Author: Nahapetian Boris

Gul: There Is No Disagreement With E.U.

Turkish Press
June 29 2005

SANAA – Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul
said on Tuesday that there was no disagreement with the European Union
(EU).

Gul is currently in Yemeni capital Sanaa to attend the Organization
of Islamic Conference (OIC) Foreign Ministers’ Conference.

When reminded of different comments on negotiation frame document
that was planned to be made public on Wednesday, Gul noted that a
meeting was held with the experts the previous day, adding that it
was a very good one.

“The Copenhagen political criteria have been fulfilled. Political
criteria were the conditions for beginning of membership
negotiations. A decision was made (by EU) to start entry talks with
Turkey, since we fulfilled them,” he stressed.

Gul noted, “it is obvious that negotiations will continue on some
other issues. These matters are not easy, because they are about a
transformation of a country. We know that it will take a long time.”

“Our task is to deepen and develop our democracy. That’s why we
should not expect another political thing from now on,” he stressed.

Stating that there was no need for EU to tell Turkey that it should
have good relations with its neighbors, Gul noted, “we have
already thought about these matters. We extend great efforts on
these matters.”

Gul stressed that Turkey wanted to undertake important roles for an
agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Asked if he was planning to go on a tour of EU countries to explain
the issues he has mentioned, Gul said, “any disagreement is out of
question. We have already spoken about them. We have talked about these
with the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and others. You know,
I was in Brussels last week. There is no hesitation.”

Gul said, “of course various articles can be written, and politicians
may express their different views. We will not be influenced by
them. We know what we will do. We will continue to progress on
our path.”

“I HAVE TALKED TO KHARRAZI”

Replying to another question, Gul said he had the opportunity to talk
to Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi today.

Asked about the expectations about the new period following the
elections in Iran, Gul said it was obvious that a new period would
start in Iran after the elections.

Gul said, “Iran is our neighbor and a friendly country. We want to
enhance our friendship and cooperation,” and noted that this would
be beneficial to the region.

Gul said issue of nuclear weapons was not discussed during his talk
with Kharrazi, and noted that, “our thesis on this issue is clear.
>>From the very beginning, I have been saying that nuclear energy
should only be used through peaceful means. We do not want to see
weapons of mass destruction in our region.”

EU looks to Turkish entry talks

BBC
29 June 05

The European Commission says talks on Turkey’s membership of the
EU should start on time on 3 October with accession as a “shared
objective”. The recommendation comes in a proposed framework for the
talks, which needs unanimous approval from member states.

The Commission says the talks will be open-ended, and that Turkey
cannot join until 2014 at the earliest.

The proposal comes at a time when critics of Turkish membership are
making their voices heard.

The mood in Europe has changed and there is not much enthusiasm in
evidence, says the BBC’s Chris Morris in Brussels.

Political hurdle

Like other would-be members in the future, Turkey will also face much
stricter conditions than candidates in the past.

Our correspondent says it is not just about human rights and
democracy. There are a host of technical issues which will take years
to resolve, including agricultural reform and environmental standards.

But the biggest hurdle will be a political one, he adds.

Plenty of influential political voices say Europe does not want
Turkey as a member and the next generation of leaders in the biggest
EU countries may well be far less supportive of Turkey’s candidacy
than the current one.

Russian troop redeployment will not affect Caucasus regional balance of forces – parliamentarian

RIA Novosti, Russia –
June 27 2005

MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti) – The partial redeployment of Russian
troops from Georgia to Armenia will not affect the balance of forces
in the Caucasus, a senior member of the Russian parliament’s lower
chamber said Monday.

Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the State Duma’s international
affairs committee said the troops could not be used to resolve the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

“This is an issue for Russian-Armenian relations,” he said.
“Naturally, the redeployment does not upset the balance of power in
the region and will not be used to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict.”

Kosachev said that Russia had been forced to withdraw its bases from
Georgia after the authorities there made the corresponding decision.
According to him, Russia would not have had to send its troops to
Armenia if the withdrawal had been a routine process.

“But as we were virtually forced out of Georgia, we had to make other
decisions and redeploy troops to a base in Armenia, but this was done
with the permission of the Armenian side,” the parliamentarian said.

