Author: Tambiyan Samvel

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S STATEMENT AT “ULTIMATE CRIME, ULTIMATE CHALLENGE. HUMAN
RIGHTS AND GENOCIDE” INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Armenpress

YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS;

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:

We pay tribute to the memory of vanished victims as we commemorate
the 90th anniversary of the tragic events. We do it with doubled pain,
since we are still bound to continue the struggle for the international
recognition of the committed crime.

The First World War aimed at global re-distribution of the world and
the big ideological controversy of the 20th century that followed
became the major obstacles to recognition of the legitimate rights
of the Armenian people. We became victims of the First World War even
though we were not the initiators of that war. And our right for memory
was sacrificed to the Cold War even though we were not its masterminds.

When the planned policy of extermination of the Armenian nation was
executed the term “genocide” did not exist. Nor was it defined. There
were no international structures that could serve as a floor for
discussions to give a united response to that crime of genocide.

Obviously the world is changing. It took time for the world to
treat genocides as crimes against humanity with all the relevant
consequences. It took time to prevent the practice of sacrificing
fundamental humanitarian values to the geopolitical interests of
great powers and to include the moral considerations into foreign
policy making of the civilized world. The avenue of that change was
tragic for many peoples. For the Armenian people the price of that
change equals one and a half million of human lives. Today also the
Armenian question is kept hostage to some geopolitical interests.

Modern technologies allow watching live the military operations
unfolding in different parts of the world, the term “genocide”
is well defined, and numerous regional and universal international
organizations are put in place. Countries are more determined in
responding to a threat or attempt to commit genocide in any part of
the world. However, all this did not protect the humanity from new
genocides. Yugoslavia, Rwanda, East Timor, Sumgait – in all these
places once again innocent people were slaughtered. This comes to
prove that there is a need to amplify the efforts aimed at effective
suppression of the genocidal attempts.

That is exactly why the recognition and condemnation of genocides
is so crucial. Recognition bears in it a huge potential for adequate
response. Prevention of that crime is particularly important.

Condemnation of genocides committed in the past is also very important.
It first of all comes to prove that the crime has no expiration
clause, and those guilty will be brought to justice in any case. It
is important in terms of containment of future genocidal intentions.

It is through recognition and condemnation that states educate their
citizens. The lesson is: the state machinery shall not become a
tool in implementation of that terrible crime. We have the duty of
establishing atmosphere that would exclude any extremist divisions
based on the nationality, ethnos, and religion or along any other
dividing lines, any propaganda of hatred by one group against another.

Another important component is the future fate of a people that
has survived genocide. The Armenian people, due to genocide,
were displaced, became a refugee people and were scattered across
the globe. International recognition of the Armenian Genocide and
necessity of restoration of historic injustice were sacrificed to the
grand politics. Most of the criminals who planned and implemented the
genocide escaped the punishment. Moreover, the remains of Talaat
pasha who was assassinated in Berlin, were returned to Turkey and
buried with honors in Istanbul. It was a sad evidence of carrying
on the baton in relay race of impunity. Humanity pays a tremendously
high price for forgetting such crimes.

Using this opportunity I would like to thank all those countries,
which at different levels have addressed the issue of the Armenian
Genocide and have recognized it, as well as all those individuals and
organizations that have contributed towards that recognition. The
role of Diaspora in that regard is absolutely inestimable. By such
recognition states also say “no” to all possible future genocides. The
number of victims of the Armenian genocide could be incomparably
higher and the fate of survivors much more severe if not for a number
of outstanding individuals, including Morgenthau, Bruce, Nansen,
Verfel, Briusov, Wegner, Lepsius, and many others who stood by our
people in those terrible days.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

The Republic of Armenia, as an independent state, has put its position
straight forward: recognition of the Armenian Genocide is also
important for prevention of future possible genocides. Recognition is
important for Armenian-Turkish relations, since it could give answers
to many questions that exist between our two peoples, it would allow
to look ahead.

We remember the past with pain, but without hatred. For us it is
difficult to comprehend the response of the Turkish side, which
is represented not only by the denial of the past, but also by the
blockade of today’s Armenia. We have come across a paradox that still
needs to be understood. The perpetrator, not the victim is furious
with the past.

