Author: Nalbandian Eduard

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DEMO BANNED IN BERLIN

Expatica, Netherlands
March 14 2006

BERLIN – Political leaders and human rights groups on Tuesday welcomed
a decision by Berlin police to ban demonstrations aimed at the Armenian
genocide in World War I.

Police on Monday banned two protests due to have been held in the
German capital this week which supported the official Turkish position
that killings of Christian Armenians by Muslim Turks in 1915 did not
amount to genocide.

Organizers of one of the protests warned Europe’s cities would “go
up in flames like Paris” unless Europeans stopped blaming Turkey for
the Armenian genocide.

The ban was justified by police who said they feared violence and
because they suspected demonstrators would try to both deny and
glorify the events of 1915.

“It is unacceptable when planned demonstrations seek to deny the
genocide of Armenians during the First World War and make veiled calls
for violence in Germany,” said Frank Henkel, the opposition Christian
Democratic Union interior affairs spokesman in the city government.

A human rights group, the Society for Threatened Peoples, also
welcomed the ban and called for legislation to prevent all public
events denying or glorifying genocide or war crimes.

Most Western historians term the Armenian killings genocide and say
that between 1 million and 1.5 million Armenians were killed or died
during the massacres.

Parliaments in at least seven European countries, including France
and Sweden, have passed resolutions saying the killings were genocide.

Germany has about 1.8 million resident Turkish nationals out of a
total population of 82 million.

Mainstream Turkish-German groups had withdrawn support for the
controversial demonstrations at the weekend.

PREVIEW: SOUTH KOREAN PRIME MINISTER TO OPEN FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
October 17, 2005, Monday

Frankfurt

South Korea’s prime minister, Lee Hae-chan, is to open this year’s
Frankfurt Book Fair Tuesday evening with remarks at a party attended
by world publishing leaders.

The attendance of Lee, 53, marks the “guest of honour” status of
Korea this year at the world’s largest book show, and his speech will
be followed by an address from Korean poet Ko Un, one of 40 authors
visiting Frankfurt this month to drum up book sales in Germany.

The fair will then be formally opened with a bang of the gavel by
Dieter Schormann, head of the fair host, the German publishers’
and booksellers’ association. The exhibition itself will not admit
business-people and the public till Wednesday morning.

While the display of books and the Korean cultural programme are
mainly intended for the German public, the “real” business of the
fair, the wheeling and dealing among world publishing companies and
literary agents, has already been under way since last week.

Those meetings are conducted in relative secrecy off the fair site
at Frankfurt area hotels.

Fair organizers say a record 7,000 exhibitors from more than 100
nations have booked stand space this year. The fair, which runs until
October 23, for the first time features a second-hand-book section
this year.

Organizers are also promoting sales of story ideas based on books
for films and television series.

On the final day, the fair organizers will hand the German Book Trade
Peace Prize to Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish novelist who has been abused
in his homeland for suggesting that Turkey re-examine its conflict
with Armenians.

This year’s fair will also feature seminars on publishing in Arabic,
inspired by last year’s guest of honour, the Arab World. Next year’s
special guest, India, will be putting on literary events to give
guests a foretaste of the show yet to come.

HELSINKI: TURKISH FM PROMISES TO MEET EU MEMBERSHIP CONDITIONS

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland
Oct 18 2005

Abdullah Gul thanks Finland for support

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul promised on Monday that his
country would continue its legislative and economic reforms to meet
all criteria set for membership in the European Union.

During a visit to Finland, Gul commented that meeting the conditions
is in Turkey’s interests as well. He also predicted that his country
would be a member of the European Union in ten years.

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja noted that Finland had worked
hard to get Turkey accepted as an applicant country. There has also
been widespread support for Turkey’s bid in the Finnish Parliament.

Gul also mentioned that he hopes that the Finnish people would back his
country’s membership bid. In other EU countries, tones have been more
critical. Austria, which holds the EU Presidency in the first half of
2006 (just before Finland), tried to block the launch of membership
talks with Turkey, setting talks with Croatia as a precondition for
its approval.