He added that if Azerbaijan had made a similar proposal, Russia might
have accepted it.

Pan Armenian News

OVER 1 THOUSAND ARMENIAN CITIZENS GOT GREEN CARDS

25.06.2005 04:29

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The US State Department has made public the returns of the
Green Card lottery (official name DV-2005) for 2004. 5.9 million
applications for the right of permanent residence and work in the US are
recognized as meeting the established criteria. Online applications were
filled in during November 1 -December 30, 2003. 55 thousand persons are
recognized winners, specifically a bit more than 1 thousand citizens of
Armenia, 235 Azerbaijanis, 375 Georgians, 5.36 thousand Ukrainians, 925
Belarus citizens, 383 citizens of Moldova, 1.55 thousand Uzbeks, 296
Kazakhs, 206 Kyrzyzstan citizens, 83 Tajiks, 78 Turkmenians, 1.1 thousand
Lithuanians, 158 Latvians, 64 Estonians, 384 Frenchmen, 1.27 thousand
Germans, 1.8 thousand Turks, 6.6 thousand Ethiopians, 22 – Afghans, 373
citizens of Japan, 116 Israelis, 820 Iranians, 1 citizen of North Korea.
Citizens of Russia, China, UK, Canada, India, Mexico, South Korea and other
eight states did not have the right to take part in the lottery.

ONE MORE HEALTH CARE GRANT “GOBBLED UP” IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, JUNE 24. ARMINFO. Two-year UMCOR program to enhance the
coverage of public health in Armenia was closed in Yerevan today.

The program was financed by US Culture and Education Department.

Head of UMCOR Armenia Warren Harrity says that a $150,000 grant was
allocated for the project. The money was spent on the organization of
two seminars in Armenia and one in the US. Although the project was to
enhance the coverage of public health – that is meant for journalists
– attending the seminars were mostly representatives of NGOs and
Health Care Ministry. And although a number of Armenian media took
part in the coverage of the rights of people to get government
financed medical assistance no single journalist was invited to the
training course at South Florida University (the US).

Meanwhile presidential health care advisor Ruslana Gevogryan (who took
part in all the seminars) says that if two years ago Health Care
Ministry received 100 calls a day for getting free medical care not it
gets 40 calls a day. So in her opinion the UMCOR program has attained
its goal – the public awareness in public medicine has been raised.

JORGEN A.KOSMO: IT’S TIME TO PASS FROM HISTORIC CONTACTS TO
STRENGTHENING OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CONTACTS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND
NORWAY

YEREVAN, JUNE 23, NOYAN TAPAN. “There have been historic contacts
between Armenia and Norway since the times of Fridtjof Nansen up to
this day and now it’s time to pass from these historic contacts to
establishment and strengthening of political and economic contacts, as
well as establishment of contacts between our parliaments,” Jorgen
A.Kosmo, President of Norwegian Parliament, Storting, who is in
Armenia on an official visit, declared at the June 23 press
conference. He expressed hope that these political contacts will
contribute to establishment of economic cooperation and investments
both in Armenia and Norway. On behalf of the delegation headed by him
he assured that they will try to find ways of assisting to
strengthening of democracy in Armenia, harmonization of legislation,
as well as ways of passing on the great experience of cooperation in
the Scandinavian region to the South Caucasus. According to him,
Norway can be useful in the issue of development of energy in Armenia,
in particular, in the sphere of hydro- and bioenergy, in which Norway
has great experience. Armenia has all necessary factors for
development of tourism, “beautiful country, wonderful people.” In his
opinion, Armenia, as well as other South Caucasian countries can
become a potential market for Western Europe, including Norway, in the
future. The Armenian people having a high level of education,
intellect and diligence, in his opinion, no doubt, is a good potential
even for reconstruction of economy and industry of Europe. “You face
many problems but I think that there will be both democracy and
political will that will help you to solve all the problems,” Kosmo
mentioned expressing hope that both Norway and other Western European
countries will assist Armenia in this issue. “I think we laid a good
foundation for our friendship. Armenia is interested in development of
relations with Norway and other Scandinavian countries,” RA NA Speaker
Artur Baghdasarian declared mentioning the importance of the visit of
Norwegian parliamentary delegation from point of view of development
of inter-state and inter-parliamentary relations. A.Baghdasarian also
expressed gratitude to the Norwegian Council on Issues of Refugees for
the mission it is carrying out in Armenia and mentioned with
satisfaction that programs amounting to 5-6 mln dollars will be
implemented by the Council in Armenia in 2006, too. He also mentioned
the activization of activity of Norwegian Development Fund and
Norwegian Development Agency in Armenia.

