Armenian Patriarch blames Turkey for poor relations

The Armenian Patriarch Karekin II said that the genocide issue was not one that could be debated.

NTV/MSNBC (Turkey)

December 8 – The Patriarch of the Armenian Church on Wednesday claimed
that Ankara was responsible for lack of formal diplomatic relations
with Yerevan.

Patriarch Karekin II said that this was because Turkey insisted on
setting preliminary conditions for the normalising of the relations.

However, Karekin II said that it was essential to resolve the question
of Ngorno-Karabag region of Azerbaijan and which is currently occupied
by Armenia, and the recognition of the alleged Armenian genocide.

“Undoubtedly in such a climate it is of special importance to open
the border and improve co-operation,” he said.

But he stressed that the issue of genocide was not an issue that
could be the subject of debate.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU-Ottoman Comparison
by MEHMET KAMIS

Zaman Online, Turkey
Dec 9 2004

Historians say that it is better to evaluate each period from its
own perspective, but from time to time we should look at history from
the viewpoint of today. The Ottoman Empire used to resemble today’s
European Union (EU). We could possibly define the Ottoman geography
as the EU of its era even though it covered a different region. The
empire stretched from the Balkans through the Middle East to Africa.
Over 40 countries today fill the vacuum left after the collapse of
the empire. Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Bosnia,
Serbia, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Romania and Hungary all now seem
foreign to each other, even though once they sheltered under the same
roof. If we look at them through the eyes of today, millions of Turks,
Bosnians, Palestinians, Serbs, Arabs, Greeks, Hungarians, Romanians,
Bulgarians, Armenians and Jews would have been trading in this region
as an economic union, without any customs control.

Had it not been for the mismanagement of imports and British tricks,
the Ottoman Empire would have survived, and would have prevented
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Balkan wars and the ongoing
conflict in Iraq. Turkey is now surrounded by countries, which had
lived in peace as part of the Ottoman Empire, but whose history since
then has been unhappy and desperate. These countries once again are
in dire need of a larger roof.

Again through the eyes of today, it is certain that the Ottomans were
more liberal than the EU on human rights. The EU has not attained
Ottoman standards especially with regards to the freedom of thought
and protection of the rights of subjects, to let them wear their own
religious and traditional dresses and speak their own languages.

Today’s EU does not protect freedoms as the Ottomans did. The Ottomans
were very successful in accommodating differences and providing
freedoms, when compared to the EU, and always had a liberal attitude in
protecting the identities of various nations and religions. The empire
never embraced the imperialist ideal that the ruled must resemble
their rulers, and refrained from imposing a lifestyle on them. The
EU Turkey demands are more severe and its judgment more negative,
showing that the EU is afraid of anything that does not resemble
itself. On the other side, the Ottoman Empire’s structure was one in
which many different ethnic and religious groups were able to live
together without any problems. My question is this: Which is more
contemporary and democratic, the Ottoman Empire, which recognized the
differences, allowed them live together and provided everyone freedom
on religious and traditional issues without assimilation; or the West,
that wants to assimilate everything and is afraid of differences?
From: Baghdasarian

Pope keeps up tradition of visiting Spanish Steps to start Christmas schedule

CBC News, Canada
Dec 8 2004

04:02 PM EST Dec 08

Pope John Paul II waves from his popemobile at the foot of the
Spanish Steps after he read a prayer in honor of the Virgin Mary, on
the Italian national holiday of the Immaculate Conception, in Rome,
Wednesday. (AP/Andrew Medichini)

ROME (AP) – Waving from his white popemobile, Pope John Paul blessed
shoppers and tourists at the foot of the Spanish Steps on Wednesday
as he began his busy Christmas schedule with a traditional visit to
the popular square in the heart of historic Rome.

He rode in an open-sided vehicle down narrow Via Condotti, a street
lined with some of Rome’s swankiest shops. John Paul, dressed in a
white robe and a red embroidered stole, sat in an upholstered chair
on a wheeled platform, and in a hoarse voice read a prayer in honour
of the Virgin Mary.

Dec. 8 is the church and Italian national holiday of the Immaculate
Conception, which marks the Roman Catholic dogma that the mother
of Jesus was conceived without original sin. In the morning, he
presided at a two-hour mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the 150th
anniversary of the declaration of the dogma.

The Pope prayed that Mary would “help us to build a world where the
life of man is always loved and defended, every form of violence is
banned, peace is tenaciously sought by all.”

Thousands of Romans and out-of-towners took a break from gift-buying
on the first official day of the city’s Christmas shopping season to
catch a glimpse of the Pope in the square with its towering column
topped by a statue of Mary.

They cheered as the pontiff arrived during an afternoon break in the
rain that had drenched Rome earlier. Mayor Walter Veltroni watched
as John Paul blessed a basket brimming with pink roses that were then
placed at the foot of the column.