However, Gul said that he does not expect Austria’s turn at the
Presidency to cause problems. Tuomioja also said that he does not
believe that any country will set a very unique agenda.

“Turkey itself knows that it still has much to do, but this is the
beginning of a long process”, Tuomioja said.

The controversial prosecution of Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, who
has written about the Kurdish question and the Armenian genocide,
is not a problem in Gul’s opinion. The trial of Pamuk has not been
called off, and the hearing is scheduled to go ahead on December 16th.

Turkey has already reformed its criminal code, but before it becomes
a member of the EU, it must resolve a number of issues, such as
its attitude toward the new EU member-state Cyprus, an island whose
northern part has been occupied by Turkey for 30 years.

The continued non-recognition of Cyprus by Turkey remains a problem
for its EU membership bid.

The European Commission is to issue a report on Turkey’s progress
early next month.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
10/17/2005
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1) Azerbaijan: still waiting for Rasul Guliyev
2) First Population Census in Mountainous Karabagh Republic since Independence
3) Hawk’s Eye View of Armenia and Italy
4) SKEPTIK SINIKIAN: WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE BORDER?

1) Azerbaijan: still waiting for Rasul Guliyev

BAKU (Eurasianet.org)Azeri opposition leader Rasul Guliyev, chairman of the
Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, was detained by Ukrainian law enforcement
authorities on October 17 while trying to return to Baku after nine years in
exile.
The former parliamentary speaker was arrested in the Simferopol Airport, in
the capital of Crimea, Ukraine, en route to Baku from London to take part in
the November 6 parliamentary elections. Guliyev was stopped at the airport at
the request of Azeri authorities and is now being questioned by an Interpol
representative in Crimea. A decision on the outcome of Guliyev’s case is still
pending, according to statements made by the Simferopol regional police
department to news agencies.
Guliyev, who was expected to arrive in Baku around 4pm local time, had
chartered a flight earlier in the day from London to Simferopol where he
negotiated with Azeri authorities to be allowed to fly on to Baku.
According to
Sabir Ilyasov, vice-president of Azerbaijan Airlines, the state-owned company
that runs Baku’s airport, the company received a landing request from a
chartered plane carrying five passengers, including Guliyev. “We allowed them
to land in Baku’s airport, but he [Guliyev] refused to do it,” Ilyasov said.
Guliyev, however, has stated that the plane was denied permission to land.
Members of Guliyev’s Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, a member of the
tripartite Azadlig bloc, the largest opposition election alliance, have said
that the authorities fear Guliyev’s return, and have argued that a large
number
of senior Azerbaijani officials support the return of the opposition leader
from exile.
Speaking in a paid advertising slot on the Azerbaijani TV station ANS on
October 12, DPA member Qurban Mammadov vowed to publicize the names of these
officials after Guliyev’s return to Azerbaijan. “Many people will reveal their
positions then,” Mammadov said. “Thousands of state officials, including those
with a high rank, have become members of the national committee for protecting
the rights of Rasul Guliyev.”
General Prosecutor Zakir Garalov has repeatedly emphasized that the state
intends to pursue its prosecution of Guliyev, wanted since 2000 on charges of
embezzling more than $100 million in state funds while head of Azerbaijan’s
Azarneftyag oil refinery. Guliyev, who has been placed on an international
wanted list, has denied the accusation and called it a political fabrication.
Guliyev fled to the United States in 1996 after a falling out with then
President Heidar Aliyev, father of Azerbaijan’s current leader, President
Ilham
Aliyev.
It is expected that representatives of the interior ministry will leave for
Ukraine within a few days to negotiate Guliyev’s extradition to Azerbaijan,
ministry spokesman Sadiq Gezalov said. Although a candidate for parliament,
Guliyev has been denied immunity from prosecution.
Nonetheless, it is unclear how Guliyev’s return to Azerbaijan–even under
extradition–will play with members of the opposition. Guliyev’s supporters
had
been urging followers to welcome him at Baku International Airport on October
17. On October 16, Interior Minister Ramil Usubov cautioned journalists and
diplomats to stay away, warning of likely clashes with police forces.
As of 10AM on Monday morning, automobile traffic on the highway leading to
the
airport was strictly restricted. Scores of Interior Ministry troops, armed
with
automatic rifles and wearing helmets, joined traffic police at a beefed-up
checkpoint on the road between the airport and Baku.
Usubov explained the heavy troop deployment by saying that authorities had
received information that the so-called “radical” opposition intended to
attack
the airport and the surrounding areas in a two-pronged attack, under
pretext of
welcoming Guliyev. In a broadcast on the pro-government Lider TV, police
showed
several combat grenades and a pistol found on the roadside approaching Baku’s
airport. Police were also deployed within Baku, around the parliament
building,
the Soviet-era government house and Freedom Square, an occasional meeting
place
for unauthorized opposition demonstrations.
Among those turned away from the airport was US Ambassador Reno Harnish,
Azerbaijani Public TV reported. “All private and embassy cars have been banned
from entering the airport territory since the participation in such an action
runs counter to diplomatic activities,” read an interior ministry statement in
reference to the refusal to allow Harnish access to the airport. “Only people
with tickets for certain flights and staff of the airport are allowed to enter
the airport in special buses.” In preparation for Guliyev’s arrival, law
enforcement agencies also arrested 26 individuals who officials believed
likely
to cause “provocation” in connection with the opposition leader’s return.
Former Finance Minister Fikrat Yusifov, and the former head of the Ganja city
police department [and the incumbent DPA deputy chairman], Natiq Effendiyev,
were among them. In an interview with the privately owned pro-government Lider
TV, Interior Minister Usubov claimed that those arrested “bribed some people
and . . . have drawn up plans to use force against the police. This plan
exists.”
The minister claimed that 100,000 euros, $60,000, a pistol, and additional
funds “for Guliyev’s return” were found in Yusifov’s apartment.
Turan news agency reported that Democratic Party political council member
Gurban Mamedov and Guliyev’s nephew, Etibar Guliyev, have been detained by
police.
By the evening of October 17, more than 1,000 activists from the opposition
Azadlig bloc had been arrested, according to Democratic Party of Azerbaijan
headquarters. The interior ministry, however, puts the number of detainees at
only 10-35 people.

