Author: Nahapetian Lilit

Anatolia news agency, Ankara,
27 Sep 06

Turkey sees negative, positive Sides in EU progress report

Ankara, 27 September: "Although we consider the EP [European
Parliament] report unsatisfactory in regard to the positive
contribution that we have expected it to make to our EU process, we
find it important the EP’s efforts to prevent Turkish-EU relations
from being inflicted further harm by removing a part of our
uneasiness regarding with the report," Turkish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said.

Releasing a statement on Wednesday [27 September], the ministry said:
"We hope that the sensitivity shown by the EP would contribute
positively to the continuation of the process. We appreciate the EP
members exerting efforts in this direction."

Recalling that European Parliament approved today Turkey report – on
the progress that Turkey has made regarding its accession process
since 3 October 3rd – which was prepared by Dutch parliamentarian
Camiel Eurlings, it stated that Turkish authorities have exerted
great efforts since 4 September 2006 to remove factors which did not
comply with the facts of Turkey and which might affect negatively
Turkish-EU relations.

The statement said: "Some of unfavourable components included in the
report have been eliminated. On the other hand, it still has some
elements which don’t have a direct connection with Turkey’s EU
process and which will not contribute to this process. Refusal of the
article which makes recognition of so-called Armenian genocide a
precondition of our membership, and support given to Turkey in its
fight with terrorism by condemning the terrorist organization PKK
[Kurdistan Workers’ Party], and underlining that the target of talks
is full membership, are important. It is also important that Turkey
has a functioning free market economy has been included in EP
documents."

PRESIDENT’S ADVISER: INSTITUTE FOR FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION MUST NOT BECOME A WINDOW FOR IT

Panorama.am
17:26 26/09/06

"A state institute established to combat corruption first of all
must protect the rights of citizens on legal basis and must not
develop into a new window to bolster corruption," Vahram Nersisiants,
economic adviser of the Armenian president, told reporters today
while presenting the results of an annual meeting of International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) in Singapore.

In his words, the gathering paid special attention to corruption
and its effective administration. The participants underscored the
creation of a database.

Such information should contain specific cases instead of general
impressions, World Bank officials think.

Nersisyants said IMP and WB will draft a paper based on the
considerations of the gathering.

According to a recent WB report, the situation with corruption
deteriorated in Armenia in 2005. The source says that tax
administration has become more corrupt.

Thus, more companies pay bribes while registering or paying
taxes. Corruption is reported as the major impediment in Armenia for
the development of small and mid size businesses.

MAMMADYAROV: AZERBAIJAN’S POSITION ON THE SOLUTION OF NK CONFLICT BASES ON RELEVANT UN RESOLUTIONS AND OSCE DECISIONS

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 26 2006

"The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan recently has
become a subject of urgent consideration by the General Assembly due to
the massive fires registered in those territories," Elmar Mammadyarov,
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister said in the General Debate of the 61st
Session of the UN General Assembly.

"The Assembly adopted without a vote resolution stressing the necessity
to conduct an urgent environmental operation with a view of suppressing
the fires, overcoming the detrimental impact and rehabilitating the
affected territories. The resolution has two-fold purpose. On one hand,
it envisages a number of practical steps, including the assessment of
the short- and long-term impact of the fires on the environment as a
step in preparation for the environmental operation, counteracting to
the environmental degradation of the region and rehabilitation of the
fire-affected part of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. On the
other hand, it serves as an unprecedented example for engaging parties
to the conflict, Armenia and Azerbaijan, into a joint environmental
operation to be carried out directly in the fire-affected zone.

Implementation of resolution will contribute to establishment of
atmosphere of trust and confidence and will give positive impetus to
the negotiation process. Sadly, this is the only positive development
so far, and cannot be attributed to the overall situation around the
settlement process," the Minister underlined.

Mr.Mammadyarov also mentioned that no substantial progress has been
witnessed in the solution of the Nagorno Garabagh conflict.

"The parties and mediators accepted the stage-by-stage approach in
the settlement process as the only possible option. The status of
self-rule for the population of the occupied Nagorno Garabagh region
cannot be defined today. It should be elaborated through peaceful,
democratic and legal process with direct participation and consent
of both Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of the Nagorno Garabagh
region. To that end, the occupying forces have to withdraw from the
occupied territories and necessary conditions have to be in place
to allow secure and dignified return of the Azerbaijani displaced
persons to Nagorno Garabagh region and surrounding territories of
Azerbaijan. Our position based on relevant resolutions of the UN
Security Council and OSCE decisions, which unequivocally demand
unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all occupied
territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan," he said.

