Author: Karagyozian Lena

Turkish premier returns to a hero’s welcome after historic deal with EU
By SELCAN HACAOGLU

The Associated Press
12/18/04 04:55 EST

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey’s prime minister returned from an EU
summit to a hero’s welcome Saturday, hours after the European Union
grudgingly agreed to seriously consider his country for membership
despite widespread public opposition to a Muslim nation joining
the bloc.

Hundreds of supporters waving Turkish and European Union flags greeted
Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the airport in Istanbul. Some held banners
proclaiming him “the conqueror of EU” and “the new star of EU.”

Hours earlier in Brussels the European Union offered to begin talks
aimed at bringing Turkey into the EU. The long-coveted invitation
came despite Erdogan’s refusal to formally recognize Cyprus, Turkey’s
longtime adversary and an EU member since May.

EU leaders hailed the agreement as a historic step, one that would
expand the borders of the 25-nation EU from Ireland to Iran. Turkey’s
stock market rose to a record high.

“We have been writing history today, and the agreement we reached today
will acquire full significance in the years ahead,” said Dutch Prime
Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, whose country holds the EU presidency.

The talks will begin Oct. 3, 2005, the beginning of a process that
could take years and could transform the political and social landscape
of both parties.

If the talks succeed, Turkey would become the largest EU member, with
a population of 71 million – expected to grow as high as 85 million
by 2020. But its per capita income is roughly one-third of the average
of longtime EU member states, requiring far-reaching economic reforms.

Turkish membership would also add millions of citizens to the EU at
a time when many Europeans are questioning whether their countries,
which have a Christian heritage, can absorb large numbers of Muslim
immigrants.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the decision to accept Turkish
membership shows “that those who believe there is a fundamental clash
of civilizations between Christians and Muslims are actually wrong,
that they can work together, that we can cooperate together.”

Most Turkish newspapers were ecstatic. “We Succeeded,” read the
headline in Saturday’s edition of the leading Hurriyet. Another daily,
the Sabah, blared: “European Revolution.”

But the deal nearly fell apart because of an EU requirement that
Turkey initial an agreement Friday expanding its customs union with
the EU to include Cyprus and nine other members that joined in May. The
agreement would have to be signed by October.

Erdogan balked at the requirement, which EU diplomats said amounted
to tactic recognition of the Greek Cypriot government.

Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 to block a coup by Greek Cypriots,
and decades of diplomacy have failed to reunite the Mediterranean
island. About 40,000 Turkish troops remain in northern Cyprus, which
is controlled by Turkish Cypriots.

After hours of intensive negotiations, the EU agreed to accept a
statement from Erdogan that he would sign the customs agreement before
the talks start and that the move would not constitute recognition
of Cyprus.

“This is a win-win agreement,” Erdogan said. “The process from now
on will be even more difficult … but I strongly believe Turkey will
be able to achieve this.”

Back home, he pledged to work harder and strengthen the country’s bid.

“This result will not spoilt us, will not relax us,” Erdogan told
the crowd at the airport.

However nationalist newspapers were furious, arguing the terms were
too harsh. “Dishonored,” the daily Yeni Cag newspaper declared in
Saturday’s edition.

EU officials said the talks would be open-ended and without a guarantee
of eventual EU membership. Opposition leaders said that gave Turkey
little chance of success.

Several EU countries strongly oppose admitting Turkey, fearing an
influx of culturally different migrants who would compete for jobs.

French President Jacques Chirac, who has promised a referendum on
Turkish membership if the talks succeed, said Ankara would have
to recognize the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early
20th century.

Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said he would also call a
referendum because bringing a Muslim country into the EU “must not
be decided in an ivory tower. … We cannot be indifferent about
public opinion.”

Supporters of Turkey’s entry contend the country could be a bridge
between Europe and the Middle East and stand as an example of a
democratic state with Islamic traditions. Turkey, a longtime NATO
member, has been legally secular since the collapse of the Ottoman
Empire after World War I.

Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser, Raf Casert, Art Max and Robert
Wielaard contributed to this report.

