The Times (London)
July 17, 2004, Saturday
Legends of little men
by Maureen Freely
BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS
BY LOUIS DE BERNIERES
Secker & Warburg
£17.99; 640pp
ISBN 0 436 20549 1
£14.39 (p&p £2.25)
0870 1608080
During the Ottoman Empire -before the Turks called themselves Turks
-Istanbul and the Aegean coast of Anatolia were as Christian as they
were Muslim. The populations of Crete, the Aegean Islands, and large
parts of the Greek mainland were similarly mixed. The Treaty of
Laus-anne changed all that: almost overnight, the Christians of
Anatolia and most Muslim Greeks were forced from their homes and
dispatched across the border.
On paper, the population exchange made sense. It came at the end of a
war that had seen the Greeks invade Anatolia and the Turks push them
into the sea. There was a strong desire to prevent a sequel -and to
end the massacres, death marches and mass expulsions that had ravaged
both Christian and Muslim communities throughout the region for many
decades. On the ground, though, the story was rather different.
Thousands of peaceful fishing and farming communities were abruptly
ripped asunder and millions made homeless. Eighty years later, their
descendants still carry the memory of what Louis de Bernieres (below)
calls their “absolute destitution and sense of injustice” -as anyone
familiar with the area will know.
He dedicates Birds Without Wings to these forgotten millions and also
to his maternal grandfather, who was wounded at Gallipoli. It is, in
effect, two novels for the price of one. The first is a long and
meandering tale set in a village in hills behind the town now known
as Fethiye. Floating above it and swooping down at brutally regular
intervals to destroy its peace is a second, leaner tale about Mustafa
Kemal, the intrepid Salonica-born soldier-hero who went on to found
the Turkish Republic.
Holding it all together is the mournful, all-knowing narrator that
won this author’s previous books so many devoted readers. His
characters do not just speak: they asseverate. When they asseverate
out of turn, he is quick to put them in their place. Thus, when
Leonidas the schoolteacher attends a meeting of a clandestine society
aiming to restore to Greece all the lands lost to the Ottomans, de
Bernieres is quick to remind us that his dreams are “predicated on
the absolute belief” that his own people are superior to all others
and that “such people, even those as insignificant as Leonidas, are
the motor of history, which is finally nothing but a sorry edifice
constructed from hacked flesh in the name of great ideas”.
He’s right, of couse. Which is why he gets away with it. Well, we’ll
see. It is never clear where the truth about Mustafa Kemal ends and
the embroidery begins.
His Turkish spelling is eccentric and makes you wonder how carefully
he’s checked his facts. Although his account of the Great Game seems
judicious and even handed (he saves his most righteous rage for Lloyd
George), he deviates from both Greek and Turkish official history in
ways that could be controversial. If he’s thinking of visiting either
country in the near future, he should pack dark glasses.
Although his account of Gallipoli is inspired -rarely has the ugly
face of war been so lovingly described -his heart belongs to the
smaller canvas, and his portrayal of sleepy, multi-ethnic village
life before, during, and after the First World War is a magnificent
achievement. Here the sonorous narrator pulls back for long stretches
to let the characters describe the complex web of friendships,
passions, betrayals and heroic acts that bind together its
inhabitants.
They judge themselves by their own standards, which means we must
suspend ours. So the first time we meet Rustem Bey, the village
landlord, he is saving a Greek woman from the town gossips. The
second time we meet him, he is inviting a crowd to stone Tamara, his
unfaithful wife, to death. It may be the penalty laid down by Sharia,
but it is the imam who stops the stoning, shames Rustem Bey, and
saves Tamara’s life. In a village that serves more than one god,
there is always more than one right way of doing things.
That life without blind faith is difficult is clear from the
chequered careers of Levon the Armenian apothecary, Ali the
Snowbringer, Leyla the concubine, Ibrahim the Mad, and Iskandar the
Potter and his son Karatavuk, who ends up fighting with Mustafa Kemal
at Gallipoli. All make terrible mistakes and some are driven by
bigotry. But because they know each other first as neighbours, they
sometimes rise above themselves, and their most generous acts are on
behalf of those marked as enemies. Until one day, when a group of
statesmen gather together to sign a peace treaty. If you’re going to
a beach anywhere on the Aegean this summer, and want to know a bit
more about the local history, read this book and weep.