2) First Population Census in Mountainous Karabagh Republic since Independence

STEPANAKERT (Armenpress)–Authorities in Mountainous Karabagh Republic will
conduct a population census October 18-27, making it the first since since the
country declared independence from Azerbaijan. Officials said the census is
another step towards “consolidating Karabagh’s independence.”
In guiding the procedure, Armenia will be sending the head of its National
Statistics Committee, Stepan Mnatsakanian, to detail the process that will be
conducted by a government commission, which Karabagh’s deputy prime minister
heads.
President Arkady Ghukasian said the census is necessary in order for the
government to target specific projects and forecast socio-economic
developments, based on the returns.
The last census in Karabagh was held in 1989, when the population was 192,000
(76 percent Armenian; 23 percent Azeri; 1 percent Russian and Kurd).

3) Hawk’s Eye View of Armenia and Italy

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Photographer Hrair “Hawk” Khatcherian presented
his
new “Soaring Hawk,” 160-page photo album last week at the Nareg Arts Union
Hall. The photos, taken from a helicopter, represent all regions of Armenia
and
historical-cultural complexes of Mountainous Karabagh, Lake Sevan, mountains,
as well as different corners of the capital city of Yerevan. “Our country is
amazing from above,” says the Canadian Armenian photographer.
Addition works by Khatcherian, more than 50 photographs of medieval Armenian
and cultural monuments in Venice and Rome, are featured in an exhibit that
kicked-off on Monday in Yerevan to celebrate Days of Armenian-Italian
Friendship.
Commissioned by Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the exhibit of the
Canadian Armenian photographer will run through October 21.
Days of Armenian-Italian Friendship, organized jointly by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Italy in Armenia, also features a one-month
festival of 15 films directed by the world-famous Taviani brothers, a National
Gallery exhibit titled “See the Country of Italy,” as well as a collection of
treasures of the Mkhitarian Order in Saint Lazarus Island in Venice, Italy.

