Author: Tashjian Arbi

CENSURE MOTION AGAINST TURKISH PM, INTERIOR MINISTER VOTED DOWN

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Feb 28 2007

The motion against Erdogan and Aksu was easily defeated, the margin
being well over two to one against.

Guncelleme: 16:41 TSÝ 28 Þubat 2007 CarþambaANKARA – A censure motion
against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Interior
Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, was rejected by the parliament late Tuesday.

The motion, tabled by the opposition Republican People’s party (CHP)
called for the establishing of parliamentary committees of inquiry to
investigate claims that the two had failed to carry out their duties
of office.

The motion was defeated by a vote of 321 to 118.

The CHP had alleged that Erdogan and Aksu did not fulfil their duties
and caused public loss in ten incidents that occurred in recent years.

Among these were the murder of Doc. Dr. Necip Hablemitoglu, illegal
telephone tapping cases, terrorist attacks staged in Istanbul in
November 2003, attacks against Cumhuriyet daily and the Council of
State, and the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

–Boundary_(ID_z96J906TNUWnA3+QhA9lcw)–

AGSHIN MEHDIYEV: "DRAFT RESOLUTION ON "FROZEN CONFLICTS" WILL BE BROUGHT TO VOTE IN UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY"

Today, Azerbaijan
Feb 28 2007

The draft resolution on "Frozen conflicts in the CIS states" will
be brought to vote in the session of the UN General Assembly to last
until September, 2007, Ambassador Agshin Mehdiyev, head of Azerbaijani
representative office in the UN told.

The diplomat did not agree to the statement that these conflicts
should not be discussed in the UN. Mehdiyev said that the UN General
Assembly’s any resolution on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will
base on international juridical norms and express the most prominent
organizations’ position. This will make OSCE and other international
organizations act in the framework of these norms.

The Ambassador noted that therefore Armenia does not want this
resolution to be brought to vote.

Mehdiyev said the OSCE report on arsons recorded in the front line
last year has already been presented to the UN. He noted that the
report does not mention who committed the arsons.

The Ambassador said the report recommends establishing joint
commissions in the front line and providing the local residents with
agricultural equipment.

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ONLY ARGUMENT OF KEEPING ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN UNDER CUSTODY IS HIS BEING FOREIGN CITIZEN, LAWYER VAHE GRIGORIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 26 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The only motivation of keeping
Zhirayr Sefilian, the Coordinator of Defence of Liberated Territories
public initiative, under custody is the circumstance of his being a
foreign citizen. His lawyer, Vahe Grigorian made such a statement at
the February 26 press conference.

In his words, this was the motivation of Appeal Court on Criminal and
Military Cases for its keeping unchanged on February 23 the first
instance court’s decision on rejecting the petition to replace the
pawn by arrest. V. Grigorian reminded that before being arrested
Zhirayr Sefilian had repeatedly applied to the President for
receiving citizenship, but in vain. While, in V. Grigorian’s words,
according to Article 11, RA Constitution, foreigners of Armenian
origin receive citizenship of Armenia by simplified order, which,
however, does not work in case of Z. Sefilian. V. Grigorian added
that Article 301 of RA Criminal Code, which determines criminal
liability for making public appeals for forcibly seizing the power
or overthrowing the constitutional order "is used by law enforcement
bodies selectively." According to his observation, for the present,
only oppositionists have been called for liability by the above
mentioned article. Besides, as V. Grigorian emphasized, sharper
appeals than Sefilian’s appeal "let’s be organized" are voiced by
press and TV every day.

POLAND IS READY TO MEDIATE ARMENIAN-TURKISH RAPPROCHEMENT

Arminfo
2007-02-26 16:23:00

Poland is ready to mediate Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, Polish FM
Anna Fotyga said during a press-conference in Yerevan today.

"We are ready to mediate between the sides rather than to represent
the interests of either of them," Fotyga said. She noted that Poland
has good relations with both Turkey and Armenia. Turkey recognized
our independence when Poland was having hard times. It is a special
situation but Poland is ready to help if both sides ask it to.

Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan said that it is an interesting proposal
and Armenia will use it if need be. But such steps should not be an
end in itself, otherwise, they will give no results.