Agence France Presse
July 16, 2004 Friday
Le gouvernement americain oppose a un amendement hostile a la Turquie
WASHINGTON
Le gouvernement americain s’est declare vendredi fermement oppose a
un amendement presente au Congres americain visant en substance a
conditionner l’aide americaine a la Turquie a l’abandon de ses
efforts pour empecher la reconnaissance d’un genocide des Armeniens
au debut du 20eme siecle.
“L’administration s’oppose fermement a cet amendement qui cherche a
restreindre l’assistance americaine a la Turquie. Il ne doit pas
devenir loi”, a declare le porte-parole du departement d’Etat Richard
Boucher.
“Cet amendement est prejudiciable a la cause que nous defendons tous:
la reconciliation entre la Turquie et l’Armenie”, a-t-il ajoute dans
un communique.
M. Boucher a egalement insiste sur la necessite de poursuivre une
politique de bonnes relations tant avec la Turquie, “alliee au sein
de l’Otan”, qu’avec l’Armenie, “un proche ami”.
Le porte-parole s’est felicite des prises de position du president de
la chambre des representants (chambre basse du Congres) Dennis
Hastert, contre cet amendement.

Agence France Presse
July 16, 2004 Friday
Entretien des emissaires du groupe de Minsk avec le president Aliev
BAKOU
Les emissaires du groupe de Minsk, qui s’efforce de resoudre le
conflit entre l’Armenie et l’Azerbaiedjan a propos de l’enclave du
Nagorny Karabakh, ont eu vendredi un entretien “tres cordial et
utile” avec le president azerbaiedjanais Ilham Aliev, a annonce l’un
d’eux.
“Nous venons de sortir d’un entretien tres cordial et utile avec le
president Aliev”, a declare l’emissaire americain, Steve Mann, lors
d’une conference de presse a Bakou.
“Nous continuerons d’etre actifs en vue de remplir le mandat du
groupe de Minsk (…) qui est de soutenir des discussions et des
negociations entre les deux parties”, a ajoute M. Mann.
Les emissaires du groupe de Minsk (Etats-Unis, Russie, France) ont
refuse de fournir des details sur le contenu de leurs discussions.
L’Azerbaiedjan et l’Armenie se sont battus pendant quatre ans pour le
controle du Nagorny Karabakh, une enclave peuplee majoritairement
d’Armeniens en Azerbaiedjan. Les Armeniens l’ont emporte et
controlent de facto l’enclave depuis 1994.
Des negociations de paix se deroulent par intermittence depuis dix
ans avec la mediation du groupe de Minsk, qui opere sous le mandat de
l’Organisation pour la securite et la cooperation en Europe (OSCE).
En Azerbaiedjan, pays qui se considere comme victime de ce conflit
non resolu et qui estime que le temps joue en sa defaveur, il y a un
sentiment croissant de frustration, une certaine hostilite vis-a-vis
des mediateurs et des appels a reprendre les hostilites.
De leur cote, les mediateurs ont declare vendredi qu’ils ne devaient
pas etre les “boucs emissaires” du peu d’empressement des deux
parties a parvenir a une solution durable.
“Qu’on nous aime ou pas, que la formule vous convienne ou pas, il
faudra faire face aux trois emissaires”, a declare a la presse
l’emissaire francais Henri Jacolin.
Le conflit du Nagorny Karabakh destabilise une region qui a une
importance strategique pour les nations occidentales. Un oleoduc de
plusieurs milliards de dollars est en cours de construction, avec le
soutien des Etats-Unis, pour acheminer le petrole du secteur
azerbaiedjanais de la mer Caspienne vers la Mediterranee a travers la
Georgie et la Turquie. Par endroits, le trace de l’oleoduc se trouve
a quelques kilometres de la ligne de front entre les forces
armeniennes et azerbaiedjanaises.