Ailing with Parkinson’s disease and hip and knee problems, John Paul
no longer walks or stands during his many public appearances. But
the Vatican’s official schedule of papal ceremonies indicates the
84-year-old pontiff is sticking to the heavy Christmas season schedule
of the last several years.

On Christmas Eve, he will preside over a solemn midnight mass in St.
Peter’s Basilica. Several years ago he stopped celebrating a late
morning mass on Christmas Day, but he is scheduled to deliver his
traditional message “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city and to the world”)
at noon on Dec. 25. He will also lead a service of thanksgiving for
the blessing of 2004 on New Year’s Eve in the basilica.

Earlier Wednesday, the Pope said he was praying for the Iraqi people
after militants bombed two churches in Mosul, the latest anti-Christian
violence in the country.

“I express my spiritual closeness to the faithful, shocked by the
attacks,” John Paul said, speaking from his apartment window above
St. Peter’s Square.

He said he was praying that Iraqis “may finally know a time of
reconciliation and peace.”

In co-ordinated attacks Tuesday, militants bombed an Armenian
Catholic and a Chaldean church in Mosul, injuring three people.
Iraq’s militants have regularly targeted various ethnic communities,
including the minority Christians.

Armenian MP rubbishes Turkish premier’s remarks on ethnic minorities

Arminfo
7 Dec 04

Yerevan, 7 December: One should not take “at face value” Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent statement during the opening of
the Armenian museum in Istanbul that ethnic groups living in Turkey are
native elements of that country and that Turkey has defended and will
defend their interests, Vaan Ovanesyan, deputy speaker of the Armenian
parliament and a member of the bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation – Dashnaktsutyun, told a press conference today.

Today Turkey is ready to say flattering words to the Armenian
people in order to successfully implement its far-reaching plans,
he said. However, the deputy speaker said, this is just an attempt
“to blow smoke” into the eyes of the international community and the
Armenian people.

Armenian parliament amends law on parties

Arminfo
8 Dec 04

Yerevan, 8 December: The Armenian parliament has adopted a draft
law, which has been initiated by the republic’s ruling coalition,
on changes to the law on parties in its first and final reading.

The draft law envisages strengthening of the parties. It particularly
says that a party cannot have less than 2,000 members, including no
less than 100 members in a region. The draft law also says that the
currently operating parties have to meet the requirements considered
by the changes to the law on parties during a year after the law
takes effect.

Armenia’s Justice Ministry has registered 65 parties up to now.

Albright to visit Azerbaijan

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Dec 9 2004

The former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is
expected to visit Azerbaijan soon as part of her tour over the South
Caucasus region.

During the visit Albright is scheduled to meet with President Ilham
Aliyev, Milli Majlis (parliament) speaker Murtuz Alasgarov, as well
as opposition leaders, a diplomatic source told Azernews.

The talks will focus on the democratic development in Azerbaijan and
the Upper Garabagh conflict.

The former US Secretary of State currently heads the National Democracy
Institute operating in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

Armenian police say media reports impede probe into editor’s car blaze

Arminfo
8 Dec 04

Yerevan, 8 December: The investigation into the explosion in the car
of the editor of Yerevan daily Aykakan Zhamanak, Nikol Pashinyan, is
continuing. Measures are being taken to ensure that the investigation
is complete, comprehensive and objective, the press service of the
Armenian police has said in a statement.

It must be noted that at approximately 2040 local time [1640 gmt]
on 22 November, the Niva jeep belonging to Nikol Pashinyan caught
fire outside Aykakan Zhamanak’s editorial office.

“Without waiting for the examination of the scene of the incident
to complete, Pashinyan made a hasty, unfounded, subjective and
deliberately provocative statement saying that the explosion of his
car was allegedly pre-planned,” the statement says. A forensic fire
and technical examination was set for the next day and it concluded
on 2 December that “the blaze was caused by open fire or, which is
less likely, by malfunctioning cables”.

“As for the blast theory offered by certain media outlets, experts
have ruled it out,” the police say in the statement.

[Passage omitted: reported details]

“We think that against the backdrop of the investigation into
the incident, which has been instituted not at anyone’s behest or
contrary to anyone’s interests, but within the framework of the
law and in line with the requirements of the law, the statements
by certain media outlets about the ‘obedience’ and indifference of
the law-enforcement bodies look at least strange and subjective.
They are not only strange, but also ineffective in terms of a prompt
and complete investigation,” the Armenian police say in the statement.

Zenit News Agency, Italy
Dec 9 2004

Papal Solidarity Offered for Iraqi Catholics After New Attacks

Church and Bishop’s Palace in Mosul Are Destroyed

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 8, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II expressed his
closeness to Iraqi Catholics shaken by two new terrorist attacks which
destroyed an Armenian-Catholic church and the Chaldean bishop’s palace
in Mosul.

