Chirac to defend backing for Turkey EU talks
By John Thornhill in Paris

FT
December 14 2004 20:41

Jacques Chirac will on Wednesday night 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
Commission recommendation to start entry talks with Turkey.

An opinion poll published by Le Figaro newspaper this week showed that
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. “The European pro- ject is founded on
the very idea of reconciliation,” he said yesterday. “I think the time
has come for Turkey to make an effort to address the memory of this
tragedy which has affected hundreds of hundreds of thousands of
Armenians.”

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.

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.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN INTENDS TO ESTABLISH DIRECT COMMUNICATION WITH KARS

Azg/arm
15 Dec 04

Azerbaijan’s council to Kars, Hasan Zeynalov, informed the
Azeri525Gazetthat Abid Sharifov, deputy prime minister of Azerbaijan,
highlighted the need of establishing direct communication between
Azerbaijan and Turkey’s eastern regions (Western Armenia – ed.) during
his meetings with Kars authorities. They also discussed the
possibility of establishing bus routes from Kars to Nakhijevan and
Baku-Kars-Istanbul air route. According to preliminary agreements,
Kars authorities should present concrete suggestions for economic
cooperation.

Kars delegation headed by the governor Nevzat Tarkhan will visit
Azerbaijan and Nakhijevan in February of the coming year. “Direct
communication between Azerbaijan and Kars will turn futile the efforts
of those wishing to see Armenian-Turkish border-gates open. Those
forces were agitating that Kars’ economic well-being hangs on opening
of the Armenian border”,Zerkalowrote.

Nearly a month ago the mayor of Kars, Naif Alibeyoghlu, gathered 50
thousand signatures for opening the Turkish-Armenian border-gate. The
mayor’s viewpoint was that both Armenia and Turkey will benefit if the
roads and Kars-Gyumri railroad are open. But few days ago Alibeyoghlu
stated: “There may be no need of border-gate opening if Azerbaijan
makes investments into the regionâ=80=99s economy”.

ARMENIA: A successful new Armenia is emerging from a long Soviet shadow

Highlight

DiplomaticTraffic.com
December 14, 2004

By Thomas Cromwell ([email protected])

With a hostile Azerbaijan to the east and Turkey to the west, and an
often chaotic Georgia to the north, Armenia has had to struggle to
establish itself as a modern state after suffering 70 years under
Soviet rule. It has been a fairly slow process as both the minds of
people raised in the Soviet system and an economy built to serve it
have had to undergo radical change. But Armenia’s ambassador to
Washington, Dr. Arman Kirakossian, sees a good bit to be hopeful about
when discussing recent developments in his country. For one,
conversion to a market economy has started to take hold, as
investments begin to pay off, exports rise, and incomes increase. Last
year, Armenia registered GDP growth of 13.9 percent and this year it
should come in at 9.7 percent. This year its exports to the United
States stood at $33 million (40 percent above the level for 2003),
while imports from the US were $74 million. The main export is
jewelry, with apparel in second place (including 40,000 uniforms for
the NYPD).

This despite the unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed
region of Nagorno Karabakh, where, after the fall of the Soviet Union,
fighting broke out between Azeris and the Armenian community there,
supported by Armenia, Karabakh Armenians accounted for 80 percent of
the population in the enclave at independence, but today there are no
Azeris living in the territory (there are small groups of Russians,
Greeks and Yazidis resident there).

It is 10 years since a ceasefire was put in place between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, but to date a political settlement has eluded the parties.
Nevertheless, an OSCE committee, called the Minsk Group, co-chaired by
the US, Russia and France, has made progress through several rounds of
meetings that have supported a series of bilateral talks between the
two sides. A series of meetings among foreign ministers of Armenia,
Azerbaijan and the Minsk Group this past summer led to the
announcement of a new round of peace talks, called the Prague
process. Talks proceeded yet further at a follow-up meeting on
December 6 and 9.