Armenian police improve efficiency in combating human trafficking
Arminfo
13 Jul 04
YEREVAN
The Armenian law-enforcement agencies have lately improved their
efficiency in combating human trafficking, the public relations
department of the Armenian police says in a report forwarded to
Arminfo news agency.
Last year alone, the law-enforcement agencies instituted 19 criminal
proceedings on charges of pimping. Nine cases were linked to pimping
outside the country and human trafficking. Article 132 of the Criminal
Code adopted in August 2003 stipulates four to eight years in prison
as a punishment for trafficking. The report says that the Armenian
government in January 2004 endorsed a national programme of struggle
against international trafficking for 2004-06. A total of 11,000
dollars were allocated from the state budget for the implementation of
the programme. The remaining funds will be allocated by foreign donor
organizations.
[Passage omitted: Armenia ratified UN conventions on transnational
organized crime and human trafficking in 2003]

Agency says Russia trying to hinder Azerbaijani gas going through Iran
Assa-Irada, Baku
15 Jul 04

BAKU
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Russia’s ex-prime minister
and current ambassador to Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin, on 15 July.
Aliyev touched on Russian-Azerbaijani relations and drew attention to
positive dynamics in these relations which have a firm base. According
to him, the days of Russian culture recently held in Baku, a
Russian-Azerbaijani business forum, plans to hold a year of Azerbaijan
in Russia and a year of Russia in Azerbaijan, the fruitful work of the
intergovernmental commission and frequent mutual visits by official
delegations testify to a high level of understanding between the two
countries. Aliyev expressed the hope that this tendency will continue
in the spirit of strategic partnership in the future.
Chernomyrdin expressed the hope that Russian-Azerbaijani relations
will continue to develop and strengthen.
The aim of the sudden visit to Baku by one of Russia’s gas magnates,
Viktor Chernomyrdin, is not disclosed officially, and observers link
it to the fact that an Iranian gas pipeline might be built through
Azerbaijan to export gas to Europe. Russia, which does not want
Iranian gas to go to Europe, managed to prevent the construction of
the gas pipeline through Armenian territory.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian TV chief’s resignation due to mismanagement
Arminfo
16 Jul 04

YEREVAN
Aram Abramyan’s resignation from the post of director of the Aravot TV
channel has nothing to do with politics, Aram Abramyan wrote in his
article entitled “Provincial management” in Aravot newspaper today.
The article said that during his management of the TV channel, nobody
exerted political pressure on him and his political activity was not
influenced. Moreover, nobody asked him to resign from his post, on
the contrary, he was asked to stay and continue his work. The reason
for his resignation from the post of the TV channel’s director, he
said, is the incorrect management of the channel. As an example, he
cited the submission of the channel’s balance for 2003 only on 15 July
2004 and other failures in financial management.
All this, as Aram Abramyan said, does not allow the TV channel to
develop professionally, and the director did not want to manage the TV
channel which has no high quality programmes. “Programmes of low
quality would have discredited my professional reputation,” Aram
Abramyan wrote.

Azeri defence minister, OSCE mediators exchange views on Karabakh settlement
Turan news agency
16 Jul 04

