Author: Chakrian Hovsep

"TURKISH-FRENCH RELATIONS WERE HARMED" – TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER

Anatolia news agency, Turkey
15 Oct 06

Ankara, 15 October: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul left for
Luxembourg to attend foreign ministers’ meeting of Turkey-EU Troika.

Gul replied to the questions of reporters prior to his departure from
Ankara’s Esenboga Airport.

Asked whether he considered French President Jacques Chirac (who
telephoned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said he was
sorry for the adoption of a bill in the French National Assembly that
would make it a crime to deny so-called Armenian genocide) "sincere",
Gul said Erdogan discussed all the issues in question with Chirac.

"We have concerns. Unfortunately Turkish-French relations were
harmed. I hope France will become aware of this," Gul noted.

Gul stated that all the international community and the EU circles
criticized this bill, indicating that, "France is discredited. I hope
French politicians and statesmen will become aware of this and take
necessary measures."

Gul said Turkey would maintain its efforts within the framework of
a programme to prevent the bill become a law. He said many measures
were in question, stating that all those would be discussed in a
special agenda of the Turkish parliament on Tuesday [17 October].

Giving information about the Turkey-EU Troika meeting, Gul said
during his contacts in Luxembourg, he would explain [to] EU executives
Turkey’s expectations as regards to the Progress Report expected to
be made public on 8 November.

Gul said the meeting was important as it takes place immediately
after the screening process and prior to the Progress Report.

Turkish FM indicated that the studies that were fulfilled within the
framework of Turkey’s EU membership and the future studies would be
discussed in detail with the EU partners. He said Turkey’s negotiation
process would be reviewed and at the same time the parties would
exchange views on various regional and international matters.

Gul said the EU party explicitly displayed its will on dialogue and
cooperation with Turkey on various international matters with the
effect of several developments that occurred recently.

"The role that Turkey may play on regional issues and global issues
like the alliance of civilizations become more apparent recently. The
crisis which erupted in the Middle East in July is the best example
for this," Gul added.

Stating that the Troika meeting would take place at a time when
Turkey was passing through an important corner in EU membership
process, Gul said, "to this end, I have no doubt that both parties
would benefit from the meeting in the best way to further improve
Turkish-EU relations."

Gul also said he would have the opportunity to meet foreign ministers
of several EU member countries during his visit to Luxembourg.

Replying to a question about Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code
(TCK), Gul said, "all the ideas, unless they include violence or incite
violence, should be spoken and written in Turkey. It would be injustice
to Turkey to say that people cannot express their views in Turkey."

Gul pointed out that there were several problems stemming from
implementation, and noted that, "we are closely pursuing them. We
will do what is necessary."

"This is a process and we follow the implementation. However, I will
recall the public opinion when I go to the EU. Copenhagen criteria
has already changed with this attitude of France. Turkey is aware
of its deficiencies as a country which is not a full member. We are
exerting efforts to eliminate the deficiencies. We do all those as
our people deserve this," Gul said.

Proposal of Finland

Replying to a question about Cyprus proposal of Finland, Gul said this
country was in good will efforts to find a solution particularly to
Cyprus question and prevent this problem to overshadow the EU process.

Gul said Finland talked about this issue with Turkey before, noting
that, "we said Turkey will welcome every kind of good will efforts.

We will welcome all constructive and objective initiatives. We said
we would cooperate."

Gul said this issue would also be discussed in Luxembourg.

Gul wished the good will steps taken by Turkey to be noticed, and noted
that, "it should not be forgotten that the island has two parties. One
is the Turkish Cypriot party, other is the Greek Cypriot party. The
disagreement is between them. We are not the direct party of the
issue. Thus, everybody should talk to TRNC [self-declared Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus] executives in order to make progress
and to be constructive."

Gul said he hoped Finland would talk to TRNC President Mehmet Ali
Talat to understand the matter better and to convince the parties.

The Associated Press
October 12, 2006 Thursday 4:43 PM GMT

French lawmakers infuriate Turkey with Armenia genocide vote

By EMMANUEL GEORGES-PICOT, Associated Press Writer

Infuriating Turkey, a thin turnout of French lawmakers Thursday
approved a bill that would make it a crime to deny that mass killings
of Armenians in Turkey during the World War I era amounted to
genocide.

