Author: Dabaghian Diana

Links with Armenia reinforce French fears

Financial Times, UK

By John Thornhill
October 1 2005

Every year France celebrates another country by organising bilateral visits
and cultural exchanges. In 2004it was China, and the Eiffel Tower was
briefly lit up in red. This year it has been Brazil – hence the samba
dancers at Paris plage.

Next year it will be Armenia. The choice of a small Caucasian country of 3m
people highlights the importance France attaches to Armenia. This is mostly
due to France’s 450,000-strong Armenian community, which has grown
increasingly rich and influential.

But the timing of Armenia Year could hardly be more discordant for President
Jacques Chirac if, as expected on Monday, France and the European Union’s
other 24 members signal the start of accession talks with Turkey.

Armenians in France and elsewhere have been opposing Turkey’s entry into the
EU – unless and until Ankara acknowledges that the death of Armenians during
the break-up of the Ottoman empire was an act of genocide. Armenians claim
up to 1.5m people died in 1915-18. Turkey denies genocide, and admits only
that hundreds of thousands of both Armenians and Turks died, largely as a
result of civil war and famine.

The French parliament has already declared the massacres to have been a
genocide. And Mr Chirac has himself been sympathetic to the Armenian cause.
Harout Mardirossian, president of the Paris-based Committee for the Defence
of the Armenian Cause, says Turkey has been a “a country in denial” for 80
years that does not conform with the values espoused by the EU.

“How can you imagine Germany being integrated into the European Union in the
1960s if it did not recognise the Holocaust?” he says.

In spite of Mr Chirac’s support for accession talks with Turkey, most of his
compatriots are against the move. A recent Eurobarometer poll showed that 70
per cent of French respondents opposed Turkey’s entry into the EU with only
21 per cent in favour. Opposition to Turkish entry boosted the victorious No
vote during May’s referendum on Europe’s constitution.

Those opposed to Turkey’s accession range from Islamophobic nationalists to
Armenian campaigners to fervent pro-Europeans who believe the entry of such
a large country would kill off the dreams of a federal EU.

Earlier this month, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former French president
and father of the European constitution, said French voters had clearly
expressed their opposition to Turkey’s entry.

He noted: “There was a clear contradiction between the pursuit of European
political integration and the entry of Turkey into European institutions.
These two projects are incompatible.”

Mr Chirac has argued that Turkey’s entry into the EU would recognise a great
civilisation, extend Europe’s hand to the Muslim world, and help energise
the EU’s economy. But he has also guaranteed French voters a referendum on
whether to accept Turkey’s entry into the EU once accession talks are
completed.

However, Sylvie Goulard, a Europe expert at Sciences-Po university, says
this move deceives the French and Turks. “Resistance to Turkey’s accession
is not going to disappear in 15 years. Even if the Turks have successfully
reformed themselves, they will still share a border with Iran and Iraq. You
cannot change the nature of the EU without a proper democratic debate.”

Whatever the EU leaders decide, the issue of Turkey will loom large through
the 2007 presidential elections and beyond. Nicolas Sarkozy, president of
the ruling UMP party and a strong presidential contender, has already stated
his firm opposition to Turkey’s accession. Dominique de Villepin, the prime
minister and rival presidential contender, has doggedly defended Mr Chirac’s
line.

On Mideast ‘Listening Tour,’ the Question Is Who’s
Hearing

The New York Times
September 30, 2005

BY STEVEN R. WEISMAN

ISTANBUL, Sept. 29 – Even by Middle East standards, it has been a
tumultuous week. Violence is spreading in Iraq and Lebanon and between
Israel and the Palestinians; Egypt is prosecuting a popular opposition
leader for fraud; Turkey is in an uproar over efforts to block its
entry into the European Union.

The relentlessly upbeat American under secretary of state for public
diplomacy, Karen P. Hughes, President Bush’s longtime communications
aide, came into this vortex. She was trying to make news by defending
unpopular American policies and by projecting her message that the
United States stands for peace, democracy, faith and family values.

She also repeatedly asserted, no less than three times in an interview
on the Arabic satellite network Al Jazeera, that Mr. Bush was the
first American president to call for the establishment of an
independent Palestinian state. It was a bit of an exaggeration, since
President Bill Clinton endorsed such a state a couple of weeks before
he left office in 2001.

“I am here to listen and to learn and to work to strengthen the
relationship and close partnership between our two countries,”
Ms. Hughes declared in Turkey on Wednesday, in a typical opening
comment. Among schoolchildren she later exclaimed, “I look forward to
shaking each of your hands and having you give me a hug!”