BAKU
Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev today received the
co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group who are visiting the region, the
Defence Ministry press service has reported. They held an exchange of
views on ways of resolving the Karabakh conflict.
The French co-chairman, Henry Jacolin, said that if the parties do not
change their policies and make no compromises, there will be no
progress in the conflict settlement. He said that any incident on the
front line might give rise to large-scale hostilities.
For his part, Safar Abiyev noted that the conflict cannot be settled
without the liberation of Azerbaijan’s occupied territory. He said
that UN Security Council resolutions should be implemented, and the
OSCE should also adopt a relevant resolution.
The US co-chairman objected to this idea and said that the OSCE will
never resolve this conflict. “Only Armenia and Azerbaijan are able to
resolve this conflict while the Minsk Group can only render
assistance,” he said.
Asked about the principles of the OSCE Minsk Group for resolving the
Karabakh conflict, the Russian co-chairman, Yuriy Merzlyakov, said
that the parties to the conflict had chosen the OSCE to resolve the
conflict. “We are trying to resolve the conflict peacefully and
support the resolutions taken by the parties. The UN Security Council
adopted the resolutions under different circumstances and today they
might fail to be resolved. The deadline for implementing the
requirements has passed and now we should look for a new option,”
Merzlyakov said.
However, Abiyev did not agree and noted that the UN resolutions on
Yugoslavia and Iraq have been implemented and the time will come when
the resolutions on the Karabakh conflict will be implemented, the
Defence Ministry press service said.
Turan note: When decisions were made on NATO’s military intervention
in Yugoslavia and the international coalition’s military intervention
in Iraq, the opinion of the UN Security Council were not taken into
account.

Pasadena Star-News, CA
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
July 17 2004
Measure on Armenian killings fought by GOP leaders
Schiff’s genocide amendment threatened
By Lisa Friedman
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — A provision deploring the massacre of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire after World War I has run afoul of Republican leaders
and the Bush administration, who are demanding it be stripped from a
foreign aid bill.
The largely symbolic amendment by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, would
forbid Turkey from using U.S. funds to lobby against a resolution
designating the killing of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and
1923 as a genocide.
The law already prohibits foreign governments from using American
foreign aid to lobby. Schiff, however, acknowledged his real goal was
to put the House on record as recognizing the Armenian genocide.
His amendment passed by voice vote late Thursday.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, reacted angrily Friday, issuing
a statement belittling Schiff’s provision. He and House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., vowed
the resolution will never see the light of day.
“Our relationship with Turkey is too important to us to allow it to
be in any way damaged by a poorly crafted and ultimately meaningless
amendment,” Hastert said.
Eliminating the amendment will likely avert a diplomatic crisis with
Turkey, a NATO ally that is home to the strategic Incirlik Air Base.
But the dispute also has provoked a furor in Southern California,
home to more than 54,000 Armenian-Americans.
“We find it deeply offensive that these officials would let a foreign
nation impose its dictates on Congress,” said Armen Carapethian,
spokesman for the Glendale-based Armenian National Committee of
America-Western Region.
“If we don’t recognize past genocides, then future genocides will
occur.”
Armenians estimate more than 1.5 million died in a planned genocide
campaign. Turkey has consistently denied the assertions, putting the
number at about 300,000 and contending that thousands of Turks also
died in what was a multi-party conflict during the last years of the
Ottoman Empire.
Hastert also was responsible for shelving an Armenian genocide
resolution in 2000. At the time, Turkey threatened not to renew the
mandate for U.S. forces using the Incirlik Air Base to patrol what
was then the no-fly zone in northern Iraq.
Schiff noted Friday that Turkey’s threats to France and other
European nations that have recognized the genocide have not
materialized, and said he isn’t worried about retaliation.
“Our relationship with Turkey will survive recognition of the
Armenian genocide,” Schiff said.
Schiff said supporters of the amendment will fight to keep the
language in the bill, which will be negotiated by House and Senate
leaders.