UNDP ANTI-CORRUPTION PROJECT BACKS DEVELOPMENT OF LAW ON LOBBYING

ArmenPress
Dec 17 2004

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS: Today, at the Congress Hotel in
Yerevan, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in
cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Trade
and Economic Development of Armenia, held a discussion of the draft
Concept of the Law on Lobbying of the Republic of Armenia.
Representatives of the Government, Parliament, local and
international organizations, trade unions and business associations,
as well as experts participated in the discussion, UNDP Country
Office in Armenia told Armenpress.
The aim of the discussion was to review the approaches and
suggestions on the draft concept of interested non-governmental
organizations (NGO) including those representing interests of the
private sector. At the event, The international experience of
regulating lobbying, ways, restrictions, financing and reporting of
lobbying, rights and responsibilities of lobbyists, licensing and
accreditation issues will be discussed. A special importance will be
attached to the suggestions on NGO lobbying.
Developing the regulatory framework for lobbying is the request of
the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and the Anti-Corruption
Strategy adopted by the Government of Armenia. At the same time, it
is a key step towards providing equal and transparent opportunities
for civic participation in decision making and is called to foster
participatory processes in Armenia.
Vahan Asatryan, Coordinator, UNDP/Government Project on “Support
to Information Society and Democratic Governance”, noted in his
speech: “Within the United Nations System, UNDP plays an important
role of providing assistance for equal political, economic and social
opportunities. In this context UINDP supports the Government of
Armenia in developing legislation and implementing policies promoting
efficient participation of citizens in decision-making processes. Our
mission in Armenia is to help reducing political inequalities in the
country through promoting effective and broad civil society
participation in decision-making. We help the Government to establish
responsive participatory policy frameworks and to foster
consolidation of information society. We support establishing a civil
society anti-corruption network in the country and strengthen the
capacity of civil society to participate in anti-corruption
initiatives effectively.”
The UNDP support to the Government of Armenia and the Parliament
in developing a viable law on lobbying will continue in 2005.

Senior Iranian cleric urges Iraqis to participate in elections

Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran
17 Dec 04

Secretary of the Guardian Council Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told
worshippers at Tehran Friday prayers that if Iraqis want to get
rid of oppression and dictatorship, “they should participate in the
elections” and “vote in ample numbers to those who care for the Iraqi
people”. The following are excerpts from the sermon, broadcast live
by Iranian radio on 17 December:

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Passage omitted:
on religious matters

What can we say about the Ahvaz festival? Of whom should we complain?
However, it is clear who those people are. Have we got to the point
that we should import dancers from abroad? Haven’t we reached
self-sufficiency yet? Should we import dancers from Armenia and
elsewhere? What is going on in this country?

This is not the first time. The same has happened in other festivals
and they did not listen to the objections made. Similar banal scenes
have been there in ten-day dawn festivals ceremonies celebrating the
anniversary of Iran’s Revolution . I would like to warn them right
now since we have the ten-day dawn ceremonies ahead of ourselves,
it you want to do the same, you should know that the people will
encounter you.

Ethical deviation and banality is one issue. There has as well been
a lot of waste of public wealth. This is the money that should have
been spent on those who are homeless and sleep in the streets. I hope
that the statistics on those who sleep in the streets on the cartons
and die of cold is not true. The money that should be spent on those
people the homeless is being spent on them dancers . This is just one
issue, while there are plenty of such wastes. If there were not such
wastes, there would have not been even one homeless.

They officials would have made a place for them the homeless to sleep
and not to die on the streets.

God helps us if one day we open the dams in the name of freedom, but
fail to fortify the dikes. The water will wash everything away. If
the dams’ gates are to be opened, the dikes should be fortified to
prevent the water’s destruction. Let me not explain any further. We
hope that God would save us all from ignorance. Passage omitted:
on Hajj pilgrimage and ongoing reconstruction following Bam earthquake

And my last point is about Iraq. You know that the elections are
imminent and the American crimes are ever-increasing. They drop 250 kg
bombs on the people. I do not really know what they want to do with
these people. What sin they have committed that their women, men,
children, elderly, sick and healthy should all be burnt and killed
under bombings. Slogans chanted by the worshippers: “Death to America”

At any rate, we expect the noble and Muslim people of Iraq to be
mindful of clear realities. They should know that America is facing
Islam rather than the Shi’is, Sunnis, Kurds or Arabs and it will
indiscriminately repress all. They should also know that if they want
to have a relatively promising future they should participate in the
elections. They should vote in ample numbers to those who care for
the Iraqi people and not others. The oppressed Iraqi people who got
rid of the former dictator, just to face a worse dictator.

If they the Iraqi people would not be able to fend for themselves,
the result would be the dominance of dictators, as it is now. The way
out is to create a popular power in the form of a strong parliament to
take the fate of the country into its hands. However, the religious
scholars have a substantial role to play in this regard. They should
have a comprehensive supervision over the elections.