Could this work to turn around anti-American hostility? As they wound
up their trip on Thursday, Ms. Hughes and her aides acknowledged that
five days of stops in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey would not do the
job. “But you have to start somewhere,” Ms. Hughes said.

There was some coverage in the regional press, but not a great deal,
combined with editorial skepticism, if not hostility, over her first
overseas trip in her new role. “The Arab world is tired of
U.S. hurricanes,” said an editorial in Asharq, a daily paper in Qatar.
“It hopes that Hurricane Hughes will be the last one.”

On the other hand, the picture of Ms. Hughes hugging a child in
Istanbul made a lot of papers and television shows, and there were
positive stories about how she listened respectfully to criticism of
the war in Iraq, provided rebuttals and reiterated American opposition
to violence by Kurdish separatists in eastern Turkey.

The papers in Saudi Arabia and Egypt did not put Ms. Hughes on the
front page, but most ran articles calling attention to her efforts to
reach out.

If regular diplomacy entails meetings in private to overcome
disagreements, “public diplomacy” involves efforts to mold popular
opinion abroad, defend American positions and rebut misinformation.

In Turkey, for example, American officials have not only had to defend
the Iraq war but also to counter erroneous press reports of large
numbers of rapes of Iraqi women by Americans. Earlier this year, many
papers reported that the tsunami in Asia last December was caused by
an American undersea nuclear explosion.

Ms. Hughes says she wants to establish a “rapid response” unit to
counter such stories and to train diplomats to deliver defenses and
rebuttals in the local vernacular.

A study two years ago by a panel led by Edward P. Djerejian, a
retired diplomat, indicated that anti-American sentiments around the
world had risen to alarming levels. Mr. Djerejian said recently that
80 percent of the hostility derived from American policies, especially
on Israel, Iraq, the treatment of Iraqi prisoners by Americans at Abu
Ghraib prison and the detention of people captured by the Americans at
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

“Karen understands that ‘it’s the policies, stupid,’ ” Mr. Djerejian
said in a recent interview. But the other 20 percent, he said, could
be addressed by a sophisticated media strategy that Ms. Hughes should
be able to provide. This trip, though, showed the problems she faces
as well as the opportunities.

Traveling with her was at times like being trapped in a cable
television infomercial, with an emphasis on values like family and
faith. Ms. Hughes said that she was a “working mom” and that President
Bush cared about mothers, fathers and children everywhere, especially
in a future Palestinian state.

She addressed several policies, but in concise sound bites rather than
sustained arguments. In American campaigns, such messages repeated
over and over can have an effect because a presidential candidate
dominates the news with every statement he makes, and if that fails to
work, money can be poured into saturation advertising.

By contrast, in the lively and percussive environment of this region,
Ms. Hughes came nowhere near the commanding heights of the media.

In Egypt, she supported democracy. But the papers focused that day on
the prosecution on charges of election fraud of Ayman Nour, the
leading opposition figure who got the most votes in the recent
presidential election. Local reporters criticized Ms. Hughes for not
meeting with enough genuine opposition figures.

In Turkey, news coverage was almost exclusively devoted to troubled
negotiations over the European Union and the issue of Kurdish
separatists.

Mr. Bush’s support for a Palestinian state also seemed to count for
little in an environment where attention is focused on Israeli attacks
on Palestinians. “I guess I’m a little surprised that he doesn’t get
more credit,” Ms. Hughes told reporters after hearing criticism in
Jidda, Saudi Arabia, of American support for Israel.

But Ms. Hughes made it plain that “public diplomacy” was not a
one-trip exercise and that she would continue to travel around the
world, hone her message and show that the United States was capable of
listening – and to urge State Department officials to think in those
terms as well.

She and her aides said they were satisfied with the publicity they
generated, noting that what was billed as a “listening tour” turned
out to be just that, leaving a positive impression countering the
image of an America unwilling to engage with those who disagree.

Ms. Hughes promised to take what she learned from hearing dissenting
views back to Washington. She was struck, she said, when a Turkish
official told her to try to imagine the situation of Iraq, a next-door
neighbor, sliding into possible civil war and engulfing Turkey from
the perspective of “the common Turk.”

“I will be sure to bring that message back to President Bush when I
get back to Washington,” she said.

Abeer Allam contributed reporting from Cairo for this article.

