ISN, Switzerland
Nov 8 2004

Moscow proposes joint S Caucasus railroad

Russia seeks to revive the South Caucasus Railroad and gain control
over its operations in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.

By Vladimir Socor for The Jamestown Foundation (08/11/04)

The Russian government proposes to create a joint entity of the
Russian, Georgian, Armenian, and Azeri railways for operating the
South Caucasus Railroad, from the Russian-Georgian border via
Abkhazia to Tbilisi, Yerevan, and Baku. If created, such a joint
company would give Russia a preponderant role in the operations of
the three countries’ main railroad artery. Visiting the region on 1-3
November, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin and Russian
Railways president Gennady Fadeyev discussed the project with top
government officials there. It envisages setting up a joint operating
company to manage and upgrade the railroad, and a joint bank to
finance restoration and upgrading, particularly of the Abkhaz section
in Georgia. The governments of Russia and the three South Caucasus
countries would finance part of that work and would also invite
private capital investments into the joint company. The whole project
hinges on reconstructing that section, which was severely damaged and
idled during the 1992-1993 Russian military intervention in Georgia.
As a result, Armenia and Azerbaijan lost their rail links to Russia.
In the intervening decade, Armenia was hardest hit by the loss. The
Russian government did not attach high priority to restoring the
connection, but does so now as part of an effort to establish a
North-South transport corridor and land bridge to Iran.

A response to EU West-East transit corridor?
Levitin and Fadeyev characterized the initiative as part of Russia’s
answer to the EU’s planned West-East transit corridor to Asia via the
South Caucasus. Moscow seeks to undercut it through a North-South
transit corridor via the South Caucasus and Iran. Levitin and Fadeyev
called for urgent action on the railroad, moving ahead of the EU: “If
we don’t start dealing with problem, we could lose huge transport
flows […] This project’s defining significance is a geopolitical
one.” In September this year, the state-owned Russian Railways
reopened the Abkhaz section for partial service from the
Russia-Georgia border station Vesyolaya to Sokhumi. The “reopening”
is in fact a seizure of Georgian state property on Georgian territory
without consulting Tbilisi, and indeed over its protests. Fadeyev
attended triumphant celebrations of the reopening, and Russian
Railways now runs the line as part of its network. The move has also
completed the erasing of the Russia-Georgia border in the Abkhaz
sector, now Russian-controlled on both sides. In Yerevan, Fadeyev
signed letters of intent with his counterpart, Ararat Khimrian, and
with Prime Minister Andranik Margarian on the two countries’
participation in the proposed four-country joint company. Moscow and
Yerevan will urgently task an expert group to draw up investment and
business plans and will contribute to reconstruction of the
railroad’s Abkhaz and Armenian sections. This approach reflects
Russia’s proprietary attitude toward the Georgian state railway’s
Abkhaz section. Moscow expects Yerevan to continue lobbying with
Tbilisi to go along with this. Russia also seems to expect that
Armenia can afford to co-finance or borrow for the project.

Downplaying the political implications for Georgia
In Tbilisi, Levitin signed with Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania
and Economics Minister Kakha Bendukidze a memorandum of understanding
on creating expert groups for the project, focusing on restoration of
the railroad’s Abkhaz section. Bendukidze seemed to embrace this
initiative. A free-market, free trade enthusiast, he
characteristically downplayed the project’s political and policy
implications for Georgia. By contrast, Zhvania called for caution,
citing Abkhazia’s unstable political situation. He suggested
postponing not only the decision, but even the creation of the expert
group, pending clarification of the situation in Abkhazia. Moscow’s
initiative in effect discards the Russian-Georgian March 2003 Sochi
agreement, whereby reconstruction of the Abkhaz section was to
proceed in accord with the Georgian government and “in a synchronized
manner” with the safe return of Georgian refugees to their homes in
Abkhazia, beginning with the Gali district. The seizure of the
Vesyolaya-Sokhumi railroad stretch canceled a part of the Sochi
agreement. The whole agreement would be destroyed if the
reconstruction-repatriation linkage were broken. Georgian Foreign
Minister Salome Zourabishvili insists on maintaining that linkage to
promote Georgia’s minimal objectives in Abkhazia: return of refugees,
Georgian-language schools, and a Georgian police presence in Gali.
Apart from the reconstruction-repatriation linkage, Georgia currently
has almost no leverage to achieve those goals. Moreover, the
Vesyolaya-Sokhumi link, fully under Russian and Abkhaz control, might
become the railway equivalent of the Roki highway tunnel in South
Ossetia – that is, an avenue for contraband, unchecked migration, and
arms deliveries. Russia’s apparent sense of urgency – in its
perceived geopolitical interests – to rebuild that railroad gives
Georgia an opportunity to seek three elementary quid-pro-quos
(pending a political settlement in Abkhazia): safe return of
refugees, Russian recognition of Georgian ownership of the railroad’s
section in Abkhazia, and joint control of the Vesyolaya-Sokhumi line.

