Author: Basmajian Ani

ARMENIENS ENERGIESEKTOR HOFFT AUF DEUTSCHLAND

Bundesagentur fur Außenwirtschaft
bfai – Lander und Markte
20. Oktober 2006

Gute Zusammenarbeit mit deutschen Firmen / Kooperation bei erneuerbaren
Energien gewunscht / Von Waldemar Lichter

(abs)Erewan (bfai) – Armenien will die gute Zusammenarbeit mit
deutschen Unternehmen im Energiesektor weiter ausbauen und auf
weitere Felder ausdehnen. Das Land ist sowohl an Investitionen als
auch an Lieferungen von Ausrustungen und Technologien aus Deutschland
interessiert. Dabei geht es nicht nur um die Modernisierung und den
Ausbau der traditionellen Energieerzeugung und -ubertragung. Ein großes
Potenzial sieht die armenische Regierung bei der Nutzung erneuerbarer
Energiequellen. (Kontaktanschriften)

(abs)

"Der Energiesektor zahlt zu denjenigen, in dem wir die allerbesten
Beziehungen zu Deutschland haben", sagt Areg Galstyan, stellv.

Minister fur Energie Armeniens. Ob von Siemens oder den deutschen
Ablegern von ABB und Alstom – in den Kraftwerken, Stromnetzen und
Industrieanlagen des Landes steckt einiges, was aus Deutschland
stammt. Zu einem bedeutenden Teil ist das den Hilfsleistungen der
Bundesregierung an Armenien zu verdanken. Im Rahmen der finanziellen
Zusammenarbeit (FZ) flossen rd. 56 Mio. Euro in diverse Maßnahmen im
armenischen Energiesektor – etwa ein Drittel der gesamten deutschen
FZ-Hilfe an das Land.

Die Aussichten, dass deutsche Unternehmen ihre starke Position auch
in Zukunft behalten werden, stehen nicht schlecht. Armenien hat im
Energiesektor einiges vor, und Deutschland ist dabei im konventionellen
Bereich wie auch bei erneuerbaren Energien ein gefragter Partner. "Wir
werden auch kunftig gemeinsame Projekte durchfuhren", meinte Galstyan
vor Vertretern einer Unternehmerdelegation aus Deutschland, die vom
9.10. bis 12.10.06 Armenien besuchte. Die Delegationsreise wurde im
Auftrag des Bundesministeriums fur Wirtschaft und Technologie (BMWi)
in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ostausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft
durchgefuhrt und von der Commit GmbH organisiert.

Das großte Zukunftsvorhaben Armeniens ist der Bau eines neuen
Kernkraftwerks mit einer Leistung von 1.000 MW. Die Anlage soll das
aus den 70er Jahren stammende Kernkraftwerk in Medzamor ersetzen,
das bis 2016 vom Netz genommen werden soll. Schon heute deckt die
Kernkraft rd. 40% des Strombedarfs des Landes. Bis 2025/30 sollen
es 50% werden. Der Strom des neuen Kernkraftwerkes soll dann nicht
nur den eigenen Bedarf decken helfen. Einen Teil hofft Armenien zu
exportieren – etwa in das ebenfalls an Energieknappheit leidende
Nachbarland Georgien.

Dass das neue Kernkraftwerk tatsachlich gebaut werden wird, daran
lasst Galstyan keinen Zweifel. "Entweder machen es die Europaer,
oder es tun die Russen", sagt der Vizeminister. Die Nutzung der
Kernkraft ist zwar auch in Armenien nicht unumstritten. Aus Sicht der
armenischen Regierung gibt es dazu jedoch keine Alternative. Denn
fossile Energietrager sind hier kaum vorhanden. Wasserkraft und
andere erneuerbare Energiequellen reichen nicht aus, um die eigene
Energiesicherheit zu gewahrleisten.

Wahrend der Anteil der Kernkraft steigen wird, wird das Gewicht
fossiler Energietrager (vor allem Erdgas) sinken. Derzeit erzeugen
Warmekraftwerke 30% des armenischen Stroms. Bis 2025/30 soll dieser
Anteil auf nur noch 15% reduziert werden. Damit wird einerseits die
Abhangigkeit von den aus politischen Grunden unsicheren Bezugen von
Erdgas vermindert werden. Andererseits wird das Gas fur den Ausbau der
großflachigen Versorgung der armenischen Bevolkerung ("Gasifizierung")
benotigt.