A lot of cheating and vote riggings may take place. Things may be
done to prevent the people from achieving their optimal result. They
should therefore be ready for what may come. Passage omitted: on
final prayer of the sermon

PRESS RELEASE

Chess Academy of Armenia
Yerevan, Armenia
Contact: Aram Hajian
Tel: (3741) 52-02-46
Fax: (3741) 52-02-46
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Re: The Tigran Petrosian Memorial Internet Chess Tournament

In homage to one of the greatest chess players of all time, the Chess
Academy of Armenia is proud to hold a unique tournament honoring
Armenia’s favorite son. The former world champion, who passed away in
1984, would have been 75 this year and most probably quite impressed
with Armenia’s chess legacy he helped initiate and encourage.

The Tigran Petrosian Memorial Internet Tournament, the last in
a series of tournaments dedicated to the memory of the 9th World
Champion, includes a novel twist on the conventional tournament format
customarily seen. The organizers have decided to host a tournament
before the largest public audience possible, with the games themselves
being played online. The national teams of France, China, Russia,
and host country Armenia will square off via the internet, with
each four-player team locking horns in a six round event. Tune in
to for live games, commentary, and news about
this exciting event. Total prize fund: $55,000. Games begin at
12:00 noon (Paris time), 14:00 (St. Petersburg), 15:00 (Yerevan),
and 19:00 (Beijing) daily from December 18-23, 2004.

Sincerely, the Chess Academy of Armenia

MONITORING OF THE BORDERLINE

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
15 Dec 04

On December 10 the OSCE Mission monitored the contact line of the
armed forces of Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the eastern direction near
the village of Talish in the NKR region of Martakert. On the side of
the NKR Defence Army the monitoring group was headed by the personal
representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk
(Poland). The group included the field assistants of the personal
representative Miroslav Vimetal (Czech) and Alexander Samarsky
(Ukraine). The monitoring took place according to the schedule and no
breaking of the ceasefire was reported. The monitoring mission was
accompanied by the representatives of the NKR ministries of defence
and foreign affairs.

AA.
15-12-2004

Agence France Presse — English
December 14, 2004 Tuesday 6:18 PM GMT

Britain’s Straw meets Azerbaijani president

LONDON

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw met Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev Tuesday in the Central Asian leader’s first official visit to
Britain since taking office last year.

Straw said the two discussed oil, the major industry for
petroleum-rich Azerbaijan, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
project intended to provide a major export route for oil from the
Caspian region.

“We fully support Azerbaijan’s commitment to political and economic
reform and to deepening relations with the European Union,” Straw
said, adding that Britain would continue to urge the state to make
greater democratic and human rights reforms.

Aliyev took over from his father Heidar, a former KGB general who
ruled the former Soviet republic with an iron fist for more than
three decades.

After the elder Aliyev died from heart failure in December at the age
of 80, his son, a former oil company executive, succeeded him,
creating the first family dynasty in the post-Soviet Union.

Straw said he had thanked Aliyev for Azerbaijan’s contribution of
soldiers to the US-led multinational force in Iraq, and to forces in
Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Azerbaijan is the only majority Muslim country to send combat troops
to help the US-led coalition in Iraq. But as in Iraq, the majority of
Azerbaijan’s eight million people are Shiite Muslims.

“I assured President Aliyev of our support for efforts to find a
peaceful, lasting settlement to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh,”
Straw said, referring to the disputed territory now under control of
neighboring Armenia.

ANSA Notiziario Generale in Italiano
14 Dic 2004

UE: TURCHIA; BARNIER, GENOCIDIO ARMENO,NON E’ UNA CONDIZIONE ;
GIURIDICAMENTE IMPOSSIBILE CHIEDERE RICONOSCIMENTO AD ANKARA

(ANSA-AFP) – PARIGI, 14 DIC – Il riconoscimento del genocidio
armeno da parte della Turchia “non e’ una condizione che noi
poniamo per l’apertura di negoziati” di adesione di Ankara
all’Unione europea: lo ha detto oggi alla tv France 2 il
ministro degli esteri francese Michel Barnier.

“Non e’ una condizione che la Francia pone, in particolare
non una condizione per l’aperturta di negoziati. Giuridicamente
non sarebbe possibile” ha spiegato il ministro.

Il riconsocimento del genocidio armeno sotto l’impero
Ottomano – dal 1915 al 1917 – da parte della Turchia “e una
questione che noi porremo nel corso del negoziato, e abbiamo una
decina di anni per porla”, ha concluso Barnier. (ANSA-AFP).

Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada)
December 8, 2004 Wednesday FINAL EDITION

Jurors convict man of slayings
by Carri Geer Thevenot

Jurors deliberated less than an hour Tuesday before convicting a
man of first-degree murder and robbery charges in the beating deaths
of two elderly women at a downtown Las Vegas jewelry store.

