Author: Karakhanian Suren

RA PRIME MINISTER AND PRESIDENT OF STORTING OF NORWAY DUSCUSS
PERSPECTIVE SPHERES OF COOPERATION BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES

YEREVAN, JUNE 23, NOYAN TAPAN. At the June 22 meeting, Andranik
Margarian, the RA Prime Minister and Jurgeb Kosmo, the President of
the Storting of the Kingdom of Norway emphasized the tendency of
activization of the Armenian-Norwegian relations and spoke for their
being developed even more. The participants of the meeting attached
importance to strengthening of legal-agreement basis bewteen the two
countries, expressing anxiety with the fact that onle one
Armenian-Norwegian agreement has been signed at present, and another
is at the stage of discussion. Andranik Margarian mentioned that the
Government of Armenia is ready to present draft agreements on
cooperation in mutual security and stimulation of investments, in
avoid of double tax evasion, in the spheres of culture, science and
education and a number of other drafts to discussion by the Norwegian
party. The Prime Minister presented to the Norwegian Storting
President the authorities’ position concerning the relations with the
European Union. He, particularly, attached importance to the
invovlement of the South Caucasuian countries in the “European
Neighbourhood” policy. As for issues of the regional cooperation,
Andranik Margarian stated that Armenia agrees with the approach of the
European Union, according to which, present conflicts obstacle the
stable development of countries of the region. Presenting Armenia’s
position, he secured the veiwpoint that implementation of different
programs of cooperation among all parties, without pre-conditions will
greatly support their settlement. The Prime Minister mentioned that in
the context of its regional policy, Armenia attempts consistently to
improve relations with all neighboring states, including Turkey as
well, without any pre-condition. Jurgen Kosmo emphasized that Armenia,
as a country of cultural values, having Christian traditions of
centuries, can have its deserving contribution in the development of
the international cooperation. He especially mentioned the necessity
of the establishment of peace in the region, security of a stable
safety. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Government’s Information
and Public Relations Department, among the perspective spheres of the
bilateral cooperation, the parties mentioned the spheres of
information technologies, energy (especially, hydroenergy),
agriculture, science and education, culture. Andranik Margarian
thanked the Armenian Office of the Norwegian Refugee Council for
active works, owing to which hundreds of flats for those suffered of
the earthquake and refugees, medical rehabilitation centers,
water-pipes, community centers, etc. have been built in the marzes of
Armenia since 1988.

Sacramento Bee, CA
June 23 2005

Books: An ‘Essential’ first
By Dixie Reid — Bee Staff Writer

William Saroyan left Fresno in 1928, but it never left his thoughts.
He mined his memories of the Central Valley town for his writings,
although the folks back home didn’t always like his portrayal of
them.
Saroyan, who in 1940 won – and refused to accept – a Pulitzer Prize
for his play “The Time of Your Life,” is the subject of the first
volume in the Essential Collection, a series of titles from
Berkeley’s Heyday Books showcasing internationally known California
writers.

“I think Saroyan is essential now because there’s something about the
simple joy of his view of humanity that has gotten lost but is still
true,” said William E. Justice, who edited and wrote the introduction
to “Essential Saroyan” (Heyday Books and Santa Clara University, 208
pages, $11.95 paperback).

“As our culture gets more fractured and chaotic, and we become more
isolated, the commonness of his vision of what people really are like
speaks to a lonely and estranged current population,” Justice said.

For the book, Justice chose excerpts from Saroyan’s writings,
including “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze,” “Radio Play”
and “The Human Comedy.”

“Time has treated William Saroyan poorly,” said Justice, who is 25.
“People who are in charge of saying what should be preserved feel
that he has had his day, and almost anyone under (age) 35 has never
heard of him. Those I’ve shown his work take to it immediately and
are baffled as to why they’ve never heard of him.

“So there’s a tremendous new audience that would eat up the work if
they found it.”

Justice also is working on a vast Saroyan omnibus, to be published in
2008, the 100th anniversary of Saroyan’s birth.

Saroyan, who was of Armenian heritage, returned to Fresno in his
later years and died there in 1981, at age 72.

“The Valley has kept his memory alive,” Justice said, “and the
Armenians are tireless supporters of his work. He lives on in the
community he wrote about, but the rest of the country doesn’t pay him
any attention. Many of his books are out of print, so the Essential
Collection is nice, taking something from the best of his works you
can’t find in stores anymore.”