Pan Armenian News

AZNAVOUR: ARMENIA SHOULD TAKE EUROPEAN WAY

30.09.2005 08:28

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ «Armenian origins are exclusively important to me,» famous
singer Charles Aznavour stated. «My parents and I were born not in our
fatherland: my father was born in Georgia, while my mother in Turkey. They
spoke many languages. They were widely open people and it helped up – their
children – absorb various cultures of the East and West. In France itself I
listened to Arab, Latin American and American music,» he remarked. Answering
a question about assistance to Armenia, Charles Aznavour said, «I was
engaged in assisting poor people, helped to restore electricity in the past.
Today I am busy with building new schools, repairing old ones. The future of
the country is the youth, as it is known.» Speaking of whether Armenia
should follow Georgia’s example and «turn towards the US,» the singer said
Armenia should take the European way. «Its place is in Europe. I am pleased
with Armenia preserving very good relations with Russia. By the way, I was
in Uzbekistan lately and paid attention to the fact that all Uzbeks, like
Armenians, speak Russian. From the geographic point of view Armenia also is
closer to Russia than America,» Aznavour summed up, reported the Izvestia.

Agence France Presse — English
September 29, 2005 Thursday

Austria’s Schuessel pushes for EU membership talks with Croatia

LONDON

Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel reiterated on Thursday a
desire to see European Union membership talks with Croatia follow
soon after discussions start with Turkey.

Speaking in an interview with Britain’s Financial Times, the Austrian
leader attacked the EU’s “double standards” over Zagreb.

Talks with Croatia have been put on hold because of its failure to
cooperate in the hunt for alleged war criminal General Ante Gotovina.

“If we trust Turkey to make further progress we should trust Croatia
too,” Schuessel told the economic daily.

“It is in Europe’s interest to start negotiations with Croatia
immediately.”

The FT said Austria denied it was linking the cases of Turkey with
Croatia.

At the same time it said European diplomats feel a deal on Turkey
will only be possible if the EU makes progress with beginning talks
with Croatia.

“It is not fair to leave Croatia in an eternal waiting room,” said
the Austrian leader. “I don’t understand the logic.”

EU membership talks with Turkey are due to start on Monday despite
rising political tensions after the European Parliament urged Ankara
to recognise Cyprus and acknowledge that the Ottomans committed
“genocide” against Armenians during World War I.

All Systems Go: SOAD’s Mental Metal
By Adam Bregman

TheStranger.com, WA
Sept 29 2005

System of a Down
w/the Mars Volta, Hella
Wed Oct 5, KeyArena, 7 pm, $31.50-$44, all ages.

In the insular world of mainstream metal where thousands of bands
look and sound exactly alike, and use the same vaguely Satanic font
for their band logos, such factors as original concepts, progressive
politics, and ethnic influences are not at a premium. One outfit that
has strayed from the conventional at every turn is System of a Down,
perhaps the freakiest group to ever sell millions of records.

Four Armenian dudes from L.A. sporting funky goatees, SOAD first
came onto the scene in the late ’90s, at the same time as nu-metal
was spreading like bad acne amongst pierced mall rats. They were
originally lumped in as a niche act along with bands hidden in idiotic
masks, but broke off from that pack by virtue of actually writing
intelligent songs.

Everything seemed to coagulate perfectly on 2001’s stunning Toxicity,
a record that came along like a fierce kick to the loins. Featuring
“Chop Suey!” and “Toxicity,” the most spastic singles to ever be
played on radio continuously, Toxicity was wholly noncommercial and
ferociously berserk. Pulverizing crunch chords piled up like giant
steel planks, their peculiar time changes could throw an elephant off
balance, and genuinely melodic parts were trapped between blistering
metal anthems. Toxicity also showcased power drill-like beats,
drunken clown rhythms, and a delicate balance of fury and melody,
which the band pulls off exquisitely. Another key component: singer
Serj Tankian’s sometimes screwball, but more often dramatic, vocals
that are squarely in the metal tradition of operatic exaggeration.

In “Deer Dance,” one of Toxicity’s indignant protest songs, the lyrics
were inspired by the police riots at the 2000 Democratic National
Convention, when mounted cops cleared thousands of protestors with
a flurry of rubber bullets. (“Beyond the Staples Center/You can see
America/With its tired poor avenging disgrace/Peaceful loving youth
against the brutality/Of plastic existence.”) The brutal chorus
“Pushing little children/With their fully automatics/They like to
push the weak around” pummels the listener to the ground like a
testosterone-laden LAPD thug.

One of the main issues creeping into all their releases, though,
is an awareness of the Armenian Genocide (1895-1915), when Ottoman
Turks killed some 1.5 million Armenians. The U.S. government has
never recognized the genocide for fear of upsetting its military ally,
Turkey, whose government to this day denies it ever happened. The band
puts real force behind this key Armenian-American issue by organizing
large benefits for the Armenian National Committee of America, which
lobbies Congress to officially recognize the atrocity.

