Armenian PM rules out “unilateral” concessions in Karabakh talks – agency

Arminfo
13 Dec 04

YEREVAN

The Armenian side will make no serious unilateral concessions in the
Karabakh peace negotiations, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Markaryan told journalists today.

Trying to predict the possible course of developments in the Karabakh
talks in 2005, Markaryan expressed his confidence that the settlement
process would continue next year. He also expressed the hope that next
year would see some progress in the negotiations.

A1 Plus | 19:48:21 | 13-12-2004 | Social |

CRISTMAS TREE WILL BE PLACED AT REPUBLIC SQUARE

Yerevan vice-mayor said Monday a 27-meter Christmas tree will be put in
the Armenian capital’s central square.

The tree will be composed of branches cut from 14 firs and pine-trees.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 21:52:00 | 13-12-2004 | Social |

STUDENTS HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT CORRUPTION

UNDP and the Armenian government continue their studies as part of the
struggle against corruption.

Research conducted in Yerevan universities showed many students even
have no idea about what corruption is.

Lusine Margaryan, director of National Center for Liberalization
Processes Monitoring, said talk-shows will be staged in the republic and
a program on the dissemination of information will be launched to
enhance public awareness of the subject. She said the media will play a
big part in the campaign.

Expatica, Netherlands
Dec 13 2004

France asks Turkey to admit genocide

BRUSSELS, Dec 13 (AFP) – France wants Turkey to acknowledge the World
War One massacre of Armenians during negotiations on its membership
of the European Union, Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Monday.

“It is a request that France will make, to recognise the tragedy from
the start of the century …. Turkey must carry out this task as a
memorial,” he told reporters after talks with his EU counterparts in
Brussels.

France’s Armenian community has vowed to press President Jacques
Chirac to prevent negotiations on Turkish membership of the European
Union until Turkey acknowledged responsibility for the massacre.

EU leaders are expected to give Turkey a conditional green light at a
summit this week to start membership talks with the block, while
setting a series of strict conditions and warning the whole process
could take at least a decade.

The Armenian massacre has been a bone of contention for nearly nine
decades, with Turkey consistently refusing to acknowledge that
genocide in 1915-1917, when up to 1.5 million Armenians died.

Turkey says that between 250,000 and 500,000 Armenians and thousands
of Turks were killed in civil strife during World War One, when the
Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers.

The French parliament passed legislation in 2001 stating that
genocide had occurred, thereby causing hard feelings in relations
with Turkey.

Agence France Presse
Dec 13 2004

Turkey cautiously optimistic of EU bid ahead of crunch summit

ANKARA, Dec 13 (AFP) – Turkey was cautiously optimistic Monday that
it would obtain a favorable result from this week’s crunch summit of
European Union leaders who will decide on Ankara’s membership bid,
but warned the 25-nation bloc not to cross Ankara’s “red lines.”

“Of course we have some red lines,” Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif
Sener said after a cabinet meeting here. “If a negative situation
arises in regard to these, that, of course, would be termed
unacceptable by Turkey.”

Sener, who is also the government spokesman, was speaking before
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said in Brussels that Paris
wants Turkey to acknowledge the World War I massacre of Armenians as
“genocide” in the course of membership negotiations — a particularly
delicate subject for Turkey.

Sener refused to be drawn into what Ankara’s stance would be should
the Brussels summit fail to meet its expectations.

EU leaders are largely expected to give the green light to open
accession talks with Turkey at their summit Thursday and Friday in
Brussels, but with a set of strict conditions and a warning that the
process is likely to take at least a decade.

“The decision to be taken on December 17 must include the goal of
full membership without leaving room for interpretation,” Sener said.
“A clear date for the (start of) negotiations is also among our
expectations.”

The minister added that Ankara had some non-negotiable demands from
the EU, which he did not think EU leaders would ignore.

Turkey says it has fulfilled the necessary criteria to earn a firm
date for accession talks and insists that it will agree to nothing
less than full membership at the end of the talks.

Ankara also objects to what it calls attempts to impose new political
conditions that it should meet in order to start membership talks.

