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05/10/2006
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1) Karabagh Celebrates Victory Day
2) Erdogan Asks French Firms to Help Defeat Genocide Bill
3) Azeri And Armenian Foreign Ministers to Meet Next Week
4) Armenians Participate in Fourth European Social Forum
5) FC MIKA Wins Armenian Cup
1) Karabagh Celebrates Victory Day
STEPANAKERT (Armenpress)The Soviet victory in WWII, the liberation of Shushi,
and the creation of the Mountainous Karabagh Defense Army were celebrated
Tuesday in the Mountainous Karabagh Republic on Victory Day.
Columns of MKR Defense Army units marched solemnly in the Stepanakert
streets.
Meetings with veterans of WWII and the Artsakh War, concerts, sporting events,
and art expositions took place all over the republic.
The events ended with fireworks in the Republic’s Square of Revival.
2) Erdogan Asks French Firms to Help Defeat Genocide Bill
(Combined Sources)–Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with
representatives of French companies Tuesday and warned them that a French bill
criminalizing denial of Armenian genocide would damage relations between their
countries, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported. Erdogan’s spokesman
confirmed the meeting took place.
The French Parliament will discuss the proposed bill next week, which would
make it a crime to deny that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks at
the beginning of the 20th century constituted a genocide.
The French bill was proposed by the opposition Socialist Party and submitted
to the French parliament. It is similar to a law making it a crime in
France to
deny the Holocaust of World War II.
On Monday, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Paris, Osman Koroturk, over the
proposed bill. Koruturk, who went to Ankara to offer an official analysis
through diplomatic channels, will return to Paris by this weekend.
Turkey is exerting efforts in diplomatic, political and economic channels
against the bill in question.
Turkey has used economic leverage before to punish France for its stance on
the Armenian genocide: in 2001, Turkey canceled millions of dollars worth of
defense deals with French companies after lawmakers in France recognized the
Genocide.
Erdogan reportedly told the assembled company representatives in Ankara that
he wanted them to pressure the French government not to enact it.
“We expect executives of French firms to react to the draft law,” Erdogan was
quoted as saying, warning that its passage would negatively affect relations.
Erdogan added that the law was not conducive to freedom of thought and
expression, Anatolia reported.
As part of the concerted efforts, the Turkish Parliament Foreign Affairs
Commission went to Paris Tuesday to meet with representatives of political
parties represented in the French Parliament and ask for the motion to be
withdrawn.
The Turkish deputies are expected to warn the French politician that the
motions’ becoming law may lead to irreparable damages in bilateral relations.
Also, earlier this month, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was widely quoted in
the Turkish news media as asking his French counterpart, “Will you throw me in
jail too?” if he stated that the killings were not genocide, which is official
Turkish government policy.
Meanwhile, France’s Ambassador to Ankara, Paul Poudade, said that he does not
think that there will be a big crisis between the two countries.
Poudade said France’s relations with Turkey are important, but added, “at the
same time, keeping ties with France, a European Union member, is also to the
advantage of Turkey.”
Ankara also does not expect rocky relations with Paris at this point. It has
not taken any extreme measures, such as officially withdrawing the Turkish
ambassador.
The temporary recalling of the ambassador, however, was a strong statement by
Turkey, which faces an uphill battle to win over the French public in hopes of
gaining eventual entrance to the European Union.
Turkey also recalled its ambassador to Canada over the Genocide issue, saying
remarks by the Canadian prime minister recognizing the Genocide could
seriously
harm Turkish-Canadian relations.
Turkey has said it would return both ambassadors after consultations in
Ankara.
3) Azeri And Armenian Foreign Ministers to Meet Next Week
BAKU (Armenpress)–The Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers, Vartan Oskanian
and Elmar Mamedyarov, will meet on May 18-19 in Strasbourg, France.
Mamedyarov confirmed Oskanian’s statement Wednesday that the two would
meet in
Strasbourg to discuss the possibility of holding a meeting between the
Presidents of the two countries in June.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk will also join the talks to be held between
Oskanian and Mamedyarov.
Meanwhile, Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yury Merzlyakov, said
that he and his two counterparts from the US and France, Steven Mann and
Bernard Fassier, were waiting for reaction to their latest proposals from
officials in Yerevan and Baku.
These new proposals were delivered to the Azeri and Armenian governments by
Fassier during his latest visit to the region.
“I think it was the most important visit following our meeting in Moscow to
formalize these proposals,” Merzlyakov said.
4) Armenians Participate in Fourth European Social Forum
(Combined Sources)Approximately 30,000 people gathered in Athens on May 4-7
for
the fourth annual European Social Forum (ESF) to discuss the war in Iraq,
neoliberalism in Europe, and immigrant rights.
The forum, which brings together all social movements in Europe, featured
hundreds of seminars, booths sponsored by various organizations at the event’s
main fair, and a meeting on Friday night to hear anti-war activists.
At the end of the forum, over 80,000 people joined a demonstration through
the
center of Athens, where “hands off Iran” echoed through the streets.
Two representatives from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) youth
organization of Armenia and five ARF youth organization members from Greece
participated in the Forum.
The delegates ran a booth during the fair, where they handed out
informational
packets and brochures educating attendees about the organization, the Armenian
genocide, and selling Armenian CDs.
With over one thousand Turks also participating in the forum, representatives
of the two groups had a chance to discuss some of the most pertinent issues in
Armenian-Turkish relations.
The Armenian delegates spoke to their Turkish counterparts about the
importance of Genocide recognition.
The Turkish participants agreed that Turkey must recognize the Armenian
genocide and acknowledged the wrongdoing of their government.
Although the Armenian and Turkish delegations got a chance to meet and
discuss
important issues, the ESF did not have any plenary sessions where participants
could debate some of the major issues facing the movement.
Organizers of the ESF reported that it was the biggest political gathering in
Greece since the student uprisings of the 1970s.
5) FC MIKA Wins Armenian Cup
FC MIKA won their fifth Armenian Cup after a 1-0 win against FC Pyunik in
Tuesday’s final. Both teams played a great game, but it was Armen
Shahgeldyan’s
23rd minute
goal that clinched the game for MIKA.
MIKA and Pyunik are the only two teams to have won the Armenian
Cup since 2000, but they had never played each other in the final before.
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