We are confident that international recognition of the Genocide will
help Turkey to come to terms with its own past and to overcome the
complex which is inherited from generation to generation and which
creates additional complexities in the relations of our neighboring
nations.

I once again welcome all of you and wish you effective work. Thank you.

Armenian Genocide Commemorative Events

Fresno State News (California State Univ, Fresno), CA
April 20 2005

Begin April 22 at Fresno State

The Armenian Studies Program and Armenian Students Organization at
California State University Fresno will commemorate the Armenian
Genocide with events on Friday, April 22, and April 26. All events
are free and open to the public.

The commemoration marks the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the
genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey.

On Friday, April 22, events will begin at noon in the Free Speech
area. A variety of invited guests and students will speak, followed by
the placing of flowers on a model of the Armenian Martyr~Rs memorial
in Yerevan, Armenia. The public is welcome to participate.

At 7:30 p.m. that night, the film “Germany and the Secret Genocide”
will make its Fresno premiere. It will be shown in McLane Hall,
room 121, on the Fresno State campus. Directed and written by Dr. J.
Michael Hagopian, the film documents Germany’s relationship with
Ottoman Turkey during the Armenian Genocide. The film showing will
be followed by a candlelight vigil.

On Tuesday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m. Dr. James Reid will speak on
“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Armenian Genocide Narratives”
in the Alice Peters Auditorium, room 191 of the University Business
Center on campus.

Reid is the author of several books, including ~SCrisis of the
Ottoman Empire: Prelude to Collapse, 1839-1878.~T From 2001-2003
he was the director of the Vryonis Center, following 10 years as a
senior research fellow at the center. He has written extensively on
the Ottoman Empire and modern Greece. Reid holds a Ph.D. from the
University of California at Los Angeles.

His talk will examine the psychological responses of both survivors
of genocide and the psyche of perpetrators, a topic he has been
researching for more than 20 years.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Psychology Department at Fresno
State and Armenian Students Organization. Parking will be relaxed in
Lots A and J after 7 p.m. for the lecture.

For more information on the events contact the Armenian Studies
Program at (559) 278-2669.

NO PRECONDITIONS FOR EXTRA PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION IN ARMENIA

Pan Armenian News
19.04.2005 05:39

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today there are no preconditions for extra
parliamentary election in Armenia, Secretary of the National Security
Council at the President of Armenia, Defense Minister Serge Sargsian
stated in the course of a press conference today. In his words,
the rumor that the ruling coalition has exhausted itself is not
justified – otherwise it would have collapsed. The matter is that
political parties in Armenia hold an electoral campaign just after
the election, he added. Commenting over statements on a possible
revolution in Armenia, Serge Sargsian noted there are people who do not
see themselves in any other role than a revolutionary. In his words,
Mikhail Saakashvili and Victor Yuschenko have chosen the civilized
way of change of authorities, however it is possible only in case
the ruling authorities are not able to fulfill their duties.

THE UNITED STATES IS ENTRENCHING ITSELF IN THE STRATEGIC CASPIAN REGION

Southern Urals and Siberia will find themselves under American control

Nezavisimaya Gazeta
April 15, 2005, pp. 1, 5

WPS: Defense & Security

By Anatoly Gordiyenko, Sokhbet Mamedov, Vladimir Ivanov, Vladimir Mukhin

Russian military analysts suspect that Washington is aiming for a
trilateral alliance in the Caspian Sea region, comprising the United
States, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. The White House hopes to involve
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and probably Turkey at some later date.

A new area of Russian-American confrontation is taking shape in
the Caspian region. Azerbaijan appears to be at its center. Some
significant events are taking place in Baku. Three ships from the
Russian Caspian Flotilla (two of them missile boats Tatarstan and
Stupinets) will visit Baku later today. Counter-Admiral Vladimir
Lomakin, Military Attache of the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan, says
that the visit is timed for the 60th anniversary of victory in World
War II, and is supposed to “facilitate friendly relations between our
countries and make the Caspian a sea of friendship and trust.” That
the visit will also serve the purpose of demonstrating the might of
the Russian Navy is tactfully omitted.