Elmar Mammadyarov reproached Armenia for propagating by all means
the separatist regime established under its control in the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan and spreading myths and legends about the
historical past and alleged democratic and economic achievements of
the regime and said it has to take a number of steps for establishing
normal relations with its neighbors. The Minister also mentioned that
Azerbaijan as a newly elected member of the Human Rights Council once
again reiterates its readiness to cooperate with other Member States.

Mammadyarov stressed the recent growth in Azerbaijan economy. "The
year 2006 has marked a historic event for the region and beyond,
which is the official inauguration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) main oil export pipeline. At the same time we actively pursue
development of trans-regional infrastructure projects, in particular
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad that has been recognized as an important
part of East-West and North-South transportation corridor."

The Minister also said that GUAM Member-States’ interests coincide
with UN interests. He touched upon peaceful solution of the Lebanon
conflict, UN reforms and Azerbaijan’s economic achievements.

ARMENIAN PROSECUTOR RALLIES PRESSURE GROUPS
By Hovannes Shoghikian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 25 2006

In a move underscoring his political ambitions, Prosecutor-General
Aghvan Hovsepian presided at the weekend over the creation of an
alliance of non-governmental organizations uniting prominent natives
of various regions of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Hovsepian was elected "honorary chairman" of the grouping of about
three dozen "compatriots’ unions," including his influential Nig-Aparan
organization. Its elected nominal leader, parliament deputy Vahram
Baghdasarian, claimed that the new "congregation" will be "apolitical"
and will have no ties with any political party.

However, Baghdasarian himself is a politician and a leading member of
the recently formed Association for Armenia party, which is widely
believed to be sponsored by Hovsepian. The latter was at pains to
repeat that he has no far-reaching political ambitions and that the
"congregation" will not cater for his interests.

"Do not try to drag me into politics with a donkey-like stubbornness,"
said Hovsepian. "I will not engage in politics."

Hovsepian’s assurances are dismissed by leading Armenian politicians
and commentators. One of them, the governing Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), has repeatedly condemned his perceived
involvement in political activities. The influential prosecutor is
widely seen as a potential major contender in the next presidential
election due in 2008.

Speaking at the congregation’s founding conference, Anahit Sargsian,
a senior member of Nig-Aparan, made it clear that the consolidating
"compatriots’ union" will not be "indifferent to [the question of]
who will be the republic’s president and prime minister, parliament
deputy or mayors of cities, towns and villages."

Sargsian also took a swipe at Armenia’s mainstream governing and
opposition parties, saying that they have all "have exhausted
themselves" and "blinded themselves with their materialistic zeal."

"They are now discredited in the eyes of the people," she charged.

The remarks were denounced by Hamlet Harutiunian of the Artsakh Union
of Armenia-based natives of Karabakh, which also joined the grouping.

"In general, nothing exhausts itself, especially political parties,"
he told RFE/RL.

Lagendijk, Eurlings agree ‘genocide recognition’ not required for EU membership

Dunya online, Turkey
Sept 22 2006

22/09/2006 14:20:20 Geri don gonder yazýcý

Turkey-European Union Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-Chairman Joost
Lagendijk said yesterday that Turkey had a chance on the road to its
EU membership.

Stressing that Turkey’s recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide
wasn’t a precondition to its EU membership, Lagendijk said that the
matter was still controversial and it was not yet clear whether or
not there had been any genocide of Armenians.

Furthermore, European Parliament Turkey Rapportor Camiel Eurlings
stated that the so-called Armenian genocide shouldn’t be a precondition
for Turkey’s EU membership. He added that he would propose changes
to the subject in the recent report on Turkey prepared by him.

–Boundary_(ID_8YFxOtH8GFyM3ra669UAeQ)–

International Herald Tribune, France
Sept 22 2006

Azerbaijan: Soldier killed by Armenian gunfire near disputed
territory
The Associated Press

Published: September 22, 2006

BAKU, Azerbaijan An Azerbaijani soldier was shot and killed by ethnic
Armenian forces near the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Azerbaijani officials said Friday. Armenia denied the report.