What’s more, the ambassador says, the new president of Azerbaijan,
Ilham Aliyev, while initially talking tough, threatening to restart
military action and rallying Muslim nations to press for United
Nations intervention, has moderated his position and has met three
times with Armenian President Robert Kocharian. He has shown himself
willing to find a compromise, and, the ambassador says, Armenia hopes
he will become more pragmatic.

Armenia has made a number of proposals for a solution in the past but
to date they have not been accepted. Now, the ambassador says,
Yerevan’s position is simply that the Karabakh Armenians must be
allowed to exercise self-determination and not be responsible to
Baku. What it won’t accept is a return to the Soviet-era status quo,
created by Stalin’s 1933 decision to add the Nagorno Karabakh region
to Azerbaijan, of course without asking the people living there if
they agreed!

Armenia is a country of long-suffering, and its people are scattered
around many parts of the world. There are some three million living in
Armenia, but five million living elsewhere, with concentrations in
North America, Russia, and the Middle East. The United States has some
1.5 million ethnic Armenians, concentrated primarily in California.

American Armenians include some very successful individuals who have
been active in helping Armenia get on its feet. The best-known is Kirk
Krikorian, the owner of MGM. Last year he added to an earlier $200
million grant to build a major highway by funding a project to
renovate central Yerevan and another to renew the country’s museums.

James Tufenkian has organized carpet weaving among the villages and is
beginning to export the rugs to the United States. He has also started
to invest in B&B properties. Vahakn Hovnanian of New Jersey’s
Hovnanian Brothers (one of the top ten construction companies in the
United States) is building an American-style town near Yerevan, and
other projects.

Other investors have arrived by different routes. The devastating
earthquake that in 1988 destroyed the town of Spitak and killed 25,000
Armenians, brought Utah’s Jon Huntsman to help with the
reconstruction. He stayed on to build homes and to carry out other
construction projects.

But there are also other Diaspora communities that are returning to
help build the new state. There have been Armenian communities
throughout much of the Middle East since the Ottoman Empire and the
dispersion of Armenians from eastern Asia Minor in 1915. Some of these
Armenians have been returning to their homeland, especially of
late. Another group of importance is Armenians who went to Russia
after the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the idling of most of
the Soviet factories in Armenia, including many secret Soviet
plants. Many of the Armenians in Russia are now prospering there and
investing back home, at least to the extent of building homes.

The American Armenian communities were created by three major waves of
immigration. The first was in the late 19th Century and continued to
World War I and the 1915 murders and deportation of Armenians by the
Ottomans, persecution that the Armenians and most of the world say was
genocide. (Turkey continues to dispute this and refuses to open its
border with Armenia until Yerevan stops using the term. Ankara says it
also wants to see the Nagorno Karabakh dispute resolved before it will
negotiate with Armenia over a border agreement. Armenia has not placed
conditions on normalizing relations. Washington sees the normalization
of ties with Turkey and a resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
as critical for stability in the region.) The second wave occurred in
the 1960s and was comprised primarily of Armenians from the Middle
East, where conflicts made life increasingly difficult. The third wave
followed the breakup of the Soviet Union at the end of the 80s.

The economic recovery of Armenia is giving the country strength, and
the momentum is there for a solution to the Nagorno Karabakh
standoff. The Minsk Group seems an effective negotiating structure and
it is clearly making some headway. The real sticking point is for the
leaders of both nations to be able to find a workable solution based
on mutual compromises and to sell that solution to their respective
populations. The result would be welcome for both sides, ending an era
of tension, with positive repercussions for the domestic politics and
economies in both countries.

Ambassador Kirakossian says that while relations between his country
and the United States have been “generally good,” the terror attacks
on 9/11 brought the two sides closer in security cooperation. Armenia
quickly agreed to allow use of its air space for US Air Force planes
headed to Afghanistan, and it has contributed intelligence and other
tangible assistance to the Global War on Terror in Afghanistan and
elsewhere, a peacekeeping unit to Kosovo, and has pledged doctors,
de-miners and convoy drivers to Iraq.