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
July 17 2004
Schiff genocide resolution faces GOP resistance
House leaders fear offending ally Turkey one day after House passes
bill affirming Armenian Genocide.
By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press
WASHINGTON – A day after getting the House of Representatives to
recognize the Armenian Genocide for the first time, Rep. Adam Schiff
(D-Glendale) was already feeling pressure Friday from the House’s
Republican leadership to drop the issue.
The House of Representatives accepted an amendment to the foreign
operations appropriation bill Thursday sponsored by Schiff that would
prohibit Turkey from using U.S. foreign aid funds to lobby against
recognition of the genocide.
“It puts the House on record as saying that the genocide took place,
we know it took place, and we won’t allow our money to be used to
deny it,” Schiff said.
>From 1915 to 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman
Turks, but the United States has never acknowledged it as genocide.
Schiff’s amendment is the first time the House voted on a measure
related to the genocide.
But a joint House-Senate committee must approve the amendment, and
Republican leaders in the House are already starting to fight it. In
a joint statement, Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.),
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and House Majority Whip Roy
Blunt (R-Mo.) insisted the committee drop the amendment and said the
House would not consider officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide
this year.
Republicans fear that recognizing the genocide will hurt the United
States’ relationship with Turkey, a strategic military ally. The
United States and Turkey jointly operate an air force base in
Incirlik, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
“Turkey has been a reliable ally of the United States for decades,
and the deep foundation upon which our mutual economic and security
relationship rests should not be disrupted by this amendment,”
Hastert, DeLay and Blunt said in a written statement. Efforts to
reach them Friday were unsuccessful.
Schiff dismissed the notion, saying that Turkish leaders might be
angered for a month and then get over it.
He pledged to work hard to make sure the amendment remains part of
the bill, and he expects help from Armenian-American leaders
throughout the country.
“Up until now, [the Republicans] have been killing this resolution
behind the scenes; killing it with silence,” Schiff said. “This is
the first time they’ve been fleshed out and forced into the open.”
In Glendale, the Armenian-American community rejoiced that Schiff’s
amendment passed.
Ardashes Kassakhian, executive director of the Armenian National
Committee’s Western Region, which serves Glendale and Burbank, heard
the news while serving as a counselor at an Armenian youth camp. He
immediately shared it with the campers.
“I told them, boys and girls, we’ve been working hard for a very long
time to have a success such as this,” Kassakhian said. “It’s been a
while since we’ve had a success such as this one, and we achieved it.
The kids all started cheering and singing Armenian patriotic songs.”

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
July 17 2004
Four seasons bloom harmony at Descanso

JOYCE RUDOLPH
LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE – Violin soloist Armen Anassian will concentrate
on spring when the four seasons are interpreted in music by the
Pasadena Pops tonight at Descanso Gardens.
Anassian’s first solo of the evening will be during the tango
“Primavera Porteña” by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla. The
Spanish title translates to “spring in the port city of Buenos
Aires,” he said. The tango dance was born in Buenos Aires, and
composer Piazzolla was the “grandpa” of tango music, Anassian said.
Piazzolla wrote the piece to pay homage to Vivaldi, who wrote “The
Four Seasons,” the Studio City resident added. The “Spring” portion
of the Vivaldi’s piece will be played by the orchestra, featuring
violin prodigy Laura Ha. Piazzolla’s piece follows.
Piazzolla’s piece is very emotional, Anassian said, which gives him a
chance to say all the things he can say only with the violin.
“That is the greatest thing about music. Sometimes only through music
I can express myself, even though I speak five languages,” he said.
“Music is a universal language. And this piece is so dramatic and
full of emotions that it gives the performer a chance to fully
express themselves.”
The Armenian-born violinist came to the United States with his
parents when he 15 when Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union.
He studied music in Europe but returned to Los Angeles in 1992.
He has served in conducting and/or concertmaster positions all over
the world with such noted groups as the Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra.
In Southern California, Anassian has been a soloist with the
California Philharmonic and the Burbank Symphony. He has also been
the guest concertmaster for many symphony orchestras, like the
Glendale Symphony Orchestra. He is a soloist and violinist with the
Los Angeles Opera.
Also on tonight’s program is tenor Bruce Eckstut, who will sing
“Younger than Springtime” from the musical “South Pacific.”
Orchestral selections will include Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream” and the Mamas and Papas’ “California Dreamin’.” Dancers will
perform a ballet to Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.”
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for
picnicking. Tickets range from $19 to $65 and can be purchased at the
gate. Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada
Flintridge.