Future editions of the Essential Collection will feature John Muir
and Mary Austin.

“It’s not just redoing ‘Daring Young Man’ or ‘Human Comedy,’ ” Heyday
Books founder and publisher Malcolm Margolin said of launching the
Essential series with Saroyan. “It’s throwing out something that
lures someone to look at the best of Saroyan, to let someone like
William Justice write an introduction that redefines him, to get him
into bookstores once again.”

– Dixie Reid

,1518,3616 72,00.html

FRIEDENSPREIS DES DEUTSCHEN BUCHHANDELS

Orhan Pamuk ist neuer Preisträger

Er gehe “wie kein anderer Dichter unserer Zeit den historischen Spuren
des Westens im Osten und des Ostens im Westen” nach, hieß es heute in
Frankfurt: Der türkische Schriftsteller Orhan Pamuk steht für den
anspruchsvollen Dialog von Orient und Okzident. Jetzt wird er mit dem
Friedenspreis des Buchhandels geehrt.

Frankfurt/Main/Köln – Ein Werk, “in dem Europa und die muslimische
Türkei zusammenfinden” – dies sei die große Leistung des 53-jährigen
Autors, der auf der Frankfurter Buchmesse den mit 25.000 Euro
dotierten Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels erhalten wird. Der
in Istanbul geborene Orhan Pamuk wuchs in einer gutbürgerlichen
Familie auf und studierte Architektur sowie Journalismus. Er gilt
heute als einer der bedeutendsten Prosaschriftsteller der jüngeren
türkischen Generation. Seine Werke wurden bislang in 34 Sprachen
übersetzt und in mehr als 100 Ländern veröffentlicht.

Auf Deutsch sind unter anderem die Bücher “Die weiße Festung”, “Das
schwarze Buch”, “Das neue Leben” und “Rot ist mein Name”
erschienen. Von der Kritik hoch gelobt wurde zuletzt sein Roman
“Schnee”. Die “New York Times” feiertedas Werk als bestes
ausländisches Buch des Jahres 2004.

Der in Istanbul lebende Schriftsteller sei einem Begriff von Kultur
verpflichtet, “der ganz auf Wissen und Respekt vor dem anderen
gründet”, so der Stiftungsrat zu seiner Wahl. In seinen Romanen “Die
weiße Festung”, “Rot ist mein Name” oder “Schnee” verbinde Pamuk
“orientalische Erzähltraditionen mit den Stilelementen der westlichen
Moderne”.

Er entwickele Bilder und Begriffe, die die Gesellschaft in einem nicht
eng verstandenen Europa gebrauchen werde. So eigenwillig das
einzigartige Gedächtnis des Autors in die große osmanische
Vergangenheit zurückreiche, so unerschrocken greife er die brennende
Gegenwart auf, trete für Menschen- und Minderheitenrechte ein und
beziehe immer wieder Stellung zu den politischenProblemen seines
Landes, heißt es in der Begründung weiter.

Beim Münchener Hanser Verlag, der die Werke Pamuks in Deutschland
herausgibt, mischen sich Freude, Stolz und auch ein wenig Sorge. Wie
die Nachrichtenagentur dpa berichtet, habe Pamuks Lektorin Anna Leube
auf die Nachricht vom Friedenspreis “voller Freude, aber auch mit
etwas gemischten Gefühlen” reagiert. “Die Entscheidung hat angesichts
der aktuellen europapolitischen Lage ja schon etwas Brisantes”,
erklärte sie heute. Nach den Anfeindungen gegen den türkischen
Schriftsteller in seinem Heimatland, “bange ich ein bisschen, weil
Pamuk durch den Preis noch mehr in den Blickpunkt der Öffentlichkeit
geraten wird”.

Der im Februar erschienene Roman “Schnee”, der das Verhältnis von
traditionellem Islam und Moderne in der Türkei thematisiert, ist laut
Leube Pamuks erstes dezidiert politisches Buch. “Früher hat er gesagt,
er wolle kein politischer Schriftsteller sein, aber mit ‘Schnee’ hat
er nach seinen historischen Romanen neues Terrain betreten.” Dabei sei
es für den Autor wichtig, dass “Schnee” “nicht auf die jetzige
Situation anspielt, auch wenn das Thema für uns gerade so aktuell
ist”.