>From its side, Washington initiated two years ago a program of
military aid and cooperation after President Bush waived Section 907
of the 1992 Freedom Support Act which prohibited the sale of US
weapons to Azerbaijan so long as it was engaged in hostile acts
against Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh. In the name of parity, this had
resulted in an arms embargo for Armenia as well. Now both countries
get $8 million a year in assistance from Washington to boost their
militaries and their ability to work with the United States Armed
Forces.

In the broader picture, a special US-Armenian Task Force meets twice a
year to improve bilateral relations across the board. It has focused
on reform programs, trade, energy and other key areas of mutual
concern. Recently the US Congress passed a measure establishing
Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with Armenia, which is one of
the first CIS countries to join the World Trade Organization (Georgia,
Moldova and Kyrgystan are the others).

*****************************************************************
Biography of Ambassador Arman Kirakossian

Dr. Arman Kirakossian was appointed Armenian Ambassador to the United
States on October 22, 1999 and presented his credentials to President
Bill Clinton on February 3, 2000. He holds the diplomatic rank of
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

Prior to assuming this position, Dr. Kirakossian served as Armenia’s
Ambassador to Greece from July 1994 to October 1999. In March 1999, he
also assumed the duties of the Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Athens,
Greece. Dr. Kirakossian was also accredited to Cyprus, Slovenia,
Croatia, Albania and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. From 1991 to
1994, he served as First Deputy Foreign Minister, and, from October
1992 to February 1993, he held the post of Acting Minister of Foreign
Affairs.

Before embarking on a diplomatic career at the Foreign Ministry of
Armenia, Ambassador Kirakossian held several high-level academic
positions at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences. He was
Associate Director of the Armenian Diaspora Studies Department from
1990 to 1991 and served on Advisory Panel on Science and International
Relations at the Armenian Government from 1986 to 1990. He was Senior
Fellow, then Project Director at the Center of Scientific Information
for Social Sciences at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences from
1980 to 1986.

Dr. Kirakossian was born on September 10, 1956 in Yerevan, Armenia. He
received a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Geography in 1977 and a
Master’s degree in History of the Armenian and International Diplomacy
in 1980 from the Armenian State Pedagogical University. In November
1999, he earned the degree of Doctor of Sciences in History.

Dr. Kirakossian is the author of books and more than 100 scientific
publications. Two of his books were published in the United States
recently: British Diplomacy and the Armenian Question, by the Gomidas
Institute, Princeton and London, 2003, and The Armenian Massacres
1894-1896: U.S. Media Testimony, by Wayne State University Press,
Detroit, 2004. He has been awarded the Certificate of Merit for
Scientific Research by the National Academy of Sciences in 1983, and
Honorary Citizenship of Athens, presented by the Mayor of Athens in
1999.

In addition to his native Armenian, Ambassador Kirakossian is fluent
in English and Russian. He is married and has one son.

`

INSUFFICIENT SOURCES ALLOCATED FOR ARMENIAN SCIENCE

Azg/arm
15 Dec 04

The intellectual resources have always been considered Armenia’s major
wealth. Tatoul Manaserian, member of Justice faction, stated that our
statesmen have forgotten about this factor. The scarce financial
sources allocated for the science in RA state budget of the next year
testify to our authorities’ indifference to the science. According to
him, the allocations for the science should at least amount to 3% of
the budget. It’s worth reminding that 4 billion AMD are allocated for
the science in Armenia where over 6000 scientists work. Manaserian,
who is an economist, believes that the financial sources allocated to
RA National Academy of Sciences should be at least doubled, while the
Byurakan Observatory should be financed separately. He also demands
that the Astrological Laboratory led by academician Grigor Gyurzadian
should also bepaid attention and financed very well, as this scientist
has traditionally made serious contribution to the development of the
world’s astrology, while today he is deprived of this opportunity.

