who would like to act as mediators that he would be
willing to receive a delegation in Istanbul in order to discuss a meaningful
settlement of this critically important issue to the Armenians of Europe.
Great
justice will be done if the AGBU reverses her decision to close down the
Melkonian Educational Institute. This is our Patriarchate’s wish and
prayer, as
also expressed by numerous Melkonian alumni worldwide.”

3) Sargsian’s Iran Visit Continues; Meets with Khatami

TEHRAN (Combined Sources)According to Iran Daily, President Mohammad Khatami
during a meeting with Defense Minister Serge Sargsian stated that cooperation
between Iran and Armenia will help advance mutual interests and promote
regional security and stability.
Khatami told the visiting Armenian minister that the presidents of the two
countries have opened a new chapter in Yerevan-Baku economic cooperation and
should now exert efforts in implementing mutually beneficial accords. To
further such cooperation, the Iranian president spoke about the need for road
and railways that establish a north-south connection.
Echoing Khatami’s remarks, Sargsian noted that the promotion of cultural,
educational, and economic cooperation will bolster regional security.
Sargsian reiterated this sentiment during a Tuesday meeting with his Iranian
counterpart, Hojatoleslam Hassan Rowhani, who raised the Karabagh issue.
Rowhani said that the conflict’s resolution will stem from direct dialogue
between Yerevan and Baku, and assured Sargsian that Iran is ready to offer its
assistance in resolving the issues. Ruling out a military solution, the
Iranian
minister also noted that the people of Karabagh must be involved in deciding
the fate of region.
Responding to Rowhani, Sargsian said that Armenia is ready to settle the
Karabagh crisis within the framework of a collective settlement, which
addresses all of the disputed issues. Sargsian also thanked the Iranian
government for supporting Armenia’s membership in the North-South transit
corridor.
The same day, Sargsian also met with Expediency Council Chairman Akbar
Hashemi
Rafsanjani, who stated, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is willing to broaden
ties with neighboring countries,” and that it is interested to mediating a
peaceful solution to the Karabagh conflict.

4) Deputy Russian Parliament Chairman Proposes New Approach to Calm Tensions
over Karabagh

MOSCOW (Armenpress)–Russian parliament member Vladimir Zhirinovsky proposed,
on Tuesday, a new scheme for ending the more than a decade-long dispute
between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over Mountainous Karabagh.
Considered the most outspoken political leader of his time, Zhirinovsky
argued
that Karabagh should join the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in
order to calm tensions on both sides.
Zhirinovsky, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and a deputy
chairman of parliament, pointed to the futility of resolving both the
Karabagh
conflict and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Speaking to a news conference in Moscow, he stressed that neither Armenia nor
Azerbaijan would ever agree to concessions on Karabagh. “If Russia insists on
joining Karabagh with Armenia, that will offend Azerbaijan; if Karabagh is
joined with Azerbaijan that will hurt Armenia,” he said, adding that
Mountainous Karabagh is, in fact, a historical part of Armenia.

5) Hungarian Court Postpones Safarov Trial

BUDAPEST (Armenpress)–A Hungarian court has postponed the trail of an Azeri
officer accused of murdering his Armenian counterpart, until May 10.
Attorney Nazeli Vardanian, who is representing the interests of the slain
officer’s family, revealed that the court has postponed the trial because two
witnesses–one from Azerbaijan, the other from Lithuania–did not show up in
court for the scheduled February 8 trial. She also said that psychiatrists and
other experts have found the defendant Ramil Safarov, physically and mentally
fit to stand trail.
Safarov is accused of slaying of Gurgen Margarian, on February 19, 2004,
while
both officers were attending a NATO-sponsored English language training
courses in Hungary.
The Azeri officer is charged with first-degree and attempted murder–and could
face 10 years to life imprisonment, if found guilty.

