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08/24/2005
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1) Hopeful Signs on Karabagh Emerge after Moscow Meeting
2) New Twist to Bogazici Armenian Genocide Conference
3) US And Turkey Set to Discuss Bilateral Ties and Rebels
4) EU Commission Sees Turkey Accession Talks on Target for October 3
5) Armenian Catholicos Set to Visit Javakhk
1) Hopeful Signs on Karabagh Emerge after Moscow Meeting
MOSCOW (AP/Itar-Tass)–The foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia, and
Azerbaijan
said on Wednesday that they saw hopeful signs recently in the drive to find a
settlement to the Mountainous Karabagh conflict, the Russian Foreign Ministry
reported.
Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian stressed that the
self-determination
of Mountainous Karabagh is a priority in settling the conflict, which should
focus on the rights of its population to take care of their fate. “Other
problems are to cope with the consequences of the conflict, settle territorial
claims, and return refugees,” and added that there is hope the sides would
find
common denominators. `It would bring peace and stability to southern
Caucasus.”
“The settlement requires active work,” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov said, adding that it is premature to talk about any headway in
resolving the conflict.
The three ministers met in Moscow on Wednesday, along with representatives of
the United States, France, and Russia, who are mediating negotiations on
settling the conflict. They also discussed arrangements for a meeting Saturday
between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev on
the sidelines of a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in
Russia’s
Volga River city of Kazan.
Russia’s mediator Yuri Merzlyakov said that Russia “holds a clear position on
this issue.”
“We believe that one should not impose his solution of the problem on the
parties to the conflict; they should arrive at it independently, without
outside interference,” Merzlyakov said. “If a mutually acceptable accord is
reached, we’ll be able to guarantee it. The settlement should make all the
parties involved feel safer, the balance of forces that historically developed
in the region should not be upset, while the region itself should not
become an
arena of rivalry,” he added.
2) New Twist to Bogazici Armenian Genocide Conference
Abdullah Gul decides to open previously censured gathering of academics
ISTANBUL (Combined Sources)–Bogazici University rector Ayse Soysal and the
President of Sabanci University, Tosun Terzioglu, told the press on Tuesday
that Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul would be opening a conference
titled
“Ottoman Armenians during the Decline of the Empire: Issues of Scientific
Responsibility and Democracy.”
The conference was initially scheduled for May, but postponed after Turkish
justice minister Cemil Cicek branded it “a dagger in the back of the Turkish
people.” It has been rescheduled to take place at Istanbul’s Bogazici
University on September 23-25.
Soysal and Terzioglu both stressed that such conferences must be viewed from
an academic standpoint, without forgetting that the universities do not
necessarily share the views of lecturers. They defended their right to
criticize politically motivated opposition or support of such discussions
prior
to their onset, saying that such tactics directly harm the fundamental
freedoms
of science and education. They suggested that viewpoints could more
appropriately be addressed-fully reviewed and criticized in academic
circlesafter presentations are allowed to be made.
Though they did not elaborate on Gul’s appearance, Hurriyet newspaper
reported
that in a phone conversation with Soysal, Gul responded to the invitation,
saying that he would have to check his schedule for conflicts.
However, Gul confirmed that he would be launching the conference. “The rector
requested that I speak, and I accepted. We have no reservations or concerns
about this matter. Why should we bury our head in the sand? That is what I
said
about the first planned conference that was postponed unnecessarily. Our
society can undoubtedly debate this issue.”
But the Turkish Justice Minister had condemned the original initiative as a
blow to government efforts to counter a mounting Armenian campaign to have the
Genocide recognized internationally. “We must put an end to this cycle of
treason and insult, of spreading propaganda against the [Turkish] nation by
people who belong to it,” he had told parliament.
According to the AKI news agency, the conference will feature 12 sessions and
lectures by 38 academics; panel discussion topics will include “Deportation
and
Massacre,” “Disaster and Rescue Stories,” “Memories and Witnesses,” and
“Things
the World Knew that Turkey did not know.”
3) US And Turkey Set to Discuss Bilateral Ties and Rebels
ANKARA (AFP)–A ranking US official is expected in Turkey on Thursday for
talks on bilateral ties and possibly measures to combat armed Turkish Kurd
rebels holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq, a US spokesman said.
Matt Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian
affairs, “will be visiting Ankara for two days to discuss general matters….
the PKK (the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party) issue could also be brought
up,” the spokesman, who requested anonymity, said Tuesday.
Bryza is also expected to meet officials in charge of the economy and
“possibly” military officials, he added.
US Joint Chief of Staff General Richard Myers, and General John Abizaid, head
of US Central Command, are also expected in Ankara in September, but the exact
date of the visit has not been set, the spokesman said.
Turkey has long pressured the United States to act against thousands of PKK
militants who have found refuge in northern Iraq since 1999 and stepped up
their attacks on Turkish targets over the past several months.
Last month, the Turkish army’s number two, General Ilker Basbug, said that
Washington had ordered the capture of PKK commanders in northern Iraq and
warned of a Turkish military incursion into the region if Baghdad fails to
curb
the rebels.
Last week, the PKK, listed by the US and the European Union as a terrorist
group, announced a unilateral one-month cease-fire until September 20 to give
Turkey time to take steps to resolve the conflict. Ankara did not respond to
the truce offer.
Some 37,000 people have died since 1984, when the PKK first took up arms for
self-rule in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast.
4) EU Commission Sees Turkey Accession Talks on Target for October 3
BRUSSELS (AFX)–The European Union’s executive commission said on Wednesday it
still expects accession negotiations with Turkey to open as scheduled on
Oct 3,
amid French pressure for a delay.
“As far as the views of the commission are concerned, the commission
presented
the negotiation framework for Turkey before the summer break… and of course
it hopes and expects this will be adopted by the member states,” said
Krisztina
Nagy, spokeswoman for EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn.
At the beginning of the month, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin
poured cold water on the prospect of the talks starting on time as long as
Ankara does not recognize EU member Cyprus.
Nagy said that, for the commission, Turkey had met the conditions set for
opening the talks, namely carrying out a package of legal reforms and adopting
a customs agreement with the EU.
“There were two preconditions set for the opening of the start of the
negotiations….these two things have happened.”
EU foreign ministers will have their chance to address the question of
accession talks with Turkey at an informal meeting in the Welsh city of
Newport
on Sept 1-2.
Ahead of that meeting, EU ambassadors are to discuss the issue on Aug 31.
Turkey only recognizes the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,
proclaimed in 1983, nine years after Turkish troops occupied the northern
third
of Cyprus in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup in Nicosia
aimed at uniting the Mediterranean island with Greece.
Turkey says its position towards the Greek Cypriot administration will remain
unchanged until the conflict is resolved and the Turkish and Greek communities
of the island are reunified.
5) Armenian Catholicos Set to Visit Javakhk
AKHALKALAKThe Catholicos of all Armenians, Karekin II is set to visit southern
Georgia’s predominately Armenian region of Javakhk to consecrate the newly
constructed Armenian Diocese building on October 1.
Karekin II also plans to meet with the local population, which has not had a
visit from an Armenian Catholicos since Khrimian Hayrig in 1896.
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