By Karine Danielian

AMBASSADOR KIRAKOSSIAN BRINGS NEW FOCUS TO MASSACRES OF 1894-1896

Azg/arm
15 Dec 04

Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church “Nishan and Margrit Atinizian
Hall” was the venue on Sunday, December 5 for a presentation of
Armenian ambassador to the US Dr. Arman Kirakossian’s new book,
published by Wayne University Press and sponsored by Roupen and Nina
Terzians of Tekeyan Cultural Association. The event, sponsored by the
Armenian Cultural Foundation, the Armenian Catholic Church and the
Tekeyan Cultural Association, featured Prof. Simon Payaslianof Clark
University as the main speaker.

The ambassador, while in Boston, also presided over the first annual
Hovhannes Badalian Music Fund banquet on December 4 at the Hellenic
Cultural Center in Watertown.

In addition, the ambassador on December 5 was the honored guest at the
special tribute to renowned opera star, Elvira Ouzounian, on the
occasion of her 40th anniversary in her field.

Kirakossian’s book, “The Armenian Massacres 1894-1896, US Media
Testimony”, with a foreword by former Sen. Robert Dole, focused on the
history and the challenges to the Armenian community in Turkey,
leading up to the massacres carried out by the order of Sultan Abdul
Hamid 1894-1896.

Following an introduction by Mark Mamigonian, director of publications
for the National Armenian Association for Studies and Research
(NAASR), Payaslian turned to the subject of how Kirakossian has
portrayed the impact of the massacres in the US periodicals (not daily
newspapers). Pointing out that the many articles were published in
periodicals such as The Atlantic Monthly, The Nation and The Catholic
World at the time, made it clear that the Western world was quite
aware of what was happening to the Armenians in Turkey.

Payaslian then quoted Germany’s Premier Otto von Bismarck, who in
1883, said, “the so-called reforms are ideal and theoretical. Their
practical significance is doubtful”.

In fact, Payaslian recounted, Turks increased their attacks on six
Armenian vilayets, creating a perilous environment, arousing
chauvinism and paranoia. The killings became significant in 1894,
when as many as 3.000 Armenians were killed in Sassoon.

“No Western country intervened”, said Payaslian. “They were not
interested in the Armenia, they were interested in the commercial and
political gains they could achieve in the region. Hamid felt there was
no real reason to refrain from attacking the Armenians”.

Author Kirakossian talked about his research methods and the materials
he has been able to use. Kirakossian who has a doctorate in history,
amongst other degrees, said, “I try to find time from my daily work to
visit the Library of Congress and other libraries to look for new
materials on the Armenian Question and British and US diplomacy
towards the Armenians”.

Kirakossian said, “I used periodicals, which are more analytical,
rather than newspapers. I wanted to present these materials, because
we have started to forget about the Abdul Hamid period. There has been
a great deal more focuson t he Genocide. But the point is, there was
genocidal policy before the years 1915-1923”.

Kirakossian’s next book will deal with the documentation of the
1894-1896 in the British press.

During the question and answer period, following the two talks,
Kirakossian paid tribute to his father, also an historian and foreign
minister at the time, which, during the Soviet period wrote four
volumes that deal with the Armenian Genocide.

“My father was my teacher. He was the first to write about the
Genocide. He was limited because of working during the Soviet
period. He couldn’t work in foreign archives. When I started to work
in the 1980s, I could go to London, Moscow. I could study diplomatic
correspondence. My father simply did not have the chance to access to
western sources”, said Kirakossian.

Answering a question regarding a recent article in the Azg newspaper
in Yerevan, that the ambassador is planning to stay in US and carry on
his scientific work instead of returning to the Foreign Ministry
service in Yerevan, Kirakossian said, “I am still representing the
Republic of Armenia in the United States, but when the time comes I
will return to Yerevan and continue my diplomatic career, and carry on
my work in the field of Armenian political studies at the same time”.