The panel is scheduled to return to court this afternoon to start
hearing evidence in the trial’s penalty phase. Prosecutors are
seeking a death sentence for the defendant, 46-year-old Avetis
Archanian.

‘We’re pleased that a guilty verdict came back,’ said John Del Prado,
whose mother and grandmother died in the attack. ‘The evidence was
very strong against him, and the detectives were positive that he was
the one who committed this horrible crime.’

Del Prado said he plans to testify during the penalty phase in
District Judge Donald Mosley’s courtroom.

As for the sentence Del Prado would like Archanian to receive, he
said only, ‘It’s in the jury’s hands.’

‘As brutal as he was with my mother and my grandmother — he showed
them no mercy, and he deserves whatever he gets,’ he said.

The Del Prado family has operated the World Merchants-Importers store
in downtown Las Vegas since 1975. Archanian had been hired as a
part-time jewelry repairman several weeks before the killings.

District Attorney David Roger argued that Archanian was the man
captured on a surveillance video in the store on the morning of the
crimes.

Roger said Archanian used a hammer and ring sizer to bludgeon Juana
Quiroga, 86, and her 68-year-old daughter, Elisa Del Prado, before
the store opened on Sept. 2, 2003. Quiroga died at the scene, and her
daughter died from her injuries in March.

During his closing argument Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Greg
Knapp placed all of the physical evidence in a line before the jury.

‘This trail leads to one place: right to this man here,’ the
prosecutor said, pointing to Archanian.

Roger said the evidence indicated that the victims knew their killer.
The surveillance video showed Elisa Del Prado allowing a man to enter
the store and walk into the jewelry repair room.

A short time later, Quiroga is observed on the video rushing to the
room, then trying to scurry back out. The assailant then drags her
down from behind.

Roger said the killer showed knowledge of the store’s merchandise as
he went through the jewelry cases and chose the most expensive items
to steal.

Las Vegas homicide detectives interviewed Archanian at the scene and
allowed him to leave. Archanian told the detectives he arrived at the
store at 10 a.m., when it was scheduled to open, and saw the bodies.

Knapp said the killer removed a videotape from a surveillance system
in the store, assuming he was removing the video evidence.

‘But he was wrong because they had a secret recording device that
worked off of a hard drive that he didn’t know about,’ Knapp told the
jury.

Roger said it was no coincidence that the man on the video was the
same size as Archanian, had his receding hairline and was wearing
similar shoes and clothing.

The prosecutor said Elisa Del Prado’s blood was found on Archanian’s
shirt and in his vehicle, and Quiroga’s blood was found on a pair of
pants hidden in Archanian’s residence. Some $250,000 in jewelry
stolen from the store was recovered from Archanian’s vehicle.

‘Ladies and gentleman, this is not a difficult case,’ Roger told the
jury.

Defense attorney Mace Yampolsky said his client is Armenian and moved
to the United States from the former Soviet Union in 1977. The
attorney described Archanian as a helping and caring person who had
no prior criminal record.

Archanian wore headphones Tuesday as he listened to closing arguments
with the aid of an Armenian interpreter.

Yampolsky, wearing an American flag tie, offered jurors little to
refute the physical evidence against his client.

‘DNA is not infallible,’ he argued.

The attorney questioned why Archanian had spots of blood on the tops
of his shoes but none on the bottoms. Authorities determined that the
blood on Archanian’s shoes came from a woman, but they did not have a
large enough sample to determine her identity.

Yampolsky said the defendant’s wife, sister and brother attended
Tuesday’s proceedings. The attorney said he plans to present
testimony during the penalty phase from Archanian’s relatives ‘to
really say what he means to them.’

Grethel Jerbic, Elisa Del Prado’s daughter, said members of her
family want to thank those who stood beside them in their time of
need.

‘We thank them for their love, prayers and support,’ she said.

The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, Va.)
December 5, 2004 Sunday The Virginian-Pilot Edition

>From tolerance to hatred in a crumbling empire

BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS
LOUIS De BERNIERES
Knopf. 554 Pages. $25.95.

By RAY LOCKER

THE FIRST SIGN that life in the village of Eskibahce wasn’t as
tranquil as it seemed came when its residents dragged the wife of its
leading citizen into the town square and tried to stone her to death
for adultery.

A few weeks later, they stood by when the local drunk assaulted the
town’s Armenian shopkeeper, all the while shouting ethnic slurs at
him.