In Ankara, angry Turks threw eggs at the French Embassy amid growing
calls to boycott French goods, although the bill could face an
impossible struggle to become law or even make it to the upper house
for further discussion.

"No one should harbor the conviction that Turkey will take this
lightly," Turkey’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said.

The bill passed 106-19, but the majority of the 557 lawmakers in
France’s lower house did not take part in the vote.

President Jacques Chirac’s government opposed the bill, although it
did not use its majority in the lower house to vote it down. Instead,
most ruling party lawmakers did not vote on the text that was brought
by the opposition Socialist Party.

Chirac’s government is thought to be unlikely to forward the bill for
passage by the Senate.

The French president did not comment on the vote Thursday, although
he previously has said that the bill "is more of a polemic than legal
reality."

His former spokeswoman Catherine Colonna, now France’s minister for
European affairs, told parliament Thursday that the government did
not look favorably on the bill.

"It is not for the law to write history," she said shortly before the
vote.

The Armenia genocide issue has become intertwined with ongoing debate
in France and across Europe about whether to admit mostly Muslim
Turkey into the European Union. France is home to hundreds of
thousands of people whose families came from Armenia.

On Thursday, Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel literature
prize for his works dealing with the symbols of clashing cultures.

Pamuk was charged last year for telling a Swiss newspaper in February
2005 that Turkey was unwilling to deal with two of the most painful
episodes in recent Turkish history: the massacre of Armenians and
recent guerrilla fighting in Turkey’s overwhelmingly Kurdish
southeast. The charge was later dropped.

Chirac says he favors Turkey’s membership in the EU. But on a visit
to Armenia last month, he also urged Turkey to recognize "the
genocide of Armenians" in order to join the EU.

"Each country grows by acknowledging its dramas and errors of the
past," Chirac said.

Gul, the Turkish foreign minister, said the bill dealt a serious blow
to Turkish-French relations and damaged the credibility of France as
an EU member which defends freedom of expression.

"From now on, France will never describe itself as the homeland of
freedoms," Gul said.

France has already recognized the killings of up to 1.5 million
Armenians from 1915 to 1919 as genocide; under Thursday’s bill, those
who contest it was genocide would risk up to a year in prison and
fines of up to $56,000.

A law passed in 1990 makes it a crime to deny the Holocaust.

Armenia accuses Turkey of massacring Armenians during World War I,
when Armenia was under the Ottoman Empire. Turkey says Armenians were
killed in civil unrest during the collapse of the empire.

Outside the French parliament building, a few dozen protesters of
Armenian descent celebrated.

"The memory of the victims is finally totally respected," said Alexis
Govciyan, head of a group of Armenian organizations in France.

The vote on the bill in Paris dominated front pages of most Turkish
newspapers, with some reporting that thousands of Turks have promised
to go to France and deny genocide in hopes of getting arrested if the
bill passes. Two TV networks in Turkey broadcast the parliamentary
floor debate live.

Associated Press writer Selcan Hacaoglu contributed to this report
from Ankara, Turkey.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 13, 2006 Friday

"THERE IS THE DANGER THAT THE SITUATION WILL WORSEN YET"

by: Mikhail Vignansky

AN INTERVIEW WITH MAJOR GENERAL ANDREI POPOV, RUSSIAN ARMY GROUP IN
THE CAUCASUS COMMANDER; An interview with Major General Andrei Popov,
Russian Army Group in the Caucasus Commander.

The Russian Army Group in the Caucasus returned to a normal state of
combat readiness on October 9. Its readiness status had been upped in
late September, when the Georgians arrested four Russian officers on
charges of espionage and cordoned off the Army Group headquarters in
Tbilisi demanding the fifth suspect. Here is an interview with Major
General Andrei Popov, Commander of the Russian Army Group in the
Caucasus.

Andrei Popov: Tension abated some, the siege was lifted from the
headquarters, and we are back to a normal state of readiness now. And
yet, there is the danger that the situation will worsen yet. That is
why we are ever ready to upgrade the readiness status again.

Question: Georgia announced that new rules of transit of personnel
and military shipments to the 102nd Military Base in Gyumri (Armenia)
came into effect on October 9…

Andrei Popov: I do not know what new rules are meant by that. All
procedures are specified by the withdrawal accord signed in 2005. We
always apply for transit permits on time. We always discuss
everything with the Georgian side beforehand.