Payaslian said that Armenian leaders did learn they “had to organize
and form closer ties with the outside world”.

Kirakossian’s work represents important documentation of what occored
in the late 19th century.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DID OSCE MINSK GROUP SUBMIT NEW SETTLEMENT SUGGESTION TO KOCHARIAN AND
ALIYEV IN ASTANA?

Azg/arm
15 Dec 04

Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers to Meet in January

The participants of OSCE Ministerial Meeting welcomed the creation of
the so-called “Prague process.” According to Mediamax agency, the
statement adopted as a result of the OSCE Foreign Ministers’ sitting
reads: “The fourmeetings between RA and Azeri foreign ministers took
place within the framework of this format. These meetings help carry
out the double investigation of all the further settlement
viewpoints.” The sitting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers was held in
Sofia last week.

“We welcome the progress fixed in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement in 2004. Particularly, we welcome the three meetings
between RA and Azeri foreign ministers held by the support of the OSCE
co-chairs,” the statementsays.

“We emphasize that Minsk group co-chairs in Astana submitted the
negotiation structure that could serve as a base for the settlement to
RA and Azeri presidents based on “The Prague Process” – “We suggest
taking into consideration this ground and go forward based on it.”

One can suppose from this statement that the OSCE Minsk group
submitted a new or innovated settlement version to the sides in
conflict in Astana, rooted in the Key West treaty that was turned down
by Azerbaijan in 2001. By the way, in Astana Robert Kocharian and
Ilham Aliyev negotiated for about 5 hours, in the beginning face to
face (in the presence of the OSCE co-chairs), afterwards RF President
joined them (1,5 hour) and the meeting ended with the presidents
exchanging their views with the participation of the Minsk group
co-chairs.

Aliyev stated in the press conference that followed the Astana
negotiations that the settlement versions had been discussed, while
Kocharian noted: “Principally, the process is in progress, though we
can’t boast that we were a success. The main point is that the
settlement process is in progress and constructive. We are able to
calmly and patiently discuss issues that we have inherited and are
determined to solve.”

During one of the September conferences, in reply to a question put by
Azg Daily, whether a negotiation ground was created as a result of the
foreign ministers’ meeting, Vartan Oskanian stated: “According to the
foreign ministers, some grounds were created and passed to the
presidents. There have been some expectations that the presidents
would agree or make corrections and give special instructions to the
foreign ministers to continue in the given direction. There was such
an expectation but it didn’t happen in Astana. Certainly, it doesn’ t
mean that the presidents refused us.”

Recently, in the interview given to Reuters Vartan Oskanian stated
that “the warmer attitude of the sides towards each other” in the
latest period allows to hope that it will be possible “to fix some
progress”. By the way, the next stage of the meetings between RA and
Azeri presidents is envisaged to be held in January. Araz Azimov,
Azeri deputy foreign minister, stated that the results of Prague
meetings’ four stages had been discussed in the course ofthe last two
Oskanian-Mamediarov meetings, as well as “the issues of Armenian
illegal actions in the occupied territories were discussed.”

Azimov said that it is early to speak of “concrete decisions.”
Commenting on the possibility of liberating Azerbaijan’s occupied
territories, Azimov said that “it is a big process that can’t be done
in one day.”

It’s worth mentioning that the Azeri side stated on different
occasions that Armenia asked for some time to specify about the
further course of negotiation process after the four meetings of the
foreign ministers and the Astana meeting between Aliyev and
Kocharian. Official Yerevan responded that Armenia is prepared for the
second stage of the Prague process.

It is not known what kind of grounds were submitted to the sides in
conflict by the mediators, as it is said in the statement of the OSCE
Foreign Ministers’ sitting. It’s worth mentioning that a day before
the Astana meeting and several days after that there had been
publications in the RussianKommersantdaily, according to which, as if
the Kremlin suggested the so-called “Moscow formula” of the settlement
to Kocharian and Aliyev. According to this formula, the Armenian
forces should be withdrawn from the Azeri territories neighboring
Nagorno Karabakh and a referendum on NKR’s status should be held
inKarabakh and Azerbaijan.