In the meantime, the purpose of the visit as proclaimed by Lomakin
is viewed in Azerbaijan with some scepticism. This demonstration of
“friendly relations” is taking place three days after US Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s unexpected visit to Baku. This was
Rumsfeld’s third visit to Azerbaijan in the last three years. As
the official explanation puts it, Rumsfeld and the leaders of
Azerbaijan discussed “matters of bilateral cooperation within
the counter-terrorism coalition and assistance for Azerbaijan’s
integration into NATO.” Arriving in Baku on the evening of April 12,
however, Rumsfeld missed President Ilham Aliyev by a few hours; the
president has just left for Pakistan. So Rumsfeld met with Defense
Minister Safar Abiyev and other senior state officials at the airport.

It should be noted that both Washington and Baku have been very
quiet about Rumsfeld’s blitz-visit. Only on the morning of April
13, when Rumsfeld had already departed, did the Azerbaijani Defense
Ministry released a brief statement to the effect that “development
of Azerbaijani-American military cooperation” had been discussed. US
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Rino Harnisch said that the two sides
had discussed “American aid to Azerbaijan in the implementation of
Azerbaijan-NATO individual partnership” and that a team of American
officers had already come to Azerbaijan. He did not specify their
purpose.

Desperate for details, Azerbaijan’s newspapers focused their attention
on the recent statement of SACEUR General James Jones. The missing
details were all there. According to Jones, the United States intends
to establish special task forces and military bases in Azerbaijan –
to secure all of the Caspian region.

Harnisch is rumored to be the senior proponent of establishing American
special task forces in Azerbaijan: also known as the Caspian Watch
and military bases.

The Caspian Watch is essentially the advanced guard of the US European
Command, with headquarters in Stuttgart, whose zone of responsibility
includes the Caspian region. The Wall Street Journal maintains that the
Caspian Watch command center, equipped with sophisticated radar, will
be located in Baku. The newspaper claims that the US Administration
intends to spend approximately $100 million on the Caspian Watch in
the next 10 years.

It certainly seems that official Baku has already made up its mind on
the matter of the Pentagon’s Caspian Watch. A source in the Azerbaijani
Defense Ministry claims that the cite of the future headquarters is
already known. Headquarters will be located on the territory of a
military unit in the outskirts. The same source says that the team
of American officers in Baku has already set up a training center
for local personnel to be involved in the Caspian Watch program.

Russian military analysts suspect that Washington is aiming for a
trilateral alliance in the region, comprising the United States,
Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. The White House hopes to involve
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and probably Turkey at some later date.

The Caspian Watch will include a system of air and sea situation
monitoring and rapid response and border control forces. The structure
will resemble the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council set up in 1997
to facilitate cooperation and interaction between NATO countries.

Judging by official explanations, the Caspian Watch is being
established to fight the nuclear aspirations of rogue regimes. Among
other things, an attempt is under way to surround Iran with a ring
of military bases – to keep an eye on this Islamic state, potentially
the most dangerous from the point of view of nuclear security.

Moscow is suspicious of all these plans, and not only because it is
cooperating with Iran. The Caspian region has always been a Russian
influence zone. This American “invasion” jeopardizes Russia’s
defense interests, because it opens up a strategic route to the
industrially-developed Urals area at the center of Russia.

Meanwhile, the security structures in the Southern federal district
have held counter-terrorism command exercises. The exercise began on
April 12, and is still under way. Units of the 58th Army, a separate
motorized infantry brigade, and the 7th Airborne Division are involved
– not to mention some vessels from the Caspian Flotilla.

In other words, a covert Russian-American struggle for influence is
under way in this region. It also seems that the Americans will stop
at nothing to boost their influence.