Der Hanser Verlag will demnächst Pamuks erstes auf Deutsch
erschienenes Buch “Die weiße Festung” (Insel Verlag, 1990) neu
herausbringen. Im Herbst 20006 soll dann ein hierzulande bislang
unveröffentlichter Text Pamuks erscheinen: eine Art Erinnerungsbuch an
Pamuks Heimatstadt Istanbul.

Für den Kölner Autor und Publizisten Ralph Giordano (“Die Bertinis”)
ist die Vergabe des Friedenspreises an Pamuk eine ausgezeichnete
Wahl. “Kollegiale Glückwünsche an Orhan Pamuk, Kompliment aber auch an
die Organisation ‘Deutscher Buchhandel’. Mit der Verleihung 2005 hat
sie ins Schwarze getroffen”, sagte Giordano, 82, heute der dpa in
Köln. Pamuk habe sich öffentlich gegen die “türkische Lebenslüge”
gestellt.

Pamuk wird von nationalistisch gesinnten Türken angefeindet, seit er
behauptete, in der Türkei seien 30.000 Kurden und eine Million
Armenier ermordet worden. Sein mutiges Bekenntnis habe den Dissidenten
ins Exil gezwungen, betonte Giordano, der für die ARD 1986 eine
Dokumentation über den Massenmord an den Armeniern produziert hatte.

Giordano verlangte vom “angeblichen EU-Musterschüler Türkei” eine
Anerkennung der Geschehnisse von 1915 als “Völkermord”. Nach Ausbruch
des Ersten Weltkriegs hatten türkische Truppen Armenier in
Hungermärschen in die syrische Wüste getrieben, wobei nach Angaben
internationaler Historiker 600.000 bis 800.000 Menschen ums Leben
kamen.

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
June 23 2005

EU’s New Scapegoat: Turkey

* “No” votes mean Turkey can not join EU soon… The real problem is
Turkey -Prodi

Jan SOYKOK and Cathrine GULCAN, JTW(ROME and ANKARA) – Turkey has no
chance of joining the European Union (EU) in the foreseeable future,
former European Commission President Romano Prodi said in newspapers
on Wednesday. According to Prodi, one of the key reasons of `nos’ in
the referendums of France and Netherlands was Turkey. However experts
say `Turkey is not EU member and cannot be responsible for any
current problem. The EU leaders are reluctant to face the real
reasons’. Only 3 percent in France said `the real reason for their no
votes was Turkey.’

European Commission President Jose Barroso called also for a “frank
discussion” of Turkey’s prospects of joining the European Union,
saying opposition to Turkish membership helped defeat the EU
constitution. `We should discuss seriously the signals that were sent
by the electorate regarding Turkey” Barroso told a Brussels press
conference. `We need to have a frank discussion on that matter’ he
added.
The commission will on June 29 outline its strategy for entry talks
with Turkey, a decade-long process due to start Oct. 3. All 25 EU
countries will have to approve the negotiating road map.

Barroso said that `for the time being’ the EU governments haven’t
altered the bloc’s commitment to Turkey. Polls in Germany suggest
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will be ousted in an election in
September by `anti-Turkish’ Angela Merkel. Merkel is against Turkey’s
membership and favors a `privileged partnership’ with Turkey which in
fact means keeping Turkey outside. Turkey has already had customs
union with the EU.

Turkey, which says the talks with the EU will help attract record
levels of foreign investment to its more than $300 billion economy
(17th biggest economy in the world). Turkey will be the first and
only Muslim EU member if it will be accepted. It has a population of
70 million people, almost equal to the total of the 10 countries that
joined the bloc last year.
Romano Prodi, who as Barroso’s predecessor championed Turkey’s entry
last year, has changed his mind about Turkish membership, according
to an interview with the Gazzettino newspaper.
`I now believe that there are no longer the conditions for Turkey to
join the EU in the short or medium-term,’ Prodi told the daily
newspaper. `We need to rethink things.’

Prodi, now leader of Italy’s centre-left opposition, implied many
Italians had an emotional fear of Turkey, a populous and
predominantly Muslim country on the edge of mostly Christian Europe.
“I come from a country where my mother, when she wanted to say
something scary, would say: ‘The Turks are coming’.”

Prodi’s position marks a clear difference with Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi, who supports Turkey’s EU entry despite opposition from
many in his centre-right government.

“Better late than never. Finally even he has realized Turkey must
stay out,” Calderoli told the Corriere della Sera daily.