In “Birds Without Wings,” author Louis de Bernieres, whose previous
novel was the best seller “Corelli’s Mandolin,” has used this town on
the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as the setting for his account of
the final days of the Ottoman Empire and the upheaval that
accompanied the creation of modern Turkey. He shows how easily people
can cross the delicate line between diversity and tolerance to casual
cruelty and rabid hatred when prodded by the twin evils of
nationalism and religious intolerance.

Here, de Bernieres is working familiar territory, often too familiar.
His books deal with ordinary people pushed by currents unleashed by
crackpots and misguided visionaries, be they communist
revolutionaries, fascist dictators or fanatic nationalists.

His first three novels, a trilogy about the Andean village of
Cochadebajo, channeled the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
while “Corelli’s Mandolin” bared the soul of the Greek island of
Cephalonia during its occupation by German and Italian invaders in
World War II. All showed people trying to keep their lives together
while the zealots around them exploited human differences for their
own gain.

A sort of prequel to “Corelli’s Mandolin” – the books share some
common characters – “Birds Without Wings” is set in the crumbling,
polyglot Ottoman Empire. The Muslims, Greek Christians and Armenians
of Eskibahce live in peace, aware of their differences but content to
either gloss over or accommodate them without outside agitation.

But, as it always does in de Bernieres’ novels, war stirs the
village’s inner demons. Young Muslim men are drafted, while their
Christian neighbors are shunted aside. The town’s Armenians are
forced from their homes and driven east on a genocidal death march.
The empire’s Muslim rulers peddle a shallow jihad to keep their
power, stripping away what had been a shared sense of nationhood and
community and stirring what de Bernieres calls “the hell’s broth of
religious and nationalist hatred.”

As a result, thousands of Ottoman soldiers, as well as those from
Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand, died in the trenches at
Gallipoli, one of the war’s most violent and senseless battles. Here,
de Bernieres writes powerfully of the savagery of war, as soldiers
die almost as often from the disease of the battlefield as from being
shot, bombed or gassed.

Unfortunately, de Bernieres’ powerful prose serves a book that reads
almost more like a history than a novel. Unlike “Corelli’s Mandolin,
which was supported by a long-running love story, “Birds Without
Wings” has many different stories but little that pulls them
together. De Bernieres has said he writes his novels in pieces and
then puts them together later. Here, some of the pieces must have
fallen on the floor during construction.

That lack of focus ultimately keeps “Birds Without Wings” from
reaching his usual high standard. At times, he also seems to repeat
himself: “Corelli’s Mandolin” had an Italian officer who liked music;
so does “Birds Without Wings.”

De Bernieres tells all of this with the rich prose and vivid
descriptions that are his gift, but he often uses them to push a
story we keep thinking will get somewhere but never quite does.

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
Dec 11 2004

Then there were three
Ropfogel joins City Clerk race; says he’ll drop out if candidate
emerges within clerk’s office.

By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press and Leader

GLENDALE – Glendale businessman and community activist Steve Ropfogel
took a cautious step into uncharted waters on Friday, announcing that
he will run for Glendale city clerk in April. But Ropfogel said he
will drop out of the race if a candidate with experience working in a
city clerk’s office decided to run.

“It’s no secret that city government is really a passion of mine,”
Ropfogel said. “With my experience, not only with the organizations
that I’m involved with, but with my involvement with so many
departments and things in the city, I think I’m the best person for
the job.

“But if (Asst. City Clerk) Rita (Buchanan) or some other qualified
person from within our City Clerk’s office, or from a city that was
similar in size, if somebody came along that was going to run and was
a professional in the field, I would back out.”

For the first time in 75 years, the election for City Clerk is an
open race. In the past, the position has been handed down, with
clerks retiring mid-term and the City Council appointing a
replacement. The appointed clerk would then run as an incumbent, and
an incumbent hasn’t lost a city clerk election in Glendale during
that 75-year span.

City Clerk Doris Twedt chose to retire at the end of her term,
leaving an open race for her successor. Ardashes Kassakhian,
executive director of the Armenian National Committee’s Western
Region, and Lorna Vartanian, office manager for a law firm, are also
running for the position.

“I’m in this race because I know I can do the job and I can represent
all of the people of Glendale,” Kassakhian said.

Vartanian does not think experience inside a city clerk’s office
would make a candidate more qualified for the position.

“It is an administrative position, and I think that a candidate with
a strong administrative background could go in there and run the
office,” Vartanian said. “It really boils down to a matter of
experience, and I don’t think that one would necessarily have to have
worked in a clerk’s office to be able to properly manage an office.”