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Sunday, February 06, 2005
********************************
If you are an honest man, you will make many enemies but very few friends.
*
My patriotism is as necessary to me as air and water. My enemy’s patriotism might as well be carbon monoxide and arsenic.
*
In my salad days I wrote a number of dishonest books. When I wrote them I did not think of myself as being dishonest but as being patriotic. And I was outraged when a Canadian critic accused me of racism for my uncompromising pro-Armenian and anti-Turkish stance. It took me twenty years to realize that he was right and I was wrong. It may take me another twenty years to realize that when I write an honest line today I should not expect to have the agreement and support of our chauvinist charlatans.
*
Patriotism, we are taught to believe, is a far more important attribute than honesty. Unfortunately for us and for mankind in general, our enemies are similarly brainwashed. Result? Millions of innocent victims. It may take not twenty but two thousand more years for humanity to realize the obvious fact that patriotism is not a virtue but an integral part of our killer instinct.
*
History is clear on this point: territoriality and terrorism might as well be synonymous.
*
Pablo Neruda: “I only know the skin of the earth, / And that it has no name.”
#
Monday, February 07, 2005
*********************************
ON MORAL SUPERIORITY
**********************************
I was brought up to believe in the moral superiority of Armenians. Since then I have been disappointed so many times that I no longer believe in the moral superiority of any race, nation or tribe; neither do I believe in their moral inferiority. We all swim in the same soup. Germans as well as Russians, Americans as well as Africans – they have all produced their share of swine, and Armenians as well as Turks are no exception to this rule.
*
It is not the best among us who assert moral superiority, but the worst. Anyone who believes otherwise should take a good look at himself in the mirror and question his readiness to accept racist propaganda as the final arbiter of morality.
#
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
****************************************
BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS
***********************************
In the second half of this wonderful historical novel by Louis de Bernieres, we read the following:
“The Armenians and the Kurds have loathed each other for centuries, and, owing to the fact that there are many Armenian units and commanders in the Russian army, the same banal atrocities have been committed against the Kurds that the latter have always enjoyed committing against Armenians.”
*
Further down there is a similar passage dealing with Adana.
*
May I confess that I read similar passages in foreign books with a sense of relief and malicious pleasure. I for one am tired of seeing Armenians portrayed as perennial victims of bloodthirsty savages.
*
Perhaps we owe our survival not to our religious faith or superior intelligence or degree of civilization (probably all myths created by our propagandists), but to the fact that, in human affairs, past conduct is not always an infallible index of future conduct and appearances can be misleading. So much so that, only the naïve and the ignorant are perplexed when sheep behave like wolves.
#
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
*************************************
OUR GREATEST ENEMY
**************************************
Gostan Zarian (20th-century author): “Our political parties have been of no political use to us. Their greatest enemy is free speech.”
*
Avedik Issahakian (20th-century poet): “Our three curses: earthquakes, bloodthirsty neighbors, brainless leaders.”
*
Yeghishe (5th-century historian): “If a nation is ruled by two kings, both the kings and their subject will perish.”
*
To those who say, “Yeghishe was wrong because after 1500 years of his prediction we are still around,” I say: “We may be around, yes, but one could also say that we have been perishing the death of a thousand cuts.”
*
Nixon and Watergate, Reagan and Iran Contra, Clinton and Monica: politicians never admit errors of judgment until caught in the mesh of an inflexible justice system. If it were up to our Ramgavars, all Tashnak leaders would be forced to resign on grounds of criminal misconduct, and vice versa – all Ramgavar leaders would hang from the nearest tree for their support of a criminal regime in the Homeland.
*
That’s one reason why these two entities cannot engage in dialogue. There is no honor among charlatans.
*
As an anti-partisan, I would like to see leaders of both parties cross-examined by an unbiased panel. Will that ever happen? One can only hope and pray. But I have every reason to suspect that both parties would rather disband than admit any errors of judgment. Their only defense so far: “We are not perfect, no one is.” Ask them to expand and they will say “No comment,” or words to that effect. They admit their imperfection only to appear more human – that is to say, more perfect in their humanity.
*
I began by quoting a medieval historian and two contemporary writers. Let me conclude by quoting three more intellectual leaders:
*
Raffi (1835-1888): “Those who are responsible for our safety are themselves a gang of criminals…We are like sheep without a shepherd.”
*
Nigoghos Sarafian (1905-1973): “Our history is a litany of lamentation, anxiety, horror, and massacre. Also deception and abysmal naiveté
mixed with the smoke of incense and the sound of sharagans.”
*
Shavarsh Missakian (1884-1957): “I see charlatanism and cheap chauvinism everywhere but not a single trace of self-sacrifice and dedication to ideals and principles.”
*
It is to be noted that Shavarsh Missakian was himself an intellectual as well as a Tashnak political leader.
#

Paris-Normandie , France
8 février 2005

l’Arménie, une histoire tourmentée

par Leroy Karine

Le question de l’intégration de la Turquie dans l’Union européenne a
fait ressurgir le délicat dossier de l’Arménie. Que sait-on vraiment
de ce pays?

