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04/05/2006
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1) Draft Law on Dual Citizenship Presented in Parliament
2) Czech Parliament Hosts International Conference on Armenian Genocide
3) Azerbaijan’s Threatening Statements Will Not Bring Positive Results
4) Bomb Blast in Turkish Party Office Leaves Two Injured
5) French Court Rescinds Permission to Build Genocide Monument in Lyon
6) New EU Envoy Discusses Karabagh on First Trip to Armenia
7) EU Will Not Support Alternative Railroad Bypassing Armenia

1) Draft Law on Dual Citizenship Presented in Parliament

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) made public on Wednesday the basic
principles of its draft law on dual citizenship, which would grant Armenians
the right to hold dual citizenship.
ARF member Armen Rustmanian said the law would was designed to consolidate
Armenians worldwide for resolution of pan-national issues, to create a new
opportunity for the country to become stronger, and to defend the rights of
all
Armenian citizens abroad.
“The dual citizenship for Armenians stems from the unique situation the
Armenians have found themselves after the Genocide,” Mkrtchian said.
Levon Mkrtchian, leader of the ARF faction in Parliament, said the party
employed a team of experts, including Constitutional Court Chairman Gagik
Harutiunian, to draft the law, which he said incorporates lessons learned from
other nations that permit dual citizenship.
Mkrtchian said they worked to set clear definitions about suffrage, mandatory
military service, and other controversial issues.
The legal framework envisages, among other things, that citizens willing to
take part in elections held in Armenia will only be able to cast their ballots
inside the country. It would also ban the opening of polling stations in
Armenian diplomatic missions.
The proposed principles do not specify conditions for granting diaspora
Armenians the right to vote and be elected to a public office in Armenia.
ARF’s
senior partner in the governing coalition, the Republican Party (HHK) of Prime
Minister Andranik Markarian, believes that ethnic Armenian citizens of other
nations can be granted that right only if they live in Armenia, have served in
its armed forces, and pay taxes.
Mkrtchian and Rustamian added that their legal “concept” will serve as the
basis for ARF’s draft law on dual citizenship that they say will be put into
circulation this autumn.
Introduction of dual citizenship was made possible by one of the
constitutional amendments that were enacted after a referendum last November.
ARF and other Armenian parties believe that a legal ban on dual citizenship,
imposed under former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, was unjustified given the
existence of the worldwide Armenian diaspora.

2) Czech Parliament Hosts International Conference on Armenian Genocide

–Parliament members announce intentions to draft resolution to recognize the
Genocide

YEREVAN (Yerkir/RFE/RL)–A one-day conference on the Armenian genocide was
held at the Czech Senate on Tuesday sponsored by former Czech President Vaclav
Havel and organized by the Armenian Club and Senate member Jaromir Stetina.
Stetina said the Czech parliament members were drafting a resolution on
recognition of the Armenian genocide. He said Czech lawmakers wanted to follow
the example of neighboring Slovakia that recognized officially the Armenian
genocide 18 months ago.
Professor Vahakn Dadrian of the Zorian Institute was the keynote speaker at
the conference and gave a report on the documents kept in the Turkish
archives.