Many politician in the EU countries believe that Turkey must be out
because of religious and cultural differences.

`EU NEVER KEPT ITS PROMISES’

Dr. Sedat Laciner from Ankara-based Turkish think tank ISRO says
`Turkish public will not be surprised, because they know that the EU
has never kept its promises about Turkey’. According to Dr. Laciner
the main reason is cultural differences and the EU leaders’
narrow-minded civilization understanding:

`Europe has changed very little since the Medieval Europe. Religion
and civilizational differences are still vital. There are very little
difference between Chirac and Pope when we are talking about Turkey’s
entrance to the EU. Turkey is one of the first countries, (even
before the UK, Ireland, Spain and many others) who applied to become
EU member. Turkey’s economy and political conditions were better than
Poland, and other Eastern European countries after the Cold War. All
these former communist countries are now inside, while Turkey has
been kept outside.’

French President Jacques Chirac on June 17 urged the EU to re-
examine the planned enlargement, calling for a special summit on how
the process can continue `without having the institutions capable of
making the enlarged union function efficiently.’

`FULFILL YOUR PROMISES’

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan today urged Europe’s
politicians to fulfill its promises to Turkey.

“The negotiations must start on Oct. 3,” he told his deputies in a
speech at the Turkish parliament.

“We are implementing the steps that we promised. I believe that the
EU will overcome the current problems that it’s experiencing.”

Similarly Dr. Gulcan says `the EU does not keep its promises’:

`We are used to it. They said the isolation of the TRNC (Turkish
Cyprus) would be left if the Turkish Cypriots had supported the UN
Peace Plan. Turkish Cypriots strongly supported the Annan Plan, while
the Greeks rejected the Peace Plan. However the EU accepted the Greek
Cypriots and kept no promises about the Turkish Cypriots at all.
Turkish public understood the role of religious differences in the EU
policies. The EU leaders has showed religious solidarity and accuse
only Turkey in Turkey’s relations with the Christian neighbors. For
instance, Armenian forces occupied Azerbaijan. However no EU leader
focuses on Occupation problem of 20 percent of Azerbaijani
territories. Armenia does not recognize two European countries’
(Turkey and Azerbaijan) national borders, yet no one warns Armenia.
Ordinary Turkish now thinks that if you are Christian, you are right.
If you are Muslim, you must die’.

`THE WORLD NEEDS A MIRACLE’

Sedat Laciner says the EU leaders cannot understand the vital
importance of Turkey’s EU membership for the global security and
peace:
`The Muslim world does not believe the EU’s and the West’s sincerity.
There are many Muslim nations in Europe, but none of them is the EU
member. Turkey, Albania, Bosnia, Azerbaijan, Turkish republic of
Northern Cyprus… None of them has a hope to become EU member, while
many problematic countries like Southern Greek Cyprus became EU
member. Turkey’s EU membership will prove that a coexistence is
possible between Muslims and Christians. The Islam world and the
globe needs a miracle. And Turkey is the miracle the people have
expected for the long years.’
The U.S. and Britain have urged the EU to embrace Turkey to help
democracy in the Middle East, which Turkey borders.

POPE: `TURKEY IS NOT EUROPEAN’

Pope Benedict XVI, the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church,
showed a suspicious attitude towards Turkey’s EU membership in the
first book he has written since becoming the new Pope in the Vatican.
Pope Benedict XVI indicates in his new book titled “The Example of
Benedict in the Crisis of Cultures” (L’Europa di Benedetto nella
crisi delle culture) that Turkey does not have Christian roots
contrary to European countries. According to the news published by
Apcom, a private Italian news agency, the Pope invites readers to
think about Turkey’s EU bid. The Pope had defended that Turkey should
not be EU member because it is not Christian. The new Pope is
considered `anti-Turkish’ by most of the Turkish public.

Armenian leader signs law on building depot for spent nuclear fuel

Arminfo
20 Jun 05

Yerevan, 20 June: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan signed a law on
18 June allowing the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant to build a depot for
spent nuclear fuel, the presidential press office has reported.

The depot is designed to store spent nuclear fuel for 50 years, then
the depot will be inspected. Used nuclear fuel loses 70 per cent of
its radioactivity in the first few years, but fully only over 130
years. The construction is expected to cost 10m euros.