Needless to say, the Americans’ advance into the Caspian region
indicates another failure for Russian foreign policy. Moscow is
calling for demilitarization of the region, but at the same time it
is undertaking to consolidate Caspian navies in its own interests.
But the interests of various Caspian countries are far from
homogenous. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan want stronger
navies. Russia cannot help them with that, but the United States can
and does. Kazakhstan is about to receive a gift from the Americans:
a ship of 1,000 tons. American money is paying to rebuild the coastal
military infrastructure of Kazakhstan. Washington is extending the
same offer to Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan in return for oil. As
for Moscow, it is trying to sit on the fence. On the one hand, it
promised Kazakhstan assistance in establishint a navy (two ships from
the Russian Caspian Flotilla will be turned over to Kazakhstan before
the year is out). On the other hand, Russia insists on demilitarizing
the region. Yet militarization of the region is under way, with help
from America. A wedge is being driven into relations between Russia
and its neighbors in the Caspian region.

“This is another element in the American strategy of global dominance,”
says Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, former commander of the Main
Directorate of International Cooperation at the Defense Ministry.
“Washington is still building a monopolar world, with the United
States itself at the top and all the rest down below. Control over
the Caucasus-Caspian and Central Asian regions is being established
in accordance with the decisions of the NATO Istanbul summit last
summer, where the Caucasus and the Caspian region were proclaimed a
strategic region. The decision was made at the highest possible level.
Unfortunately for Russian diplomacy, the Defense Ministry didn’t even
bother to ask NATO at the time what this is supposed to mean.”

Translated by A. Ignatkin

New York Times
April 17 2005

Mr. Bush, Take a Look at MTV
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

When Turkey was massacring Armenians in 1915, the administration of
Woodrow Wilson determinedly looked the other way. The U.S. ambassador
in Constantinople sent furious cables to Washington, pleading for
action against what he called “race murder,” but the White House
shrugged.

It was, after all, a messy situation, and there was no easy way to
stop the killing. The U.S. was desperate to stay out of World War I
and reluctant to poison relations with Turkey.

A generation later, American officials said they were too busy
fighting a war to worry about Nazi death camps. In May 1943, the U.S.
government rejected suggestions that it bomb Auschwitz, saying that
aircraft weren’t available.

In the 1970’s, the U.S. didn’t try to stop the Cambodian genocide. It
was a murky situation in a hostile country, and there was no perfect
solution. The U.S. was also negotiating the establishment of
relations with China, the major backer of the Khmer Rouge, and didn’t
want to upset that process.

Much the same happened in Bosnia and Rwanda. As Samantha Power
chronicles in her superb book, “A Problem From Hell: America and the
Age of Genocide,” the pattern was repeated over and over: a slaughter
unfolded in a distant part of the world, but we had other priorities
and it was always simplest for the American government to look away.

Now President Bush is writing a new chapter in that history.

Sudan’s army and janjaweed militias have spent the last couple of
years rampaging in the Darfur region, killing boys and men,
gang-raping and then mutilating women, throwing bodies in wells to
poison the water and heaving children onto bonfires. Just over a week
ago, 350 assailants launched what the U.N. called a “savage” attack
on the village of Khor Abeche, “killing, burning and destroying
everything in their paths.” Once again, there’s no good solution. So
we’ve looked away as 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur, with
another 10,000 dying every month.

Since I’m of Armenian origin, I’ve been invited to participate in
various 90th-anniversary memorials of the Armenian genocide. But we
Armenian-Americans are completely missing the lesson of that genocide
if we devote our energies to honoring the dead, instead of trying to
save those being killed in Darfur.

Meanwhile, President Bush seems paralyzed in the face of the
slaughter. He has done a fine job of providing humanitarian relief,
but he has refused to confront Sudan forcefully or raise the issue
himself before the world. Incredibly, Mr. Bush managed to get through
recent meetings with Vladimir Putin, Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair and
the entire NATO leadership without any public mention of Darfur.

There’s no perfect solution, but there are steps we can take. Mr.
Bush could impose a no-fly zone, provide logistical support to a
larger African or U.N. force, send Condoleezza Rice to Darfur to show
that it’s a priority, consult with Egypt and other allies – and above
all speak out forcefully.

One lesson of history is that moral force counts. Sudan has curtailed
the rapes and murders whenever international attention increased.

