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10/04/2005
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1) France Says Turkey Needs to Change to Join European Union
2) Armenia Hopes EU Membership Process Will Tame Turkey
3) Members of Congress Urge President Bush to Support Karabagh’s Aspirations
4) System Of A Down Rally Attracts International Media Attention
1) France Says Turkey Needs to Change to Join European Union
BRUSSELS (AP)–French President Jacques Chirac said on Tuesday that Turkey
must
undergo a `major cultural revolution’ before entering the European Union (EU),
and reiterated that France would hold a referendum on admitting Ankara to the
bloc.
Chirac’s comments represented the tough road ahead in Turkey’s membership in
the 25-nation EU. It took last-minute wrangling after two days of arduous
talks
between EU foreign ministers to overcome Austrian objections to start the
negotiations.
The entry talks are expected to last for at least 10 years before the EU can
absorb Turkey and stretch its borders to the Middle East. There is broad
opposition among Europeans to admitting the poor, predominantly Muslim nation
of 70 million people.
`Will it succeed? I cannot say. I hope so. But I am not at all sure,’ Chirac
said at a news conference in Paris.
It will be `a considerable effort’ for Turkey,’ he said. `It is a major
cultural revolution,’ that will take `at minimum 10 to 15 years.’
He reiterated that Turkey’s membership would need to be approved by the
French
in a referendum. Austria also plans such a vote, and other countries may also
decide to hold one.
`The French will have the last word, as it should be in a democracy,’ he
said.
`We will see when the time comes.’
In Turkey, the only reaction to Chirac’s comments, which aired on Turkish
television, was from the Culture Minister Atilla Koc’s office saying he was
reviewing them. Akif Beki, spokesman for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
was not immediately available for comment.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who currently holds the EU presidency,
also
said negotiations would take a long time, and would mean a `very big change’
for the Europe and Turkey.
`It will be an issue of controversy for years to come,’ he told reporters in
London.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Turkey’s entry is
`neither guaranteed nor automatic.’
`Turkey must win the hearts and minds of European citizens. They are the ones
who at the end of the day will decide about Turkey’s membership,’ he said.
Although the EU held a middle-of the night ceremony in Luxembourg to formally
start the talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, it will take
nearly
a year before the real technical negotiations get under way.
On Octoer 20, EU experts will start a broad `screening’ of Turkey’s rule
policies to see whether they meet minimum requirements to start specific talks
in 35 areas–everything from food safety rules to minority rights.
Turkey then faces a final review from all EU governments who have to
unanimously approve talks to begin in these policy areas.
The negotiating mandate says that if the EU finds `a serious and persistent
breach… of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights, and
fundamental freedoms and the rule of law,’ the EU may suspend the
negotiations.
One significant political issue that remains unresolved is Cyprus. Turkey
does
not recognize EU member Cyprus, and is the only country to recognize a
breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north of the divided Mediterranean
island.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, appearing at the Paris news conference
with
Chirac, said shutting the door to Turkey would have been unpardonable–like
rejecting a suitor.
All EU members had agreed in December to launch entry talks with Turkey on
Oct.
3. But last week, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik suggested a
`privileged partnership’ instead, questioning the EU’s ability to absorb
Turkey.
Ankara furiously threatened to walk away from the EU rather than accept
negotiations leading to a lesser partnership.
Plassnik eventually accepted language in the EU’s terms for membership
stating
that `the shared objective of the negotiations is (Turkey’s) accession.’
Although Turkey belongs to NATO, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development and the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe, its
shaky human rights record and poor economic past have kept it from becoming a
full EU member. Ankara recently has introduced key political and economic
reforms, and now wants the EU to make good on its promise to bring it into the
bloc.
2) Armenia Hopes EU Membership Process Will Tame Turkey
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Armenia expressed hope late Tuesday that Turkey will be more
interested in normalizing relations with Armenia and recognizing the Armenian
genocide after the difficult start of its membership talks with the European
Union.
`Armenia hopes that the start of the EU accession process will prompt
[Turkey]
to open the border with Armenia as soon as possible and to make real
efforts to
protect minority rights and uphold freedom of speech and other democratic
values and standards in the country,’ Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamlet
Gasparian said in a statement.
`We also hope that during the process Turkey will recognize the Armenian
genocide, something which the European Parliament deemed a precondition for
Turkey’s membership of the EU in its latest resolution,’ said Gasparian.
The resolution adopted on September 28 `calls on Turkey to recognize the
Armenian genocide’ and `considers this recognition to be a prerequisite for
accession to the European Union.’ It also urges Ankara to drop preconditions
for improving its strained ties with Yerevan. The demands were rejected by
Turkish leaders, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledging to
`continue
on our way.’
Armenia has repeatedly urged the EU make Turkish membership conditional on
genocide recognition and the lifting of the Turkish blockade imposed in 1993.