Zaman Online, Turkey
Dec 13 2004

Erdogan Revives Ataturk Diplomacy

ABDULHAMIT BILICI

For months, Zaman’s foreign news desk has been working hard to
prepare a special supplement ‘Why Turkey?’ for Turkish-EU relations
before European Council’s critical 16-17 December summit. One of the
topics, which I asked for a through analysis, was an evaluation of
Turkey’s membership process in terms of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s
principles. Because according to some nationalist-leftist circles,
Turkey’s EU membership is tantamount to a betrayal of Ataturk, hence,
those who are shouldering this project, most especially the Justice
and Development Party (AKP) government, are on a wrong path. To some
however, the EU is nothing more than a modern expression of
“contemporary civilization” as it was envisaged and encoraged by
Ataturk.

As a matter of fact, we requested an article from Professor Toktamis
Ates, who we believed would deal with the subject delicately.
However, because of the late delivery of the article and a
translation delay, this article by Professor Ates could not be
included in the supplement’s hard copy version; nonetheless, Turkish
readers can still read this article in our print copy in Turkey, and
our international readers can read it in the “Why Turkey?” section
that will be published on

The alliance between anti-EU Kemalist line, which is on the opposing
side because of its attitude against Westernization and the
nationalist-leftist-Islamist section, presents an interesting
picture. However, let’s leave the analysis of this picture for
another article and deal with the issue of whether huge support of
the Turkish society and state for the EU membership is a betrayal to
the legacy of Ataturk’s world vision and to the notion of his foreign
policy.

To clear that picture, first we should focus on the basic approaches
that constitute his vision on Turkish foreign policy. Whenever
Ataturk and foreign policy are mentioned, without the slightest
doubt, his principle of “Peace at home, peace in the world” comes to
mind. Whereas another factor, as influential as this principle in
Ataturk’s foreign policy, was pragmatism. The Lausanne Treaty, which
was almost sanctified by his ideological followers, was an outcome of
that pragmatism. In fact, if the issue was left to Ataturk’s idealist
contemporaries, Lausanne would never have been adopted and even a war
with the Great Britain, the superpower of the time, might have been
waged over the Mosul (Musul) conflict. “Friendship with the Soviets,”
which even today leads some groups to refer to Ataturk as “comrade,”
was also a reflection of his pragmatism.

However, the issue of including Hatay in Turkey’s borders and that of
strengthening hegemony over the Straits through the Montreux Treaty
also indicate how bold he could be when the occasion arose. Maybe for
an Ottoman soldier who witnessed the fall of a 600-year-old plane
tree, his only ideology was the country’s independence and unity.
That’s why his pragmatism stemmed from his meticulousness on this
issue rather than on not having principles.

Another significant foreign policy approach of Ataturk was his effort
to develop cooperation with Turkey’s neighbors. Perhaps, the Balkan
and the Sadabad Pacts were the most concrete examples of this policy.

Today, anyone who analyzes Erdogan’s foreign policy with an objective
view would acknowledge that there is no betrayal of Ataturk, on the
contrary, it is a multisided renewal of his forgotten heritage that
is being realized. Today, while Turkey is experiencing its golden
years with the neighbors, except Armenia, its predominance in the
world is increasing rapidly each day. Let’s look at the historic
events that have materialized within this year alone:

For the first time since the creation of the Syrian state, our
southern neighbor, a president from this country, Bashar al-Assad,
paid an official visit to Turkey. The last NATO Summit in which over
50 states attended, was hosted by Turkey. Despite the rejection of
the [Iraq] motion, President of the United States George W. Bush
visited Ankara in the summer as the leader of world’s only
superpower. For the first time ever, a Russian president (Vladimir
Putin) paid an official visit to Turkey. Again for the first time,
Turkey earned the status of secretary-general in a top caliber
organization like Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Do not listen to those who are trying to collect political benefits
from tragic operations taking place in Fallujah by putting the blame
on Erdogan government, Turkey’s policy on the Iraq crisis and the
Palestinian cause, that it has been following from the very
beginning, is of such quality that even makes most of the Arabs
envious. While reforms accomplished on the EU issue and peace
initiative pursued over Cyprus have taken Turkey to a strong position
for the first time, it has sent Europe into a state of limbo, not
really knowing what to do.

When you read Professor Toktamis Ates’ article, you will see that he
also emphasizes that if Ataturk were alive today, he would have
worked hard for the EU membership though he would have acted
meticulously on the transfer of sovereignty rights.