The conference was also attended by Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman
Kirakosian, European Armenian Federation Chairperson Hilda Choboian, German
scholar Tessa Hoffman and Turkish human rights activist Yeldag Uzcan, who
resides in Germany after being harassed in Turkey.
German academic Dr. Tessa Hofmann set the tone.
“We have to be very aware that if a country is not pushed forward as Germany
was after the Second World War by the victorious allies nothing really
happens,” she said. Dr. Hofmann also brought up the question about Turkey’s
entry into the European Union. “My conviction is that Turkey first of all has
to give freedom of speech, research, and opinion to deal with its past.”
Hofmann said that the taboo on speaking about the Armenian massacres in
Turkey
was acting like a cancer in the country, spreading more taboos and acting like
a brake on the development of civil society.
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian readily agreed with that,
although he added that he saw cause for optimism in the changing face of
Turkish society.
“We will have in fact in 10 years, in 15 years, a more modern Turkey and we
hope that this Turkey will recognize what happened in the past,” Kirakosian
said.
But in the meantime, he said, the past lingered on in Turkey’s refusal to
open
diplomatic relations with Armenia and its blockade of the Turkish-Armenian
border:
“The Armenian-Turkish border is remaining as the last Iron Curtain,”
Kirakosian said. “The walls fell down after the fall of the Soviet Union and
communism but still we have closed border and we have a closed border with a
country who is willing to become a member of free Europe. It’s not a normal
thing.”
Yeldag Ozcan, a Turkish writer on minority rights in Turkey, said she
welcomed
the pressure from the EU for Turkey to cast light on the dark corners of its
past. More people were now beginning to discuss the Armenian issue and other
taboos. But, she said, Turkey needed to go much further.
“I think there cannot be a dialogue [with the Armenians] without an apology.”
Ozcan said. “We cannot start a dialogue as if nothing has happened. First we
have to admit that we and our ancestors are the guilty side, we have to accept
there was a crime. We have to apologize and then we can start a dialogue.”
Like all the speakers, Hofmann agreed with that, but went a stage further,
recalling that the Armenian genocide of 1915-16 played a major role in
persuading the international community to act against crimes against
humanity.
“Without the Genocide, there would not be a UN Convention and, further on,
there would not be a permanent tribunal of the United Nations,” Hofmann said.
“You can say that 100 years of time and reaction is a slow speed but, on the
other hand, there was a reaction and we can only hope that the punishment of
genocide will lead to prevention.”

3) Azerbaijan’s Threatening Statements Will Not Bring Positive Results

(Regnum)–Azerbaijan’s increasingly aggressive war rhetoric is not helping the
Karabagh conflict settlement process, said Yuri Merzlyakov, the Russian
Co-chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Minsk Group.
“Military solution of Nagorno Karabagh problem will be a catastrophe,” said
Merzlyakov, adding that all interested parties have to make every effort to
prevent the conflict’s transition to the military stage. “Pressure from the
Azerbaijani side will not bring positive consequences,” stressed
Merzlyakov. He
said it is necessary to strive for peace, as the possibilities of reaching a
peaceful settlement have not yet been exhausted.
Merzlyakov said that there is still time to settle the Karabagh conflict
before the end of the year 2006.
Merzlyakov also said that the mediators will arrange for another meeting
between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“The fact is that the schedules do not coincide, and it is difficult for
us to
agree on a certain place and date of the meeting. On April 7, the Armenian
Foreign Minister will be in Moscow while Azerbaijani Minister will be visiting
Washington,” said Merzlyakov, adding that the planned visit of OSCE Minsk
Group
to region will take place in May, after which they will discuss a meeting of
the ministers.

4) Bomb Blast in Turkish Party Office Leaves Two Injured

ISTANBUL (AP)–A bomb blast at an Istanbul branch of the party of Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has injured at least two people.
The explosion shattered windows up to the third floor at the Justice and
Development Party’s office in Istanbul’s low-income Esenyurt district, on the
European side of the city. It comes at the end of a week of unrest, attacks,
and rioting that have left 15 dead, including four in Istanbul.
A Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility for an Istanbul bombing on
Friday, and has singled out the prime minister and his party as targets.
Also on Wednesday, suspected Kurdish rebels ambushed and killed three Turkish
soldiers, and are believed to have set the land mines that killed two
others. A
policeman wounded in a gun attack by suspected rebels also died in hospital,
bringing the death toll for security forces in the day to six.
The injured in Wednesday’s Istanbul blast included the local head of the
Justice and Development Party’s youth section, party press officer Osman Bekar
said.
“A bomb exploded in our building; two of our people are injured,” Bekar said.
“There is considerable damage.”
Istanbul party leader Mehmet Muezzinoglu called the Istanbul bombing “an
abhorrent attack,” saying “those who want to harm the environment of calm and
security will not get away with it.”
Television footage showed shattered windows and glass scattered across the
street. A man with a bandage around his head was being escorted into an
ambulance, and paramilitary police cordoned off the building.
A firebomb was thrown at the Turkish consulate in Paris early Wednesday
morning and a Turkish diplomat said Kurdish rebels were suspected of carrying
out the attack.
The firebomb thrown at the consulate’s front door caused no injuries or
damage, said Derya Tutumel, a Turkish Embassy press officer.
Widespread rioting that began in the Kurdish-populated southeast of Turkey
after funerals for four Kurdish guerrillas has also brought violence to
Istanbul in the past week. One person was killed in a bomb attack claimed by a
Kurdish group, and three others were killed after masked men threw gasoline
bombs at a packed city bus.
The Istanbul bombing Friday killed one and injured more than 10 others. The
group that claimed responsibility for the bombing promised more attacks and
threatened to carry out operations against the ruling Justice and Development
Party.
“The time has come for operations against the fascist party’s buildings and
workers,” the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons said in a release posted Sunday on
their website.

