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07/12/2006
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1) Sen. Feingold Adds Voice to Growing Calls For Answers
2) Russia to Keep Georgian Border Closed Despite Armenian Protests
3) Dink Sentenced to Six Months, Turkey Warned by EU
4) European Parliament Postpones Vote on Turkey
1) Sen. Feingold Adds Voice to Growing Calls For Answers
WASHINGTONConcerns continued to grow this week regarding the circumstances
surrounding the firing of US Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans, as
Sen.
Russell Feingold (D-WI) becomes the ninth member of the influential Senate
Foreign Relations Committee to call for clarification of the State Department
policy on the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America.
In a written statement submitted as part of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee hearing on Ambassador Designate to Armenia Richard Hoagland, Sen.
Feingold noted that, "I want to express my deep concern about the
Administration’s reluctance to acknowledge the acts of genocide that were
committed against the Armenians almost a century ago. The Administration’s
continued failure to recognize these tragic events is troubling to me and to
those who share my belief that we should speak honestly about, and insist on
accountability for, past crimes against humanity and genocide."
Among specific questions to the Ambassador Designate, Sen. Feingold asked:
n Why was Ambassador Evans removed as Ambassador to Armenia?
n What is the Administration’s policy towards acknowledging the Armenian
genocide and what boundaries have been set for your position as Ambassador to
address or speak about the Armenian genocide?
n Do you anticipate that the departure of your predecessor, Mr. Evans, will
harm US-Armenian relations? How do you plan to respond to those in the
Armenian
community who are upset about his departure?
Sen. Feingold’s concerns are shared by half of the influential Senate Foreign
Relations Committee members including Senators George Allen (R-VA), Ranking
Democrat Joe Biden (D-DE), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Norm
Coleman (R-MN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), John Kerry (D-MA) and Paul Sarbanes
(D-MD) who must first approve Amb. Evans’ replacement prior to a full Senate
confirmation. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed action on
Ambassador Designate Hoagland, while quickly voting for the incoming
Ambassadors to Switzerland and Ireland, who were before the Committee the same
day as Ambassador Designate Hoagland.
During the June 28th nomination hearing, Sen. George Allen (R-VA), Sen. Norm
Coleman (R-MN), and Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) pressed the nominee for an
explanation of the State Department’s guidance regarding the use of the word
"genocide" to properly characterize this crime against humanity. Senators
Allen
and Coleman peppered the nominee with numerous questions and expressed
frustration as the Ambassador-Designate avoided giving direct answers to
any of
the questions, resorting to the use of euphemisms.
In addition, Representatives George Radanovich (R-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ),
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) have urged Secretary Rice to
reconsider the decision to recall Amb. Evans. Over the past several months,
scores of Senate and House Members have directed questions to State Department
officials, calling for answers surrounding the controversial firing of Amb.
Evans, including 60 Representatives who joined Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) in a
letter to Secretary Rice, Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) who submitted questions
to Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried, and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) who
submitted questions to Secretary Rice. Massachusetts Senators Ted Kennedy and
John Kerry also asked Secretary Rice for clarification on Amb. Evans’
dismissal. The Administration has either failed to provide responses or
provided responses, which have been largely perfunctory, citing that
Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the President, but giving no clear
insight
into the State Department’s decision to dismiss the career diplomat after 35
years of distinguished service.
The State Department, with the blessing of the White House, fired Amb. Evans
in response to his February 2005 statements before American audiences in the
United States, during which he properly characterized the Armenian Genocide as
"genocide."
Following his statements, Amb. Evans was forced to issue a statement
clarifying that his references to the Armenian Genocide were his personal
views
and did not represent a change in US policy. He subsequently issued a
correction to this statement, replacing a reference to the genocide with the
word "tragedy." The American Foreign Service Association, which had decided to
honor Amb. Evans with the "Christian A. Herter Award," recognizing creative
thinking and intellectual courage within the Foreign Service, reportedly
rescinded the award following pressure from the State Department in the days
leading up to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to
Washington, to meet with President Bush.
2) Russia to Keep Georgian Border Closed Despite Armenian Protests
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said on Wednesday that
Moscow will try to address Armenia’s concerns regarding the closure of
Russia’s
main border crossing with Georgia but stopped short of promising its speedy
reopening.
The issue featured large during Levitin’s one-day visit to Yerevan that
involved talks with President Robert Kocharian and Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkisian. The two men apparently reiterated Yerevan’s serious concerns about
negative consequences of the effective shutdown of the Georgian-Russian land
border which serves as one of Armenia’s few external trade routes.
"This issue was included into our memorandum signed today," Sarkisian told a
joint news conference after the talks. "We agreed that after Mr. Levitin
returns to Moscow he will report the matter to the leadership of the Russian
Federation."
Levitin said the Russian government will discuss, among other things, ways of
compensating Armenia for the losses incurred as a result of the border
closure.
Levitin also assured reporters that the border crossing at Upper Lars was not
closed by Russia as part of its clearly punitive economic measures taken
against Georgia’s pro-Western government in recent months. He repeated
Moscow’s
claims that the move was necessary for repairing roads and border control
facilities on the Russian side of the mountainous area. Such work can only be
carried out during summer months, he said, declining to announce any time
frames for its completion.