Wireless Design & Development Asia, Singapore
Feb 23 2007

Armenian Datacom to expand service offering over converged
Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS backbone

Armenian Datacom Company selected Alcatel-Lucent to supply an IP/MPLS
network to deliver high quality data and Internet services to
business and residential customers. Covering most of the Armenian
capital city of Yerevan, Alcatel-Lucent’s IP/MPLS network will allow
Armenian Datacom to benefit from a wider variety of service offerings
and increased service flexibility. Once deployed, the operator can
provide advanced services such as high speed Internet (HSI) and
virtual private LAN services (VPLS) for corporate customers. By
running all services on a single, next generation IP infrastructure,
Armenian Datacom can achieve significant economies of scale and
maximize profitability of services while streamlined and simplified
network management tools will result in significant operational
savings.

"By leveraging Alcatel-Lucent’s IP portfolio of products, Armenian
Datacom Company can offer advanced business and residential services
for the first time in Armenia," said Harald Grytten, CEO, Armenian
Datacom. "Implementing Alcatel-Lucent’s leading-edge solutions gives
us the business and technology tools we need to compete and to offer
subscribers a variety of converged services."

"As an early supplier of cutting edge IP/MPLS solutions in Armenia,
we are in a position to contribute to further development and
modernization of the data infrastructure in Armenia," said Basil
Alwan, President, Alcatel-Lucent’s IP activities. "Armenian Datacom
is able to leverage the unique features of our IP/MPLS solution to
provide a new generation of services to its customers."

Armenian Datacom joins a list of more than 160 service providers in
over 60 countries who have selected the Alcatel-Lucent IP portfolio,
including massive, multi-year IP network and service transformation
projects at AT&T, BT, Cable & Wireless, and Telstra. According to
Ovum-RHK, Alcatel-Lucent was #2 in the IP/MPLS Edge market segment in
Q4 2006, with 19% market share.

Prosecutors launch probe into Dink funeral slogans

Today’s Zaman
23.02.07

The prosecutor’s office for Istanbul’s Þiþli district has launched an
investigation into Þiþli Mayor Mustafa Sarýgül and the committee that
organized the funeral for journalist Hrant Dink, the slain editor of
the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, for the slogans "We are all
Armenian; We are all Hrant Dink," according to a report from Milliyet
daily.

The slogans were printed on posters and chanted by marchers during
Dink’s funeral procession through downtown Istanbul. Last month,
hundreds of thousands of Turks poured into the streets of Istanbul
after Hrant Dink’s murder, many chanting, "We are all Hrant Dink; We
are all Armenian," in an unprecedented display of solidarity. The
slogans angered ultranationalist circles and drew criticism from even
moderately nationalistic groups.

A reporter for a local daily in the northern city of Sinop, Mete
Çaðdaþ, filed a complaint to the local prosecutor’s office in
Sinop. Çaðdaþ’s application accused Þiþli Mayor Mustafa Sarýgül and
the funeral organizers of turning the atmosphere at the funeral into
one for a fallen "militant," a term used subjectively in this case to
discredit the legitimacy of the protests.

The application read: "Those in the procession chanted, ‘We are all
Hrant; We are all Armenian,’ and carried banners with the same
expressions. Is this not racism?"

Çaðdaþ’s complaint also claimed that the slogan "Murderer 301,"
suggesting that anti-free speech penal code Article 301 under which
Dink had been tried and convicted was a major factor behind the
killing, was itself an insult to the Turkish Penal Code, which in turn
was a violation of the law. Mayor Sarýgül and the organizers were also
blamed for not having unfurled any flags of the Republic of Turkey,
the complaint file noted.

According to Milliyet’s report, the chief prosecutor’s office in Sinop
had no jurisdiction in the case and relayed the file to the Þiþli
chief prosecutor’s office in late January. Þiþli prosecutors launched
an investigation which might end up in a law suit against the
organizers or in dismissal. In either case, the Þiþli office will have
to make a statement clarifying its opinion of the funeral slogans.

lar.do?load=detay&link=103656

International Pen
By Angus Watson

FT
February 23 2007 16:54

On January 19 2007, the Armenian-Turkish writer Hrant Dink was shot
dead for something he didn’t say. A 17-year-old named Ogün
Samast confessed to the murder: `I read on the internet that he said:
`I am from Turkey, but Turkish blood is dirty’, and I decided to kill
him. I have no regrets.’ Dink had said nothing of the sort. However,
he had been charged repeatedly under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal
code, which makes it a crime to insult `Turkishness’, and so was on a
hate list for ultra-nationalistic Turks.