Mr. Bush hasn’t even taken a position on the Darfur Accountability
Act and other bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senators Jon
Corzine and Sam Brownback to put pressure on Sudan. Does Mr. Bush
really want to preserve his neutrality on genocide?

Indeed, MTV is raising the issue more openly and powerfully than our
White House. (Its mtvU channel is also covering Darfur more
aggressively than most TV networks.) It should be a national
embarrassment that MTV is more outspoken about genocide than our
president.

If the Bush administration has been quiet on Darfur, other countries
have been even more passive. Europe, aside from Britain, has been
blind. Islamic Relief, the aid group, has done a wonderful job in
Darfur, but in general the world’s Muslims should be mortified that
they haven’t helped the Muslim victims in Darfur nearly as much as
American Jews have. And China, while screaming about Japanese
atrocities 70 years ago, is underwriting Sudan’s atrocities in 2005.

On each of my three visits to Darfur, the dispossessed victims showed
me immense kindness, guiding me to safe places and offering me water
when I was hot and exhausted. They had lost their homes and often
their children, and they seemed to have nothing – yet in their
compassion to me they showed that they had retained their humanity.
So it appalls me that we who have everything can’t muster the simple
humanity to try to save their lives.

A1plus

| 16:27:59 | 15-04-2005 | Politics |

SOURENYAN SPOKE, BAZEYAN DID NOT

Today the 4th session of the Republican Party took place, in which al the
parties of the opposition were invited. Tigran Karapetyan, Marxist David
Hakobyan, Ararat Zourabyan and all the parties of the Justice bloc with
Stepan Demirchyan were present.

Aramazd Zaqaryan noted that a change of authorities should have occurred
three times – after October 27, on February 20, 2003, and on April 12, 2004.
«And in all the case the fault is ours when we think how to oppose each
other».

And Sourenyants criticized Russia in his speech announcing that no change of
authorities occurred because the opposition did not understand the role of
the RF. He noted that no one can deny the Karabakh conflict or the Armenian
Genocide but the solution must be looked for no in opposing each other but
in the dialogues. Souren Sourenyants repeated hi opinion about the necessity
of Armenian to joint the NATO and the EU.

Those preset expected Albert Bazeyan to make a speech, but he did not.
Neither did he want to answer the questions of the journalists.

At present the elections of the party political council and the council
president are in progress.

IranMania, Iran
April 15 2005

Iran, Armenia to broaden consular cooperation

LONDON, April 15 (IranMania) – The first joint consular meeting
between Iran and Armenia was held in Yerevan on Thursday.

The meeting held concurrently with the current visit of the Iranian
foreign ministry’s director general in charge of consular affairs
Rasoul Mohajer, studied social affairs of Iranian and Armenian
nationals in both countries as well as consular issues.

In the first round of talks, the two sides underlined the important
role of such meetings in promoting good-will among neighboring
countries.

In the two-day meeting a number of issues concerning social affairs,
residence of Iranian and Armenian nationals, easing formalities for
issuance of visas, education and transportation are to be discussed
by the two sides.

Both sides underlined that having good-will in developing ties in
various fields and the historical commonalties shared by the two
countries are considered as suitable back-up for deepening of such
ties.

The Armenian side, for his part, called the presence of Iranian
university students in Armenia as very effective and underlined that
the Yerevan government is to provide them with their required
facilities.

The Iranian delegation is scheduled to confer with a number of
Armenian officials on issues of mutual interests.

The Messenger, Georgia
April 15 2005

Reviving business in Georgia
By Mary Makharashvili

Business leaders and economists at Thursday’s forum
How to stimulate investment and the establishment of new businesses
was the focus of a round table discussion on Reviving Business in
Georgia on Thursday.

Economists, businessmen and government officials met in the Courtyard
Marriott hotel to discuss how to stimulate business activity, why
there is so little direct investment, and what the Georgian
government should do to increase exports to European markets

Economist Ivan Samson from the University of Grenoble in France
explained that the aim of the discussion was to understand and
classify the obstacles to setting up new enterprises and investment
more generally, particularly in areas where domestic demand exists,
but tends to initiate more trade than production.