4) SKEPTIK SINIKIAN: WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE BORDER?

Remember back a few months ago, when an entire herd of sheepliterally hundreds
of sheepjumped off a cliff to their deaths in some village in Eastern Turkey
and nobody could explain why? Well, apparently sheep aren’t the only farm
animals that Turkey’s farmers have problems raising. This week, the World
Health Organization and numerous other health organizations announced that
Turkey has suffered an outbreak of the infamous Avian “Bird” flu. “What does
that mean?” you ask. Well, let me put it this way: If you’re in Turkey and you
start sniffling, shivering, and coughing then don’t have the chicken noodle
soup. Why? Because you just might be looking at the source.
The Avian “Bird” Flu is a disease that originated in Asia and is transmitted
through birds, specifically chickens. Apparently, it’s very dangerous, having
killed 60 people since 2003 and the virus spreads like wildfire. In fact, the
World Health Organization is predicting a pandemic soon. Not just an epidemic
but a PANdemic. In case you were wondering, a pandemic is worse than an
epidemic. It’s an epidemic on steroids. Europe is shaking in its boots. As if
Europe needed yet another reason to reject Turkey’s accession into the
European
Union, the news of the bird flu in Turkey could not have come at a better
time.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re saying “OK, Skepo. We get it. Chicken flu.
Turkey. We see the poultry puns coming a mile away.” Well, you’re wrong. This
is serious business. Poor Turkey already became the butt of all sheep jokes
with the mass suicide of 450 sheep. Now it has to quarantine almost 8000
chickens due to the lethal virus.
I’m not saying that the spread of this disease was avoidable. No country is
completely safe from this disease. For all I know, the next 9 piece chicken
McNugget Happy Meal I order may come with an extra helping of McFlu. But I’m
willing to bet hard currency that the Turkish authorities still don’t have
this
problem under control and instead of tightening security and monitoring all
imports, some corrupt official is allowing truckloads of chickens across the
border as you read this.
Another message this epidemic outbreak sent across the Bosphorus to Europe is
that the Republic of Turkey is in a sad, disorganized, and corrupt state and
that they can’t take care of their own poultry. Now, Armenians have known for
sometime that something was “a foul” in Turkey (I tried but I couldn’t resist)
but now, slowly but surely, the rest of the world is witnessing how
incompetent
the Turkish government is.
This must be a serious blow to Turkey’s ego. But Turkish citizens, don’t
worry. The Turkish government’s top historians and spin doctors are hard at
work at this very moment rewording the recent events that have occurred in
their country to fit their psychological needs. I can just imagine what the
official stance of the Turkish Department of Agriculture will be. It may sound
something like this:
“It is a tragedy that chickens have suffered during this time but we have to
remember that scientists and historians disagree on how the chickens died. In
fact, farmers in Turkey are lying about the figures of chickens which have
been
culled. Also, the chickens are not going to be destroyed but are being
relocated from their chicken coops for their own safety. And let’s not forget
that many sheep have died during this period as well and the chickens aren’t
the only ones who suffered. The bottom line is this~E those damn chickens were
siding with their Chinese chicken brothers across the border to overthrow the
status quo in Turkey and if the Turkish government did order their
extermination, then those stupid chickens deserved it! We are the Turkish
Government and we approve of this message.”
I’m imagining a Colonel Sanders type character wearing a red fez, reading
this
message on TV and then cutting to a commercial of Kazakhi Fried Chicken.
Well, all I can say is this: To all the people that were complaining that
Turkey was blockading Armenia for so long, look who’s smiling now! Was there
ever a time you were more happy to hear that Turkey has no trade with Armenia?
Blockade us all you want. What goes around, comes around. You can keep your
border closed and take your bird flu with you! Hayastan will do just fine with
what we have plenty of-pork, the other white meat. I always liked the McRib
better anyway.

Skeptik Sinikian is the current Southern California Zankou Chicken Eating
Champion. This competition is not an official event. It’s organized by Mr.
Sinikian and he is the only participant and three year defending champion. If
you would like to challenge him or suggest an answer to the question in the
title of this article, email him at [email protected] or visit his
ridiculously outdated blog at
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Panorama.am

12:18 14/10/05

ON THE OCCASION OF NECESSITY

The editorial office of `My right’ holds an interesting `document’ showing
what is going on with the land areas of Yerevan.