–Boundary_(ID_fRhIx49mXWT6hu1VKRZNDA)–

New project strengthens Georgian-EU relations
By Anna Arzanova

The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 8 2004

The presentation of a European Union funded project, which envisages
the strengthening and deepening of cooperation between the EU and
Georgia, was held in Tbilisi on November 5.

The project is aimed primarily at increasing the ability of state
institutions to support the implementation of the 1999 Partnership
and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which is the main instrument for
developing mutually beneficial relations between Georgia and the EU,
as well as democratic and structural market reforms in the country.

To achieve this, the one year project, which is also aimed at building
awareness of European integration in Georgian society and will cost
700,000 Euros, will “assist governmental agencies to prioritize,
coordinate, manage and monitor the PCA implementation process,” “build
the relevant human resource capacity through tailor made training,”
and ” build the government’s communication capacity, targeting both
the government and civil society.”

Within the framework of the project, a group of European and Georgian
experts will deliver advice and training in accordance with the
objectives of the project. Study visits to one of the new EU member
states and to Brussels will also be organized. The project will make
a technical needs assessment and supply government offices working
on EU issues with IT and communication technologies.

The project partner is the governmental commission for European
integration, while the beneficiaries of the project will include the
State Minister’s Office for European Integration, those ministries
participating in the PCA implementation process, relevant parliamentary
committees, media, the business community, and NGOs.

State Minister for European Integration Tamar Beruchashvili said that
November 5 was an important date for the country because it was the
beginning of a project which would help create effective resources
in Georgia. “Priorities of domestic foreign affairs are not just a
declaration, but a very precise concrete plan which we are going to
implement,” she stated.

According to Beruchashvili, a special council has been created which
will include virtually all those NGOs, expert groups, university
scholars and others who are assisting the Georgian government to
integrate into the EU.

“The main problem is a lack of well-trained human resources and
this project is going to help solve this problem and thus help the
government to implement the partnership and cooperation agreement
between Georgia and EU, the main objective of which is to make
Georgia an attractive country for the EU, to harmonize Georgian and EU
jurisdiction and to ensure resources which will serve this mechanism
and will make it more active,” she said.

Beruchashvili stressed that it is very significant that they are
able to speak in professional language to their European partners,
to understand how the European institutions work, to be involved
actively in this work, to defend their interests and to find their
place in the European family.

Executive vice-president of the think-tank Georgian Foundation for
Strategic and International Studies Temur Iakobashvili said at the
press conference Friday that “The project envisages the implementation
of a framework of access to partnership and cooperation agreement
and to create resources within the ministry so that they can work
with European partners,”

Iakobashvili added that this is the first time that Georgian
organizations have participated in the consortium, and he underlined
the good will of the Georgian government shown in involving so many
people in the process. “Integration into the European Union is not
the mission of organizations but also of the people as well,” he said.

Head of Operations of the European Commission’s delegation in Georgia
and Armenia Adriana Longoni expressed her great satisfaction in
being able to present the project. “The goal of the project is to
create a working environment for political dialogue in order that
Georgia consolidate its democratic, economic and market processes,”
Longoni said.

“This project can be adapted to the requirements of both parties.
This is one more very important step in our relations,” Longoni
stated, adding that the European Commission decided in 2004 to create
a neighborhood program for Caucasus countries, what means that after
enlargement, new mechanism of cooperation should be created.

“This also will support the consistent development of the country
to approach the European Union,” Longoni said. She thinks that it
is also very important to achieve the aims of this project, as well
as progress in adherence to the law, protection of human rights and
development of a market economy.