Question: How many servicemen and members of their families are in
Georgia nowadays?

Andrei Popov: Almost 3,000 servicemen and as many family members.

Question: How many civilians were evacuated by planes of the
Emergency Ministry?

Andrei Popov: Forty-four people.

Question: Did anybody else apply for evacuation?

Andrei Popov: Five people did.

Question: Have the Russian sanctions against Georgia backfired and
affected the military? How do objects of the Russian Army Group in
the Caucasus receive shipments and reinforcements?

Andrei Popov: Nothing has affected us. We’ve been bringing everything
via Armenia or buying whatever we need right here for several years
already. We have what we need to last until the withdrawal scheduled
for 2008. Unfortunately, Georgia has been making problems with visas
for our servicemen for over a week already. As for the measures taken
by the Russian leadership, we support them wholeheartedly.

Question: The Russian Army Group in the Caucasus was scheduled to
turn over to Georgia five objects that are no longer used in
September and October…

Andrei Popov: We are ready to keep our part of the bargain. It’s the
Georgians who have been silent.

Source: Vremya Novosti, October 10, 2006, p. 6

A1+

HAKOBYAN DEPRIVED OF IMMUNITY
[08:45 pm] 13 October, 2006

The Parliament agreed to the mediation of the RA Public Prosecutor
`to involve NA deputy Hakob Hakobyan in the case as accused’. 56
deputies voted for and 22 voted against. 84 deputies participated in
the secret vote. Six ballots were invalid.

Member of the calculating committee Aghasi Arshakyan announced that
there were violations during the voting as different deputies marked
the ballots differently. But head of the committee Gagik Meliqyan
announced that the information does not correspond to reality and the
voting took place according to the regulations.

By the way, Hakob Hakobyan himself voted for his being involved in the
case as accused.

Before voting the factions represented their positions about the
issue.

National Unity announced that they will not participate in the
voting. Leader of the United Labor party faction Gourgen Arsenyan and
secretary of «Justice» faction Grigor Haroutyunyan announced that
their deputies are free to vote as they want to. The Orinats Yerkir
and People’s Party were of the same opinion. The ARF Dashnaktsutyun
was for restricting the immunity of deputies, and the Republican party
was for realization of justice and «not patriotic speeches».

Leader of the Republican faction Galoust Sahakyan blamed the
opposition and reminded that Hakobyan is their friend and even if he
has committed a crime, he is still their friend; in the end he noted
that the Parliament does not have the right to hinder realization of
justice.

NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan added that the Parliament has no right to
deprive the deputy of his right to prove his innocence.

After the speeches the floor was given to Hakob Hakobyan. He informed
that he has really participated in the quarrel. «Yes, I did it and I
prevented bloodshed», he said and informed that thanks to him the
quarrel did not end with shooting and victims. Hakobyan informed that
he is not against investigation, but if they try to violate his
rights, he will defend himself. «I warn you, I’m not afraid of death».

The deputy also announced that he was elected in 1999 and in 1991-1999
he was a common citizen and asked why his affairs weren’t checked
then. He also showed the case against his friend where his name was
involved two, `Three courts have justified him’, he underlined.

Hakobyan claimed that 90% of the case is fabricated against him. He
claimed that the representatives of the Karate federation stopped the
supply of gas to his gas station and demanded money in order to
restart it. According to him, this was the reason why the quarrel
started. He informed the Public Prosecutor that 165 houses have been
searched illegally, 35 people have been arrested and there has been no
news about them for the last four days, but the criminal case has been
initiated only against four people. `Where are the others?’ the deputy
asked.

At the end of his speech Hakob Hakobyan informed that his rights have
been violated in the isolation cell: he had no telephone and no
advocate.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Adoption of French Bill on Genocide Victory of Whole Armenianhood
13.10.2006 13:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The adoption of the bill penalizing the Armenian
Genocide in France is a victory for the whole Armenianhood, The
California Courier editor-in-chief Harut Sasunian told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, the Turkish government by
threats, blackmail and lies attempted to dissuade French deputies from
adoption of the bill. `Turks tried to represent the issue as a taboo
on freedom of speech but owing to inadmissibility of their actions,
the attempts failed,’ Sasunian said.

