IRNA, Iran
December 15, 2004 Wednesday 6:16 PM EST

Armenians to demonstrate against Turkey`s bid

Tehran

Armenians from all over Europe are expected to gather in Brussels on
Friday to hold a protest demonstration against the integration of
Turkey into the European Union.

A spokesperson for the European Armenian Federation for Justice and
Democracy, the organizer of the event, told IRNA Wednesday that about
10,000 Armenians are expected to participate in the demonstration.

EU leaders are to decide in their summit in Brussels Thursday-Friday
if and when to begin entry negotiations with Turkey.

. “We think that without real pre-conditions Turkey must not be
allowed to begin talks on EU membership,” said the spokesperson.

“We want Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide,” she added.

Associated Press Worldstream
December 15, 2004 Wednesday 7:09 PM Eastern Time

Chirac tells a divided France that Turkey belongs in EU if it meets
membership conditions

WILLIAM J. KOLE; Associated Press Writer

President Jacques Chirac, beset by opposition to Turkey’s drive to
join the European Union, told a divided France that the mostly Muslim
country belongs in the EU – but that Paris will block negotiations if
Ankara fails to meet membership conditions.

“Does Europe, and particularly France, have an interest in Turkey
joining it? My answer is, ‘Yes, if,”‘ the French leader said
Wednesday in a nationally televised interview on the eve of an EU
summit that will decide whether to open membership talks with Ankara
next year.

“Yes, if Turkey totally meets the conditions we impose on any
candidate for our union,” Chirac said.

France reserves the right to block the negotiations if Turkey fails
to meet the criteria, and the French “will have the last word” on
admitting the country, he added in a nod to those who have doubts
about bringing in the Turks.

Chirac spoke in an interview with TF1 television recorded earlier in
the day at the presidential Elysee Palace and aired nationwide
Wednesday evening. EU leaders meeting in Brussels, Belgium, were
expected to decide on Thursday or Friday whether to launch membership
negotiations.

Chirac’s support for Turkey’s eventual membership has been met with
grave misgivings among ordinary citizens worried about an influx of
cheap labor to France, already stung by 10 percent unemployment. Many
here also question Turkey’s human rights record.

A poll published earlier this week by the newspaper Le Figaro
suggests two in three French oppose bringing Turkey into the
25-nation bloc. The Socialist Party is divided over the issue, and
Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, insists
Turkey is a country that “cannot be European.”

“Only a rejection of the European constitution can save the French
from this trap,” Le Pen said Wednesday. “This willingness to
integrate an Asian and Muslim country, against the will of the
European people, illustrates the noxiousness of Brussels’ Europe.”

By throwing his support behind Turkey, Chirac also has broken ranks
with his own party, the conservative Union for a Popular Movement,
which favors a “privileged partnership” between the EU and Ankara
that would fall far short of membership.

Chirac rejected the idea in Wednesday’s interview.

“To ask a country like Turkey, a great country with a rich and long
history, to make a considerable effort to reach a risky or partial
result is not reasonable,” he said.

“We will take a very heavy responsibility for history if, faced with
a people who tell us, ‘We have adopted all your values, all your
rules, all your objectives,’ we tell them, ‘Ah, no thanks,”‘ Chirac
said.

Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, also
dismissed the idea, calling it “unjust” and warning that Turkey
likely would see it as discriminatory.

Barroso told France-2 television the EU should open membership talks
with Turkey immediately, insisting “this is the moment,” while
conceding the country has not yet met all the requirements.

“In 10 years, Turkey won’t be the same Turkey as today … and
certain fears that exist today can be put aside,” he said.

Although Chirac favors full membership for Turkey, while conceding it
could take 10 to 15 years, a skeptical Prime Minister Jean-Pierre
Raffarin argues that the influence of Islam in Turkey would clash
with Judeo-Christian European values.

Confronting that argument head-on, Chirac contends that bringing the
nation of 70 million people into the EU is the best way to tamp down
Islamic extremism and eliminate what some Europeans see as a threat.

“After centuries of wars and horrors, we want to leave our children a
peaceful, stable region without war,” Chirac said, describing
Turkey’s accession as part of an EU effort “for peace and stability.”

France also wants the issue of the killing of Armenians in 1915-23 to
be on the table during membership negotiations, although Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier has said France will not demand official
recognition of the killings as a condition for entry.

The Turks have been accused of committing genocide in the killing of
as many as 1.5 million Armenians during a campaign to force them from
eastern Turkey. Ankara vehemently denies it and insists the figure is
greatly inflated.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament called on EU leaders to open
membership talks with Turkey “without undue delay.” However, it urged
Ankara to carry out more democratic reforms, move toward recognizing
Cyprus and acknowledge the Armenian killings.

Associated Press Worldstream
December 15, 2004 Wednesday

U.N. food program to halt food aid for Azeri refugees displaced by
war with Armenia

AIDA SULTANOVA; Associated Press Writer

BAKU, Azerbaijan

The World Food Program said Wednesday that it will halt food aid to
nearly 140,000 Azeri refugees displaced by the 1990s conflict with
Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave by January if the
U.N. agency does not receive more assistance.

WFP country director Rahman Chowdhury said the agency had halved
rations for refugees last month in an effort to stretch food stocks.
The WFP faces a US$10 million ([euro]7.5 million) shortfall this
year, he said, in part due to higher retail prices and rising
gasoline and natural gas prices.

He said only the food aid for 5,300 primary children would continue,
though on a limited basis.

“Most of the displaced are so poor they don’t have the means to buy
food,” Chowdhury said in a statement. “It’s a dreadful situation,
especially in the winter.”

Refugee rights activists said the decision was horrible. Vugar
Gadirov, who heads an Azeri organization looking after the needs of
refugees, said the WFP decision would be a “humanitarian
catastrophe.”

“Ending the aid is a harsh blow for these people, many of whom live
in the very worst conditions in tent camps, camps that don’t have any
amenities for living,” Gadirov said.

Government officials declined to comment on the WFP decision.

Most of the displaced live in western regions of Azerbaijan, not far
from Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, which ethnic Armenian forces seized
after several years of war in the early 1990s.

A cease-fire was signed in 1994, after 30,000 people were killed and
about 1 million were left homeless.

No agreement has been reached on the territory’s final status, and
the two countries have tense relations.

The Australian
December 16, 2004 Thursday All-round Country Edition

No half measures, Turkey tells EU

TURKISH Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned up the heat on the
European Union yesterday, insisting his nation deserved full
membership and warning that anything less would be a “historic
mistake”.

In a speech to his party that was frequently interrupted by ovations,
Mr Erdogan put the onus squarely on the 25-nation EU ahead of
tomorrow’s summit in Brussels.

He said Turkey, Europe’s biggest Muslim nation, had met all criteria
required to start membership talks, particularly in the areas of
human rights and political reform. “We, as a country, have done what
we had to do to start membership talks,” he told members of his
Justice and Development Party. “The rest is the responsibility of the
EU.”

Tomorrow’s meeting is expected to give the green light to accession
talks with Turkey, but several EU states are pressing for tight
restrictions on the agreement.

These include an understanding that Turkey will not join the EU for
at least a decade and that the talks can be broken off at any time if
Ankara reverses reforms.

The agreement is also expected to include conditions designed to
prevent a flood of Turkish immigrants into richer EU nations.

However, Mr Erdogan said, Turkey had its own, non-negotiable demands.
“What needs to be done is clear: unconditional full membership, a
clear negotiating process without the need for a second decision and
no new political conditions apart from the Copenhagen criteria,” he
said.

The Copenhagen criteria are standards that candidate countries must
fulfil to be eligible for membership talks.

“We have said on several occasions that we will not accept a decision
that is not based on full membership and which offers special
status,” Mr Erdogan said.

“I believe the EU will not approve a historic mistake which will
weaken its own foundations, and will make a decision in line with
Turkey’s expectations.”

While the EU is expected to approve membership talks with Turkey,
member states are divided over the detail. There is no agreement on
when talks should start and some countries support a “special
partnership” with Ankara should negotiations fail.

Turkey has categorically rejected such a partnership and insists it
wants membership talks to start next year.

Draft summit conclusions leaked to the media warn that talks will be
suspended if Turkey violates EU principles and they do not guarantee
that the talks will end in membership.

“The open-ended nature of negotiations carries a dangerous
uncertainty not only about the outcome of the negotiations but also
their objective,” Mr Erdogan said.

“We can keep up our enthusiasm for progress only if all question
marks over the ultimate target of negotiations are cleared from our
minds.”

The draft also says the EU reserves the right to impose permanent
restrictions on freedom of movement in a bid to prevent a massive
influx of immigrants from Turkey, and adds that Ankara must recognise
EU member Cyprus.