Die Sicherung und Diversifizierung von Erdgasbezugen wird deshalb
auch in Zukunft fur Armenien von strategischer Bedeutung bleiben.

Bisher kommt das Gas nur aus dem Norden – aus Russland – uber eine
Pipeline, die uber den unruhigen Nordkaukasus und Georgien fuhrt.

Ende 2006 wird ein wichtiger Teilabschnitt einer neuen Pipeline aus
dem Iran in die sudarmenische Stadt Kajaran in Betrieb genommen. Uber
diese konnen nach Angaben von Galstyan rd. 500 Mio. cbm – ein Viertel
des armenischen Gasbedarfs bezogen werden. Benotigt wird nun ein
weiterer Abschnitt von 250 km Richtung Norden. Fur das rd. 100 Mio.

US$ schwere Projekt wurde seit langerer Zeit ein Partner gesucht –
ohne Erfolg. Nun seien die Russen bereit, sich daran zu beteiligen.

Russland spielt in Armenien nicht nur bei der Erdgasversorgung
(Beteiligung am lokalen Gasversorger ArmRosgazprom: 45% Gazprom und
10% Itera), sondern auch im Stromsektor eine entscheidende Rolle. Das
Stromnetz (fruher Midland Ressources Holding) gehort seit kurzem
einer Tochter der russischen Holding RAO EES. Vor drei Jahren ubernahm
Russland ferner das Warmekraftwerk Razdan (vier Blocke) als Ausgleich
fur ausstehende armenische Schulden. Den funften Block von Razdan
(300 MW) wird jetzt der russische Gaskonzern Gazprom fertig stellen
und dort eine Dampf-Gas-Turbine installieren.

Mit japanischem Geld (Japan Bank for International Cooperation)
wird das zweitgroßte Warmekraftwerk des Landes Erewanskaja TEZ
modernisiert. Alte Anlagen werden dort schrittweise vom Netz genommen
und neue in Betrieb gesetzt. Im Jahr 2007 soll mit dem Bau des ersten
neuen Blocks von 207 MW ("combined cycle") begonnen werden.

Im Bereich erneuerbare Energien, deren Anteil an der Stromerzeugung
von derzeit 30% bis 2025/30 auf 35% steigen soll, wird die Wasserkraft
den großten Anteil haben. Nach Angaben von Galstyan sind drei neue
Kraftwerke geplant. Eines soll am Fluss Aras an der Grenze mit dem Iran
entstehen. Derzeit wird mit iranischen Firmen uber die Finanzierung
und den Bau der Anlage verhandelt. Ein weiteres Kraftwerk soll im
Distrikt Lori im Norden (65 MW) entstehen. Dafur will die KfW rd. 12
Mio. Euro aus Mitteln der Finanziellen Zusammenarbeit und Eigenmittel
zur Verfugung stellen. Das dritte Wasserkraftwerk (50 MW) soll in
Shnogh (Distrikt Lori) entstehen und komplett von einem privaten
Investor realisiert werden.

Vorangetrieben werden soll die Modernisierung von kleinen
Wasserkraftwerken mit bis zu 10 MW. Die KfW stellt fur das Projekt
6 Mio. Euro zur Verfugung, die als "weiche" Kredite ab 2007 von
ausgewahlten Banken an private Investoren vergeben werden sollen. Mit
der technischen und kaufmannischen Beratung sind das deutsche
Unternehmen Lahmeyer International und die Sparkassenstiftung
fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit beauftragt worden. Ein großes
Wasserkraftprojekt hat die KfW bereits in den Jahren 1997 bis 2003
mitfinanziert. Fur die Rehabilitierung des Kraftwerks Kanaker sind
aus FZ-Mitteln 18 Mio. Euro zur Verfugung gestellt worden.