According to the mentioned document, the General Prosecution department of
RA obtained some interesting information from Yerevan City Municipality
concerning the land distributions implemented in 2002-2003. In the note
directed to the mayor of Yerevan is particularly said the following, `On the
occasion of aroused necessity we ask you to send…. to the General
Prosecution department’. 41 data of exact subjects and some more documents
referring to the subjects and the land distributions are listed in the note.
By the way, we would like to inform you that the Prosecution is mainly
interested in the land distributions in districts `Dzor 1′ and `Dzor 2′ of
Davitashen community.

This is all what the General Prosecution wanted from the Municipality. Of
course, it doesn’t matter when exactly the municipality gave the needed
information; the point is that the municipality doesn’t consider it as
public information (though it is for public as it’s mentioned in the note).

So, that is why the weekly `My right’ decided to provide this information to
the public. According to our links, the prosecution has some suspicions
concerning the land owners and the ways that they have acquired the lands.
And the Prosecution periodically invites some persons for examination.

Panorama.am had a luck to have a talk with one of that persons. This is what
he said, ‘I bought my land in legal way and I am not going to give a single
dram to the prosecution. It is better to give presents or to call other
people to solve this question than to give money to the Prosecution…’.

P.S. You can learn more about these events in the weekly `My right’.

TUFENKYAN FOUNDATION TO REALIZE A NUMBER OF BUSINESS PROJECTS IN NK

deFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 13 2005

The NKR President Arkady Ghoukasyan received a famous businessman
and philanthropist from the U.S. James Tufenkyan.

James Tufenkyan is the founder of Tufenkyan foundation, which has been
acting in Armenia since 1999. He is the owner of a network of hotels,
a number of enterprises for production of carpets, ceramic products
and furniture, as well as some building companies.

According to the information received at the Central Information Agency
under the NKR President, in the course of the meeting the parties
discussed the issues referring to realization of a number of business
projects by Tufenkyan foundation. Mr. Tufenkyan stated he intended
to open the representation of his foundation in Stepanakert for more
effective and productive realization of economic activity in the NKR.

The meeting’s participants also dwelled upon the possibility of
cooperation between Nagorno Karabakh government and Tufenkyan
foundation in the issue referring to the forests’ recovery.

The NKR President Arkady Ghoukasyan expressed his gratitude to the
philanthropist for the contribution to the realization of a number
of social and humanitarian programs in Artsakh.

The NKR Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielyan participated in the
meeting as well.

FRENCH INSURER SETTLES SUIT BY HEIRS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS

Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 13 2005

(AFP) – The heirs of victims of the 1915 Turkish massacre of Armenians
have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit against French insurer
Axa for $17 million, lawyers said Wednesday.

The lawsuit, filed in a California court, accused Axa of failing to
pay death benefits for the insurance policies purchased by Armenians
living in the Ottoman Empire prior to the genocide in which up to
1.5 million people were killed.

“This is an example where dead men can’t speak but they can file
lawsuits,” said Vartkes Yeghiayan. “It writes another chapter about
persistence and hope. The resolution of the case helps the healing
process.”

Under the terms of the deal, announced in Los Angeles, Axa will donate
at least $3 million to various French-based Armenian charities and
another $11 million towards a fund designed to pay out policyholders
of Axa units that did business in the now defunct Turkish-run Ottoman
Empire.

“Certain of these policyholders and beneficiaries were among the
1.5 million Armenians who perished and were unable to obtain their
insurance proceeds in the ensuing chaos,” lawyers for the victims’
descendants said in a statement.

The Axa settlement follows a similar agreement with New York Life
Insurance Company in early 2004 under which it agreed to pay $20
million.

“The AXA and New York Life settlements are important building blocks
not only toward seeking financial recovery for the losses resulting
from the Armenian Genocide but also in our ultimate goal, which is
for Turkey and the US to officially acknowledge the genocide,” said
U.S. celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos.