Sasunian marked out three principal aspects. `First, Turkey is the
single country in the world that lacks the law on freedom of
speech. If anyone on Turkey dares to speak of the Armenian Genocide he
is sent to prison at once. Second, this bill has nothing in common
with freedom of speech. This is a means of political struggle of the
Turkish government and the Armenian people. Third, France like many
other states has a law providing for punishment for Holocaust
denial. So why doesn’t this law infringe freedom of speech but the law
on the Armenian Genocide does? These are double standards which are
inadmissible. I hope that in the near future the French Senate will
ratify the bill and President Chirac will sign it,’ said the
editor-in-chief of The California Courier.

Turkish Daily News
Oct 7 2006

For those who do not understand
Saturday, October 7, 2006

Angela Merkel, Jacques Chirac, Olli Rehn, Jose Manuel Barroso and
Camiel Eurlings all indicate with their latest remarks in this or
that manner that Turkish membership in the European Union is not
being considered.

Gunduz Aktan
Angela Merkel, Jacques Chirac, Olli Rehn, Jose Manuel Barroso and
Camiel Eurlings all indicate with their latest remarks in this or
that manner that Turkish membership in the European Union is not
being (probably has never been) considered.

The controversial report of the European Parliament (EP) Foreign
Affairs Commission has been "corrected" by the EP General Assembly.
The Armenian genocide allegation remains unchanged; it is just that
in the final text Turkish recognition of it is no longer cited as a
precondition for EU membership. In its final version the report does
refer to the alleged "Pontian and Assyrian genocides" cited in the
initial draft, but it makes those references without actually using
the word "genocide." All in all, the report seems to be written not
towards making Turkey a member but with the purpose of discouraging
Turkey from going ahead with the accession process.

Meanwhile, Chirac’s visit to Armenia has resulted, as expected, in
his voicing the "Armenian genocide" allegations — repeatedly. Chirac
is the vanguard among French politicians when it comes acknowledging
the crimes committed by his country in the past and publicly
apologizing for them. Therefore he may deem it a moral obligation for
himself to "recognize" the "Armenian genocide" as well. On the other
hand, the Armenian community in France is enjoying an increased
weight prior to a tough presidential election. So, this is more about
politics than moral obligations.

France knows that Turkey will never accept the Armenian genocide
claim. And it exploits the genocide issue so as to block Turkey’s
path to EU membership. Their new draft law envisages heavy fines and
prison sentences for those "negating the Armenian genocide." Even if
we endured all kinds of humiliation and reached the stage of signing
the accession treaty, that treaty would be subjected to a referendum
in France; and to obtain a positive result from the referendum we
would be required to "acknowledge the genocide."

The EU calls it "the need to face up to the past." That is the
principle on which the European project has been based in the
aftermath of the Holocaust. We did not play any role in that
disaster. However, obviously if we are to be admitted into the ranks
of the genocide perpetrators, we too will have to find ourselves a
proper case of genocide, declare our regrets for "having committed
it" and pledge not to do any such thing ever again.

Until she became chancellor, Merkel had advocated a "privileged
partnership" status for Turkey as opposed to full membership. Now she
seems not to be opposing Turkish full membership. She must have
adopted that role as a result of the "re-casting of the roles" with
France. This way she will prevent a disruption of her relations with
the sizable Turkish community in Germany. Meanwhile she sees the
Cyprus problem as an issue that can suitably be used in order to
block our path to EU membership.

The commission traditionally sides with the member countries. The
current commission backs our membership bid. However, the EU member
states lack the common political will needed for that. And this makes
the commission’s job extremely difficult. We have reached a certain
point where neither the new government of the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (KKTC) nor this or any future government of Turkey
can possibly back down. This impasse cannot be overcome with the kind
of proposal the Finns have offered. There is only one way out: The EU
has to acknowledge the erroneous nature of its Cyprus policy and make
the Greek Cypriots toe the line. Since this is not being done, the
commission is focusing on the reforms; however, the lack of political
will has undermined the Turkish government’s eagerness to make
further reforms.

When referring to reform they are talking about the rights of
minorities and Christians, and Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code
(TCK). Almost all of those that have been in trouble due to that
article are "intellectual" Turks who have "acknowledged" the
"Armenian genocide." Therefore, the calls for abolition of Article
301 are aimed at bringing about widescale public discussions in
Turkey on the "Armenian genocide" issue. In other words, these calls
are justified in principle, but the purpose seems hardly justified.
Indeed, it was pointed out to Rehn that the EU demands from Turkey
conflicted with the situation in France (regarding the genocide law
in the offing) and the Netherlands (where Turks who reject the
Armenian genocide allegations are not allowed to run for parliament
seats). He had a hard time trying to respond to questions in this
vein.