`There is increasing international awareness that Article 301 led
directly to Dink’s death,’ says Caroline McCormick, executive director
of International PEN, a charity that champions freedom of speech, or,
as PEN member Tom Stoppard points out: `not free speech ` one cannot
shout `Fire!’ in a crowded cinema ` but free comment on the way that
society operates.’

In Turkey, International PEN is using its weight as literature
representative for Unesco and adviser to the European Union on
Turkey’s membership: `We are trying to have 301 abolished,’ explains
McCormick. `I think we have a realistic chance.’

Turkish writer Elif Shafak was arrested last year under 301 for the
views of a fictional character in her novel The Bastard of Istanbul:
`International PEN was very active before and during my trial,’ she
says. Despite her acquittal, however, she has `become more anxious
when writing. Laws such as Article 301 breed self-censure and that is
their biggest danger. Self-censure is worse than any legal fine.’

Defending writers’ freedom is just one role of International
PEN. McCormick says: `PEN has three goals. First, to promote
literature. This goal is often overlooked, when it’s the frame of
reference for everything we do. The second is freedom of expression,
the third to develop a world community of writers and readers.’

The charity was founded in London in 1921 for Poets, Playwrights,
Essayists and Novelists (PPEN became PEN), and early members included
Joseph Conrad and HG Wells. Membership is now open to all professional
writers, and PEN has 15,000 members in 144 centres in 101
countries. It is funded by membership, bodies such as Unesco, national
governments, and corporate and private sponsorship.

International PEN is a `bottom-up’ construction, in that local PENs
are created by writers who form a group then apply to the central
body. Stoppard explains the inspiration to form a PEN: `I always felt
that being a writer was somewhere between a stroke of luck and a
privilege. Joining PEN helps offset that feeling of privilege.’

A PEN is currently forming in Iraq. McCormick is at pains to point out
that this was instigated by Iraqi writers. Shafak says: `It is very
important that International PEN’s work is a collaboration. When a
western organisation’s move is interpreted as an `goutside
intervention’ it serves only to create a backlash.’

Stoppard says: `When I joined PEN there was a rallying cry that we
couldn’t do anything for anybody else’s freedom if we didn’t look
after our own?.?.?. ?Yet there’s been continuous
encroachment on personal liberty here [in Britain]. Regulations that
lay down markers for how we behave are proliferating. This erosion of
freedom is actually more insidious than locking up a high-profile
writer. For someone who’s just had their seventh grandchild, I think
life is pretty depressing but I like to think that it would be worse
without PEN. ‘

Last year English PEN launched its Freedom of Expression Is No Offence
campaign. Perhaps we should express ourselves by rallying behind it.

Tel: +44 (0)20-7405 0338
_ ()

NUMBER OF ARFD’S VOTES AT FORTHCOMING ELECTIONS DEPENDS ON NUMBER OF EXPECTED FALSIFICATIONS, ARMEN RUSTAMIAN CONSIDERS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 22 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. ARFD’s preelectoral proportional
list will be published until March 3. Armen Rustamian, representative
of ARFD Armenian Supreme Body, declared this at the February 22 press
conference. He said that party’s renowned figures are included in
that list. As A. Rustamian forecast, as a growth of indices of votes
– from 8% to 11%, received by ARFD was registered at the previous
two parliamentary elections, at the forthcoming elections they also
expect growth of votes given for them. In his words, the indices to be
registered by ARFD to some extent depend on the number of expected
falsifications. A. Rustamian said that electoral falsifications
"flourish" especially in case of majoritarian system, therefore ARFD
will nominate few candidates by majoritarian system.

Meanwhile A. Rustamian said that "the number of breathless
ballot-papers is not electorate yet:" electorate is the people who
accept Dashnaktsutiun’s ideas and come to vote. In his words, today
ARFD has 7 thousand members in Armenia, who in case of the respective
appeal will come to the square, while parties having hundreds of
thousands of members cannot gather even 0.1% of this number.