Neben der Wasserkraft mochte die armenische Regierung jedoch auch
die Windkraft, die Solar- und die geothermische Energie anzapfen. Im
Bereich Solarenergie verfugt das Land allerdings bisher uber keine
ermutigenden Erfahrungen, so Galstyan. Windenergie wird bisher nur von
einer einzigen Anlage im Norden (Ausrustungen von Vestas) in einem
armenisch-iranischen Projekt ("Puschkin-Park"; vier 560 kW-Anlagen)
genutzt. Doch das Potenzial, vor allem bei der Nutzung der Windkraft
gilt als riesig.

Derzeit erstellt die deutsche Firma Geo-Net einen Windkataster fur
Armenien. Zwei Windkraft-Projekte, mit einer italienischen und einer
US-armenischen Firma, seien nach Worten von Galstyan bereits auf dem
Weg. Fur ein Forderprojekt der Weltbank, der EBRD und der Gafesjyan
Stiftung im Bereich erneuerbare Energie, aus dem auch Windkraftvorhaben
finanziert werden konnen, stehen 15 Mio. $ zur Verfugung.

Auch bei der Nutzung geothermischer Energie, bei der es noch keine
Erfahrungen gibt, sieht Armenien ein großes Potenzial. Die Weltbank
hat dem Land Zuschusse von 3 Mio. $ bereit gestellt, um teuere
Tiefbohrungen zu finanzieren. In allen drei Bereichen sucht die
armenische Regierung nach Kontakten und Partnerschaften mit der
deutschen Industrie, von der man sich vor allem gute Technologie
erhofft. Galstyan: "Wir mochten sehr, dass deutsche Unternehmen hier
vertreten sind".

Kontaktanschriften:

Ministerium fur Energie der Republik Armenien Ansprechpartner:
Dr. Areg Galstyan (stellv. Minister) 0010 Erewan, Government House 2,
Republik of Armenia Tel.: 003741/52 87 04, Fax: -52 63 65 E-Mail:
[email protected], [email protected]

Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) Reprasentanz in Armenien
Ansprechpartner: Dr. Karapet A. Gevorgyan (Leiter der Reprasentanz)
39/12 Mashtots Ave, 375099 Erewan, Republik of Armenia Tel.: 003741/56
32 88, Fax: -54 27 08 E-Mail: [email protected]

(W.L.)

Ihr Ansprechpartner in der bfai: Frau Kossorz, Ruf: 0221/2057-207

SIC-Code mit Beschreibung: Energiepolitik(9630) Stromerzeugung und
Stromversorgung(4910) Pipelinebau(1623c1) Kraftwerksbau(1629b1)

–Boundary_(ID_rxI9SUaZrFiv Wh5LWchBgA)–

Turkish Parliament to List Europe’s Massacres
By Fatih Atik, Istanbul

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 19 2006

Thursday, October 19, 2006
zaman.com

The Turkish parliament took a new step in condemnation of the French
parliament’s acceptance of the bill criminalizing denial of an Armenian
genocide. It compiled a "shame list" of massacres committed by European
countries including France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The necessary study for the list was conducted by the parliament’s
justice sub-committee as part of its debates over a bill that would
recognize the Algerian genocide committed by France. The commission
is researching the massacres and tyrannies that countries that accept
the Armenian genocide have committed in the past.

The members of the commission listened to Turkish History Society
President Professor Yusuf Halacoglu and decided that announcing the
European list to the world would be more efficient than recognition
of an Algerian genocide.

In this context, the commission requested the Turkish History Society
and foreign affairs department carry out extensive studies into the
history of countries recognizing the so-called Armenian genocide.

The "shame list" is expected to be announced following the Ramadan
festival.

Deputy Mustafa Nuri Akbulut announced the parliament would publish
the list rather than recognizing an Algerian genocide. Akbulut also
asserted this study would enable the international community to better
see the objective attitude of the Turkish parliament and added human
rights, freedom of speech and the process that this method was subject
to would be discussed extensively in the document that will include
the shame list.

Justice and Development Party deputy Akbulut also said the document
would include a text that will explain the circumstances under which
Turkey decided to deport Armenians in 1915.

Akbulut noted that while Ottoman soldiers were deployed in the
Dardanelles and the Caucasus during World War I, Armenians committed
massacres in Anatolia and backstabbed Ottomans.