The incident occurred Thursday near the Agdam region, not far from
the so-called line of control separating Azerbaijani and Karabakh
forces, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiyev said.

The 19-year-old soldier was killed "in the course of the latest
violation by the Armenian side of the cease-fire regime," Verdiyev
said.

Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Senor Asratyan denied the
shooting.

"We’re already tired of denying these communications. Nevertheless,
we deny it," he said.

The shooting underscores persistent tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, the
mountainous territory that is in Azerbaijan but has been controlled –
along with some surrounding areas – by Karabakh and Armenian forces
since 1994. A shaky cease-fire in 1994 ended the six-year conflict,
in which 30,000 people were killed and about 1 million driven from
their homes.

The lack of resolution over Nagorno-Karabakh’s final status has
hampered development in the strategic South Caucasus region.

The two countries’ presidents have met multiple times this year with
no progress made on the issue, and international mediators have
expressed frustration over both sides’ intransigence.

BAKU, Azerbaijan An Azerbaijani soldier was shot and killed by
ethnic Armenian forces near the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani officials said Friday. Armenia denied
the report.

The incident occurred Thursday near the Agdam region, not far from
the so-called line of control separating Azerbaijani and Karabakh
forces, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiyev said.

The 19-year-old soldier was killed "in the course of the latest
violation by the Armenian side of the cease-fire regime," Verdiyev
said.

Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Senor Asratyan denied the
shooting.

"We’re already tired of denying these communications. Nevertheless,
we deny it," he said.

The shooting underscores persistent tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, the
mountainous territory that is in Azerbaijan but has been controlled –
along with some surrounding areas – by Karabakh and Armenian forces
since 1994. A shaky cease-fire in 1994 ended the six-year conflict,
in which 30,000 people were killed and about 1 million driven from
their homes.

The lack of resolution over Nagorno-Karabakh’s final status has
hampered development in the strategic South Caucasus region.

The two countries’ presidents have met multiple times this year with
no progress made on the issue, and international mediators have
expressed frustration over both sides’ intransigence.

Zaman, Turkey
Sept 23 2006

Ultranationalist Lawyer Appeals Novelist Shafak’s Acquittal
By Cihan News Agency
Saturday, September 23, 2006
zaman.com

An ultranationalist lawyer named Kemal Kerincsiz has appealed the
acquittal of renowned Turkish novelist Elif Shafak.

Shafak had been accused of insulting Turkishness, due to her remarks
in her novel titled, "The Bastard of Istanbul".

Lawyer Kerincsiz, who was responsible for opening the case against
author Elif Shafak, submitted an appeal petition to the Beyoglu
Court, where the controversial trial was held on Thursday.

The lawyer claimed in his petition that the court jury was under
pressure from Turkish and European politicians.

Beyoglu 2nd Court of First Instance decided on Thursday to acquit
Shafak on lack of evidence that the author had insulted Turkishness.

Shafak who gave birth to her first child, a girl named Sehrazat
Zelda, on Saturday, was unable to attend the first trial.

Shafak’s book recounts the story of relations between an Armenian
family and two Turkish families.

An Armenian character in the book says that "Turkish butchers" killed
her family and that the deaths were "genocide."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on
Thursday that he was happy that Shafak was acquitted in the
controversial case.

Erdogan also signaled an amendment on the much debated Article 301 of
the Turkish Penal Code, under which many well-known Turkish writers
and authors were tried or prosecuted, saying that a consensus is
required between the government and the opposition parties for such
an amendment.

"OUR HOME -ARMENIA" PARTY LEADER OFFERED TO SHOOT ARMENIAN BRIBE-TAKERS

ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2006 Wednesday

"The members of "Our Home – Armenia" party are ready to extirpate the
bribery in the Republic within a month. It will be just enough to shoot
3-4 people and the problem of corruption will be resolved", the leader
of "OHA", Vachagan Chibukhchyan, said at the party’s special session.

He noted he intends to raise the issue of exemption of the Armenia’s
boundary village dwellers from the payment of communal services. "We
have oligarchs who had robbed our people for many years. Let them
share these 50 villages between them and pay money to the state
treasury instead of the countrymen", Chibukhchyan said. In case
if they refuse, we "shall make them answer", he said. The idea to
attract the Armenian Diaspora to such "charity", as to Chibukhchyan,
is not serious, as in this case "the money will not reach those in
need and will be "eaten" by officials".

RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
September 14, 2006 Thursday

Hate crime suspect turned out to be a police academy student

by Oleg Rubnikovich

The 18-year-old suspect in the racially motivated killing of an
Armenian teenager in the Moscow metro in April was a police academy
cadet, prosecutors said Wednesday. Nikita Senyukov was arrested
Tuesday in connection with the stabbing death of Vigen Abramyants,
17, on the platform of Pushkinskaya metro station on April 22. "He
was a fourth-year student of a police academy under the Moscow
police," said Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for the office of the
chief Moscow prosecutor.

Petrenko said Senyukov had admitted to the crime but said he acted in
self-defense after Abramyants attacked him. She said Senyukov would
be charged with murder later this week. If convicted, he faces up to
15 years in prison.

The police academy’s head, Alexei Bezyazychny, said Wednesday that
Senyukov had dropped out of the academy shortly before his arrest. He
said that Senyukov’s father is a retired senior officer from the
Interior Ministry.

Some media reports on Wednesday linked Senyukov to a group of Moscow
students accused of bombing the Cherkizovsky outdoor market in
August, killing 12 people and wounding more than 50 others.
Investigators believe the attack was motivated by hatred for natives
of the Caucasus and Asian countries who trade at the market. Four men
have been detained in connection with the attack. Petrenko, however,
denied any link between the market bombing and the metro attack.

The Spokesman Review, WA

Symphony season opens with Russians

Travis Rivers
Correspondent
September 16, 2006

Friday night’s concert at the recently renamed INB Performing Arts
Center (it used to be the Spokane Opera House) made a grand opening of
the Spokane Symphony’s 2006-07 season. Conductor Eckart Preu led a
largely Russian program that included a brilliant piano concerto, one
of the most popular of all symphonies, and a lilting suite of highly
romantic ballet music.

Preu opened with the work of a composer he feels is unjustly neglected
nowadays, Alexander Glazunov, with a suite of dances from Glazunov’s
ballet "Raymonda." The composer has taken a bad rap for being born
too late for his style. His music is firmly in the grand 19th-century
manner, and Preu and the orchestra made the most of it.

The work afforded Friday’s audience a chance to hear acting
concertmaster Daisuke Yamamoto play one of those solos that is every
concertmaster’s dream (or possibly nightmare), the Grand Adagio, a
little violin concerto movement in itself. Yamamoto played
fastidiously, demonstrating a sweet tone and excellent intonation.

Terrence Wilson played the solo part of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto
with a nearly ideal combination of brilliance and delicacy. This
sprawling concerto has a bit of everything – almost too much of
everything. Khachaturian brought the exoticism of his native Armenia
to the framework of the Rachmaninoff-style virtuoso concerto, then
threw in a musical touch of the razzle-dazzle "novelty" pianists of
the 1920s and ’30s and a bit of Gershwinesque jazziness. Wilson made
the most of every opportunity to roar or sing.

Khachaturian loved exotic instrumental effects with a special fondness
for the bass clarinetist, and Shannon Scott played those solos
beautifully. In an even more exotic choice, the composer employed the
flexatone to double a melody line in the slow movement. The instrument
sounds somewhat like a musical saw with the player gargling. Paul
Raymond handled the instrument’s eerie character excellently.

The evening’s concluding work and centerpiece was Tchaikovsky’s famous
Symphony No. 6 ("Pathetique"). The notoriously self-critical
Tchaikovsky wrote that it was undoubtedly his best work. Like the
Khachaturian Concerto, it is long. Unlike Khachaturian, though,
Tchaikovsky learned a valuable lesson from his own favorite composer,
Mozart. "No matter how long a work might be," Mozart wrote, "never
lose the thread."

Tchaikovsky never allowed meaningless digressions or needless
repetitions in his work. Preu and the orchestra gave a riveting
performance from the mysterious unfolding of the bassoon solo against
the cushion of low strings sounds of the opening, through "waltz in
five beats" that substitutes in places of a slow movement, the scherzo
that begins like elves marching and grows in violence to a march of
giant soldiers, and ending with the quiet "collapse" of the finale.

It was that quiet ending that must have baffled the first-night
audience in 1893.That ending still seems strange here more than a
century later. But it was a shining performance to start the symphony
season.