WOMEN FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF ARMENIA ARE INVOLVED IN SAME GROUP WITH AZERIS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 21 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, NOYAN TAPAN. Sortition of the qualification stage
of the 2007-2008 Europe football championship of girls below 19 years
old took place at the UEFA headquarters office on February 19. National
teams of 44 countries were divided into 11 sub-groups. The Armenian
team was involved in the 7th group where its rivals are teams of
Ukraine, Scotland and Azerbaijan. It is envisaged to hold the group
tournament in Baku, but it is possible to hold it in Ukraine at the
UEFA proposal.

The Europe football championship of girls below 17 years old will be
held in 2007 for the first time. The Armenian team is involved in
the 5th qualification group and will compete in Macedonia with the
field owners, teams of France and Denmark on October 16-21.

CONTROVERSIAL FRENCH BILL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE FADES AWAY
By Lucia Kubosova

EUobserver.com, Belgium
Feb 21 2007

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – A French bill criminalising the denial of
Armenian genocide in Turkey has failed to become law, but a prominent
Turkish writer Elif Shafak – previously tried in her country for
comments on the sensitive subject – tells EUobserver about the
nationalist backlash the French debate sparked.

The controversial dispute centres around the claim by Armenia that
Ottoman Turks in 1915 killed an estimated 1.5 million of its citizens –
something Turkey has always strongly denied.

France’s National Assembly last October approved a socialist-drafted
proposal which stated that those denying the genocide should be
punished by one year in prison and pay a fine of ~@45,000.

In order to come into force, the bill would have had to be approved
by the country’s senate where the current centre-right government of
Dominique de Villepin and President Jacques Chirac – both opposing
the bill – holds a majority.

But French diplomats confirmed to EUobserver that as a result of a
political decision, the bill has not been put on the upper house’s
agenda and that the parliamentary session is now almost over ahead
of the electoral campaign for the presidential and legislative poll
to be held in April, May and June.

Asked whether this means the controversial legislation is off the table
even after the new parliament convenes, a French diplomat said the
"draft bill would have to be voted again by the new National Assembly
to resume the process."

Be careful about political power games The bill’s adoption in France’s
lower house last autumn led to strong criticism by both the European
Commission and the Turkish authorities.

It came at the same time as an EU deadline for Ankara to fulfil its
obligation over Cyprus or face a freeze of its membership talks and
was seen in Turkey as yet another negative political message against
its European aspirations.

Elif Shafak, one of the best known Turkish novelists, says that
the French move sparked nationalist reactions in her country that
eventually mainly harmed people like herself who are trying to push for
an open debate about sensitive issues such as the Armenian genocide.

"I think that 1915 is such a sensitive and delicate political theme
that it shouldn’t be subject to political power games. It should not
be up to politicians to decide which version of history should be
acknowledged by everyone," she told EUobserver.

"I criticise my own government for curbing freedom of expression. But
it is a universal principle. If I defend it in Turkey, I will defend
it in France or everywhere with the same zeal and dedication. And
the French bill was very much against this principle."

Ms Shafak was acquitted last September for charges of insulting
Turkish national identity due to comments made by characters in her
latest novel on the mass killings of Armenians in the final years of
the Ottoman Empire.

Just as her other professional counterparts – like the 2006 Nobel
Prize winner Orhan Pamuk – Elif Shafak is a strong critic of Article
301 of Turkey’s penal code which enables legal prosecutions undermining
the freedom of expression in her country.

Spark of hope as part of negative trends But she argues that the
trials in Turkey of intellectuals and authors for their comments
on this and other taboo topics is actually evidence of the ongoing
transformation of Turkish society.

"Whenever there are big societal changes in a country, those people
who want to keep the status quo panic and retaliate. And as Turkey
moves closer to the EU, the people who fear these changes will do
everything they can to stop the process."

Still, the novelist pointed out that while the backlash in the Islamic
country comes from an organised minority, she has come across a much
stronger negative sentiment from Turkish immigrants already living
in Europe – also concerning the Armenian genocide debate.

"I sometimes receive hateful messages, hate emails from nationalist
people reacting to my novels or comments but most of those come from
Turks living abroad rather than those living in Turkey."

She believes the phenomenon can be explained as the "immigrants’
psychology", adding "Most immigrants freeze their mindset and they
become much more conservative. They embrace and defend their identity
strongly because they always try to retaliate in response to a bigger
majority identity.

"Turks living in Europe or in America are less open to social
transformation than those living in Turkey. They are always defensive."