5) French Court Rescinds Permission to Build Genocide Monument in Lyon

A Court in the French city of Lyon revoked its previously granted
authorization
to construct a monument to victims of the Armenian genocide.
The City Council of Lyon is questioning the legality of constructing the
monument. The monument, which was to be built in Lyon’s city center, also
elicited complaints from people living near the proposed construction site.
The mayor of Lyon, Gerard Collomb announced in 2003 that Lyon would build an
Armenian memorial and construction began recently. Several Turkish groups
protested against the monument last month, clashing with local French youth.
Police said they had to use tear gas and water cannons to separate the two
groups.

6) New EU Envoy Discusses Karabagh on First Trip to Armenia

YEREVAN (RFE/RL/Armenpress)–The European Union demonstrated its increased
attention to resolving the Karabagh conflict on Wednesday when its newly
appointed special representative to the South Caucasus singled out the issue
during his first official visit to Armenia.
Peter Semneby said after talks with Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian that he
believes this year is still “particularly auspicious” for resolving the
conflict. “Indeed, there is a window of opportunity which we need to take
advantage of,” he told reporters.
Semneby, who arrived from Baku for a three-day visit to Yerevan, said the
existing status quo hurts both conflicting parties and the region as a whole.
According to him, neither of the sides should be trying to gain time, as no
one
will benefit from it.
He said delaying the resolution process will hinder Armenia’s economic
development and could result in a military resolution of the conflict.
Semneby said that the EU is not pleased with recent threats made by the Azeri
side about a military solution to the Karabagh conflict.
During the meeting, Semneby also said that his mandate will differ from the
mandate of the former representative Heike Talvitie. He said that the EU
intends to play a greater role in international efforts to broker a compromise
settlement.
Still, the envoy made it clear that the EU believes the peace process should
continue to be spearheaded by the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, which is co-chaired by France, Russia, and the
United States. “The Minsk Group is functioning very well,” he said.
“The peace process is alive,” Oskanian said for his part. “We believe that
there are still possibilities for continuing and making additional progress in
the process.”
According to Oskanian, a lot now depends on the results of his Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov’s visit to Washington later this week. Mamedyarov
is scheduled to meet the Minsk Group’s US co-chair, Steven Mann, and other
American officials. Oskanian, who met those officials last week, will visit
Moscow at around the same time.
“If they register a convergence of views, there will probably be a visit to
the region by the co-chairs, which may be followed by a meeting of the
[Armenian and Azerbaijani] foreign ministers,” said Oskanian. “But all of this
depends on the results of the upcoming Mamedyarov-Mann meeting.”
Oskanian and Semneby also discussed issues relating to regional cooperation,
Armenia-EU relations, and the development of Armenia’s Neighborhood Policy
Action plan with the EU.

7) EU Will Not Support Alternative Railroad Bypassing Armenia

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–EU Special Representative to the South Caucasus, Peter
Semneby, said during his maiden visit to Armenia that the European Union will
show neither financial nor political support for Turkish-Azeri-Georgian plans
to build an alternative railway from Kars, Turkey to Akhalkalaki and
Tbilisi in
Georgia.
This decision was confirmed by Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner on
foreign relations and New Neighborhood Policy.
The new railway would bypass Armenia, further isolating it in the region. The
proposed railway is also opposed because there already exists a railroad
connecting the three cities, which passes through Gyumri in Armenia.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said the EU maintains that
restoration of the existing railroad from Kars to Gyumri is more reasonable
than spending money on construction of a new railroad.

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