Longoni said that the progress of the project is based on a working
plan. “Within the framework of this, I want to welcome the first
meeting, which is also a starting point in the new environment after
the revolution to improve the processes of implementation. The new
neighborhood policy is very important for the creation of a people’s
group who are informed regarding these processes,” Longoni noted.

MP and Head of the Parliamentarian Committee of Foreign Affairs Kote
Gabashvili expressed his opinion that “this agreement is the biggest
achievement in relations with the EU.”

“It is a very significant project for us in approaching the EU. We can
see the special attitude of the EU and interest in Georgia,” he said,
expressing his confidence that their ambitions will help Georgia to
advance and to meet all the criteria, which will be quite difficult
but which will guarantee the survival of the country.

Team leader and Deputy Team leader of the Support of PCA Implementation
process Mats Nystrom and Kakha Gogolashvili also participated in the
launch on Friday.

Los Angeles Times, CA
Nov 8 2004

A Family Name That Walks Ahead of Me

In America, the Arabic Sa’adah is difficult — a slow business of
articulated syllables and repeated A’s.

By Marjorie Gellhorn Sa’adah, Marjorie Gellhorn Sa’adah is a writer
in Los Angeles.

Because my father, a U.S. Army officer, was stationed in France in
1965, I was born in Paris.

Bébé Sa’adah was wrapped in a pastel blanket and taken home from the
hospital without a first name. My parents soon settled on one, and
the prénom Marjorie was entered on my French birth certificate, a
delicate carbon- paper page affixed with a stamp that indicated the
payment of a one-franc tax. I was only a day or two without a first
name, but in some ways, I feel as if my last name has walked ahead of
me ever since.

Sa’adah is an Arabic name. I say my name, and I watch as Americans
listen to it, write it down on forms and enter it into computers. I
pronounce it and spell it and make a little hooking motion with my
finger to help explain the apostrophe.

To Americans, the name is difficult, but I’ve found that through all
the flashing colors of terrorism alerts, few Americans seem to have
the cultural fluency to identify its source. I wish they did, that
the distance between us and the far-away, seemingly foreign people we
are at war with was shortened in this way.

The root of my name is sa’eed, “happy”; sa’adah is “true happiness.”
But the spelling of my name just approximates Arabic letters,
transcribed by immigration officials. My Syrian grandfather
immigrated to the U.S. after World War II when my father was a boy.
My grandfather’s brothers arrived in different years, met different
immigration officers, and the spelling of the name — A’s and E’s and
apostrophes — varies across the family.

The apostrophe stands for ayin, an Arabic consonant the English
alphabet lacks. Technically, an ayin is a “laryngeal voiced
fricative,” a sound my Arabic textbooks caution is difficult for the
non-Semitic tongue. It is a stopping sound, somewhat like the catch
between the two halves of “uh-oh.” Meeting me can be a slow business
of articulated syllables and repeated A’s.

I first attempted Arabic in graduate school, in a class so difficult
I dropped it before it sank my GPA like an anchor. Arabic calligraphy
flows right to left, each consonant is a choice of four intricate
letter forms, and vowels usually go unwritten — which makes for
difficult reading, let alone comprehension: lt ln cmprhnsn.

I tried again, on Sunday mornings at the Islamic Center in Los
Angeles. This time, I set a modest goal. I wanted to be able to greet
people: my grandfather, the Arabs and Arab Americans of my parents’
generation who correct me with a “tsk” when they hear me flatten out
my ayin, dulling the sound of my own name.

The classroom was tiny, windowless, filled by a dozen people. There
was an African American man and his teenage sons, learning Arabic to
help them study the Koran. There was a hip white woman who played
drums in a world music band and wanted to small-talk and joke with
her Arabic bandmates, and a teenager, wearing her coffee shop uniform
for her afternoon job, sent by her parents. A thin white man who
complained about the center’s coffee, noted everyone’s name and never
bought the textbooks. Our teacher taught him the words for “I will
walk to Starbucks,” but after three weeks the man stopped coming.

Except for him, my classmates and I came to know each other. We were
all from more than one place: “Ana min Misr; ana Amrikeah,” said an
engineer who lives in Riverside. “I’m from Egypt; I’m American.”