In a speech to parliament, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
slammed the proposal for permanent safeguards as illegitimate and
vowed that Ankara would make no “direct or indirect move” to
recognise Cyprus unless there was a lasting settlement on the divided
island.

Turkey recognises only the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus and not the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot
government in the south.

France, although nominally on Turkey’s side, has also fuelled Turkish
frustration by using the word genocide for the first time to describe
the 1915-17 Ottoman Empire massacre of Armenians.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told parliament yesterday that
Paris would ask many questions, notably about “the Armenian
genocide”, in eventual membership talks.

It is French pressure above all that is likely to result in the EU
failing to abide by a promise to launch accession talks “without
delay” once the leaders give their approval.

Fearful of the Turkey question overshadowing a referendum on the EU’s
first constitution, Paris wants the launch of the negotiations put
back to the second half of next year.

Such fears are not without foundation given that in France, as in
Germany, public opinion is largely hostile to Turkey’s EU bid.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
December 15, 2004 Wednesday 5:47 AM Eastern Time

Armenia hails interparliamentary coop with Russia – Speaker

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

Armenia attaches great attention to interparliamentary cooperation
with Russia and to the entire set of interstate relations in
different spheres, Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Artur
Bagdasaryan said during his meeting with Russian State Duma Speaker
Boris Gryzlov on Wednesday.

Taking part in the meeting were the heads of the standing
commissions, factions and groups of deputies of the Armenian National
Assembly, including opposition members. “It shows that all the
political forces of Armenia pay special attention to cooperation with
Russia,” Bagdasaryan said.

“Russian-Armenian inter-parliamentary relations are actively
developing,” Bagdasaryan said. He recalled, “The joint Commission on
inter-parliamentary cooperation of the Armenian National Assembly and
Russian Federal Assembly is also working dynamically.” Certain
agreements are being successfully fulfilled, he said.

“Armenia together with other CIS countries makes efforts to intensify
the activity of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly,” the Armenian
speaker said. “We will participate actively in drafting model laws”
within the framework of the Assembly, he added.

Institute for War and Peace reporting
Dec 15 2004

Azeris Angry Over Georgia Killing

A local land dispute has escalated following the death of an elderly
Azerbaijani woman in southern Georgia.

By Sofo Bukia in Kvemo Kulari (CRS No. 266, 15-Dec-04)

The newly appointed governor of Georgia’s southern Kvemo Kartli
region, which has an Azerbaijani majority, has vowed to catch the
killers of a 65-year-old woman who died during a protest rally.

However, the killing and the long-running dispute behind it have
already taken on an inter-ethnic dimension, which is now attracting
the attention of officials in Baku.

Hilal Idrisova was killed on December 3 when a land dispute between
local villagers and a stud farm boiled over. Several dozen people
from the Marneuli district settlements Kvemo Kulari and Kirikhlo had
protested at a nearby horse stud farm, which they claim is using land
that is the villagers’ by right.

`They told us, `You have no rights to this land, so shut up and go
home’,’ said Elsevar Mamedov from Kvemo Kulari.

In the ensuing clash between the villagers and the farm’s owners,
security guards and staff, the elderly Idrisova was shot in the chest
and killed, while another local resident, Ramiz Sadygov, was shot in
the leg. Doctors treating him at the district hospital fear the limb
may yet have to be amputated.

`I begged my mum to stay home that night,’ Idrisova’s distraught
daughter Fatima told IWPR. `What’s the use of that land now that she
is gone?’

The farm’s managing director, Vakhtang Rukhadze of the Georgian Horse
Rearing Association, has rejected all accusations of involvement in
the death and wounding, and claims in turn that the villagers had
provoked his men.

`They threw rocks at us. I have three injured and concussed men to
show for it. I have no weapons, and no one at the farm has any, so
where did the shots come from?’ he asked.

`A few of our cars and items of field machinery were broken, and this
happens almost every day. We have complained everywhere, including to
the president, but no one wants to tackle this.’

The death has increased tensions in the Azerbaijani community, which
has a population estimated at between 350,000 and half a million.

Following last year’s peaceful `Rose Revolution,’ the new Georgian
president Mikheil Saakashvili declared Georgia’s Azerbaijanis to be a
`national treasure’ and promised to help them solve their problems.

However, in Marneuli, serious issues over land ownership remain.

The problem dates back to the beginning of Georgia’s land reforms in
1996, when rural collective farms were disbanded and the state gave
generous amounts of land away to peasant farmers.