Découvertes Gallimard retrace l’histoire de ce pays et ce peuple.
Entre Caucase et Mésopotamie, le haut plateau arménien a abrité l’une
des plus importantes civilisations du Moyen orient. En 301, l’Arménie
est le premier état officiellement chrétien mais sa situation
géographique fait de cette terre un territoire âprement disputé.

Les Arméniens préservent une identité culturelle forte et malgré le
génocide dont il est victime en 1915, ce peuple reste fidèle a une
culture dans la mère-patrie tant qu’en diaspora. une histoire
fascinante, chaotique retracée à travers des témoignages, des
documents et une riche iconographie.

L’Arménie. A l’épreuve des siècles, d’Annie et Jean-Pierre Mahé,
Editions Découvertes Gallimard, 160 pages, 13,80 Euro.

–Boundary_(ID_vvotSJF3ks5qpJSEGwkm8g)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Qatar News Agency
February 8, 2005 Tuesday 1:33 PM EST

BAHRAIN-ARMENIA

by Qatar News Agency

Doha, February 08

KING OF BAHRAIN HAMAD BIN ISA AL KHALIFA HAS RECEIVED A LETTER FROM
PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA ROBERT KOCHARIAN DEALING WITH BILATERAL
RELATIONS AND MEANS OF COORDINATING EXISTING COOPERATION BETWEEN THE
TWO COUNTRIES.

THE SPEAKER OF THE ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT DELIVERED THE LETTER DURING A
MEETING ON TUESDAY WITH THE BAHRAINI KING.(

Les parlementaires français face à l’amertume des Turcs

La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest
07 février 2005

Le président de l’Assemblée nationale Jean-Louis Debré et les
présidents de groupe ont été confrontés en Turquie à
l’incompréhension et à l’amertume des Turcs vis-à-vis des réticences
françaises sur l’adhésion d’Ankara à l’Union européenne.

Venus « sans a priori, ni préjugé », M. Debré et les présidents de
groupe, Bernard Accoyer (UMP), Jean-Marc Ayrault (PS), Alain Bocquet
(PCF) et Hervé Morin (UDF) ont pu mesurer, pendant trois jours,
d’Ankara à Istanbul, le fossé créé entre les deux pays par le débat
en France.

Tous leurs interlocuteurs, du Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan
aux parlementaires, en passant par les chefs d’entreprise, les
associations et les universitaires, ont exprimé leur « déception » ou
se sont dit « choqués ».

L’éventualité d’un référendum sur cette adhésion a soulevé le plus de
critiques, dont celle de M. Erdogan, qui, selon un membre de la
délégation, a lancé jeudi : « Je ne savais pas que 400.000 Arméniens
pouvaient faire échouer un référendum. »

Même incompréhension samedi à Istanbul, où les responsables de
l’université francophone de Galatasaray ont vilipendé le traitement
particulier réservé à leur pays, alors qu’aucun référendum n’est
prévu pour la Croatie.

M. Ayrault a souligné que les socialistes français étaient opposés à
cette disposition, de même que M. Bocquet, tandis que M. Debré l’a
défendue. Ce dernier a expliqué qu’une telle consultation était «
normale » s’agissant d’un « grand pays de 71 millions d’habitants »,
en rappelant qu’il en avait été ainsi pour la Grande-Bretagne.

Le patronat turc (Tusiad) a manifesté son amertume en s’étonnant «
des peurs et des inquiétudes » des Français qui leur font oublier «
l’essentiel », à savoir que « la Turquie et l’Union européenne
peuvent créer de la valeur ajoutée ».

Tous les membres de la délégation française se sont employés à «
écouter et comprendre ». Mais M. Accoyer, partisan d’un partenariat
privilégié avec la Turquie, a eu la tâche un peu plus dure, face aux
Turcs critiquant la phrase du président de l’UMP Nicolas Sarkozy « si
la Turquie était en Europe, ça se saurait ».