The Countries that Recognize the Alleged Armenian Genocide

France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Belgium,
Slovakia, Greece, Latvia and Greek Cyprus have taken decisions so
far about the so-called Armenian Genocide in different years, and
some have issued declarations and reports on the issue.

U.S. criticizes French law that would ban denial of Armenian genocide
By STEVEN ROSS JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
October 20, 2006 Friday

A senior US official on Friday denounced a French law that would
make it a crime to deny that mass killings of Armenians in Turkey
during World War I was genocide, saying that it would get in the way
of establishing a Turkish-Armenian dialogue.

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said the French law does
not help EU-Turkey relations, and urged the need for more discussion
between Turks and Armenians.

"The job of outsiders is to encourage Turkish-Armenian dialogue,
not to take positions which make that dialogue harder," said Fried,
who was in Brussels to discuss current tensions in the Caucuses with
officials from NATO, the European Union and the Belgian government.

"This legislation criminalizing discussion doesn’t seem to make any
sense," Fried said. "We have certainly encouraged Armenians and Turks
to look at this issue honestly and painfully. Every nation that I know
of, including my own, has things in its past of which it is not proud."

The genocide denial bill was approved by lawmakers in France’s lower
house last week, but still needs approval from the French Senate and
President Jacques Chirac to become law.

Fried added that the U.S. had dealt with such events in its own
history in a "honest way", and encouraged Turkey to do the same.

"It doesn’t strike me as clear that resolutions like that in the
French parliament is going to encourage this process," he said.

Tensions between France and Turkey have escalated since last week’s
vote in favor of criminalizing Armenian genocide denial, sparking
a boycott of French goods, and a proposed blackout of French media
from Turkish television stations.

Turkey continues to deny allegations that Ottoman Turks were
responsible for the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians during World War
One, contending that many died as a result of fighting during the
fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The EU has taken the U.S. position in the matter, saying the French
move discourages dialogue and hinders possible Turkish accession into
the 25-member nation bloc.

Fried’s visit comes one day after a stop in Tblisi to meet with
Georgian officials and opposition party leaders. He is scheduled to
travel to Russia to speak with leaders there as a prelude to November’s
NATO summit in Riga, Latvia.

AZG Armenian Daily #201, 21/10/2006

World press

A BOLD MESSAGE, LOST ON TURKEY

Vartan Oskanian International Herald Tribune,
Published: October 19, 2006

YEREVAN, Armenia: Armenia should be rejoicing at the passage of a
bill last week by France’s National Assembly that would make it a
crime to deny the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in the
early 20th century.

The message from France is clear: So long as Turkey refuses to confront
its own history, others will feel impelled to do so. If, on the other
hand, Turkey embarks on the difficult road of acknowledgement and
reconciliation, then others will have reason to step aside and let
the process take its course.

Instead, we note with dismay that this very strong message is being
lost on Turkey. It continues to surround itself with myths, evade
the past, and thus elude the future.

As we observe the reactions in Turkey, we find it disingenuous for
a country that itself doesn’t allow free speech and criminalizes
even the exploration of certain areas of its own (and therefore our)
history to be so indignant over a law that criminalizes the rejection
and denial of that same history.

After all, the actual, difficult discourse must evolve in Turkey,
and not in France, or Switzerland. It is in Turkey that a free and
open dialogue is deeply needed, and sorely absent. Those who cry
"leave history to the historians" have gagged the historians.

At the same time, Turkey objects vehemently to the involvement of
third countries in a discussion that really must take place between
Turks and Armenians.

No one wants such a dialogue more than Armenia. Yet Turkey has made
such give-and-take between our peoples and our states impossible. In
addition to the restrictions on speech, our borders remain closed. Nor
are there diplomatic relations between our countries.

In other words, there are no opportunities for new experiences, new
memories, new interactions to build up alongside the old. Instead,
there is a lingering security concern about a neighbor that has not
repudiated such state violence.

As Turkey continues to corner itself, it handicaps the future of this
region and impacts the lives of its people and ours. Worse, those
extremists who understand the great risks and costs of tolerance,
openness and rapprochement, are emboldened.

We are not the only neighbors in the world who have a troubled
relationship. Yet it is exactly because we live right next door that
we must be willing and prepared to transcend the past.

