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07/20/2005
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1) Venezuelan Parliament Adopts Armenian Genocide Resolution
2) Turkey, Kurdish Rebels Exchange Threats
3) EU Commissioner Meets Uruguay Armenian Community Rep on Turkey EU Bid
4) Turkish Defense Minister in Baku to Discuss Military Cooperation
5) Homenetmen Pan Armenian Games Set to Open in Athens

1) Venezuelan Parliament Adopts Armenian Genocide Resolution

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–The Parliament of Venezuela has adopted a resolution that
recognizes the Armenian genocide and asks the European Union (EU) to place
preconditions on Turkey’s EU bid.
Adopted on July 14, the resolution was introduced by Parliament Member Victor
Hugo Morales and attorney Janet Madris.
Venezuela’s Armenians have worked for years to have their country officially
recognize and denounce the genocide of fellow Armenians by Turkey’s Ottoman
government. With Turkey’s recent aspirations toward Europe, however, the
resolution also appeals to the EU to “postpone Turkey’s membership bid until
its also recognizes the 1915 genocide of 1.5 million Armenians.”

The text of the resolution in full reads:

The National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Whereas
The first scientifically planned, organized and executed genocide in the
history of humanity took place 90 years ago, perpetrated by the regime of the
“Young Turks” and their ideology of “Panturkism,” against the Armenian People,
involving the extermination of almost two million people.

Whereas
Crimes of this nature must be denounced in order to prevent them from
happening again, in order to restore to the victims their human and national
rights and to condemn the perpetrators.

Whereas
This genocide deserves repudiation from the Turkish People and all the
peoples
of the world.

Whereas
The People and the State of Venezuela have continuously condemned terrorism
and racial, ethnical, religious and political discrimination.

Whereas
The People and the State of Venezuela fight permanently against all types of
terrorism, including State Terrorism.

Whereas
Due to political causes and interests, there is an ongoing attempt to change
history through the negation of this genocide.

The National Assembly resolves

First: To express to the Armenian People, to their government and to the
strong Armenian-Venezuelan Community, support on their valid and delayed
humanitarian aspirations of justice.
Second: To request the European Union to postpone Turkey’s membership bid,
until the recognition by Turkey of the Armenian Genocide.
Third: To designate a Committee in charge of delivering this resolution to
the
Armenian Parliament and to the Armenian Religious Authorities.
Fourth: To form the Parliamentary Group of Friendship to the Armenian People.

2) Turkey, Kurdish Rebels Exchange Threats

ANKARA (AFP)–Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that
Ankara is running out of patience with a safe haven that armed Turkish Kurd
rebels enjoy in neighboring northern Iraq as the militants said they were
ready
to fight the Turkish army if it enters the region.
“We have a certain degree of tolerance for the moment, but we cannot continue
like this much longer,” Erdogan told reporters accompanying him on a trip to
Mongolia, the daily Hurriyet reported.
“We must put the PKK problem behind us,” he said, referring to the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party, blacklisted as a terrorist group by the United States and the
European Union.
The PKK responded with a threat to turn northern Iraq into a “quagmire” for
the army if it launches cross-border operations to clean up on guerrilla camps
there.
“We are prepared for a possible attack~EWe will make it fail and turn
(northern
Iraq) into a quagmire for the forces that will carry it out,” a statement by
the PKK’s military wing said.
The PKK, which has stepped up violence in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast
over the past few months, took refuge in the mountains of northern Iraq
after a
unilateral ceasefire it declared in 1999 in its war with Ankara.
The militants began sneaking back into Turkey after they called off the truce
in June 2004 on the grounds that Ankara’s reforms to expand Kurdish freedoms
were inadequate.
The PKK statement was published on Wednesday on the Internet site of the
Germany-based MHA news agency, which is close to the rebels and regularly
publishes their statements.
Erdogan argued that international law gives Turkey the right to make military
incursions into northern Iraq in self-defense against the PKK if the Iraqi
authorities fail to act.
“Turkey can conduct such an operation in line with international rules,” the
Milliyet newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying.
“No doubt, Turkey will do this after consulting the Iraqi authorities,” he
said. “But the time may come when it will do it without consulting. Why?
Because this is an internationally recognized right.”
Erdogan said he raised Turkey’s concerns with both US President George W.
Bush
and Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari when he met them in June and May,
respectively.
He complained that Washington has failed to respond in kind to the support
Ankara gave to US-led efforts against terrorism, particularly in Afghanistan,
after the September 11 attacks, Milliyet reported.
“While Turkey has been so open (in its support), the United States has yet to
take the least action against PKK infiltrations into Turkey, except for
intelligence-related efforts,” Erdogan said.
On Tuesday, the Turkish army’s number two, General Ilker Basbug, said
Washington had ordered the arrest of senior PKK commanders in Iraq.