The most recent arrival was Farida, an Azerbaijani fleeing war
between ethnic Azeris and ethnic Armenians. On the airplane coming to
the U.S., she told us, the man seated next to her was Armenian. They
looked at each other, acknowledging their common destination — peace.

“He is not my enemy,” she said. “He is more like me than he is
different.”

None of us in the class were alike. The drummer smoked Marlboros
during breaks, Farida tucked stray hair back under her hijab. But we
were more alike than we were different.

We unfolded a map of the world and looked at the wide part of it that
speaks Arabic — countries that stretch across North Africa, through
the Middle East, into Asia. We learned the names of homelands and
wars and family members, and we traced all those lines toward Los
Angeles.

In 1965, I had a few days without a name, and, as it turned out, a
month without a country. That’s how long it took for my parents to
receive the official document that confirmed that I was a
foreign-born American citizen.

It’s tied with two long red ribbons, stamped with a glossy medallion,
embossed with the seal of the U.S. Department of State. It looks like
a prize, like a promise. It’s postmarked France, it’s written in
English, it says my name and, in one language of many, “Ana
Amrikeah.”

–Boundary_(ID_39s2GFoK9gHhcElG4SG3vw)–

Veterans Day to be honored with events throughout the state

Providence Journal, RI
Nov 8 2004

The Providence VA Medical Center, 830 Chalkstone Ave., Providence,
will conduct its annual Veterans Day program on Wednesday, starting
at 10 a.m., in the fifth-floor auditorium. Keynote speaker will be
Chief Justice Frank J. Williamsof the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Hosted by Vincent Ng, medical center director, the ceremony will
include a color guard from the Rhode Island National Guard, an ROTC
unit from Cranston High School East performing a flag-folding
ceremony and an ROTC unit from Coventry High School performing a
tribute to missing soldiers. Veterans’ activist David A. Rourke will
present a donation in memory of Cpl. Robert Lee Argenti, killed in
VietNam in 1970, to be used to purchase a new DAV transport van.

Also on Wednesday the Marine Corps League’s Kent County Detachment
will conduct a ceremony open to the public at the State House on
Smith Street in Providence, from 10 a.m. to noon, which will include
the flying of the Marine Corps flag over the State House to honor the
Marine Corps birthday.

Veterans Day events scheduled for Thursday include:

The Bristol Veterans Council Veterans Day Committee will conduct its
annual Veterans Day wreath-laying ceremony in the Honor Roll Garden
in Bristol at 8:30 a.m., followed by an interfaith memorial service,
at 9:30 a.m., at the Rhode Island Veterans Home chapel, 480 Metacom
Ave., Bristol. There will be a brief speaking program featuring Cpt.
James Valente, an active-duty surgeon in the U.S. Navy and a
Middletown native, and a collation in the home’s lobby.

The Coventry Veterans Council invites the public to participate in a
Veterans Day memorial ceremony at 9 a.m. at AMVETS Post 4 on Meeting
Street.

A Veterans Day observance will be held at 9 a.m. in Portsmouth, in
Town Council chambers with a wreath presentation to follow at the
Portsmouth War Memorial at Town Hall.

The West Warwick Veterans Day observance, sponsored by the town’s
Veterans Council, will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park
at Two Legion Way.

Veterans Day parades will be held at 9:30 a.m. from Wilson Park in
Wickford; at 9:30 a.m. starting from South Kingstown High School; and
at 10 a.m. from North Scituate’s Berkander Field. East Greenwich
celebrates Veterans Day with a parade starting at 10 a.m. on Main
Street, which will include Quonset Air Museum’s award-winning 30-foot
model of the aircraft carrier Wasp (CV-18) that will be displayed
following the parade at American Legion Post 15, 1016 Main St., until
3 p.m.

The American-Armenian Veterans Memorial Committee will conduct a 10
a.m. Veterans Day memorial service at the group’s monument (second
one on the left past the administration building) in the Rhode Island
Veterans Cemetery in Exeter.

Quonset Air Museum, 488 Eccleston Ave., Quonset State Airport, North
Kingstown, will hold a Veterans Day open house, from 10 a.m. to 3
p.m., with free admission to observe its large aircraft collection
and artifacts from Rhode Island’s rich aviation history.