France’s principled acknowledgement of the 20th century’s first
genocide offers the hundreds of thousands of French Armenians, all
descended from genocide survivors, the dignity that they have been
denied because of the Turkish government’s continuing insistence that
the atrocities they lived through are unproven myths.

There is no doubt that if the word "genocide" had existed in 1915,
every one of the hundreds of articles in newspapers around the world
would have used it.

Look how frequently the word is used today to describe events and
cases where the scale and depth of the carnage are even smaller.

When a government plans to do away with its own population to solve
a political problem, that’s genocide. The U.S. ambassador to Turkey
from 1913 to 1916, Henry Morgenthau Sr., called what he witnessed the
"Murder of a Nation." Others called it "race murder." They did so
because the term genocide did not exist yet.

Those who deposed the Ottoman rulers – the early leaders of modern
Turkey, including Kemal Ataturk – actually court-martialed those
who instigated these crimes. Today’s Republic of Turkey, which has
inherited the nationalism of its founders but not their memory,
spends untold amounts to convince the world they didn’t happen.

Not just money. Today, their continued insistence on rejecting and
rewriting history costs them credibility and time. Today’s Turks do
not bear the guilt of the perpetrators, unless they choose to defend
and identify with them.

It is a political reality that both Turkey and Armenia exist today
in the international community with their current borders. It is a
political reality that we are neighbors. It is a political reality
that Armenia is not a security threat to Turkey. Finally, it is a
reality that today’s Armenia calls for the establishment of diplomatic
relations with today’s Turkey.

Armenia has no preconditions for establishing diplomatic relations. Nor
is Armenia opposed to Turkey’s membership in the EU. We’d like to see
Turkey meet all European standards. We’d like to see Turkey become
an EU member so that our borders will be open and we can cooperate
to build a secure, prosperous region.

We can only assume that Europe will expect that a Turkey which is
serious about EU membership will come to terms with its past. A few
in Turkish society have begun that difficult process of introspection
and study. We can only welcome this process.

It is essential that the international community does not bend the
rules, does not turn a blind eye, does not lower its standards, but
instead consistently extends its hand, its example, its own history
of transcending, in order for Armenians and Turks, Europeans all,
to move on to making new history.

POOR CUSTODIANS OF FREE SPEECH

Virginian Pilot, VA
Oct 19 2006

Last week in Baghdad, dozens of heavily armed Shiite terrorists stormed
the offices of Shaabiya, a new television station, suspected of Sunni
sympathies, which had run nothing more controversial than a few songs
to test its broadcasting equipment.

That the freedoms to speak, publish and broadcast have not taken
hold in Iraq shouldn’t come as a big surprise. In a region dominated
by dictators, petty monarchs, official state media and the brutal
repression of dissidents, the Middle East was always going to be a
stony soil for Western ideals.

But before judging the Iraqis too harshly for failing to accept one
of our better ideas, or beating on President Bush for acting like the
Federalist Papers might be a best-seller if translated into Arabic,
it is worth remembering what a hard sell real free speech is even in
the places where it should be safest:

The University. Last week, the president of Columbia University in New
York announced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding
several pro-immigration student groups’ decision to storm the stage
and unfurl a banner rather than let a leader of the Minuteman Project
give a speech.

The Internet. Over the past two weeks, YouTube has been purging
its site of politically incorrect videos, arrogating to itself
the authority to remove videos based on such a vaguely worded
user agreement that Saturday-morning cartoons easily violate its
"standards."

France. If there is a birthplace for the Jeffersonian ideals embodied
in our Bill of Rights, France is one of two contenders. Last week,
the lower house of parliament there decided that anyone who disagrees
with historical accounts of the Armenian genocide should go to jail
for a year.

With American and NATO troops in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan,
trying to bring a bit of freedom to places it has never been known,
it is profoundly sad that we practice that freedom so poorly here.

TURKEY TOLD FREEDOM OF SPEECH MUST BE A PRIORITY
By Daniel Dombey And Fidelius Schmid

Financial Times (London, England)
October 17, 2006 Tuesday
London Edition 1

Turkey was told yesterday by the European Union that it had to
safeguard freedom of expression in the country as a "matter of urgency"
amid diminishing expectations that Ankara’s stalled membership bid
can be revived.