Barroso’s latest statement shows that the commission does not fully
back our membership, either. Barroso first talked about suspending EU
enlargement until institutional reforms are made, that is, until the
EU Constitution problem is resolved. Then he pointed out that Turkey
could be a member in 15, 20 or 25 years. What kind of impression have
we given them that they seem to think that we would wait all those
years?

Viewed together, these signs show clearly that basically the EU
does not want to make Turkey a member but that it is unwilling to
openly say so since that would entail a political price. Obviously,
it aims to exasperate Turkey by waging a "guerrilla war" on secondary
issues.

If Turkey’s prestige is to be maintained, even at a minimal level,
we must immediately get out of this masochistic mood we seem to have
plunged into. Otherwise we will come to hate the West, the EU and
Christianity. And our naive liberals and the Justice and Development
Party (AKP) will have to pay for that situation.

ELECTION CODE MAKES THE ROLE OF CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CLEAR

Panorama.am
13:48 06/10/06

Amendments in the Election Code clarify the role of the Constitutional
Court in deliberating election disputes. "Peculiarities of the
defined procedures will contribute to the organization of democratic
elections and will enlarge the responsibility of those institutes
that have powers. They can not more hide under other structures,"
Gagik Harutunyan, chairman of Constitutional Court told a conference
on the role of Constitutional Court in elections.

Janni Bukikio, secretary of Venice Committee of the Council of Europe,
said the decisions of the Constitutional Court must stem from the
interests of people. "In democracy, a Constitutional Court must
be transparent and fair in order its decisions be called legal,"
Bukikio said. /Panorama.am/

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 6 2006

Peter Semneby: Azerbaijan and Armenia delay the solution to Garabagh
conflict

[ 06 Oct. 2006 15:40 ]

Azerbaijan and Armenia delay the solution of Garabagh conflict,
Peter Semneby, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus said
in the meeting of European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee.

Ha said Azerbaijan hopes petrodollars will ensure its economy and
military strength.

"Increase of the number of weapons in the region is a great problem
and causes concern. It means Azerbaijan does not consider the solution
to Nagorno Garabagh conflict actual," he said.

He also said Armenia waits for the solution to Kosovo problem.

"Armenia hopes the reality will play its part," the representative
said.

Mr. Semneby plans to meet with Azerbaijan and Armenia Foreign
ministers. /APA/

OSCE MISSION BEGIN TO MONITOR ARSONS ALONG FRONTLINES IN AGHDAM, TERTER AND GERANBOY

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 5 2006

OSCE mission to assess the arsons has come to Ganja today. APA
bureau reports that Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental
Activities Bernard Snoy told a media briefing that the mission will
work transparently.

"Our main aim is to assess the fires. We have satellite photos of the
fire places. We plan to monitor the territories showed in the photos
and lists we were given".

Mission will also meet with Armenian representatives.

The mission will prepare recommendations on the results.

"There is no machinery to make the parties to observe the
recommendations. We will analyse the details. The mission includes
experts from the CE and EU," Bernard Snoy said.

He said the Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of fires.

Today the OSCE mission began monitoring territories along frontlines
in Aghdam, Terter and Geranboy.

ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTIAL MEETING POSSIBLE IN NEAR FUTURE

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 3 2006

YEREVAN, October 3. /ARKA/. A meeting between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani Presidents is possible in the near future, OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chair Bernad Fassier told reporters in Yerevan He expressed hope
that the meetings of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign Ministers
will lay the foundation for this meeting, and it will be held after
the negotiations results have been summed up.

According to Fassier, even with 1% probability of a favorable outcome,
the OSCE MG Co-Chairs must exert every effort to resolve the protracted
conflict.

Fassier sees a number of hope-inspiring factors of a favorable outcome
of the negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh: the appointment of Matthew
Bryza as US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, new approaches involving
this appointment, and the OSCE MG Co-Chairs’ resolution to continue
forming new approaches to the settlement.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers are to meet in Moscow
on October 6, 2006.