U.S. Submarine Veterans — Groton Base will hold its annual Veterans
Day memorial service at 11 a.m., at the World War II Submarine
Veterans Memorial at Bridge and Thames Streets in Groton, Conn. The
Tolling of the Boats ceremony will recognize the loss of 52
submarines and 3,300 men, as well as all those lost on all U.S.
submarines before and after World War II. Master Chief Dean Irwin
will speak.

The Rhode Island Office of Health and Human Services, the Department
of Human Services and the Division of Veterans Affairs will jointly
sponsor a Rhode Island Veterans Day tribute to all its veterans and
current military personnel at the State House rotunda in Providence.
The 2 p.m. ceremony will feature the display of a model of the World
War II Memorial under construction in Memorial Park on South Main
Street in Providence. Joseph Corrente, Memorial Commission project
chairman, and commission members will be present to answer all
inquiries about the memorial. Rhode Island claims 96,000 World War II
veterans. The 2,560 veterans who died during the war will have their
names inscribed on the honor roll memorial wall.

Army retirement seminar to be held in Quonset Leroy Bussells,
assistant director of retirement affairs for the Association of the
United States Army, will discuss retirement issues at a seminar on
Nov. 18 at the Quonset “O” Club in North Kingstown. Bussells will
present information on recent legislation passed by Congress that
affects survivor benefit plans and other regulation changes affecting
retirement planning.

The event, sponsored by the Rhode Island Chapter of the Association
of the United States Army, is free and begins at 6:30 p.m. with
appetizers and a cash bar followed by the speaking program. Attendees
must respond by Nov. 15 to Anthony at (401) 861-2997.

R.I. women veterans to gather for luncheon A luncheon designed to
bring together Rhode Island’s women veterans for camaraderie and to
educate them about their military benefits, will be held on Nov. 20
at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Warwick, starting at 11 a.m. All
services including active duty and retired military women are invited
along with male veterans or veterans’ organizations.

The program will include an appearance by Kim Graves from the Rhode
Island Veterans Affairs Office to address benefit questions. Tickets
cost $20 and will be sold until Nov. 15. Requests should be mailed to
All Service Women’s Lunch c/o Ginny Hanson, 76 Bliss Rd., Newport, RI
02840. For more information, call Maureen Holland at (401) 232-1659.

AMVETS Almeida-Borges Post 37 meets tonight at the Walley School,
High Street, Bristol, at 7 p.m. The Rhode Island Department will meet
Wednesday at Post 33, 140 South Bend St., Pawtucket, at 7 p.m.
Veterans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary Post 45 assembles this evening
at the Silver Lake Community Center, 524 Plainfield St., Providence,
at 7 p.m. Washington County Post will meet Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., at
155 High St., Wakefield. A District 4 meeting will be held Wednesday
at 7:30 p.m., at Plainfield Community Center, 529 Plainfield St.,
Providence. Auxiliary president Dorothy Irving will visit Smithfield
Memorial Auxiliary 2929 on Saturday at 47 Putnam Pike in Smithfield.
Post 449 will host its annual turkey trot with raffles and prizes on
Saturday at 7 p.m., at the post home on Providence Street in West
Warwick. Tabor Franchi Auxiliary 2396 will host a veterans’
dinner/dance on Saturday, starting at 7:30 p.m., at 170 Randall St.,
Cranston; tickets cost $22.50. Kelley-Gazzerro Post 2812, 1418
Plainfield St., Cranston, will meet on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Eighth Air
Force Historical Society The Rhode Island chapter will meet tomorrow
at Bickford’s restaurant, Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, at 11 a.m.,
for Eighth Air Force veterans and friends. American Legion and
Auxiliary Post 18 will gather tomorrow at 7 p.m., at 3064 E. Main
Rd., Portsmouth, and the auxiliary unit will meet Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.
Shields Unit 43 will meet tomorrow at the post home in Warwick at 7
p.m. The 8/40 Unit will gather on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., at
Charlesgate North on North Main Street in Providence. Post 39 will
meet Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., at 1948 Kingstown Rd., Peace Dale. Post
1 will meet Thursday at 1 p.m., at Macera’s Garden Room in Cranston.
Howard-Rogers Auxiliary Unit 25 will meet Thursday at 25 McCallum
Ave., Pawtucket, at 7:30 p.m. Auxiliary Unit 103 will host a Hawaiian
sunset luau on Saturday from 7 p.m. to midnight, at Post 79, 46
Central St., Central Falls. Call Virginia at (401) 727-1524 for
tickets, which are $15. Korean War Veterans Association West Bay
Chapter 2 will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday at 7:30 pm, at
VFW Post 449, 197 Providence St., West Warwick. Northern Rhode Island
Chapter 3 will meet Wednesday at Terry Lane Post at Pinewood Park in
Chepachet, beginning at 7 p.m. The Reserve Officers Association The
Rhode Island Department will gather at the Harwood Reserve Center,
385 Niagara St., Providence, on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Military
Officers’ Association of America Narragansett Bay Chapter will meet
Friday at Chianti’s restaurant, 195 Forge Rd., East Greenwich,
starting at 6 p.m. Tickets cost $23, and reservations must be made by
today by calling Stan at (401) 783-0455.