Olli Rehn, EU enlargement commissioner, told Turkey’s delegation at
the last formal meeting between the two this year that it was not
good enough to merely wait for Turkish judges to rule on the issue
and that legislative action was needed.

Yesterday’s meeting took place amid widespread expectations that
Ankara’s membership talks would reach a crisis point later this year
and could prove impossible to retrieve.

The European Commission’s hopes of convincing Turkey to carry out
reforms have been greatly complicated by France.

Last week the French National Assembly supported a bill that would
make it a crime to deny that there was a genocide of Armenians during
the last years of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey says no genocide occurred.

Abdullah Gul, Turkey’s foreign minister, yesterday said the National
Assembly vote had hit France’s prestige as a country that allowed
full freedom of expression, while adding that Turkey would not repeat
France’s mistakes.

But he failed to give a clear signal that Turkey would revise or
remove article 301 of its penal code, which forbids denigration of
the Turkish state. Instead, he merely said that "we are following
the implementation (of the article) closely and we will do what
is necessary".

Brussels believes that Turkey’s reform process has slowed dramatically
and will issue a critical report next month. Its conclusions will
form the starting point for a debate between EU member states on
whether to declare a formal suspension of talks.

This is likely to be decided by heads of state and government later
in the year.

In effect the negotiations have already stopped, with Cyprus, which is
an EU member state but has no diplomatic relations with Ankara, vetoing
the opening and closing of any of the individual dossiers in the talks.

Cyprus makes clear it will not approve any such steps while Turkey
fails to meet an EU deadline to open its own ports and airports to
Cypriot vessels.

An attempt to break the deadlock by Finland, the current holder of
the EU presidency, has shown little sign of being accepted.

The proposal would see the EU taking charge of a port in the Turkish
Cypriot northern half of the island, to allow Turkish Cypriots to
trade with the rest of the EU, and return a nearby town to the Greek
Cypriot south.

ARINC: "WITH THE ARMENIAN BILL, FRANCE ROUSED TURKISH OPPOSITION AND FAILED THE SINCERITY TEST"

Turkish Press
Oct 18 2006

Speaking yesterday at a press conference marking the beginning of
Parliament’s new legislative year, Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc
said that the whole nation had reacted against the bill criminalizing
denial of the so-called Armenian genocide passed by the French
Parliament last week, adding that France should know that the bill
will hurt it in the future. Asked whether he believed that French
President Jacques Chirac, who recently telephoned Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to apologize over the bill, was being sincere,
Arinc stated that if a child were asked this question, he would give
the same answer. "The whole Turkish nation gave the same answer to
France," said Arinc. "France has failed the sincerity test." Later,
Arinc flew to Saudi Arabia for an official visit.

"WE MUST LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF ARMENIANS"

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 17 2006

On October 7 the repaired building of Arevik Children’s Medical
Center was opened, the reconstruction of which started in 2003. At the
ceremony the president, the speaker and the prime minister, as well
as members of government, health workers and the benefactors were
present. In her speech Minister of Health Zoya Lazarian thanked the
French Aida for Armenia organization (President Stepan Berberian),
as well as everyone else, who had contributed to the reconstruction
and equipment of the hospital. The minister of health said the project
implemented for several years now was also supported by the ministry
of health, as well as several local businessmen.

Although part of the building was repaired, over 360 thousand euros
was spent on this project. Stepan Berberian said when six years ago he
first visited Artsakh and saw the state of the children’s hospital, he
decided to take up its reconstruction. He was helped by his parents
and uncle. Stepan Berberian, the president of Aida for Armenia,
thanked the NKR government, people living in France and Artsakh who
contributed to the project. President Arkady Ghukassian said in his
speech that hopefully the other part of the building will be repaired
too. "We must take care of the health of our people for them to feel
safe here and not have to leave for other cities to get treatment. We
must live up to the expectations of Armenians for them to be sure
that the money they donate for one purpose or another reaches its
destination," said Arkady Ghukassian.

BILL WILL NOT AFFECT RELATIONS
By Brian Adeba

Embassy Magazine, Canada
Canada’s Foreign Policy Newsweekly
Oct 18 2006

French envoy says a bill making it illegal to deny the Armenian
genocide won’t harm either Turkey’s EU bid, or relations with France.