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan complained at the weekend that the
Russians failed to notify Yerevan about the unilateral measure, condemned by
the Georgian government, beforehand. He said the border closure created a
"very
severe" situation for Armenia companies exporting goods to Russia and other
parts of the Soviet Union via the Upper Lars crossing.
"The Armenian side was not told in advance that Upper Lars will be closed,"
admitted Levitin. He said the Armenian leaders asked him to make sure that
they
have prior knowledge of such Russians actions in the future.
Levitin and Sarkisian met in their capacity as the co-chairmen of an
intergovernmental commission on Russian-Armenian economic cooperation. They
reported and welcomed a sharp increase in the volume of bilateral trade during
the first four months of this year.
The Russian minister also discussed the ongoing official inquiry into the
causes of the May 3 crash off the Russian Black Sea coast of an Armenian
airliner that killed all 113 passengers and crew on board. The Airbus A-320 of
Armenia’s largest airline, Armavia, plunged into the sea under still uncertain
circumstances as it tried to land at the Russian resort city of Sochi.
A Russian aviation official accompanying Levitin said Russian investigators
have already examined the plane’s two black box flight recorders recovered
from
the Black Sea and other factual evidence and will present their findings later
this month. "We have all the facts to fully and objectively establish the
cause," said Tatyana Anodina, head of the Interstate Aviation Committee of the
Commonwealth of Independent States. "I think that all the materials will be
made public in full by the end of July."
3) Dink Sentenced to Six Months, Turkey Warned by EU
ANKARA (Combined Sources) Turkey’s high court Tuesday handed down a six-month
prison sentence to Hrant Dink, the editor of bilingual Turkish and Armenian
weekly, Agos. The editor was convicted last year for an article criticizing
Article 301, which punishes the public denigration of Turkishness or state
authorities. This is the first final judgment based on the controversial
article, reported the BBC.
The European Commission lamented Wednesday a Turkish court ruling against an
ethnic Armenian journalist for "denigrating the Turkish national identity,"
warning the case could cloud Ankara’s EU hopes, the Agence France Presse
reported.
Commenting on an appeal court ruling on Dink, EU Enlargement Commissioner
Olli
Rehn called on the Turkish government to bolster freedom of speech in the
country. "I am disappointed by this judgment which limits the exercise of
freedom of expression in Turkey," he said, following Tuesday’s court ruling,
the first such judgment based on article 301 of Turkey’s new Penal Code.
He noted that ruling "will set the trend for lower jurisdiction to follow
when
applying article 301 in the future," adding: "This is all the more serious
since there are still a number of similar court cases pending. I would
therefore urge the Turkish authorities to amend article 301 and other vaguely
formulated articles in order to guarantee freedom of expression in Turkey," he
said.
Rehn underlined that freedom of expression is a key principle of the EU’s
so-called Copenhagen political criteria, which Ankara must adhere to if it one
day wants to join the currently 25-nation bloc. "In any case, the Commission
will review the situation in light of the Copenhagen political criteria in its
upcoming Progress Report," Rehn said, referring to an annual report on
Ankara’s
EU preparations due in October.
Turkey began EU entry talks last October, but the negotiations are likely to
take at least a decade and Ankara has been warned there is no guarantee of
eventual membership.
Rehn is expected to issue a report on Turkey’s progress by early November,
but
he has already warned that membership talks, which began last year, could soon
grind to a halt. There was international outcry when Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s
best
known novelist, was prosecuted under the article.
His offense, like that of Dink’s, was speaking about the Armenian Genocide.
While the case against Pamuk was dropped on a technicality, Hrant Dink could
go to prison if he commits a similar offense in the next five years. The human
rights group Amnesty International says several other writers, publishers,
artists and activists are charged with denigrating Turkishness.
4) European Parliament Postpones Vote on Turkey
BELGIUMThe Vote on the draft resolution on "Turkey’s progress toward
accession"
which should have been voted on Wednesday by the Committee for Foreign Affairs
of the European Parliament was postponed due to practical reasons, reported
the
European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (ANC of Europe).
The major reason for delay was the late translation of the numerous
amendments. These amendments were submitted only on Monday afternoon to the
various political groups, which did not leave time to them to prepare for the
vote.
The European Parliament resolution will finally be voted on the first week of
September 4 to 7 by the Foreign Affairs Committee and eventually on the last
week of September in the plenary session.
On Monday, members of the leading European Parliament factions offered to
introduce the Armenian Genocide issue and opening of borders with Armenia
without any preconditions as the items of the agenda of the EU-Turkey talks.
The EU can freeze talks with Turkey on EU accession, stated Finnish Premier
Matti Vanhanen, whose country assumed the EU presidency on July 1, the
Associated Press reported..
"There is always an opportunity to stop the talks. I think Turkey knows it,"
Vanhanen remarked.
The Finnish Premier also underscored that official Ankara should fulfill all
conditions for continuing talks on EU accession, specifically normalize
relations with EU member Cyprus.
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