Press Release June 23, 2005
Embassy of Armenia
2225 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
Contact: Haik Gugarats
T. 202-319-1976, email: [email protected]

Archbishop Choloyan Visits Embassy of Armenia

On June 13, 2005, His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of
Armenian Apostolic Church of America (Eastern) met with Ambassador of
Armenia to the U.S., Tatoul Markarian at the Embassy of Armenia in
Washington, D.C.

Welcoming Ambassador Markarian to the United States, Archbishop Choloyan
congratulated him on his appointment and expressed readiness to continue the
support and cooperation of the Eastern Prelacy. He presented the Prelacy’s
activities and shared his perspective on Diaspora-Homeland relations.

Ambassador Markarian expressed his appreciation and willingness to work
together to further strengthen the Diaspora-Armenia relations with the aim
to promote the issues of interest to Armenia and the Armenian nation.

Pan Armenian News

A. BOZHKO APPOINTED NEW UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

23.06.2005 02:54

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ukrainian President Victor Yuschenko has appointed
Alexander Bozhko Ambassador to Armenia. Bozhko, 59, is appointed to the
office for a second time: he also held it in 1996-2001. After that Mr.
Bozhko worked for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and was appointed
Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan in December 2004, reported Mediamax.

AZG Armenian Daily #115, 23/06/2005

Armenian Genocide

PAVILION DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AT OSLO GENOCIDE MUSEUM

Milliyet wrote in its June 22 that Holocaust and Religious Minorities Center
and History Chair of the Bergen University, led by professor Odd-Bjorn Fure
established Genocide Museum in Oslo, Norway. The newspaper informed that
besides the Holocaust, the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and the Balkan
Mountains, the museum also has separate pavilion dedicated to the Armenian
Genocide in 1915. Moreover, the museum will be officially opened on August
30, on the Victory Day celebrated in Turkey.

According to Milliyet, learning about the pavilion of the Armenian Genocide
in the Oslo Genocide Museum, Abdullah Gul, Turkish foreign minister, and Ali
Taygun, head of Department, applied to Kim Traavik, state secretary at the
Foreign Ministry of Norway, who pays a working visit to Ankara. “You should
know that the museum is a great insult for our people. We expect that it’s
opening will be hindered,” the Turkish officials warned. In response, The
Norwegian State Secretary said the following: “The museum will be opened not
by the state assistance, but at private initiative. We can’t interfere as
members of government.”

By Hakob Chakrian

CHINESE CIRCUS TO ARRIVE IN YEREVAN SEPTEMBER 30

YEREVAN, JUNE 21. ARMINFO. The circus season in Yerevan is over today
on June 21, the new one will open on September 30.

Talking to ARMINFO, Director of Yerevan State Circus Sos Petrosyan
says that the season will be opened by a show of the Chinese Circus –
the leader in the world circus art and winner of international
contests in Monte-Carlo, Paris and Berlin. The leadership of Yerevan
Circus has received confirmation of the Chinese Circus’s arrival
today. Petrosyan says “Chinese Circus is original and inimitable – it
has narrow Chinese tricks, electrical and unique. It is over 2,000
years old. It is a special and very respected art in China.” He says
that almost all the tricks in the Chinese Circus are made by the
actors at the age of 12-23. In China children are taught Circus art at
the age of 3 and reaching 10- 12 years they become professionals and
won titles of laureates and certificates of prestigious circus
contests and festivals. Chinese acrobats are unsurpassed in their art
and not one in the world can repeat their tricks. Only in the Chinese
Circus one can see two small girls bearing one hundred lighted candles
or 11 people building a pyramid on a bicycle, Sos Petrosyan tells. “I
hope the show of Chinese Circus in Yerevan will be sold out, the more
so as the Armenian spectators will have an opportunity to see such an
exotic circus for the first time,” Petrosyan says.