The Retired Enlisted Association Narragansett Bay Chapter 79 will
meet at 10 a.m. on Saturday at VFW Post 4487, 52 Underwood Lane,
Middletown. Nominations for officers will be taken at this meeting.

George W. Reilly can be reached at VeteransColumn [at] verizon.net or
by writing to the Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI
02902.

Minority Phobia’ Haunts Turkey

Kurdistan Observer
Nov 8 2004

Any attempt to revise existing norms revives memories of the
non-ratified Sevres Treaty of 1920, forced through by the World War I
victors that would have divided Anatolia
FATMA DEMIRELLI – EMINE KART
Turkish Daily News / Nov 7, 2004
In 1923 the newly born Turkish Republic defined its minorities and
their rights in the historic Lausanne Treaty that was signed by
Western powers who failed to prevent the establishment of the
independent Turkish state. 81 years after Lausanne, the minority
issue is at the heart of a boiling debate and is under pressure from
outside and within.

The main outside player is the European Union, whose executive arm
the European Commission called on Turkey to expand its cultural
rights to Kurds without explicitly calling them a minority, and
complained that Alawis were not recognized as a Muslim minority.

That immediately sparked fury in Ankara, but complaints were
whispered and criticism was restrained and care was taken not to
spoil the positive atmosphere in the wake of the commission’s
historic recommendation.

At the heart of the unrest layed the fact that neither Alawis nor
Kurds were among the communities recognized as minorities under the
Lausanne Treaty, widely acclaimed as the basis of the independence
and unitary structure of the Turkish state. Thus, the commission’s
suggestions for rights for Kurds and Alawis were perceived as
potential threats to the unitary structure of the state.

The roots of sensitivities regarding minority issues are strongly
grounded in the experiences during the decline of the Ottoman Empire
and the birth of the Turkish Republic after World War I. During
Ottoman rule, Christian, Armenian and other religious communities
enjoyed autonomy in their religious activities and education.

But both the Turkish establishment and Turkish public share a
widespread belief that the Christian West then used the stick of
religion and nationalism in Eastern Europe to break up the Ottoman
Empire during the 19th and 20th centuries. Any attempt to revise
existing norms revives memories of the non-ratified Sevres Treaty of
1920, forced through by the World War I victors that would have
divided Anatolia with outright independence for the Armenians and
autonomy for the Kurds, leading to their independence.

The EU moved to calm the fears by saying the rights enjoyed by the
people were what mattered and not the “terminology,” and made it
clear Turkey would need to revise its thinking on the matter in the
light of changing international practices.

“It looks somehow not necessarily compatible with the existing
international instruments that the only minorities that Turkey
recognizes as minorities in Turkey should be non-Muslim religious
minorities and that any other minority would by definition not exist
in Turkey,” EU Commission’s representative in Ankara Ambassador
Hansjoerg Kretschmer told the Turkish Daily News in an interview.

That unrest in the state apparatus was initially kept low but Kurds,
and Alawis were quick to respond in a forceful way that rather
shocked the authors of the commission’s report and prompted
Kretschmer to admit, “I was somehow surprised by statements that are
made by representatives of Alawis and also of Kurds that they are not
a minority.”