As SOAD’s popularity has grown exponentially, the band has made no
concessions in their music or their politics. Their latest record
Mezmerize, the first of a two-disc set (the second half, Hypnotize,
arrives in November), is another radical slice of odd-tasting pie.

Mezmerize isn’t all social critique-take the blatantly silly “Old
School Hollywood,” which was apparently inspired by actor Tony Danza
cutting in line at a baseball game. But then there’s the fiery payback
anthem, “Revenga,” and the puzzling “Radio/Video,” which have plenty
of hooks, though SOAD drop wacky harmonies, perverse screeching,
and circus chord progressions whenever possible.

Beyond their blasts of thunder and raining glass, SOAD once again
showcase amazingly sharp lyrics. Heshers concerned with politics
rarely venture beyond the issues of censorship, legalizing pot, and
the evils of Christianity. More in the spirit of punk rock, SOAD
are truly outraged by the millions of people forced to live below
poverty in one of the world’s richest nations. Their current hit,
Mezmerize’s “B.Y.O.B,” is about how those same poor folk are shipped
off to die in Iraq. With its repeated howl of “Why do they always
send the poor?/Why don’t presidents fight the war?” this single is a
rare detour from the regular sort of moronic mouthing off one expects
from Mallternative radio.

One of the album’s strangest cuts is “Cigaro,” which rips along at
the pace of a frenzied hardcore punk tune. The song’s concept is
fairly simple, comparing war and global politics to a cock-sizing
contest. However, SOAD may be the first metal band to make fun of
machismo, tie the idea to world leaders committing genocide, and then
put forth the whole argument in a song that manages to be zany and
bone crunching at the same time. Bursting with new-fangled ideas like
insane, pissed-off physicists, System of a Down simply stand alone.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT HOPES FOR SUCCESS IN PEACE TALKS

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 29 2005

Armenian President Robert Kocharian has expressed a hope for success
in the ongoing negotiations on the settlement of the long-standing
Upper Garabagh conflict.

The talks with Azerbaijan, which have been underway since 1994,
have entered an ‘active stage’, Kocharian told a news conference
held jointly with the Finnish President Tarja Halonen in Yerevan on
Tuesday. “There were times when the sides were close to the conflict
settlement. But something was always in the way.”

The Armenian leader welcomed the efforts being made by international
organizations, mentioning that the peace process is mediated by
the OSCE.

EU Ministers to Hold Meeting on Turkey
By CONSTANT BRAND
Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 29, 6:11 AM ET

European Union foreign ministers will hold emergency talks this weekend
aimed at overcoming Austrian objections to starting entry talks with Turkey,
after their envoys failed to reach agreement Thursday, diplomats said.

Austria held to its position that Turkey be offered the option of a lesser
partnership rather than full membership in negotiations which are scheduled
to start on Monday.

All 25 EU nations have to agree on a negotiating mandate before talks can
begin with Ankara.

The deadlock will put further strain on ties with Ankara which is growing
increasingly restless over attempts by several EU nations to put the brakes
on opening negotiations.

A British EU presidency spokesman confirmed the EU foreign ministers will
hold talks on Sunday in Luxembourg, on the eve of the planned opening of
negotiations with Turkey.

“Twenty-four EU countries could accept the text,” said the British official,
who refused to be named, due to the sensitivity of the talks. He added that
bilateral talks would continue between London and Vienna to try and get
Austria to back down from its demands.

Britain and other EU nations fear that adding changes demanded by Austria
will unravel an already cautiously-agreed to deal between EU leaders last
December, when they decided to open talks with Turkey, with the only goal of
full membership.

“It’s not a question of drafting, but its a political issue,” said an EU
diplomat.

Austria is the most ardent opponent of Turkey’s membership arguing the
country is too big and unready to join the EU. It has also linked the issue
to Croatia’s EU entry bid.

Diplomats said Britain and other member states were unlikely to yield to
demands to drop guarantees in the EU’s negotiating mandate ‘ which lays
out the rules and a lose timeframe ‘ that the goal of those talks is full
membership.

The draft mandate states the “shared objective of the negotiations is
accession,” but adds they are “open-ended.” It does not mention a
partnership as an alternative option.

The membership talks will be a milestone for Europe and predominantly Muslim
Turkey, which has been knocking on the EU’s door since 1963. EU leaders
agreed to open accession talks with Turkey last year.

If EU foreign ministers fail to get a deal Sunday, the opening of talks
would be delayed as the EU needs to present a negotiating guidebook for
talks to begin.

It would inevitably lead to a rupture in already tense relations between
Ankara and Brussels.