Geragos, who has represented stars including Michael Jackson and
Winona Ryder, is of Armenian descent. “These cases are historical
because they are the only cases ever brought on behalf of genocide
survivors,” he said.

No comment was immediately available from Axa.

The settlement, subject to court approval, will be administered
in France, which was one of the first countries to recognize the
Armenian genocide.

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA’S MIDDLE EAST MAP ON SHOW

Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Kuwait
Oct 12 2005

LONDON, Oct 12 (KUNA) — A newly-discovered map showing Lawrence of
Arabia’s proposals for the reconstruction of the Middle East after
the First World War is to go on display for the first time, it was
announced here Wednesday.

The map, about to be displayed in the Imperial War Museum, in London,
shows TE Lawrence opposed the allied agreement which eventually
determined the borders of Iraq as it is today.

Lawrence, who presented his proposals to the Eastern Committee of
the War Cabinet in November 1918, suggested instead that there should
be separate governments for the predominantly Kurdish and Arab areas
in what is now Iraq, and for the Mesopotamian Arabs and Armenians in
Syria, the Imperial War Museum said.

These suggested frontiers would have replaced those drawn up in the
allied agreement of 1916, negotiated by Sir Mark Sykes and Francois
Georges-Picot.

Lawrence formed his views during the Arab Revolt of 1916/18 when he
heard the views of men from across the Middle East who were serving
in Feisal’s army.

He was also in contact with other British experts on the Middle East,
including DG Hogarth and Gilbert Clayton.

But the proposals were opposed by the British administration in
Mesopotamia.

The map is one of a number of previous unseen items in the museum’s
new exhibition Lawrence Of Arabia: The Life, The Legend.

— Jeremy Wilson, Lawrence biographer and historical adviser to
the exhibition, said: “The discovery of the map is particularly
interesting.

“It suggests that Lawrence’s proposals were taken fairly seriously, at
least in London. They would have provided the region with a far better
starting point than the crude imperial carve-up agreed by Sykes and
Georges-Picot.” Hania Farhan, regional director of the Middle East and
North Africa, Economist Intelligence Unit (specialized publication),
added: “Among other things, the map shows that the opinions of those
who knew the region well were often ignored, as the colonial powers
in London and Paris had their own agendas and did not appear to care
about the facts on the ground or the people of those areas.

“Lawrence’s proposed borders differ substantially from those that
ended up being put in place.” The exhibition, which runs from October
14 to April 17 2006, also includes the motorcycle Lawrence was riding
when he had his fatal accident on May 13 1935.

RUSSIA TO EU: ‘HANDS OFF MOLDOVA’
Written by Brussels journalist David Ferguson

Euro-reporters.com, Belgium
Oct 11 2005

“You may claim that Moldova is an immediate neighbor of the EU, but
so is Iraq in a certain manner after the opening of negotiations with
Turkey,” said Russia’s EU Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov. Speaking at a
conference examining EU-Russia relations following last week’s London
summit, Chizhov underlined the fundamental agreement between the EU
and Russia. “The main thing is how to move forward.”

The Russian ambassador, whilst welcoming EU and US involvement in
negotiations on a settlement to Moldova’s Transnistrian conflict,
stressed the limits to expanded territorial discussions, especially
with the Baltic states: “Border agreements are not a Russia-EU issue.
They are bilateral matters between Russia and its neighbors.”

So how long will Russian troops be in Moldova, five, ten or even
twenty years? “The troops will certainly leave earlier than those
stationed in Iraq,” joked Chizhov at the Brussels think-tank European
Policy Centre’s conference. “Nobody wants to see these troops back
home more than we do in Russia.”

“Legally borders are a bilateral affair. But the EU is also a community
and we cannot accept that some EU regions have less border security
than others,” said European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee
President Elmar Brok.

Speaking alongside Chizhov, Brok stressed the ‘relations of solidarity’
between EU countries. “The EU is interested in clear borders. This
is in our common interest. We shouldn’t be asking whether a border
problem is in our garden or in yours.” MEP colleague and former
Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis accused Russia of following
a divide-and-rule policy.