By Tatoul Hakobian

Iran supports UN debates on Karabakh, envoy tells Azeri TV

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
13 Dec 04

Presenter] Official Tehran is preparing for Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev’s visit [to Iran]. Saying that they are currently
finalizing the documents to be signed during the official visit, the
Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Afshar Soleymani, has again
expressed the Tehran government’s position on the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict.

[Correspondent over video of Iranian envoy in his office] Iran
recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and supports its fair
position on a settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, the
Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Afshar Soleymani, has said in an
interview with ATV. The diplomat added that his country supported the
Baku government’s initiative to discuss the Karabakh problem at the UN
General Assembly.

[Soleymani in his office, captioned, speaking in Azeri] Iran has
supported Azerbaijan’s proposal made at the UN General Assembly and
will always support Azerbaijan in international bodies. This has been
the case many times before. Iran has always supported Azerbaijan in
the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

[Correspondent over video] However, Mr Soleymani said that the fact
that Iran is not directly involved in the peace process prevents
Tehran from conducting a more effective policy on the issue.

[Soleymani] The Minsk Group has been instructed to tackle the
issue. The Minsk Group is expected to resolve the issue. In any case,
the two sides [Armenia and Azerbaijan] agreed that the Minsk Group
should tackle the problem. But Iran has not been invited to closely
participate in this process. [Sentence indistinct]

[Passage omitted: minor details about the Caspian status]

Namiq Aliyev, Hidayat Aliyev for “Son Xabar”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RFE/RL EU: France Says Turkey Must Recognize Armenian Atrocities Before
Joining EU
Tuesday, 14 December 2004

Three days before a key European Union summit that is likely to give
Turkey a date for starting formal entry talks, French Foreign Minister
Michel Barnier has said that Ankara must reassess its past. Barnier said
yesterday that Turkey must come to terms with the mass killing of
Armenians in the late years of the Ottoman Empire before it can enter
the EU. The remarks have already provoked reactions in Turkey. Ankara
has long denied charges that Turks committed genocide against Armenians.

By Jean-Christophe Peuch

Prague, 14 December 2004 (RFE/RL) — The comments by French Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier came after talks in Brussels with his
counterparts from the 24 other European Union countries.

Barnier told reporters that France wants Ankara to reconsider its
position on the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians at the start of the
last century before it joins the EU.

“Regarding Armenia, I mentioned the request that France will make during
the negotiations [with Turkey] for a recognition of the tragedy that
took place at the beginning of the [last] century and that concerned
hundreds of thousands of Armenians,” Barnier said.

It was the first time a French government official publicly established
a link between the Armenian atrocities and Turkey’s EU aspirations.

Barnier said France would file an official request with the Turkish
government after the EU gives Ankara a date for the start of formal
entry talks.

Ankara’s membership bid will be reviewed at the EU’s winter summit on 16
and 17 December in Brussels. The bloc has already made it clear that it
will give positive answers.
According to most Western estimates, massacres and deportations between
1915 and 1923 claimed up to 1.5 million Armenian lives. Another 200,000
Armenians reportedly were killed between 1894 and 1896.

Most Western and Armenian scholars blame the nationalist Young Turk
leaders that ruled over the Ottoman Empire during World War I for a
deliberate policy of extermination.

Although the successive governments that came to power after the
creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 deny any links with their
Ottoman predecessors, they have always refused to recognize the killings
of Armenians as genocide.

Ankara insists the 1.5-million death toll is inflated and says that, if
300,000 Armenians did die during those years, this was largely the
result of civil unrest that also claimed the lives of thousands of Turks.

Citing historical evidence, Western and Armenian scholars in turn say
the Young Turks sought to systematically deport and massacre the
empire’s Armenian population, partly in retaliation for its suspected
collaboration with Russia.