3) EU Commissioner Meets Uruguay Armenian Community Rep on Turkey EU Bid

(Yerkir)–On her first official trip to Latin America, European Commissioner
for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita
Ferrero-Waldner,
also met with met with a representative of the Armenian community of
Uruguay to
discuss Turkey’s bid to join the European Union (EU).
Representing the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Armenian Apostolic
Church of Uruguay, Avetis Patanian, along with Uruguay Parliament Speaker Nora
Castro, discussed a current petition requesting the EU reject Turkey’s bid to
join the Union, unless that country recognizes the Armenian genocide.
The diplomat’s itinerary included official visits in Brazil, Uruguay, and
Peru.

4) Turkish Defense Minister in Baku to Discuss Military Cooperation

BAKU (Combined Sources)–Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul arrived in Baku
on Tuesday at the invitation of his Azeri counterpart Safar Abiyev, to review
military relations. Gonul met with President Ilham Aliyev on July 20 to sign a
technical agreement on military mapping.
Expressing joy at finally seeing Aliyev, Gonul said he had waited impatiently
to see Aliyev after meeting him at the funeral of his father, Heydar.
“One nation, two states,” Gonul declared in describing their mutual
principles, and stressed the necessity to strengthen defense relations.
“Our countries cooperate closely,” Aliyev stated. “Prime Minister Erdogan’s
visit to Azerbaijan again demonstrated that our bilateral relations are at a
high level. These relations are represented in political, economic, and
cultural, as well as in the defense sphere. Turkey has constantly helped
Azerbaijan.”
Noting the absence of an army during the Azerbaijan’s first years of
independence, Aliyev praised the current army’s material and technical
capabilities.
The Azeri minister noted Turkey’s military assistance and pledged that
Azerbaijan and Turkey would stand side-by-side.
“We have close, sincere, and brotherly relations,” Aliyev responded. “We
shall
take further steps to end the isolation of Northern Cyprus.”

5) Homenetmen Pan Armenian Games Set to Open in Athens

The Homenetmen Pan Armenian Games will officially open this Sunday, June 24 in
Athens, Greece, and will run through July 31. The 2005 Games mark the 7th
anniversary of the tradition, which are held once every four years.
Greece’s Minister of Interior, Public Administration, and Decentralization
Affairs Prokopis Pavlopoulos, will open the ceremonies at the Olympic Softball
Stadium. Prelate Bishop Khoren Doghramadjian will preside over the ceremonies.
Athletes will gather from around 16 countries, including Argentina,
Australia,
Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Lebanon, and the United
States.
More than 400 Armenian men and women from throughout Homenetmen’s 20 regions
will compete this year in basketball, volleyball, and swimming.
Though the Games initially offered competition in one sport (basketball or
soccer), the program gradually expanded after 1993 to also include a track &
field, volleyball, and ping pong. Traditionally, the Games featured one or two
of the events. The 2001 Beirut Games broke ground with three events. That
tradition will continue at the 2005 Games.
Past Games have been held in Montreal and Toronto, Los Angeles,
Washington, DC
and New Jersey, Valance, France, and Beirut, Lebanon.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress