Author: Nahapetian Lilit

GENOCIDE BILL BACKERS WILLING TO WAIT

Earthtimes, UK
Oct 26 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 Supporters of a U.S. bill recognizing the deaths
1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as genocide said they were willing to
wait to push the bill forward.

Backers of the bill sent a letter of U.S. House of Representatives
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Thursday saying "we believe that
a large majority of our colleagues want to support a resolution
recognizing the genocide on the House floor and that they will do so,
provided the times is more favorable," The New York Times is quoting.

Pelosi is a long-time supporter of the bill. Her constituent base in
California is home to one of the largest concentrations of Armenia
diaspora in the United States. The bill, drafted largely by California
Democrats, was withdrawn amid concerns the bill would harm diplomatic
relations between the United State and Turkey — a key ally in the
U.S.-led effort in Iraq. The Turkish government launched its own
lobbying initiative protesting the characterization of the 1915
episodes as genocide. The campaign against the bill focused more on
questioning the need to rile Turkey when its value as a strategic
ally was at its apex then the declaration of genocide.

NATURAL GROWTH TOTALED 694

KarabakhOpen
25-10-2007 16:28:28

1619 children were born in Karabakh January to September, which
is up by 41 compared with the year 2006. The rate of death totaled
925, which is down by 8 compared with the same period of the past
year. Over the past three quarters the natural growth totaled 694,
which is up by 7.6 percent compared with the past year’s index.

Over the past nine months 494 marriages were registered, which is up
by 100 compared with last year. The rate of divorce went decreased
by 4 and totaled 85.

OVERALL BALANCE CAPITAL OF ARMENIAN CREDIT ORGANIZATIONS GROWS BY 15.4% IN JULY-SEPTEMBER 2007

Noyan Tapan
Oct 25, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, NOYAN TAPAN. As of September 30, 2007, 20 credit
organizations with 35 branches operated in Armenia. According to data
of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA), the actual authorized fund of
these credit organizations made 9 bln 874 mln 952 thousand drams (about
29 mln 924 thousand USD), growing by 10.3% in July-September. The
overall balance capital of credit organizations made 10 bln 974 mln
438 thousand drams as of September 30, 2007, growing by 15.4% in the
third quarter.

The overall liabilities of Armenian credit organizations amounted to
27 bln 668 mln 20 thousand drams as of September 30, 2007, growing by
21.5% in the third quarter. The respective indices of overall assets
made 38 bln 642 mln 548 thousand drams and 19.7%.

As of September 30, 2007, standard loans and debts made up 97.4%
of the credit organizations’ overall portfolio of loans and bills
receivable of a total of 37 bln 835 mln 205 thousand drams.

The total amount of loans given by credit organizations to residents,
as well as deposits, sums provided as factoring and leasing made
35 bln 66 mln 134 thousand drams as of September 30, 2007 (20.1%
growth). 4 bln 330 mln 207 thousand drams was provided to industry
(22.9% growth), 3 bln 128 mln 463 thousand drams – to agriculture
(22% growth), 1 bln 800 mln 405 thousand drams – to construction
(43.8% growth), and 1 bln 373 mln 447 thousand drams – to transport
and communication (12.6% growth).

8 bln 171 mln 918 thousand drams was given by credit organizations to
Armenia’s trade sector (14.9% growth), 682 mln 369 thousand drams – to
the financial sector (49.8% growth). The consumer credits provided made
5 bln 875 mln 903 thousand drams (15.3% growth), mortgage crediting –
4 bln 18 mln 850 thousand drams (31% growth), and sums provided to
other sectors made 5 bln 684 mln 572 thousand drams (41.9% growth).

The gross revenues of credit organizatons made 6 bln 21 mln 419
thousand drams as of September 30, 2007, gross expenditures – 4 bln
570 mln 484 thousand drams, and their net and undistributed profits –
1 bln 346 mln 602 thousand drams.

DISTRICT CHIEFS OPPOSED TO YEREVAN BILL
By Hovannes Shoghikian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 25 2007

The elected heads of several administrative districts of Yerevan voiced
on Thursday objections to a government bill that would transfer the
authority to appoint them from local residents to the city mayor.

The draft law, the main points of which were made public by the
government last week, stems from one of the 2005 constitutional
amendments that gives the Armenian capital the status of a local
community governed by elected officials.

The Yerevan mayors have until now been appointed by the president of
the republic. Under the government bill, they shall be chosen by a
city council to be elected by universal suffrage.

The bill also envisages the dissolution of the elected administrations
of the city’s ten administrative districts currently run by elected
mayors and "councils of elders." The district chiefs would now be
appointed by the Yerevan mayor.

"A district head appointed by the Yerevan mayor will be accountable
only to the mayor, whereas an elected district mayor is accountable
to his voters," said Surik Ghukasian, mayor of the western Davitashen
district.

Hovannes Shahinian, mayor of the bigger Arabkir district, agreed,
saying that elected prefects should do a better job of running their
communities. Shahinian, who is a member of the governing Republican
Party, predicted that the central government will eventually realize
its mistake and revert to the existing system of community governance.

"I think that we would eventually return to the system existing today,"
he told a news conference.

"It is desirable to have elected district prefects," said Ruben
Hovsepian, who runs the Ajapnyak district.

All three community prefects made it clear that they will not challenge
the government or lobby it to make corresponding changes in the bill.

At least one of their colleagues, Aghvan Grigorian of the
Malatia-Sebastia district, hailed the planned abolition of district
elections. "The good thing about the bill is that it will make the
city a single unit and make it more manageable," argued Grigorian.

NICOL PASHINIAN: THE OCTOBER 23 PROCESSION WAS A LAWFUL ONE

Noyan Tapan
Oct 24, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. "Yesterday’s procession in Yerevan,
during which its participants informed citizens about the rally to
be held in Freedom Square on October 26, was a lawful one," Nicol
Pashinian, editor-in-chief of the "Armenian Time" daily, one of
the organizers of the procession, stated at the October 24 press
conference. He noted that in accordance with Article 6, Point 6 of
the RA Law on Meetings, Rallies, Processions and Demonstrations,
the organizers of a public event have the right to disseminate,
personally or through others, information about the date and place
of the public event via the mass media or other ways not forbidden
by law, as well as to call on people to participate in this event.

Besides, in accordance with Article 7, point 1 of the same law,
participants of an event may have or carry placards and other materials
of this kind and to use loudspeakers.

In the words of N. Pashinian, the events got out of control when the
deputy head of the Yerevan police department Alexander Afian arrived
at the scene.

He told the procession participants to switch off the loudspeaker and
give it to law enforcers. The procession participants said they would
do so if A. Afian quoted the respective point of the law forbidding
such actions.

However, this was not done. Policemen made an unsuccessful attempt
to seize the loudspeaker, after which A. Afian ordered about 100
"red helmets" to disperse the procession. As N. Pashinian put it,
they attacked the procession participants and strated beating them,
while "A. Afian behaved like a street criminal".

CO-CHAIRS MEET WITH ARMENIAN PRESIDENT IN YEREVAN

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 24 2007

Mediators in the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict-OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairs Matthew Bryza (US), Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard
Fassier (France) and personal representative of OSCE chairman-in-office
Andrzej Kasprzyk have started to visit the region, APA reports.

Mediators arriving in Yerevan today met with Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan.

Armenian President’s press service said that present stage of the
settlement to Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as well as non-agreed
details was debated in negotiations. The mediators are not said to
visit Nagorno Karabakh. Co-chairs are expected to negotiate with
Azerbaijani senior officials in Baku on October 26. /APA/

DISPATCH FROM THE EURABIAN FRONT: RIOTS IN AMSTERDAM AND BRUSSELS

Brussels Journal
Oct 23 2007
Belgium

Europe’s no-go zones or SUAs ("sensitive urban areas") are
multiplying. These are areas where the police no longer dares to
venture and where Islamists hold sway. Every night since the beginning
of last week, immigrant youths have been torching cars and clashing
with police in Amsterdam’s Slotervaart district. The incidents started
on Oct. 14 when a policewoman shot dead Bilal Bajaka, a 22-year old
ethnic Moroccan, whilst he was stabbing her and a colleague with
a knife. The officers were stabbed in the breast, face, neck and
back. Surgeons could only narrowly save their lives.

Since the incident, Slotervaart has seen rioting almost every night.

The Amsterdam Moroccans are "shocked" because one of them has been
killed by an infidel woman. According to his family, Bilal Bajaka
was mentally deranged and had a suicide obsession. Ahmed Marcouch,
the Moroccan-born Socialist mayor of Slotervaart, criticized the Dutch
authorities for failing to provide adequate health care for Bajaka’s
mental problems.

Bilal Bajaka was, however, a personal friend of Mohammed Bouyeri,
the Jihadist who ritually slaughtered the Dutch film maker Theo van
Gogh in 2004. Bilal’s attack on the two police officers came exactly
two years after the arrest of his brother, Abdullah Bajaka, the leader
of an alleged plot to blow up an El-Al Boeing at Amsterdam airport.

Bilal’s family background is not at all deprived. One of his sisters
is a medical doctor, another sister is a Dutch judge.

For ten days now, the situation in Amsterdam’s immigrant neighbourhoods
has been tense. Senior police officers compare the current situation
in Amsterdam to the 2005 Ramadan riots in Paris.

Media outside the Netherlands, however, hardly mention the riots, which
aim to drive the police from Slotervaart and turn the neighborhood
into a new no-go area – yet another pocket of Eurabia on Europe’s soil.

Similar events are currently taking place in Brussels, the capital of
neighbouring Belgium and of the EU. Last Sunday, demonstrating Turkish
youths ransacked an Armenian restaurant in the Sint-Joost-ten-Node
borough. According to the owner the police was present at the scene
but did not interfere while his establishment was being demolished. The
Armenian had to flee for his life.

Another man who had to run for his life was the Belgian journalist
Mehmet Koksal, an ethnic Turk. He was attacked around 11 pm on
Sunday evening by a group of some twenty Turkish youths in front
of the American embassy in Brussels, a few yards from the Belgian
parliament building. The Parliament and the US Embassy are less than
one kilometer from Sint-Joost-ten-Node. Koksal fled to a nearby police
car, but a female police officer refused to let him into the car,
whereupon the youths savagely beat him up. Fearing that they were
about to lynch him, the police officer changed her attitude and
allowed the journalist to seek refuge in the police car.

Koksal told the press today that he is not going to press charges
against the police for failing to help him. "The police woman was
more afraid than I was and ultimately the police came to my rescue,"
he said.

THE PKK AND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION: U.S.-TURKISH RELATIONS AT A CRITICAL JUNCTURE
By Soner Cagaptay

Washington Institute for Near East Policy, DC
php?CID=2669
Oct 23 2007

On October 21, Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) operatives carried out
an attack from northern Iraq into Turkey, killing twelve Turkish
soldiers. This incident followed the killing of more than thirty
people in recent weeks, including an incident in which the PKK pulled
a dozen civilians off a public bus and shot them. The Turkish public
has responded to the attacks by calling for incursion into northern
Iraq to eliminate PKK camps there.

Exacerbating these developments is the October 10 House Foreign
Affairs Committee vote in favor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution
(AGR), which recognizes the deportation of Ottoman Armenians during
World War I as genocide. Regardless of its intent, the AGR could
hold a number of negative consequences for U.S.-Turkish relations. In
addition to diplomatic tensions, the committee’s action may jeopardize
U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, increase the likelihood of a
Turkish incursion into northern Iraq, and increase the prospects of
Turkish-Iranian rapprochement.

Reactions to the AGR

Many Turks strongly object to the depiction of the Armenian incident
as genocide. Consequently, the U.S. resolution has led to a public
backlash in Turkey — where U.S. popularity is already at an all-time
low due in large part to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) attacks that
continue to emanate from U.S.-controlled northern Iraq.

Turkey’s leaders have shown similar discontent in the resolution’s
wake. On October 11, Ankara recalled its ambassador from Washington
"for consultations," and on October 13, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan stated that U.S.-Turkish relations "could be cut off" if new
tensions emerge. On October 14, Chief of Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit
stated that U.S.-Turkish ties would "never again be the same" if the
committee passed the resolution. And on October 17, Erdogan received
authorization from the Turkish parliament to send troops to northern
Iraq in response to increased PKK attacks.

The Turkish public has been following the AGR debate closely. Despite
their overall negative response, most Turks have contained themselves
somewhat because they understand the distinction between a committee
vote and a full House vote. But if Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
succeeds in her expressed intent to bring the resolution before a
full vote before Thanksgiving, a serious public backlash will likely
unfold in Turkey, pushing the government toward even more concrete
measures against Washington.

There are some signs, however, that the AGR might stall. Since the
committee vote, seventeen House members have withdrawn their signatures
from the resolution, bringing the number of cosponsors down to 211 —
just under majority.

Short-Term Problems in Afghanistan and Iraq?

The Bush administration’s vociferous opposition to the AGR reflects
the crucial nature of Turkey’s collaboration with U.S. efforts in both
Iraq and Afghanistan. On October 15, Defense Secretary Robert Gates
responded to the committee vote by emphasizing this collaboration,
stating for example that 70 percent of all cargo en route to Iraq
and Afghanistan is sent through Turkey. Indeed, Ankara’s blanket
permission for U.S. logistical operations opens crucial land and air
routes for military equipment and personnel.

Consequently, Ankara can exercise leverage on several points in
response to the AGR.

Afghanistan. The most immediate of these levers are in Afghanistan.

Turkey has 1,150 troops in the country, as well as a reconstruction
team responsible for building infrastructure in Wardak province. The
Turkish military (in collaboration with France and Italy) is in charge
of security in central Afghanistan, including Kabul. In addition,
Turkey has led the International Security and Assistance Force twice in
Afghanistan — more so than any other NATO country — making Turkish
personnel a significantly experienced asset in the country. As a
short-term response, Ankara might demonstrate its discomfort with
the U.S.-Turkish alliance by reducing its commitments in Afghanistan.

Iraq. With regard to the Iraq war, the most important U.S. strategic
assets in Turkey are the Incirlik base in the south (a major cargo
and troop rotation hub) and the Habur crossing in the southeast (the
only border gate between Turkey and Iraq). Currently, the United
States has more than 1,100 troops at Incirlik, and the Habur gate
is the chief land supply conduit from Europe and Turkey into Iraq,
with more than 5,000 truck crossings per day.

The Turkish media has called for a reduction in U.S. capabilities at
Incirlik and Habur should the AGR pass in the House. On October 11,
the Turkish daily Milliyet, a pro-Western, mainstream newspaper, ran a
front-page editorial calling for an end to Turkey’s policy of providing
the United States with a blank check in using Incirlik. It may not be
possible to dismiss such rhetoric when America’s standing in Turkey
is at an all-time low — a recent Pew Center poll showed that only
9 percent of Turks had favorable feelings toward the United States.

Given rising Turkish casualties as a result of PKK attacks, it is
plausible that Turkey would have considered incursions into northern
Iraq even regardless of the AGR’s status. On Sunday, Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice called on the Turkish government to "wait
for a few days" before taking action into northern Iraq, and Ankara
agreed. If the full House passes the AGR, however, there would be
increased public pressure on the government to act, making an Iraq
incursion more likely than not.

Aligning with Iran?

The AGR might also push Turkey closer to Iran. The PKK issue alone
has already moved the two countries closer together. Historically,
they have been adversaries, particularly since the 1979 Islamic
Revolution in Iran. Turkey’s secular democracy contrasted with
Iran’s authoritarian theocracy, which subsequently supported PKK
and Islamist terrorist action against Turkey. Since the Iraq war,
however, Iran has recalibrated its Turkey policy. In an effort to
break its own growing strategic isolation, Tehran has wooed Ankara
on a number of fronts. Iran has not only ceased supporting the PKK,
it has begun to actively combat the group. According to media reports,
Iran frequently bombs PKK camps inside Iraq. Turkish sentiment toward
Iran has warmed up significantly in response: according to a 2006
poll by the German Marshall Fund, 43 percent of Turks hold favorable
feelings toward Iran, compared to 34 percent in 2004.

For the time being, long-term Turkish-Iranian alignment appears
amorphous; for instance, Ankara has yet to finalize the countries’
bilateral July 2007 memorandum of understanding on energy
cooperation. The AGR could well solidify these and other nascent
signs of alliance, however.

Conclusion

If passed, the AGR would make it difficult for Turkish policymakers
to speak in favor of alignment with the United States, especially on
major foreign policy issues such as Iran and Iraq. Alternatively,
a stalled AGR would be an amicable gesture that could strengthen
America’s supporters in Turkey and perhaps even dissuade Ankara from
carrying out a politically complicated operation in Iraq.

Soner Cagaptay is a senior fellow and director of the Turkish Research
Program at The Washington Institute.

IRAN LEADER DUCKS EVENTS IN ARMENIA, RETURNS HOME

Reuters, UK
Oct 23 2007

YEREVAN (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad failed to
show up for two scheduled events in a visit to Armenia and returned
home on Tuesday, but Tehran denied Armenian reports that he had cut
short his trip.

"The presidents agreed last night that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad needed
to cut short his visit," the chief spokesman for Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan told reporters.

"Ahmadenijad had urgent reasons to end his visit ahead of time,"
he added.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad’s top adviser,
Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi, denying any change in plan. "The visit by
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian delegation to Armenia
is going ahead as scheduled," he said.

Following those remarks, state television reported Ahmadinejad’s
arrival in Tehran without further comment.

Ahmadinejad had been due to visit the memorial of victims of what
Tehran describes as the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
in 1915 and address the national parliament.

He was also due to meet members of the Iranian community in Yerevan
and visit a mosque.

But Kocharyan’s office insisted the visit had been cut short.

"Ahmadinejad failed to appear today at either venue he was expected
to visit," a presidential spokeswoman said by telephone. "As far as
we know he has left."

Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted Armenian government officials as
saying the reason for Ahmadinejad’s early departure were "unexpected
developments in Iran and urgent meetings he has to hold at home". Tass
did not elaborate.

Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Larijani resigned on Saturday just days
before crucial talks in Rome due on Tuesday with the European Union
foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tehran’s nuclear program.

The West suspects Iran of working on its own atomic bomb and wants
it to halt the nuclear program. Tehran says its nuclear program is
peaceful and vows to go ahead with it.

Washington has been pressurizing European allies to support a new
set of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

Analysts say the departure of moderate Larijani reflects a rift over
tactics between him and Ahmadinejad.

GOVERNMENT’S LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE MAKES ATTEMPT TO CREATE INDEPENDENT MILITARY INVESTIGATION BODY

Noyan Tapan
Oct 23, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. At the October 23 sitting, the RA
National Assembly in the first reading discussed the legislative
package introduced by the government, which envisages to make
amendments to the RA Code of Criminal Procedure, laws On Doing Military
Service, and On Social Security of Servicemen and Their Families.

As Artur Aghabekian, the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee
on Defence, National Security, and Internal Affairs, said in
his speech, the legislative initiative’s goal is to separate the
military investigation body as a subdivision, which will be within
the jurisdiction of the Defence Minister.

According to A. Aghabekian, such an investigation body existed earlier
as part of the Military Police working within the jurisdiction of the
General Headquarters of RA Armed Forces, then, as a result of court
and legal reforms, two years ago, it was included in the Military
Prosecutor’s Office as its part.

A. Aghabekian said that the legislative changes being made are
harmonious with the large program of reforms in the defence sphere
envisaged by the IPAP program of cooperation with NATO, within the
framework of which the Defence Ministry prepares a great number
of bills.

The members of the OYP and Zharangutiun (Heritage) factions expressed
anxiety about the lack of guarantees of the military investigation
body’s independence. As Larisa Alaverdian mentioned, there are many
cases when military crimes were committed with the connivance of
high-ranking servicemen or the latters tried to to slur them over
and to defend those guilty.

According to A. Aghabekian, the guarantee of the military investigation
body’s independence is that the head of any military sudivision himself
is interested in disclosure of crimes committed by the servicemen
under his subordination and punishment of those guilty. He considers
that otherwise the given subdivision will lose its fighting efficiency.