A new French bill outlawing the denial of mass killings of Armenians
in Turkey in 1915 should not have an impact on Ankara’s efforts to
join the European Union and its relations with France because it is
not an initiative of the French government, says French Ambassador
to Canada Daniel Jouanneau.

Last week, a low turnout of French legislators voted on a bill that
makes it illegal to deny that genocide was committed against Armenians
by the Ottoman Turks in the dying days of the First World War. Though
President Jacques Chirac’s government opposed the legislation, it
did not use its majority in the lower house to vote against it.

The bill was approved by a vote of 106 to 19. Most of the 557
legislators of the lower house boycotted the voting process. The bill
still has to be approved by the Senate and signed by Mr. Chirac before
it becomes law.

"We don’t know what the Senate will decide," says Mr. Jouanneau.

"The question about the possibility of this bill to become law remains
totally open."

Calling the bill "unnecessary and counterproductive," Mr. Jouanneau
says France already has laws against holocaust deniers and intolerance
towards minorities.

Turkey, which contests the notion that it committed genocide against
its Armenian subjects during the last days of the Ottoman empire,
has warned of serious repercussions on relations with France because
of the vote. Mr. Jouanneau says the French government hopes it will
not lead to deterioration in bilateral ties.

"We don’t think it is wise to create political difficulties with
Turkey at a time when Turks themselves are having an introspective
look at their own history," he says.

This month marks the first anniversary of the opening of negotiations
on Turkey’s bid to join the European Union (EU). The passing of the
bill raises fears that it will be used as an excuse to block Turkey
from joining the EU, an idea Mr. Jouanneau dismisses.

"Recognizing the genocide is not an additional condition which we
ask from the Turkish government," he says.

There are an estimated 500,000 French citizens of Armenian descent.

Mr. Jouanneau says they hold considerable political clout in the
country and have contributed immensely to French society. But he adds
that France considers Turkey an important partner in international
affairs, noting that Turkey was one of the first countries France
established diplomatic ties with in the 16th century.

Lavinia Stan, a political scientist who closely follows EU membership
issues, says the question of the Armenian genocide is not likely to
affect talks on Turkey’s bid to join the EU. Matters more likely
to crop up in the talks are concerns over the country’s treatment
of its minorities, especially the Kurds, says Ms. Stan, who is the
director of the Centre for Post Communist Studies at St. Francis
Xavier University in Nova Scotia.

"Other countries like Romania and Slovakia had similar problems with
ethnic minorities, but entered talks with the EU," she says. Slovakia
joined the EU in 2004 and Romania is expected to become a member
early next year.

Aris Babikian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee
of Canada, says the timing of the bill is important because it comes
at a time of growing "intransigence" towards the Armenian genocide
in Turkey.

"Article 301 of the Turkish penal code drags everyone to court who
questions the genocide," he says, adding that many intellectuals
have fallen foul of the penal code for suggesting that genocide was
committed against Armenians.

Last month, a judge in Ankara dropped charges against a writer
accused of insulting "Turkishness." Elif Shafak had written a novel
in which her fictional characters had made unfavourable comments
about the massacre of Armenians. Last a year, a court also dropped
charges against Orhan Pamuk-winner of this year’s Nobel Prize for
literature-for similar charges.

Ms. Stan says it is a sign Turkey is trying to comply with the
requirements of EU membership.

Mr. Babikian says the French bill is inspirational, but for the same
move to be adopted by Canadian parliamentarians, steps should be
taken to ensure compliance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and
the constitution.

"We will see how far the French version will go, what will happen in
France, then after that we will think about it," he says.

NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough says there’s no need to
introduce more laws on genocide in Canada since current legislation
is enough.

"We need to be reinforcing it through dialogue," says Ms. McDonough,
who in 2004 seconded a House of Commons motion recognizing that
genocide was committed against the Armenians.

[email protected]

ymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path =/2006/october/18/turkey/

ARMENIA MADE A PLOT WITH THE WEST

Lragir.am
18 Oct 06

The Armenian government assumed an obligation before the West to
mitigate every manifestation of the problem of Javakheti. The expert
cannot mention the price of this commitment saying that it can be
different, especially that elections in Armenia are drawing nearer.