Meaning entirely different things, representatives of both
communities agreed in rejecting the “minority” label designed for
them by the EU Commission. Alawis, citing their strong loyalty to the
secular republic and to its founder Kemal Ataturk, denounced the
“minority” description, something they felt was questioning their
firm loyalty to the state.

For Kurds, on the other hand, recognition as a minority fell short of
what they appeared to be wishing for, namely, acknowledgment of their
status as a “constituent element” of Turkey.

“We are not a minority,” Leyla Zana, a former deputy of the now
defunct People’s Democracy Party (DEHAP) told the European Parliament
in a speech upon receiving the prestigious Sakharov Prize. “Kurds are
a constituent element of the Turkish Republic,” she said.

Other Kurdish politicians emphasized that Kurds were too big a
community to be labelled as a minority, and their centuries-long
presence in Anatolia made it psychologically difficult for them to
accept minority status.

“We are talking about 20 million people who have been living in this
land for centuries. This huge number in itself and their presence for
centuries prevents them feeling like a minority group,” Hamit
Geylani, a lawyer for the pro-Kurdish Democratic People’s Party
(DEHAP), told the TDN.

“Calling for equal rights for all would not promote the
disintegration of the state; this fear is groundless. What leads to
clashes is the policy of denial,” he said.

“Provided that the state can satisfy its citizens, no one would like
to quit their own state and join another one, no matter how
geographically or ethnically close it would be. Switzerland is a very
good example,” said Serafettin Elci, former leader of the banned
Democratic Mass Party (DKP).

‘Sevres syndrome’
What marked a new stage in the debate over minorities was a report
drafted by a sub-committee of the Human Rights Advisory Board, a
government-sponsored body making recommendations to Prime Minister’s
Office.

With its sharp language criticizing the practice concerning cultural
rights, the report said the minority definition in Turkey was
restrictive, contradicting the modern-day trend that says nation
states are not to be asked if there are minorities living in their
territory and which accepts the presence of minorities in a state if
there are communities in that state who are “ethnically,
linguistically and religiously different” and feel this difference is
an inseparable part of their identity.

It said even the most innocent demands for a distinct identity have
been viewed with a “paranoid” suspicion that they are meant to divide
the country and promote terrorism, which the report described as the
“Sevres syndrome.”

The report’s blunt assessment created a storm even within the
78-member Human Rights Advisory Board, with some of its members
calling the report a “document of betrayal.” And it was that that
broke the silence of the state as well. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
in a message marking the anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish
Republic, warned the unitary structure of the state was an
untouchable issue and similar warnings from the influential military
followed.

“The Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] cannot accept any debate over the
unitary structure of the Turkish state, an untouchable provision of
the Constitution,” Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug told a
press conference last week.

Unleashing criticism directed to the EU — held back for weeks —
Basbug also said the EU Commission’s report was not in compliance
with the Lausanne Treaty.

“It is clear that the EU’s approach goes beyond the framework drawn
up by the Lausanne Treaty,” Basbug said, complaining that some of the
rights suggested for those communities in the EU report went beyond
cultural rights and spilled over into the “political realm.”

The ongoing debate is yet to finish and the rights and wrongs are yet
to be set, but it has already exposed fears that have haunted Turkish
minds for decades, perhaps even centuries.

But for Geylani, who is banned from politics for five years as a
member of the now defunct People’s Democracy Party (HADEP), this is a
time to cherish. “The very fact that the issue is being debated 81
years after the establishment of the Turkish Republic is the most
positive thing about the whole debate,” he said.

NATO Secretary General considers Armenians’ participation in seminar necessary

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 8 2004

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer’s visit to Baku completed
on Friday. Prior to his departure to Yerevan, Scheffer told a news
briefing at the Heydar Aliyev Airport of Baku that he was satisfied
with the visit.

In his meetings with President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov, views were exchanged on expanding the NATO-Azerbaijan
relations, prospects for cooperation within the Silk Way and
protecting the environment. There are no obstacles for NATO-Azerbaijan
collaboration, Scheffer said.

Scheffer said NATO does not plan to station military bases in
Azerbaijan. He said the organization will continue supporting
Azerbaijan both within the Partnership for Peace program and the
future bilateral cooperation plan.