“Another major issue is to identify the incentives for legalizing
gray or semi-gray activities,” he added.

He recommended that in Georgia small enterprises should become the
engine of economic growth: “They will become the basis of the birth
of medium size firms, which are currently totally absent.”

“Business needs a sound, transparent and stable economic environment
for working. This is what a strong state, supported by a large amount
of its population, is available to provide,” Samson said.

The new Tax Code, the conference participants felt, was a step
forward, but they said it still needs refinement, particularly
regarding the simplification of rules.

Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce Georgia Amy
Denman added that other aspects of the government’s work had helped
too.

“I do think that the government was successful in working with
businesses in order to weed out corruption and help them to do
business more legally. I think that the new customs code will help as
well,” she said.

However, Denman added that, “the long term step is to relieve fiscal
pressure. We understand that the country is desperately looking for
revenues, but it also needs to look long term and reduce the fiscal
pressure and create incentives to compete with neighboring
countries.”

According to her, companies that are currently working on the ground
have seen a number of changes over the past year. She says that the
Tax Code and an Amnesty initiative have together allowed businesses
to work more legally.

“This is good for business and good for government. There is more
work to be done because, in general, in order to attract new
investment you need to make current investors happy,” she said.

Talking with The Messenger General Manager of Nestle Georgia &
Armenia Esben Emborg said that good legislation is essential.

“It is important to have a level playing field; conditions have to be
the same for everyone. Businesses are impatient but the government is
definitely on the right track,” he said.

One particular area he felt the government had done well was to work
together with business. “I think what was very interesting about the
tax code was that the government and business sat down and worked out
a tax code, which was far from perfect, but it’s not bad. It is much
better in comparison with the old one. We are moving forward,” he
said.

Speaking with The Messenger Deputy State Minister for European
Integration Tamar Beruchashvili said that the government clearly
understands that a stable environment is one of the main components
for stimulating business in Georgia.

“We know that a number of legislative acts needs to be changed, but
on the other hand the changes, even though positive, create a very
unstable environment. That is why it is very important that business
be actively involved in not only the decision-making, but also in the
process of formulating this decision,” she said.

According to her, a second important issue is deregulation, which she
says also has “its rules of the game.” She says that deregulation
should not be understood as anarchy, as those issues which concern
the security of people’s lives and health will always remain under
the subordination of the state.

Nevertheless, there is a need for deregulation, and changes to
legislation, Beruchashvili said, citing the Customs code as one
example.

“Creating a Customs Code according to international norms and
standards is vitally important. The functions of customs should be
clearly determined and the procedures should be maximally simple.
There should be no discrimination,” she said.

Formulating new laws is not enough, however, the deputy state
minister said, admitting, “unfortunately our weak point is that the
written laws are much better on paper than in implementation.”

Talking about the European market Beruchashvili said that this is the
most attractive market for Georgia. “Georgian mineral waters, fruits,
vegetables and honey have real perspective of entering the European
market,” she said.

Unfortunately, it is also one of the hardest to enter. For example,
she said that it took a full year for Georgian wine to pass through
all the procedures to be formally recognized and legally sold on the
European market.

Deputy Minister for Economic Development Tamar Kovziridze, meanwhile,
highlighted three areas in which the government can support business.

“The first is legislative changes with regard to deregulation and
more concretely the issuing of licenses and permits. Our ministry is
now working on how to simplify legislation. This will be a very
important legislative package,” she declared.

“The second component is institutional. The prime minister has
started regular meetings with businessmen – the so-called Investment
Council. It is very important that certain decisions will be made
within the framework of this council and based on such discussions.”

The third component highlighted by Kovziridze relates to
international PR. “I mean the regular investment forums in different
countries organized by the ministry. It is known that the first
investment forum was held in London and then in Rome. At the end of
May a similar forum is planned in Berlin and Vienna, and in September
in Japan,” she said.

“At this forum there will be a presentation of the country’s economic
and financial policy. Over 200-250 people will participate in these
forums and I think this is one of the most important initiatives to
get the representatives of international business acquainted with
everything that is taking place in Georgia,” the deputy minister
added.