But the residents of Kvemo Kulari and Kirikhlo claim they lost out in
this deal, as every household in these villages ended up with just a
quarter of a hectare of land – far less than the one hectare they
were legally entitled to.

The Kulari stud farm owns 1,155 hectares of land, 500 of which is
claimed by the local villagers for their farming needs. `There is no
other arable land in the district. The horse farm has it all,’ one
villager complained to IWPR.

The Kulari farm was formerly owned by the Tbilisi hippodrome and is
now owned by the city-based Jockey Club.

The club says it legally acquired the land at Kulari on lease for 49
years, and has all the appropriate documentation. It then leased the
farm to the Georgian Horse Rearing Association for a ten-year period.

`These are no ordinary horses,’ said Viktor Goglidze, who takes care
of the animals. `These are purebred English racehorses with all the
papers and everything. We have around a hundred and they need lots of
land.’

The owners of the stud farm are proud of their fine horses and the
distinguished history of the farm, which was founded in 1902, and
point out that the majority of its 100 grooms are Azerbaijani. They
also say that they are confident of investment from the United States
following a recent successful visit by horse specialists from
Kentucky.

However, many local villagers said that they thought the farm’s main
business was actually selling wheat to neighbouring Armenia – not
that they objected to this in and of itself.

`We don’t care who they sell their wheat to,’ said Gasham Garaev.
`It’s the land we want.’

But following the violent death of Hilal Idrisova, they are demanding
that her killers be brought to justice.

The Kvemo Kulari and Kirikhlo residents had expressed their anger
repeatedly before the shooting incident, disrupting horse farmers’
sowing work and blocking the local highway.

According to one local, Levan Mamaladze – the former governor of
Kvemo Kartli under ex-president Eduard Shevardnadze – promised the
Azerbaijanis the disputed land used by the stud farm in exchange for
their votes during the 2000 presidential campaign. Mamaladze is now
in hiding after being charged with the embezzlement of millions of
dollars.

His successor Soso Mazmishvili refused to be held responsible for any
deal or promise made before his time in office. `I told them I would
look into it,’ he told IWPR. `I’m not a feudal lord to promise any
land to anyone.’

But one week ago Mazmishvili himself was dismissed and replaced as
governor by Zurab Melikishvili, the minister for regional policy and
a former close ally of President Saakishvili.

`I hope we can work this out,’ Melikishvili told IWPR his on first
day in office. `In any case, we will have to try to [persuade] the
stud farm cede some land to the people.’

Meanwhile, the dispute in Kvemo Kartli has provoked anger in
Azerbaijan, where parliamentary speaker Murtuz Aleskerov told the
national media, `Saakashvili had promised the Azerbaijanis would be
represented in executive and legislative government and law
enforcement agencies.

`He also promised to resolve the land issue. But none of this has
materialised.’

Azerbaijani analyst Rasim Musabekov believes that the quarrel is a
symptom of both nations’ change in administration. `There was a time
when the authoritarian ruler of Azerbaijan could resolve issues with
his Georgian counterpart, but not anymore,’ he said. `Now a lot will
depend on Georgia’s Azerbaijanis themselves and how active and
persistent they are.’

Sofo Bukiya is a reporter for the newspaper 24 Hours in Tbilisi. Rauf
Orujev, a reporter for the Ekho newspaper, contributed to this report
from Baku.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
December 15, 2004 Wednesday 11:17 AM Eastern Time

No change in ties with Armenia over dispatch of military to Iraq

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

The speaker of the Russian State Duma lower house of parliament said
on Wednesday that a possible decision by Armenia to send military
specialists to Iraq will not change relations between the two former
Soviet republics.

“Armenia is a sovereign state, and the decisions it makes are
decisions of a sovereign state,” Boris Gryzlov told a press
conference in reply to a query concerning Armenian authorities’
intentions to send military specialists to Iraq.

According to Gryzlov, Russia’s believes that “a decision on the
carrying out of any operations in other states can be taken only by
the U.N. Security Council”. “It is only with the mandate of that
organization that international peacekeeping operations or any other
operations can be carried out,” the Duma speaker emphasized.

Armenia has voiced its readiness to send drivers, field engineers and
medics to Iraq for a post-war restoration in that country.