“I express my spiritual closeness to the faithful, distressed by the
attack, and I implore the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin
Mary, that the Iraqi people may at last know times of reconciliation
and peace,” the Pope said today after praying the Angelus on the
solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

On Tuesday, attackers entered the Armenian Catholic church in the
Wihda neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, according to
AsiaNews. They forced out a security guard and two other people who
were there and then set off two bombs, according to eyewitnesses.

Around 4:30 p.m., a group of four or five armed men stormed the
Chaldean bishop’s palace on the right bank of the Tigris River.

Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, 62, was away on pastoral duties. The
only person in the building was Father Raghid Aziz Kara. He told
AsiaNews that after the attackers ordered him to leave the premises,
they proceeded to lay and then detonate explosive devices. He heard
three explosions and saw the building engulfed in flames.

The nearby Church of the Purification, which Muslims also venerate
because of its famous statue of Our Lady, was untouched. Police were
investigating.

Archbishop Fernando Filoni, apostolic nuncio in Baghdad, told AsiaNews
that the attacks against the bishop’s resident and the Armenian
Catholic church are “grave and cowardly acts against defenseless
Christian symbols and institutions.”

The nuncio said that the Armenian church “was supposed to be
inaugurated on Christmas Day.” The attack against it shows “how little
respect terrorists have for people and holy places,” he said.

He said that the bishop’s palace in Mosul had been receiving threats
for some time. “Today they became a reality,” he noted.

In reference to U.S. action in Fallujah, Archbishop Filoni said that
terrorists promised “they would destroy a church for every mosque that
was attacked. But all these acts stem from an exasperated violence
that especially strikes those who are defenseless.”

Zenit News Agency, Italy
Dec 9 2004

On Solemnity of Immaculate Conception

“Beacon of Light for Humanity for All Times,” Says John Paul II

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 8, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the
address John Paul II delivered today, the solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception, before praying the midday Angelus with several thousand
pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

* * *

1. “Tota pulchra es, Maria!”

One hundred and fifty years ago, on December 8, 1854, Blessed Pius IX
proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Holy
Virgin.

The privilege of being preserved from original sin means that she is
the first redeemed by her Son. Her sublime beauty, a reflection of
that of Christ, is pledge for all believers of the victory of the
divine grace over sin and death.

2. The Immaculate Conception appears as a beacon of light for
humanity for all times. At the beginning of the third millennium, she
leads us to believe and hope in God, in his salvation, and in eternal
life. She illuminates particularly the path of the Church engaged in
the New Evangelization.

3. This afternoon, during the traditional homage to the Virgin in
Piazza di Spagna, I will entrust the city of Rome and the entire
world to her, Immaculate Mother of the Word-made-Man. We now appeal
to her powerful intercession, reciting the Angelus with filial
confidence.

[After praying the Angelus, the Pope said the following:]

Yesterday afternoon, in Mosul, in Iraq, a Catholic-Armenian church
and the Chaldean bishop’s palace were destroyed. I express my
spiritual closeness to the faithful, shaken by the attack, and
implore the Lord, through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin,
that the beloved Iraqi people may at last know a time of
reconciliation and peace.

I greet the pilgrims present, in particular the representatives of
the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate, headed by the Lord Cardinal
Andrzej Maria Deskur. Beloved: on this day of celebration I am
particularly close to you. I pray for you and encourage you to
persevere in your devotion to Mary Immaculate.

May the Virgin obtain for all the graces desired.

AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER UNVEILS SEVERAL DETAILS OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH HIS
ARMENIAN COUNTERPART

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8. ARMINFO. Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers discussed the prospects of liberation of the occupied regions
of Azerbaijan and restoration of transport and other communications
between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sofia. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mamedyarov made this statement dwelling on several details of
the negotiations at the 12th session of OSCE Council of Ministers,
the newspaper Echo reports referring to the press-service of the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The minister stated in his speech that “having occupied Karabakh
region and the districts nearing it, Armenia wants to strengthen the
results of its military aggression actively waging a settling policy
in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.” He called it a serious
violation of the International Humanitarian Law, in particular,
a full contradiction to the Geneva Convention of 1949. Mamedyarov
pointed out that Azerbaijan adheres to peaceful resolution of the
conflict on the basis of the International Law, UN Security Council
resolutions and OSCE documents. He said that Azerbaijan is ready to
normalize its relations with Armenia, but it requires the latter to
come out from the position of the principles of the International
Law and democracy and not from the position of the realities reached
by force and the ideology of territorial demands. Giving a positive
assessment to the meetings in Prague, Elmar Mamedyarov expressed
concern over the “illegal activity in the occupied territories,
which causes a real damage to the negotiation process,” and called
OSCE to make its contribution to the problem’s solution.

Within the framework of the session, Mamedyarov held also bilateral
meetings with EU Commissioner for Foreign Relations and Policy of
European Neighborhood, Director of OSCE Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights, Special Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office for
Karabakh, as well as the heads of Turkish, Belgian, Austrian and
Greek delegations.