[Passage omitted: other known details]

Agence France Presse
20 juin 2005 lundi 7:27 AM GMT

Nagorny Karabakh : 11 ans après, toujours des centaines de disparus
(PAPIER D’ANGLE)

Par Mariam HAROUTIOUNIAN

STEPANAKERT (Azerbaïdjan) 20 juin 2005

Onze ans après la fin du sanglant conflit du Nagorny Karabakh, une
enclave arménienne en Azerbaïdjan, le sort de centaines de disparus
pendant les affrontements entre Arméniens et Azerbaïdjanais n’a
toujours pas été éclairci.

“Après tant d’années, nous sommes sans nouvelles de plus de 800
personnes disparues pendant la guerre contre l’Azerbaïdjan et la
déportation d’Arméniens des villes azerbaïdjanaises de Bakou,
Soumgait et Ganca”, déplore la présidente de l’Union des familles de
personnes disparues Vera Grigorian.

“600 environ d’entre elles étaient des civils. Dans nos listes, il y
a des enfants, des femmes, des vieillards, des familles entières”,
ajoute-t-elle.

Les affrontements au Nagorny Karabakh entre les habitants arméniens
soutenus par Erevan et les forces de Bakou ont commencé en 1988 et
ont fait de 25.000 à 30.000 morts, selon les estimations.

L’Union des familles a été créée il y a six ans, mais ceux qu’elle a
pu retrouver, et le cas échéant faire rentrer, ne sont pas nombreux.

“Nous collaborons avec la Croix-Rouge Internationale et avec une
organisation analogue du côté azerbaïdjanais. Aujourd’hui, nous avons
des renseignements solides sur 65 personnes. Nous savons qu’elles
sont vivantes et qu’elles séjournent dans différentes régions de
l’Azerbaïdjan”, poursuit Mme Grigorian.

Selon elle, certains disparus ont été conduits d’Azerbaïdjan en
Turquie et en Iran, où ils sont contraints d’effectuer des travaux
pénibles.

“La partie azerbaïdjanaise propose souvent de rendre un disparu
seulement en échange d’un disparu azerbaïdjanais, mais il arrive
qu’on nous propose de racheter une personne pour plusieurs dizaines
de milliers de dollars”, affirme-t-elle.

Ces cinq dernières années, trois personnes ont de la sorte pu être
récupérées.

“Nous savons où se trouvent quelques autres personnes, nous avons
arrêté avec les Azerbaïdjanais les conditions de leur retour, mais
leurs proches ne sont pas en mesure de débourser les fortes sommes
réclamées”, indique Mme Grigorian.

En 1994, elle-même a vécu la disparition d’un fils unique de 20 ans,
pendant le conflit armé, et n’a plus depuis de nouvelles.

“La douleur que causent de telles pertes ne connaît pas de
nationalité. Mères azerbaïdjanaises et mères arméniennes, nous devons
nous aider mutuellement pour faire rentrer nos enfants”, dit-elle.

Elle garde toujours chez elle, y compris accrochés sur des chaises,
des vêtements de son fils, convaincue qu’il reviendra un jour, tout
comme d’autres disparus.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 375033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
E-mail: root@acnis.am or info@acnis.am
Website:

April 14, 2005

ACNIS 10TH ANNIVERSARY MARKED BY US CONGRESS, CALIFORNIA SENATE

Yerevan–The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
recently marked the 10th anniversary of its founding here. On this occasion
the Congressional Record of the US House of Representatives has registered a
statement of commendation by Congressman George Radanovich, and the
California State Senate has adopted a resolution offered by Senator Charles
Poochigian.

The Congressional Record reads as folows:

HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH
of CALIFORNIA
in the U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 13, 2005

Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Armenian Center for
National and International Studies on the occasion of celebrating their 10th
Anniversary as a leading strategic research center and think-tank. A special
reception to honor the occasion will take place on April 14th, 2005, in
Fresno, California.

The Armenian Center for National and International Studies was created by
Raffi K. Hovannisian, Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the
post-Soviet era, ACNIS has served as a link between scholarship and the
public policy challenges facing the Republic of Armenia.

ACNIS continues to work diligently to be a vehicle for creative and
strategic thinking, focusing on public outreach, civic education, and
applied research on domestic and foreign policy issues affecting the
Armenian nation-state.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the Armenian Center for National and
International Studies on the occasion of celebrating their 10th Anniversary.
I invite my colleagues to join me in wishing ACNIS many more years of
continued success.