Since 1923, Turkey has resisted and condemned any attempt by foreign
parliaments or governments to raise the Armenian genocide issue.

In June 2001, the French parliament passed a cautiously worded bill that
recognized the 1915-1923 killings of Ottoman Armenians as genocide.

Although the French government opposed the initiative, President Jacques
Chirac signed the bill into law. This prompted a swift reaction from
Ankara, which threatened to sever economic and cultural ties with Paris.

Turkey’s anger eventually abated after a few weeks and bilateral
relations went back to normal.

Up until a parliamentary debate today, Barnier was careful to not
describe the 1915-1923 killings as “genocide.” Still, a Turkish Foreign
Ministry spokesman immediately reacted to his initial comments, saying
his country would “never recognize any so-called genocide.”

Armenia, which has put recognition of the genocide worldwide on its
foreign policy agenda, welcomed France’s position.

Speaking to reporters in Yerevan today, Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
said that Barnier’s remarks in Brussels “show once again that the
question of the genocide has gone beyond the Armenian framework and is
now a global issue.”

In an interview with Reuters last week, Oskanian said he hoped Turkey
would change its stance on the genocide after it enters into talks with
the EU.

Regional experts say Ankara’s attitude toward the Armenian issue is
deeply rooted in Turkeys’ educational system, which glosses over the
country’s cultural diversity in a bid to promote a unifying Turkish
national identity.

However, Barnier said that in France’s view, Ankara cannot aspire to EU
membership if it refuses to come in terms with its past.

“If, as I think, the core idea of Europe’s project is that all its
members should reconcile one with another — like France and Germany,
which have put reconciliation at the center of their project — and that
each member state should reconcile with its own past, then I believe
that when the time comes Turkey, too, will have to come in terms with
its own past and history and recognize this tragedy,” Barnier said.

In comments on France 2 public television today, the foreign minister
reiterated that Paris is not making this a condition for the opening of
entry talks with the EU. Barnier said that would not be legally possible.

“This is an issue that we will raise during the negotiation process. We
will have about 10 years to do so and the Turks will have about 10 years
to ponder their answer. It is not a condition we’re making for the
opening of negotiations that will be discussed by EU leaders this coming
Thursday and Friday,” Barnier said.

Results of an opinion survey released today by the Paris-based French
Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) show a majority of citizens in France
and Germany remain opposed to Turkey’s entry into the EU.

Those who object to Ankara’s accession cite its human rights record, its
cultural and religious differences with European countries, and the
status of women in Turkish society.

However, they make no mention of the Armenian issue.

PHOTO CAPTION: “This is an issue that we will raise during the
negotiation process. We will have about 10 years to do so and the Turks
will have about 10 years to ponder their answer.” — French Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS DRAFT 2005 BUDGET NOT SOCIALLY-ORIENTED

Arminfo
14 Dec 04

YEREVAN

“To put it mildly, the draft 2005 budget that the government has
submitted to the parliament cannot be considered socially-oriented.
There can be no talk of a socially-oriented basic financial document
when (the government) fires 10,000 teachers and then talks about
raising the salaries of the rest,” Viktor Dallakyan, secretary of the
(Armenian) parliamentary faction of the opposition Justice bloc, told
reporters at the Pakagits club today.

Official figures say 42 per cent of the Armenian population do not
have enough to eat while the parliamentary majority is doing
everything possible to hinder the adoption of a decision on repaying
the (citizens’ bank) deposits lost after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, Dallakyan said.

“They are praising this draft budget, which is 650-680m dollars,
whereas Azerbaijan’s budget is 2.1bn dollars. Armenia’s military
spending is thought to amount to 80m dollars while Azerbaijan’s is
equal to 250m dollars. Over 86 per cent of the 100m budget deficit is
covered by borrowing from abroad,” he said.

Dallakyan added that 32.8m drams (63,500 dollars) had been envisaged
for health sphere (in the draft budget), whereas Former Health
Minister Ararat Lazarian has said the sphere needs 70m drams (135,500
dollars) a year.