Touching upon the Upper Garabagh conflict settlement, the NATO
Secretary General said the issue was discussed at the meetings.
Although NATO will not be directly involved in resolving the problem,
its allies honor Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. Scheffer said
he supports a speedy settlement of the conflict which has caused
sufferings of people for many years.

“Baku is an important partner for NATO and we are ready to discuss
and support Azerbaijan’s initiatives at deepening this collaboration.”

Expressing his position on the Armenian parliament members’ planned
participation in the NATO seminar in Baku, Scheffer said that although
his authority does not cover issue, he considers their participation
necessary.

“Attendance of such seminars by willing guests is acceptable”,
he said.*

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

President receives OSCE Minsk Group co-chair

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 8 2004

President Ilham Aliyev received the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk
Group Steven Mann on Friday. The parties gave a high assessment
to the ceremony of joining the Azeri and Georgian sections of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline held on October 16.

International and regional issues, settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Upper Garabagh and other matters were discussed at
the meeting.*

Trial of Azeri officer due late in November

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 8 2004

The trial of Ramil Safarov, an officer in the Azerbaijani Army,
will be held on November 23, according to Safarov’s defense lawyer
Adil Ismayilov.

Ismayilov said that the Hungary’s Department of Lawyers will act as
the Azerbaijani officer’s defense in the trial.

Safarov was arrested on February 19, 2004 in Budapest after he murdered
an Armenian officer.*

Date for Azeri, Armenian FMs’ meeting yet to be determined

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 8 2004

The new date for the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign
ministers has not been determined yet.

Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told journalists on Friday that
the next meeting of the two ministers was scheduled for October 25.
However, it was postponed after the Armenian side requested time to
analyze the issued discussed at previous meetings.

Azerbaijan is expecting the OSCE MG co-chairs to set a new date for
the meeting.*

RUBEN SHUGARIAN: RECONSIDERATION OF TURKEY’S BIASSED POLICY IN KARABAKH
ISSUE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO REGIONAL STABILITY

YEREVAN, September 16 (Noyan Tapan). Turkey has been refusing to
establish diplomatic relations with Armenia by now putting forward
a number of preconditions, the Nagorno Karabakh issue, refusing of
allegations about 1915 Armenian Genocide, recognition of territorial
integrity of Turkey. Ruben Shugarian, RA Deputy Foreign Minister,
declared this at the September 15 discussion entitled “Political
Preconditions of Opening of Armenian-Turkish Border, Wish and Reality”
organized by the Center for Public Dialogue and Developments.

“Recently the Turkish side has dropped some hints, according to which
though the Nagorno Karabakh issue remains as one of the preconditions
of the agenda of Armenian-Turkish relations it is no longer considered
as first and foremost,” Ruben Shugarian mentioned. In the estimation
of the Armenian side, reconsideration of Turkey’s biassed policy in
Karabakh issue will contribute to improvement of bilateral relations
and will establish stability in the region.

Shugarian emphasized that though the issue of recognition of the
Genocide remains on the agenda of Armenia’s foreign policy and its
relations with Turkey Armenia doesn’t consider this as a precondition
for establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey. Armenia considers
this issue not only in the context of restoration of historical
justice, but also in the context of future improvement of atmosphere
of mutual trust, guarantee of security in the region and prevention
of such crimes in the future.

RA Deputy Foreign Minister considered characteristic that in spite of
absence of diplomatic relations between 2 sides recently there are
some contacts at different levels between the Foreign Ministers of
Armenia and Turkey. They give the sides an opportunity of discussing
issues worrying them, a well as exchanging opinions about regional
and international developments.

Though there are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey and
the borders between them are closed the amounts of foreign trade are
steadily increasing. Attempts of bilateral contacts and cooperation
are also made at inter-regional (Gyumri-Kars) level, level of NGO
representatives, businessmen and higher schools. Greeting these
contacts Armenia continues holding the opinion that the problems
existing between two countries may be solved only at the state level,
the speaker emphasized.

As for the Armenian-Turkish border, Ruben Shugarian mentioned that
this is also a border between NATO and Armenia, as well as between a
potential member of EU and Armenia, i.e. in the future this may become
a border between EU and Armenia: “In this respect the border is also
closed for the whole region and it’s clear that the Georgia-Turkey
and Azerbaijan-Turkey borders aren’t enough for an adequate reaction
to the geopolitical processes.”