Igor Muradyan made this almost sensational statement October 17 at the
National Press Club. He said he is acquainted with the situation in
Javakheti, the developments, the international political approaches
towards this region, and he can draw such a conclusion. He says the
West instructs Armenia on this question even on lower levels, such
as the head of the political department of the embassy.

With regard to the problem, Igor Muradyan first presented the
pre-election situation in Javakheti, saying that it was a stage of
active formation of NGOs. According to Igor Muradyan, these NGOs
had close ties with the Armenian government. This guaranteed their
existence. On the other hand, they are turned into marionettes
and a mere source of information. In this context, Igor Muradyan
highlights the emergence of the United Javakheti Alliance, which
represents the young and educated youth of Javakheti, the expert says,
which has a clear idea of the problems of the region and rejects the
cunning proposals of the government. Therefore, Igor Muradyan says
this organization appeared in the focus of attention of the Georgian
government, and does not get support from Armenia. Igor Muradyan says
the Armenian ruling sets tried to talk to them but they were unable to
mislead the youth from their standpoint and their approach does not
fit into the government policy on mitigating the problems connected
with Javakheti conducted by official Yerevan.

"I think decisions are not based on the relation with Georgia but on
the relation with the West. At first this sounds fantastic because
a local issue for the international community is concerned. But in
reality it is not. The United States and NATO are interested in this
region. The state of things in this region determines the success of
the entire Eurasian policy," says Igor Muradyan.

According to him, the international community’s official police is
to prevent this problem from becoming an international problem, and
mitigate possible tensions, "and create an impression that there is
no interest in reality." Igor Muradyan says the Armenian government
fulfills this wish of the West, and when serious forces emerged in
Javakheti, which are capable of raising the issues of the region,
Armenia made efforts to stop them, dissolving these movements. Igor
Muradyan adduces the example that the Armenian government arrested
one of the leaders of United Javakheti Vahagn Chakhalyan on an
absurd charge.

"But I know what international policies are implemented and who are
involved in it. The problem of the South Caucasus has been monopolized,
maximum 6-7 people deal with it. In Europe it is Xavier Solana,
in the United States government it is Daniel Fried. The evaluations
of experts are put under the table. But a year ago it offended the
experts that they do not get public attention, and they published
their conclusions. And it is mentioned that the domestic policy of
Georgia contains elements of fascism. Since 1945 no other country was
described as such, whereas this country is the partner of the West,"
says Igor Muradyan.

According to him, the U.S.-Turkish relation depends on the fate of
Javakheti. According to the expert, Georgia is unable to solve the
problem of security, and he thinks it is possible that in the future
we will witness the U.S. military presence in Javakheti. "It should be
noted for the democratic community of Armenia, if it there is one, that
there is an Armenian-Georgian plot. But it is impossible to explain
the situation by this only. Our people should pursue the recognition
of existence of such a problem now," says Igor Muradyan. He says the
impression that Russia is active in Javakheti is false. Muradyan even
says that unfortunately Russia is doomed to idleness.

"It seems that Russia is active. And what did it do? It did what is on
the surface. It took the steps that every Russian member of parliament
knew," says Igor Muradyan. He is against the claims for administrative
independence of Javakheti. "The salary of state-financed workers
in Javakheti is 1.5 million dollars. The budget of Javakheti will
not be enough because it is about 250 thousand dollars, excluding
foreign transfers," says the expert, mentioning that it is absurd
to put forward territorial claims because there is no possibility to
set down the rights.

"And these young people understand this very well," says Igor Muradyan,
mentioning that it was explained to them through the materials
of European and American experts, which clarify the picture of the
prosect of Javakheti in the context of the international policy. Igor
Muradyan thinks the way out is to release the arrested young man from
United Javakheti, the return of the members of the organization to
the sakrebulo, in other words, the recognition of the outcome of the
local election in Javakheti, although Igor Muradyan thinks that in
reality this outcome was achieved through administrative levers. The
experts emphasizes the resumption of the political process in the
regional sacrebulo which should raise the local issues in turn,
including the issue of the Armenian issue. As to what Armenia should
do, Igor Muradyan says, "Armenia had better do nothing."