“As to the EU’s common border with Russia, Moscow has succeeded in
splitting Europe and turning the issue not into an EU matter but that
of the separate Member States on their own,” said Landsbergis. “This
is a major challenge for the EU. But in London at the EU-Russia summit,
we failed.”

There is, however, a growing EU presence in conflict regions such as
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Georgia. Last week, EU External
Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner signed a memorandum
of understanding with Moldova and Ukraine on a border assistance
mission. Starting on 1 December, with ~@7 million and 50 observers for
an initial 24 months, the mission aids border management, including
customs, on the whole Moldova-Ukraine border.

“This will help prevent trafficking in people, smuggling of goods,
the proliferation of weapons and customs fraud,” said Ferrero-Waldner,
speaking last week in Moldova. “We will deploy a number of mobile
teams, consisting of approximately 50 border guards and customs
officials from EU Member States, to the most relevant locations along
the entire border, including the Transnistrian segment.”

The break-away Transnistria regime in Tiraspol along Moldova’s frontier
with Ukraine has been led by Igor Smirnov. Backed by Moscow, Smirnov
has held out against central authorities in Moldova since the early
1990s. “Moldova will be a neighbour when Romania joins. That is why
Moldova is part of our neighbourhood policy. Obviously, it is in
the EU’s interest that our neighbors have safe and fixed borders,”
said EU External Relations Spokesperson Emma Udwin.

Russian EU Ambassador Chizhov plays down the significance of the
former Soviet 14th Army in Moldova. “The presence of Russian troops in
Moldova doesn’t play any global or regional role. There are less than
1,100 Russian troops. Their primary task is to guard arms stockplies
on Transnistria terrority,” said Chizhov. “But people in Transnistria
also count on them as part of their security. So without a settlement
it would be difficult to agree to a withdrawal.”

For Chizhov, Russian troops in Moldova are peacekeepers, not occupying
forces: “It would be so easy for the Russian troops to leave the arms
and go home. Besides, more than half of the arms, and most of the heavy
equipment, has been withdrawn since the end of the Soviet Union. When
the political dialogue [between Transnistria and Moldovan authorities]
was under way, the trains were leaving with arms once every five
days. When the whole negotiation collapsed, the trains almost halted.”

The Russian EU ambassador also made a plea for more EU coherency. “I
would only welcome a more coherent EU policy on Russia,” said
Chizhov. “That would only make my job easier. But there is one
condition: this policy should not deteriorate into the lowest common
denominator.”

Genocide not the only crime against Armenians, Armenian official says

11.10.2005 12:15

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s letter to
the Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing to set up a joint
commission of historians to study the Armenian issue, was a smart attempt to
trick the international community, Armenian National Assembly Vice-speaker
Vahan Hovhannisian said in his report last week at the NATO-organized
Rose-Roth seminar in Yerevan.

Hovhannisian, who also is a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Bureau, said that besides the 1915 Genocide, Turkey has committed another
crime against Armenians when in 1919, it unleashed a war against the
independent Republic of Armenia.

Before the Turkish aggression — supported by the Russian Bolsheviks —
Armenia’s territory was 70,000 square kilometers, and as a result of the
war, Armenia lost the regions of Kars, Ardahan and Surmalu as well as the
populations of those regions. Hovhannisian said it was an aggression against
a sovereign state, and many of the issues currently destabilizing the South
Caucasus region have been stemming from that very aggression.

Those issues include the Armenian-Azerbaijani and Armenian-Turkish
confrontations. Therefore, Hovhannisian concluded, it would be more
effective to set up an intergovernmental commission, as proposed by
President Kocharian in his response letter, rather than a commission of
historians. Speaking of Turkey’s aspiration to join the European Union,
Hovhannisian said the Turkish society is not yet ready to accept such
European value as admitting guilt. “The Turkish society must first change
itself,” he indicated.

Hovhannisian also hailed Turkish historian Halil Berkta’s position that 1915
events should be qualified clearly as genocide. “His speech would be rather
useful for those Armenian politicians who repeat the Turkish official
position that the Armenian Genocide was a result of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation’s activities,” he added.