In Vienna, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel maintained his country’s
tough line on Turkey.

In an interview with two European newspapers, Schuessel said talks with
Turkey should only start if separate membership talks with Croatia are also
restarted.

Negotiations with Zagreb were frozen until it meets EU demands it fully
cooperate in handing over a top war crimes suspect to the U.N. war crimes
tribunal.

Austria says its people ‘ and many others across the bloc ‘ do not
support full membership for Turkey and is demanding that Ankara be given the
option of privileged partnership rather than full membership. Turkey has
already rejected anything less than full membership talks.

ARMENIAN DELEGATION HELD SEVERAL MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON

Pan Armenian News
28.09.2005 03:57

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 24-28 the Armenian governmental delegation
was in Washington for the participation in the sitting of the
Armenian-American intergovernmental working group on economic affairs
and the annual sitting of the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. Armenian Minister of Economy and Finance Vardan Khachatrian,
RA President’s Chief Advisor on Economic affairs Vahram Nersisyants,
Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen Chshmaritian,
Minister of Agriculture David Lokian, RA Central Bank President Tigran
Sargsian, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian, RA Ambassador to
the U.S. Tatul Margarian and Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance
Tigran Khachatrian served on the Armenian delegation.

Within the framework of the WB-IMF sitting the Armenian delegation
members met with the leadership of the organizations. September
27 they met with Millennium Challenge Corporation Acting Executive
Director Charles Setnes to discuss the Armenian Millennium Challenge
program. The parties agreed on proceeding with the joint activities
in order to accomplish the program. The Armenian delegates also held
meetings with Dutch Minister of Finance Gerrit Zalm and the Iranian
Minister of Finance.

THE MEETINGS OF THE PRESIDENT OF FINLAND IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Sept 28 2005

On September 27 RA NA Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan had a private talk
with Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland being on an
official visit in Armenia.

The problems of Armenian-Finnish relations were discussed in the
private talk. Both sides highlighted the political, economic and
scientific-cultural relations between two countries and the development
of inter-parliamentary relations was especially highlighted. It was
noted that a friendship group with the Parliament of Finland was
established in the Parliament of Armenia. At Mrs.

Halonen’s request, NA Speaker presented the democratic reforms taking
place, and the use of the Finnish experience was highlighted.

The delegation headed by Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic
of Finland met in the National Assembly with NA Speaker Artur
Baghdasaryan, NA Vice Speaker Tigran Torosyan, chairmen of the standing
committees, heads of groups-factions. At the meeting Justice Minister
Davit Harutiunyan and the ambassadors of two countries were present.

Welcoming the guests, NA Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan expressed
conviction that the visit will be an impetus in the development
of the Armenian-Finnish relations. NA Speaker highlighted the
development of the inter-parliamentary relations, the cooperation in
international structures and the experience exchange in the sphere
of legislation. Adopting the policy of Euro-Integration, Armenia pays
great importance to the study of the Finnish experience. It was noted
that in the National Assembly a parliamentary friendship group with
the Parliament of Finland functions. The cooperation was considered
necessary in the spheres of culture, science and education. Highly
estimating the activity of the Armenological center set up in Finland,
the Parliament Speaker expressed readiness to promote the center in
getting new literature. NA Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan invited his
Finnish colleagues to Armenia.

Expressing gratitude, Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, underscored
that the existing parliamentary friendship group political relations
created good bases for the further cooperation and highlighted not
only the bilateral, but also the deepening of the inter-parliamentary
relations, noting that a parliamentary friendship group with South
Caucasus was set up in the parliament of Finland.

Mrs. Halonen invited the Armenian parliamentarians to participate in
2006 at the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Parliament
of Finland, which will be also useful for the development of the
inter-parliamentary relations and experience exchange. The President
of Finland expressed a hope that the Constitutional amendments in
Armenia will go on in the atmosphere of consent.

At the end Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland made
notes in the book of honorable guests.

UES TO BUY ARMENIAN

St Petersburg Times, Russia
Sept 27 2005

IN BRIEF
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) – Unified Energy System, the national power utility,
will buy Armenia’s electricity network from Midland Resources Holding
for an undisclosed sum, RIA Novosti reported.

Armenia’s government approved Midland’s request to sell its 100 percent
stake in Armenian Electricity Networks to Interenergo, an offshore
venture UES has with Russian nuclear energy monopoly Rosenergoatom,
RIA reported.

Interenergo agreed in June to pay $73 million to “borrow” Midland’s
shares for 99 years, the Russian newswire said.

The Guernsey-based company paid $40 million for the stock, RIA
reported, without giving details of that transaction.