Azeri leader, BP manager discuss progress on major oil pipeline

Azartac news agency, Baku
14 Apr 05

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received the president of the
Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), David Woodward, at
the presidential office on 14 April.

Mr Woodward described as a significant event the extraction in
February of the first oil from the Central Azari platform operating on
the Azari-Ciraq-Gunasli oil fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the
Caspian Sea. The AIOC president added that work on this area has been
successfully progressing.

He expressed his confidence that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan [oil
pipeline] project would be completed in the near future and oil would
be successfully transported through the pipeline.

The Azerbaijani president described the extraction of the first oil
from the Central Azari platform as the beginning of a great oil era in
Azerbaijan and pointed to the fact that work on this area was
progressing successfully.

President Aliyev expressed his confidence that this work would also
continue in the future and the commissioning of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan global energy project would open up a new era in
cooperation with the AIOC.

Le Télégramme , France
14 avril 2005

Génocide arménien. La Turquie fait un geste d’ouverture

Quatre-vingt-dix ans après les faits, la Turquie accepte de débattre
des massacres d’Arméniens de 1915-1917.

Officiellement, pour la Turquie, il n’y a pas eu de génocide arménien
en 1915-1917. Elle reconnaît que des massacres ont été perpétrés et
que de nombreux Arméniens sont morts de fatigue, de maladie ou
d’attaques commises notamment par des bandes kurdes lors de leur
déportation.

Mais elle affirme qu’il s’agissait d’une répression dans un empire en
déclin contre une population coupable de collaboration avec l’ennemi
russe, dans un contexte de guerre, et que des dizaines de milliers de
Turcs ont été tués au même moment par des rebelles nationalistes
arméniens.

Les massacres et les déportations d’Arméniens ont fait plus d’un
million de morts, selon les Arméniens, et jusqu’à 300.000 morts selon
les Turcs.

Réponse à une campagne arménienne

Pour la première fois, pourtant, le Parlement turc a débattu hier sur
ce sujet. Dans un contexte il est vrai particulier. Il s’agit pour la
Turquie de prendre des contre-mesures face à une campagne arménienne
pour la reconnaissance en tant que génocide des massacres
d’Arméniens.

C’est lors de ce débat que le ministre des Affaires étrangères
Abdullah Gu l a annoncé que le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip
Erdogan avait écrit au président arménien Robert Kotcharian , lui
proposant la création d ‘ une commission conjointe afin d ‘ enquêter
sur les massacres des Arméniens.

Pour Abdullah Gul, la mise en place de cette commission constituera
it un premier pas vers la normalisation des relations avec l ‘
Arménie.

La Turquie, où vivent actuellement 45.000 Arméniens, a reconnu
l’Arménie à son indépendance en 1991, mais sans établir de relations
diplomatiques, en raison du profond différend sur le s massacres . La
frontière entre les deux pays est fermée depuis 1993.

Pas d’ extermination systématique et massive

La position turque, qu’Abdullah Gul a ré pétée hier, ne semble
cependant pas près d’évoluer. Le ministre des Affaires étrangères a
affirmé que l ‘ administration ottomane n ‘ avait jamais ordonné une
extermination systématique et massive de la population arménienne sur
son territoire.

« La Turquie est en paix avec son histoire dont elle est fière » ,
a-t-il encore di t .

Le ministre s ‘ en est aussi pris à plusieurs pays, dont la France,
qui ont reconnu dans leurs parlements les tueries d ‘ Arméniens comme
un génocide.

Certains hommes politiques de l’Union européenne ont appelé la
Turquie à un « travail de mémoire » et affirmé que le sujet serait
une des questions que la Turquie devrait régler avant le début de ses
négociations d’adhésion à l’Union, programmé pour le 3 octobre.

GRAPHIQUE: Photo, Legende: Le ministre des Affaires étrangères turc
Abdullah Gul (à gauche), avec Jean-Claude Juncker, président en
exercice de l’Union européenne. Le travail de mémoire sur les
massacres d’Arméniens est l’une des questions à régler avant le début
des négociations d’entrée dans l’UE. (Photo AFP)