3) Members of Congress Urge President Bush to Support Karabagh’s Aspirations
On the occasion of the 14th anniversary of Mountainous Karagagh Republic’s
(MKR) independence, over fifty Members of Congress joined Congressional
Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg
(R-MI),
in sending a letter to President Bush.
The September 28 letter outlines the difficult road taken by the people of
Karabagh to secure freedom, build a democratic and economically viable
country,
and to establish peace.
Citing parallels between the US and Mountainous Karagagh, the letter also
says
that Karagagh `is a country of proud citizens committed to the values of
freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. We, as Americans cherish and
defend these same values at home and internationally.’ It also urges the
Unites
States to `unequivocally support’ the right of the people of Mountainous
Karagagh to decide their fate.
`We thank our congressional friends for defending the values of freedom,
democracy, and prosperity,’ said MKR Representative in the US Vardan
Barseghian. `These universal values are dear to the people of Artsakh
[Karabah]
as we continue building a rule-of-law, democratic country, contributing
meaningfully to peace and stability in the strategic South Caucasus region.’
`We call on the United States and other nations to recognize the independence
of the Mountainous Karagagh Republic, thereby affirming the right of the
people
of Artsakh to live in freedom without fear of violence, oppression, and
persecution,’ stressed Barseghian.
The Office of the Mountainous Karagagh Republic in the US is based in
Washington, DC and works with the US government, academics, and the public, in
representing the official policies and interests of the Mountainous Karagagh
Republic.
4) System Of A Down Rally Attracts International Media Attention
Multi-Platinum Band Calls for Vote on Armenian Genocide Resolution
New York Times, BBC, and MTV Join Local ABC, FOX, and WB stations and Area
Newspapers in Covering Event outside the Batavia, Illinois Office of Speaker
Dennis Hastert
WASHINGTON, DC (ANCA)–The pro-Armenian Genocide Resolution rally last
week by
System Of A Down outside the Batavia, Illinois office of House Speaker Dennis
Hastert (R-IL) received extensive media coverage–both internationally and
within the Speaker’s local suburban Chicago media market.
The September 27 event was organized by the multi-platinum band System Of A
Down, along with the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), Axis of
Justice, and the Armenian Youth Federation. Over two hundred fans, including a
large number of Armenian Americans from Chicago, attended the rally to urge
the
Speaker to schedule a vote on legislation pending before Congress that would
recognize the Armenian Genocide. At the rally, the band delivered a letter
asking the Speaker to allow the legislation to move forward.
Speaker Hastert pledged to allow the full House to vote on Armenian genocide
legislation in August of 2000, but retreated from this promise in October of
that year, citing pressure from the White House. On September 15 of this year,
the House International Relations Committee overwhelmingly approved
legislation
recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
The highlights of the media coverage included:
* Over 560,000 households in the Chicago area watched video from the rally
via
ABC channel 7 News (Nielsen Audience: 310,980), WGN-WB (Nielsen Audience:
231,385), and WFLD-FOX (Nielsen Audience: 22,726).
* The New York Times covered the rally, as did three area newspapers read by
Speaker Hastert’s constituents: The Beacon News, The Daily Herald, and The
Kane
County Chronicle.
* News of the rally was broadcast on radio internationally via The World
(BBC)
and locally by Chicago Public Radio.
* The rally received excellent coverage in the entertainment media via
stories
on the websites of MTV (two stories), VH1, Rolling Stone, and a range of other
media outlets.
Links:
–New York Times (September 26, 2005, Arts Section)
–ABC channel 7 news
l&id=3483619
–WLS-ABC CHICAGO, IL SEP 27 2005 5:00PM CT Nielsen Audience: 310,980
–ABC 7 News at 5, WGN-WB CHICAGO, IL SEP 27 2005 9:00PM CT Nielsen Audience:
231,385
–News at Nine, WFLD-FOX CHICAGO, IL SEP 28 2005 5:00AM CT Nielsen Audience:
22,726
Fox News at 5AM
–MTV.com: (Pre-Rally coverage)
nes=true
–MTV.com: (Post-Rally coverage)
/09282005/system_of_a_down.jhtml
–VHI ystem_of_a_down.jhtml
–TheWorld.org (a radio program in done in co-production with the BBC)
–Rolling Stone:
/7670574/bobice?pageid=rs.Home&pa
geregion=sin gle1
–The Beacon News
/top/batchAU28_HASTERT_S1.htm
–The Daily Herald
ry.asp?id=98941
-Kane County Chronicle:
local/330582937821598.php
–PR Newswire
.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/09-26
-2005/0004 131979&EDATE
–Los Angeles Daily News
–Blabbermouth.com:
mouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=42
101
–Yahoo News
l
In the two weeks since that vote, thousands of System fans have sent free
ANCA
WebFaxes urging Speaker Hastert to hold a vote on the Armenian Genocide
Resolution:
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