European Report
December 15, 2004

EU/TURKEY: CONSENSUS COMING TOGETHER ON ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS IN
THE SECOND HALF OF 2005

EU Foreign Ministers remained divided on a date for launching
accession talks with Turkey at the conclusion of their meeting in
Brussels on December 13. The issue will have to be settled by Heads
of State and Government at European Summit on December 16 and 17. A
date in October 2005 is mentioned most often by diplomats and appears
to be supported by a significant majority of Member States. However,
persistent differences on other items point to furious bargaining
behind the scenes in the run-up to the European Council. Firm
supporters of Turkey’s accession such as Germany and the United
Kingdom, lukewarm supporter France and detractors such as Austria
continue to lock horns. Austria in particular wants open-ended
negotiations with no guarantee of Turkish membership at the end of
the line.

Date for negotiations.

A significant majority of Member States, including Germany and the
United Kingdom, support the opening of negotiations in “autumn 2005
and most probably October 2005”. France in particular is keen to
avoid the Turkish issue interfering with the referendum on the
European Constitution, scheduled for spring 2005, concerned lest it
lend weight to the arguments of those campaigning for its rejection.
Whereas the Dutch Presidency of the EU and Turkey are pressing for
negotiations to begin in the first half of 2005, France is keen that
talks should not begin before July 2005.

Objective of the negotiations.

In order to reassure the general public and political circles, France
has called for the conclusions of the European Summit on December 17
to state that this is an “open and transparent process”. This formula
would leave the door open to an alternative “structure for
co-operation between the EU and Turkey” instead of EU membership
should the negotiations break down. The French Minister Michel
Barnier nevertheless declined to suggest what form this option might
take, choosing not to mention the “privileged partnership” defended
notably by Germany’s CDU Conservatives. President Jacques Chirac has
indeed already promised the French people that they will be consulted
at the appropriate juncture through a referendum on Turkish
accession. Besides public opinion which, according to a poll
published on December 13 by the daily Le Figaro, is 67% against
Turkish accession, France’s politicians are also opposed, notably
within the ruling right, which is divided on the issue up to the very
highest level.

Dutch Foreign Minister and acting Council President Bernard Bot
insisted there can never be a “Plan B” for Turkey whilst
acknowledging that the negotiating process remains open.

Other Member States like Austria and Denmark would prefer to offer
Ankara a “privileged partnership or special status” instead of full
accession. However, this option does not appear to be shared by the
other Member States. Berlin which firmly supports Turkey’s candidacy,
believes the opening of negotiations is in the interest of both
Turkey and the Union. “We are not deciding today on Turkey’s entry
into the EU, which might take at least 15 years”, said Joschka
Fischer. He believes negotiations should have but one goal: full
membership in the EU. He warns that “weakening this objective in
whatever way might strike a fatal blow to the process of
modernisation and reforms that has been so beneficial to Turkey”.

Cypriot question.

During the debate, Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou called for
a gesture from Turkey before the March 2005 European Summit on the
“normalisation” of relations with the Republic of Cyprus, which
Ankara still doesn’t recognise. Mr Iacovou suggested this
normalisation might stem from the extension by the Turkish Government
of the EU/Turkey customs union agreement of 1996 to the 10 new Member
States. Such a measure would de facto represent a first step towards
recognition of the Cypriot Republic by Ankara. Mr Bot, echoed by Mr
Barnier, suggested the normalisation of relations between Turkey and
Cyprus is not “a legal pre-requisite for the launch of negotiations
with Ankara”. However, he added that it is “necessary and logical” if
Turkey wishes to join the Union. “I am negotiating with Ankara and
Nicosia and I remain optimistic as to the outcome of these
discussions”, said Mr Bot. Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan meanwhile repeated during a visit to Brussels on December 10,
that Turkey’s recognition of Cyprus is not one of the so-called
Copenhagen criteria.

Armenian genocide.

At France’s behest, the issue of the Armenian genocide was once again
raised. Mr Barnier indicated that France will request in the course
of accession negotiations with Ankara that the issue of “recognition
of the Armenian tragedy” be raised. He suggested that since the
European project is built on the notion of reconciliation with others
and with one’s own past “Turkey must make this gesture”. This demand,
which Mr Bot claims is not covered by the Copenhagen criteria, has
thus far been given short shrift by Turkey which rejects the claim
that the death toll among Armenians in 1915 amounts to a “genocide”.

Parliamentary debates.