The California Senate Resolution reads as follows:

HON. CHARLES S. POOCHIGIAN
of CALIFORNIA

April 14, 2005

WHEREAS, The year 2005 marks the tenth anniversary of the Armenian Center
for National and International Studies and, in recognition thereof, it is
deserving of special public commendations; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian Center for National and International Studies, located
in Yerevan, Armenia, is the institutional initiative of Raffi K.
Hovannisian, Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs; and

WHEREAS, Following his diplomatic service, Raffi Hovannisian, a native of
Fresno, California, and graduate of the University of California, Los
Angeles, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Georgetown University
Law Center, founded the Armenian Center for National and International
Studies in 1994; and

WHEREAS, As a leading independent strategic and educational research center,
the Armenian Center for National and International Studies focuses its
research on a comprehensive agenda of foreign and public policy issues,
which are articulated analytically in political and academic arenas around
the world; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian Center for National and International Studies is
supported by the Lincy Foundation and a global network of contributors, and
serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy
challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world;
and

WHEREAS, The Armenian Center for National and International Studies also
aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking, and a wider
understanding of the new global environment; and

WHEREAS, In this, its tenth anniversary year, 2005, the Armenian Center for
National and International Studies is focusing primarily on public outreach,
civic education, and applied research on critical domestic and foreign
policy issues for the state and the nation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY SENATOR CHARLES S. POOCHIGIAN, that he draws the attention of
the public to the Armenian Center for National and International Studies on
the occasion of its tenth anniversary, commends Founder and President Raffi
K. Hovannisian on his exemplary record of service, and extends sincere best
wishes for continued success in the future.

Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS serves
as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges
facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also
aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider
understanding of the new global environment. In 2005, the Center focuses
primarily on civic education, conflict resolution, and applied research on
critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.

For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax
(37410) 52-48-46; e-mail root@acnis.am or info@acnis.am; or visit

Voters go to polls in disputed Nagorno Karabakh enclave

Agence France Presse — English
June 19, 2005 Sunday 3:49 PM GMT

STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan June 19 — Voters cast their ballots Sunday
in parliamentary polls in the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno
Karabakh, a mostly ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan, amid
strong opposition from Azeri authorities.

Seven parties and 185 candidates were vying for places in Nagorno
Karabakh’s fourth parliament, with two thirds of the parliament’s 33
seats to be elected directly and one third under a proportional system.

No major violations had been reported by the time polling stations
closed at 8:00 pm (1500 GMT) with preliminary results expected
Monday morning.

Voting was brisk, with lines forming outside polling stations and
officials reporting turnout at 60.5 percent by 5:00 pm, exceeding
the 25 percent minimum needed for the vote to be declared legitimate.

The central market in Stepanakert, the enclave’s main city, was
unusually empty as traders deserted their stalls to vote.

“Everyone’s gone to vote,” said one trader, gleeful at her temporary
monopoly.

Nagorno Karabakh’s authorities have said the vote is a chance to
prove to the world the territory’s independence.

“I voted for stability, independence and prosperity,” Nagorno
Karabakh’s leader, Arkady Gukasyan, said after casting his ballot.

It was essential, Gukasyan said earlier, that the vote meet European
standards in order to avoid harming Nagorno Karabakh’s image and
“the process of peaceful settlement with Azerbaijan”.

But Azerbaijan, which claims the territory, said any vote in the
region would remain illegal until hundreds of thousands of Azeris
banished from Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding regions were
allowed to return.

“Armenia is zealous to legalize the occupation… elections and
referendums on the occupied territories must be conducted only after
the territory’s restoration to Azerbaijan,” Azerbaijan’s election
commission said in a written statement on Saturday.

Nagorno Karabakh is widely seen as propped up by Armenia, which fought
a war with Azerbaijan over the territory in 1993 and 1994 that left
an estimated 25,000 people dead and forced a million people from
their homes, three quarters of them Azeri.

On Friday, Turkey, long at odds with Armenia and a staunch supporter
of Azerbaijan, joined its ally in criticizing the poll.

“Turkey believes that such unilateral initiatives… will not help
efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem
and considers those elections as illegitimate,” foreign ministry
spokesman Namik Tan said in a statement.

No foreign governments have sent observer missions, reflecting the
territory’s unresolved status.

But as voting got under way Sunday, monitors from non-governmental
organizations reported a number of minor violations.