In my opinion, viewing the success achieved as betrayal because of
ideological obsessions can only be explained through psychological
factors. There is no need to be pessimistic: I have no doubt that the
accession could have a great contribution to Turkey, to the EU and to
the world in general. However, Turkey is already one of the shining
stars in the region. As a result, let the EU leaders think whether
they will benefit from Turkey’s illumination or not.

Derya Sazak Milliyet, Turkey, December 10

The Guardian – United Kingdom
Dec 13, 2004

“The European parliament will convene on December 14 in Strasbourg,
just three days before the December 17 EU summit, to approve a
decision to start membership talks with Turkey. The importance of this
decision in terms of the leaders’ summit is symbolic . . . not
binding. However, a majority of votes favouring Turkey might sway
European public opinion . . . However, if there’s disagreement among
the leaders concerning the nature of Turkey’s membership or a date for
talks, the problem will likely be left to the European
commission. Ankara wouldn’t want EU leaders to push the buck to the
commission. This is a worst-case scenario, and Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan would freeze the EU process . . .

“Obviously everything won’t end with the beginning of our talks. In
Brussels we might face shocks: demands to de facto recognise the
‘Cyprus Republic’, to find a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue,
and to improve relations with Armenia. Everybody in the European
parliament is saying different things.”

CENN – DECEMBER 13, 2004 DAILY DIGEST
Table of Contents:
1. Geneva, December 13-15, 2004
2. Caspian Sea-One of World’s Hotspots
3. Armenian Mining Giant Sold For $40M
4. Armenian Scientists Win in Contest of US Department of Agriculture

1. GENEVA, DECEMBER 13-15, 2004

Dear All, materials of the seminar of UNECE on the role of ecosystems as
water suppliers, Geneva, December 13-15, 2004, where I am planning to
participate with the similar title of presentation and agenda of meeting
of working group on Integrated Water Resources Management is online now.

You are kindly invited to visit the seminar web page that displays all
official documents, national reports and discussion papers (some of
which are in Russian):

With kind regards
Rafig Verdiyev
ECORES/UNEP

2. CASPIAN SEA-ONE OF WORLD’S HOTSPOTS

Dear Colleagues,

On December 6, 2004 a presentation entitled the Caspian Sea-One of
World’s Hotspots was made by Mr.Igor Zonn-head of Department of
Engineering Scientific Production Center for Water Economy, Reclamation
and Ecology, Moscow, Russia at a side event Analysis of Hotspots for
Climate Change Impacts Warning as part of the CoP10 to UNFCCC.

Statement of Republic of Azerbaijan as a response to the statement of
Mr.Zonn is available on the following address:
Sea One of World s Hotspots.zip

This document has been forwarded to the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Italy
as to clarify the issue among international organizations operating
there.

Any comments/questions will be appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Issa Aliyev
Head of International Cooperation Department
Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Republic of Azerbaijan
Tel: +994124924173
Fax: +994124925907

Hormetle, Bayram Hasanov, Consigliere,
Tel +39 06 85237243
Fax +39 06 85237246
Email: [email protected]

3. ARMENIAN MINING GIANT SOLD FOR $40M

By Atom Markarian

The government announced on Thursday, December 9, 2004 the sale of
Armenia’s largest metallurgical complex to several private investors,
including a large German company, for just $40 million.

A government statement said Germany’s Chronimet would take over 60% of
shares of the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine which was put up
for privatization last March. Fifteen percent of its stock will go to a
Yerevan-based metallurgical company, while two other obscure firms,
called Armenian Molybdenum Production and Zangezur Mining, will each get
12.5%. It is not clear who owns them.

The Zangezur plant and adjacent mines, one of Armenia’s few remaining
state-run industries, are located near the town of Kajaran in the
southeastern Syunik region. The mountainous area has the country’s
largest deposits of copper and molybdenum ores. Thousands of people work
there.

Trade and Economic Development Minister Karen Chshmaritian first
announced news of the plant’s upcoming privatization in August. He said
at the time that it will likely be bought by Chronimet and the U.S. firm
Comsup Commodities on a `fifty-fifty percent basis.’ He said each of
them will have to invest $150 million in the Soviet-era facility.

There was no word on investment commitments in a statement issued by
ministers after their weekly meeting. Nor is it clear why Comsup’s
involvement in the deal fell through.