The European Parliament is meanwhile expected to vote by a clear
majority at its plenary session on December 15 to adopt the report by
Camiel Eurlings (EPP, Netherlands) on Turkey’s accession, even though
a debate on December 13 confirmed the national differences reflected
in European public opinion. Subject to some 80 amendments, the
European Parliament should adopt a non-binding opinion, the final
decision resting with the December 17 European Council. Echoing the
Commission’s recommendations of October 6, the Eurlings report
proposes opening negotiations without undue delay, whilst listing a
series of conditions that must be met by Turkey, notably recognition
of the Republic of Cyprus and zero tolerance of torture. Whilst
referring to an “open process”, the report does not go so far as to
envisage an alternative to accession. Mr Eurlings is supported within
the EPP by Spanish, Italian and British members, but has been
criticised by the Germans (CDU) and French (UMP). This is not however
likely to sway the outcome since he also enjoys the support of the
Socialists and the Greens.

Financial Times (London, England)
December 15, 2004 Wednesday
London Edition 1

Chirac to defend his backing for Turkey’s talks with EU

By JOHN THORNHILL

PARIS

Jacques Chirac will tonight give a rare television interview to
explain why he favours opening accession talks with Turkey while the
majority of his compatriots oppose the idea.

The French president will have to be at his persuasive best, just two
days before European Union leaders are expected to approve a European
Commission recommendation to start entry talks with Turkey.

An opinion poll published by Le Figaro newspaper this week showed 67
per cent of French voters opposed Turkey’s entry, making France the
most sceptical of the EU’s big countries. Resistance runs even higher
among Mr Chirac’s own party, with 71 per cent of UMP supporters
against Turkish membership.

There are several reasons why Turkey’s admission inflames such debate
in France, ranging from esoteric arguments about the dilution of the
EU’s essence to scarcely veiled Islamophobia on the extreme right.

Many MPs are also angry that Mr Chirac has not allowed them more of a
say on such an important issue. The government allowed a
parliamentary debate in October on Turkey but did not subject itself
to a binding vote.

Sylvie Goulard, a political science professor, says that if Turkey
were admitted to the EU – becoming its biggest and poorest member
state – it would kill the dream of Europe’s founders of an ever
deeper and closer union. The French government’s failure to initiate
a proper debate on this issue has created a public backlash.

“If you want to change the whole European project then you have to
take into account the views of the people,” she says. “But they have
refused until now to talk to the public and that is why they are in a
mess.”

France’s Armenian population, estimated at about 300,000, has also
been influential, highlighting Turkey’s refusal to accept
responsibility for the Armenian genocide of 1915 and Ankara’s poor
human rights record.

The French government has scrambled to mollify public opinion by
insisting that the future is not pre-ordained, that Turkey’s possible
admission is more than a decade away, and that voters will be given
their say on Turkey’s membership in a referendum. French diplomats
have also been exploring the possibility of offering Ankara a
“privileged partnership” with the EU.

Moreover, Michel Barnier, the French foreign minister, has this week
attempted to parry criticisms from the Armenian community by urging
Ankara to face up to its past.

Opinion polls show that many French voters could be persuaded to
change their minds on Turkey’s membership if Ankara fulfilled its
promises to reform over the next decade.

Even Harout Mardirossian, president of the Committee for the Defence
of the Armenian Cause, says it is possible to imagine a thoroughly
reformed Turkey being admitted into the EU. “A Turkey that recognises
the Armenian genocide, a Turkey that accepts the Kurds, a Turkey that
respects human rights and evacuates Cyprus would no longer be the
Turkey we see today. In this sense, we do not want to shut the door
to Turkey.”

But Mr Chirac is staking an enormous amount on Turkey’s ability to
deliver on reform. In the meantime, he risks isolation within his own
party and among the public. His great fear is that the intensity of
the Turkey debate could yet infect next year’s referendum on the EU
constitutional treaty. Turkey’s elite, Page 21

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
December 15, 2004 Wednesday 11:43 AM Eastern Time

Armenia – Russia’s outpost in South Caucasus – Duma speaker

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

Armenia is Russia’s outpost in the South Caucasus, State Duma Speaker
Boris Gryzlov currently on an official visit in the Armenian capital
said on Wednesday.

The speaker of the lower house of Russian parliament discussed with
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan the prospects of Russian-Armenian
relations in view of bilateral political, economic cooperation,
harmonization of the legislation and cooperation on the international
arena, the presidential press service told Itar-Tass.

The Armenian president stressed with satisfaction the considerable
improvement of the trade structure with Russia this year. “The high
level of Russian-Armenian relations allows to achieve more results,”
Gryzlov emphasized.

The interlocutors discussed an upcoming meeting of the
intergovernmental committee on economic cooperation of the countries
in Moscow late in December.terprises that Armenia handed over to
Russia as the repayment of the state debt to Russia.