Supporters of Araig Horutyunyan, a candidate closely linked to Nagorno
Karabakh’s leader, “were actively proselytizing” near polling stations,
said Antranig Kasabaryan, local representative of the Tufenkyan
foundation, a New York-based aid group.

Earlier, Gukasyan had rounded on opposition parties, accusing them of
“insinuations” and “libel” after they accused senior Karabakh officials
of abusing their positions in order to win support.

“False rumors were circulated that the authorities sanctioned pressure
on the electorate, threatened people… this didn’t and couldn’t
happen,” Gukasyan said.

The unrecognized Nagorno Karabakh Republic has a population of
145,000. It is spread over eight regions of Azerbaijan including
Karabakh itself and comprises 14 percent of Azerbaijan’s overall
territory.

The parliament is elected for a five-year term.

Turkey fears EU turmoil will affect membership talks

Agence France Presse — English
June 19, 2005 Sunday 12:00 PM GMT

ANKARA June 19 — The rejection of the EU constitution and the bloc’s
budgetary deadlock last week could have a negative impact on Turkey’s
accession negotiations, the country’s foreign minister Abdullah Gul
said Sunday.

“We could not say at this time that everything that has happened
will not affect enlargement and Turkey, we must wait until the dust
settles,” said Gul in an interview with the newspaper Radikal.

However it may take some time for the dust to settle with Josep Borell,
president of the European parliament, not optimistic about a resolution
during Britain’s six-month turn at the rotating EU presidency which
starts July 1.

“The discussions in Brussels and the positions that were taken in
the last phase of negotiations don’t give much hope that we can find
a solution under the British presidency,” Borell said Sunday in an
interview with the Italian newspaper Repubblica.

“We have just welcomed 10 new countries and created legitimate
expectations with others. We can’t be content just to survive. There
must be certainty about financial resources available until 2013 to
allow each country to do their accounts and program their development,”
Borell said.

Turkey, a largely Muslim country of 71 million people, is due to
start accession negotiations on October 3.

Gul said Turkey “would not be provoked” by those who don’t want Turkey
to join the EU, referring to a motion passed by the German parliament
condemning the “massacres” of Armenians by Turks between 1915 and 1917,
which Turkey denies.

Questioned about a possible suspension of the process of EU enlargement
Gul said: “I don’t think that such a situation can occur, but if that
is the case, I would say straight away that we won’t be crying. We will
continue along our path and consolidate our economy and democracy”.

The EU budgetary deadlock provoked a positive reaction in the Germany
press Sunday with one newspaper even thanking British Prime Minister
Tony Blair for his call for budgetary reform.

“The failure of the Brussels summit ended at the right place: we can
now finally think about renewing the ‘financial constitution’ of the
European Union,” said the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

“What legitimate economic justification remains for providing some
60 billion euros in subsidies to European agriculture year after year
(…)” it said.

“Why must Germany, whose per capita revenue is now only slightly higher
than the average for the (EU) 25 and already less than the average
for the former 15, deliver to Brussels a half percent of its GDP,”
the newspaper asked.

Die Welt am Sonntag said: “Thank you, Tony Blair, for making a petty
debate (on the British rebate) a meaningful debate”.

Turkish researcher arrested in Armenia on suspicion of smuggling antique books

The Associated Press
06/17/05 16:14 EDT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – A Turkish researcher was detained at Yerevan
airport on Friday on suspicion of smuggling antique books out of
Armenia, the National Security Service said.

An official for the security agency, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said that Turkish citizen Yektan Turkyilmaz had been
arrested in possession of books dating from the 17th to 20th
centuries and was suspected of seeking to take them secretly on a
flight to Turkey.

Turkyilmaz, of Duke University in North Carolina, is likely to
be fined although the offense he is accused of carries a maximum
five-year jail term, the security official said.

Books older than 50 years cannot be taken out of Armenia without
special permission. Turkyilmaz was in Armenia to carry out research in
the Armenian national archives, the first Turk to be allowed to do so.

Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations because of dispute
over the killings of Armenians during World War I, which Armenians
say was genocide.

Armenians say some 1.5 million of their people were killed as the
Ottoman Empire forced them from eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923
in a deliberate campaign of genocide.

Turkey says the death count is inflated and insists that Armenians
were killed or displaced in the civil unrest during the collapse of
the Ottoman Empire.