Details of the sell-off were reportedly finalized during President
Robert Kocharian’s recent visit to Germany. Chronimet is part of the
German ELG Haniel group, which specializes in recycling and selling raw
materials for the stainless steel industry. The group is present in 15
countries around the world and reported sales exceeding $1.5 billion
last year.

The Zangezur complex will be privatized despite being very profitable by
Armenian standards. Its annual earnings have totaled at least $10
million in recent years in sharp contrast with other big state-run
companies mired in debt.

In a highly controversial decision earlier this year, the government
diverted all of the mining giant’s 2004 profits to an obscure private
charity which is reportedly run by several top army generals. The
government has still not explained motives for the move.

4. ARMENIAN SCIENTISTS WIN IN CONTEST OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Source: Azg/arm, December 1, 2004

USDA MAP (Marketing Assistance Program) informs that a group of Armenian
scientists from plants’ genetic resource laboratory at the Agricultural
Academy won a grant of US Department of Agriculture. The money is going
to be put in the project of “Preserving and using wheat’s wild ancestors
in Armenia”.

Prof. Mikhail Gyulkhasian, head of the scientists’, group told
journalists that the project will set to collect and preserve the gene
pool of wheat’s wild ancestors which will be salvation for thisunique
species and added that the wild wheat and rye were collected from the
regions of Ararat, Vayots Dzor and Erebuni resort. They will serve as
resources for breeding new species more enduring to cold, drought and
insects.

Prof. Gyulkhasian’s project together with two other projects
becamewinner within the US Agriculture Department’s program of
International Cooperation of Agricultural Research in the Central
Asia-Caucasus region among 125 other projects.

—
*******************************************
CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)

Tel: ++995 32 92 39 46
Fax: ++995 32 92 39 47
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

PRESS RELEASE
ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF CANADA
3401 Olivar-Asselin
Montréal, Québec
H4J 1L5
Tél. (514) 334-1299 Fax (514) 334-6853

PRESS RELEASE
13 December 2004

Contacts: Shant Karabajak 514-334-1299
Roupen Kouyoumdjian 514-336-7095
Aris Babikian 416-497-8972

The ANCC Deeply Concerned Over Increasing Violence Against Armenians in Iraq

MONTRÉAL – Fueled by a recent destruction of an Armenian Catholic
church and a Chaldean Catholic bishop’s residence on December 07 2004,
the Armenian National Committee of Canada is deeply concerned over an
increasing climate of anarchism in Iraqi cities. From the beginning of
the contested occupation of Iraq, Christians in general including
Armenians have been targeted by terrorist groups and a considerable
number have fallen victim. As reported by various news agencies over 6
Armenian churches and institutions have been violated of their spiritual
sanctity and parishioners have fallen victim to these agressions.

The Armenian National Committee of Canada considers these acts against
human and spiritual values intolerable and asks the authorities to take
measures for the security of the centuries old Armenian minority of
Iraq.

Dr. Girair Basmadjian, president of the ANCC was quoted as saying; “Some
of the oldest Christian monuments of the Middle-East have been attacked
and damaged if not destroyed. These acts remind us of a not so distant
past, filled with unspeakable horrors that we most certainly would not
like to see repeated. I call upon all concerned authorities to stop this
disaster from escalating to outright religious conflict.”

-30-

Holiday Cookbook Reviews, December 2004

Simply Armenian

Naturally Healthy Ethnic Cooking Made Easy

By Barbara Ghazarian

Reviewed by Liz Waters
The Cooking Club

More and more I find that authentically ethnic recipes are naturally healthy,
regardless of the culture. It is when we monkey around with the traditional
foods that they become unhealthy. The American palate has become dangerously
unhealthy with hidden sweetners at every crook in the road. As Barbara Ghazarian
proves amply in the pages of “Simply Armenian”, hidden additives are not
necessary for an excellent dining experience.

For instance, there is not a better appetizer than Ghazarian’s Zesty White
Bean Dip with toasted squares of her Savory Dill Bread..It should be on the
table at one of your holiday parties for sure! Also, her classic Parsley Salad
(tabouli) is perfect with pita, as well as beautiful on a serving table. There
are lamb recipes galore in this book as well, as lamb is traditional Armenian
fare. However, don’t get so hung up in main courses that you miss the wonderful
breads and desserts in this book. Hats off to Barbara Ghazarian for bringing
this wonderful cuisine to my attention. You can pick up a copy of this book
online with this link: Simply Armenian