–Boundary_(ID_0XntxdKkiGVeF4f6pau3LQ)–

Le Monde, France
07 février 2005

A Ankara, Jean-Louis Debré et le premier ministre turc ont ouvert un dialogue sans concession ;

Le président de l’Assemblée nationale effectue, depuis le 3 février,
une visite de trois jours en Turquie. Il est accompagné des quatre
présidents de groupe parlementaire

Patrick Roger

ANKARA de notre envoyé spécial

En l’espace de quelques jours, deux Français ont eu, cette semaine,
les honneurs de la presse turque. Celle-ci a d’abord consacré ses
titres au transfert de Nicolas Anelka, qui vient de signer pour trois
ans au club de football de Fenerbahce. Elle a ensuite commenté
l’arrivée, jeudi 3 février, du président de l’Assemblée nationale,
Jean-Louis Debré, accompagné des présidents des quatre groupes
représentés au Palais-Bourbon, Bernard Accoyer (UMP), Hervé Morin
(UDF), Jean-Marc Ayrault (PS) et Alain Bocquet (PCF).

Cette visite intervient alors qu’aucun président de la République
française n’est venu en Turquie, depuis la visite de François
Mitterrand, en 1992. Le dernier déplacement effectué par un membre du
gouvernement remonte à 2003.

Au cours de leur séjour de trois jours à Ankara puis à Istanbul, les
parlementaires français ont rencontré les principales autorités
turques, mais aussi des représentants des milieux économiques,
d’organisations non gouvernementales ainsi que le patriarche arménien
Mesrob II. « Il faut se dire la vérité. Nous avons à vous écouter,
vous avez à nous entendre », a insisté M. Debré, pour qui « toutes
les questions sont légitimes ». Et toutes – Chypre, droits de
l’homme, réformes démocratiques, Arménie – auront été abordées, sans
ménagement.

Au premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan – qui était venu
plaider à Paris, en juillet 2004, la cause de son pays en vue de
l’ouverture d’un processus d’adhésion à l’Union européenne -, M.
Debré a expliqué que l’attitude de la Turquie à l’égard du génocide
arménien constituait un « vrai problème en France ». « Je suis déçu
de la France… Je ne savais pas que 400 000 Arméniens pouvaient
faire échouer un référendum », lui a répondu M. Erdogan.

Malgré la vivacité de cet échange, M. Debré a estimé avoir «
peut-être fait oeuvre utile sur la question arménienne ». En effet,
les autorités turques se sont dites prêtes à « étudier » la
proposition d’une commission internationale d’historiens qui ait
accès à l’ensemble des archives.

La délégation française a pu mesurer combien la décision prise par
Jacques Chirac d’ajouter une clause soumettant à référendum toute
adhésion d’un nouveau pays à l’Union avait pu être ressentie comme «
blessante ». « Pourquoi cette double norme ? », a demandé un
journaliste d’Ankara, lors de la conférence de presse qui a suivi la
rencontre avec le président de la Grande Assemblée nationale turque,
Bülent Arinç. « La France a procédé ainsi à chaque fois qu’il s’est
agi de transformer la nature de l’Union européenne ou d’en changer
ses frontières », a répondu M. Debré.

POSSIBLE ÉVOLUTION DE L’UMP

Pour ses quatre collègues parlementaires, une conviction se dégage :
quelle que soit l’issue des négociations avec l’Union européenne qui
s’ouvriront le 3 octobre, le processus ne peut avoir que des
conséquences positives. « Il contribuera à mettre du carburant dans
le moteur de la démocratie turque », estime le président du groupe
PS, Jean-Marc Ayrault. Alain Bocquet (PCF) pense qu’il faut
encourager cette « envie d’Europe ». « Sinon, ajoute-t-il, il ne faut
pas sous-estimer les risques de dérive militariste, de dérive
islamiste ou de dérive atlantiste. » Son collègue de l’UMP, Bernard
Accoyer, va même jusqu’à évoquer une possible « évolution » de son
parti, qui a retenu, le 9 mai 2004, la formule d’un « partenariat
privilégié » avec la Turquie. « S’il s’avérait que ce pays, qui a
beaucoup bougé et qui a déjà réalisé des réformes de grande ampleur,
répondait aux critères de l’adhésion, pourquoi pas ? », précise M.
Accoyer. Seul Hervé Morin (UDF) reste convaincu que l’avenir de la
Turquie ne se confond pas avec l’ « identité européenne ».

Quant à M. Debré, il ne manque pas d’adresser, d’Istanbul, un message
en direction de « ces hommes politiques qui s’amusent à faire peur
aux Français », désignant nommément Nicolas Sarkozy et François
Bayrou, hostiles à l’entrée de la Turquie dans l’Union européenne. «
Ce sont des aventuriers », lâche-t-il.

–Boundary_(ID_zjI2s/lbJx4MqF8A2OgyBQ)–

Le Figaro, France
07 février 2005

Debré à l’écoute des frustrations turques;
TURQUIE Fin de la visite du président de l’Assemblée nationale

Istanbul : de notre envoyée spéciale Sophie Huet

Le voyage que Jean-Louis Debré a effectué pendant trois jours à
Ankara puis Istanbul avec les quatre présidents de groupes de
l’Assemblée nationale, Bernard Accoyer (UMP), Hervé Morin (UDF),
Jean-Marc Ayrault (PS) et Alain Bocquet (PCF), a révélé
l’incompréhension des autorités politiques, intellectuelles et
religieuses turques à l’égard des conditions posées par la France
pour l’entrée de ce pays dans l’Union européenne. La question de la
reconnaissance du génocide arménien de 1915 par la Turquie a été au
coeur des débats. «La construction de l’Europe s’est toujours faite
en respectant les minorités», a fait valoir Jean-Louis Debré à ses
interlocuteurs. Patrick Devedjian s’est dit «choqué», hier, sur
France Inter, par «la brutalité» des propos tenus jeudi par le
premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, déclarant avec
«agacement», qu’il «ne savait pas qu’en France, 400 000 Arméniens
pouvaient faire échouer un référendum». «Il semble exprimer le regret
qu’il y ait 400 000 Arméniens survivants en France», a déploré le
ministre délégué à l’Industrie. Le patriarche arménien, Mesrob II,
qui a reçu vendredi la délégation française, a souligné que la
question du génocide arménien devait être «réglée par les historiens»
et n’était pas «une affaire politique». «Nous sommes Arméniens mais
nous vivons en Turquie. Nous avons vécu un événement tragique, mais
nous préférons regarder vers l’avenir», a poursuivi le patriarche,
selon sa porte-parole, Luiz Bakar. Un argument qui n’a pas convaincu
les députés français.

Les dirigeants du patronat turc (Tusiad), tout comme les dirigeants
de l’université franco-turque de Galatasaray, ont pour leur part
exprimé samedi, à Istanbul, leur «déception» à l’égard de la décision
de la France d’organiser un référendum sur l’adhésion de leur pays à
l’Europe. «Tout d’un coup, les Turcs se sont sentis un peu lâchés par
la France», a affirmé Seyfetin Gürsel, vice-président de
l’université. «On peut comprendre qu’il n’y ait pas de référendum
pour la Bulgarie et la Roumanie, mais pour la Croatie, c’est
incroyable, puisque pour ce pays, les négociations n’ont pas débuté,
alors que la Turquie est plus avancée dans les réformes», a dénoncé
ce professeur parfaitement francophone. «L’UMP préférerait un
partenariat privilégié avec la Turquie. Mais où sont les privilèges ?
Ce partenariat existe, puisque la Turquie fait partie de l’union
douanière depuis 1995», a renchéri Pekin Baran, le vice-président du
Tusiad. Tous se sont dits «choqués» par les propos de Nicolas
Sarkozy, selon qui «si la Turquie était en Europe, ça se saurait».
Jean-Louis Debré a défendu l’organisation – dans dix à quinze ans –
d’un référendum en France, faisant valoir que cette consultation
était «normale, s’agissant d’un pays de 71 millions d’habitants». Le
président de l’Assemblée nationale a ajouté qu’ «aujourd’hui, le
problème de l’adhésion de la Turquie ne se pose pas. Les négociations
seront longues, difficiles, et marquées par des étapes». Bernard
Accoyer et Jean-Marc Ayrault partagent cette analyse. Hervé Morin, le
plus hostile de tous à l’adhésion de la Turquie, confiait : «Je ne
suis pas sûr du tout qu’avec leur nationalisme, les Turcs ont intégré
les règles de l’Union européenne.» A l’inverse, Alain Bocquet a
estimé que «si on laisse la Turquie à la porte de l’Europe, par des
jugements à l’emporte-pièce, on la laisse seule face à toutes les
dérives possibles».

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President receives Turkish parliament speaker

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 8 2005

Baku, February 7, AssA-Irada — President Ilham Aliyev, receiving a
delegation led by the Great National Assembly (parliament) ñhairman
Bulent Arinc on Monday, pointed out the developing friendly ties
between the two countries. Azerbaijan and Turkey are successfully
co-operating in the political, economic and humanitarian fields,
he said.

Arinc said the two countries are successfully collaborating within the
UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe. Touching upon the Upper Garabagh
conflict, he said that his country “stands beside Azerbaijan and
shares its challenges”.*

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