“But the government still keeps talking about the merits of the 2005
daft budget,” Dallakyan said.

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PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

U.S. PREMIERE OF DIKRAN TCHOUHADJIAN’S BELOVED OPERETTA “LEBLEBIJI
HOR-HOR AGHA” SMASHING SUCCESS: 129 YEARS LATER, OPERETTA MASTERPIECE
& TCHOUHADJIAN LEGACY LIVES ON

Pasadena, California – It may have been written in 1875, but that did
not stop AGBU Ardavazt Theatre Company (ATC) and Lark Musical Society
from recreating Dikran Tchouhadjian’s third and widely-acclaimed
operetta, “Leblebiji Hor-Hor Agha”.

About 7,000 people attended the colorful comic operetta, performed in
Armenian with English super titles on October 22, 23, and 24th at the
Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, CA. The operetta was originally
written and performed in Turkish to avoid the censor’s scrutiny, and
weaves a fanciful yarn of love and farce, telling the story of an old
chick-pea vendor and his reluctance to let his daughter marry the rich
man of her dreams. Frequently staged in Europe, the ATC production in
October marked the first time the operetta was performed in the United
States. Tchouhadjian (1837-1898), who is considered the father of
Armenian opera, was the first composer to bridge the gap between the
musical arts of the East and West, recreating the classical European
forms by introducing the melos of Middle Eastern music.

Krikor Satamian, ATC’s artistic director, was determined to keep the
passion of Tchouhadjian’s timeless and ingenious work alive. In 2003,
Satamian teamed up with maestro Vatche Barsoumian, the founder and
director of the Lark Musical Society and the Lark Conservatory, and
vowed to stage all four of Tchouhadjian’s operettas to save them from
obsolescence. The talented duo successfully staged the operetta
“Zvart” in 2003 and received glowing reviews.

Bringing “Leblebiji Hor-Hor Agha” to the U.S. in 2004, albeit 129
years since it was first performed in Constantinople, was the next
logical step.

“If we had waited another ten years, we risked losing this historical
and artistic treasure forever. We felt we were sitting on a goldmine
and worked passionately to resurrect it by making it accessible to
both Armenian and non-Armenian music and art lovers everywhere,”
commented Krikor Satamian.

It’s no small feat recreating a chef d’oeuvre, not to mention one that
was originally written in old Turkish dialect. The pre-production also
included several trips to Turkey and Armenia to find lost pieces from
the original manuscript. At the time the operetta premiered in Turkey
in 1875, people had the time to enjoy a 4-hour performance. Satamian
had to shorten the text by about 1 hour to reflect the fact that
today, most people don’t have the luxury of spending that much time
watching a performance. The production included about 75 choral group
members, 15 actors, and 12 dancers, 10 backstage volunteers, not to
mention a 47-piece orchestra.

The operetta was solely produced by members of the L.A. Armenian
community. All of the actors, the choral group and dancers hail from
the L.A. area.

“We saved Tchouhadjian from extinction, and in the process rejuvenated
and inspired the L.A. Armenian community,” added Satamian.

What’s next for the tireless and very talented Satamian-Barsoumian
team?

They plan to recreate the two Tchouhadjian operettas that have yet to
be translated (“Zimere” and “Arifin Hillesi”), but that’s not the only
project that has their attention these days. April 2006 marks the
100th anniversary of AGBU and they are thinking about staging an
operetta about Armenian history to commemorate the milestone.

Founded in 1979, the AGBU Ardavazt Theater Company (ATC) is the only
full time Armenian theater company serving the L.A. community. The ATC
was named after Ardavazt II, king of Armenia during the first century
B.C. Ardavazt was considered a champion and supporter of theater
arts. ATC serves other Armenian communities by taking productions on
tour to cities such as Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco,
Montreal and Toronto. For more information about AGBU and its cultural
programs, visit AGBU online at

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress