Author: Tigranian Ani

GOING NEGATIVE NEW TERRITORY FOR POOCHIGIAN

San Francisco Chronicle, CA
Oct 16 2006

Republican state senator trails better-known Jerry Brown in polls
Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer

Chuck Poochigian first volunteered in a political campaign in 1977
at a rally where George Deukmejian was ramping up his bid for state
attorney general — and accusing then Gov. Jerry Brown of being soft
on criminals.

Nearly three decades later, it’s Poochigian’s turn to run for attorney
general — and accuse Brown, now Oakland mayor, of being soft on crime.

[Podcast: Jim Zamora interviews AG hopeful Chuck Poochigian. ]

"I guess you could say it’s ironic that we’re still having these
discussions about Jerry Brown and crime in 2006," Deukmejian said. "I
think that Chuck has the perfect qualifications for attorney general.

And criminal justice has never been Jerry Brown’s strong suit. I
don’t know why he is running for this job."

But the dilemma for the Poochigian is that Brown — perhaps the best
known California politician who was never a president or a movie star
— is running for attorney general.

An ex-governor is the front-runner for a job that is traditionally
seen as a steppingstone to the governor’s office. And the Oakland
mayor has shown double digit leads over the Fresno state senator in
virtually every public poll this year. Brown, 68, is particularly
strong among younger voters, according to one poll.

Poochigian, 57, who also trails in fundraising, has focused more of
his advertising and media efforts on attacking Brown and his long,
often controversial record in public office, frequently highlighting
votes and statements made 30 years ago.

Going negative is new for Poochigian, who has never faced a close
race or even a serious challenge since running for Assembly in 1994.

He won two Assembly races with 67 percent of the vote in 1994 and
’96, and was unopposed in two races for state Senate in 1998 and 2002.

Poochigian, whose Web site slogan is "tough to pronounce, tougher
on crime," admits he might be perceived as boring but is proud of a
career — and a life — that he says is predictable, consistent and
without scandal or major controversy.

"I’m hard-working, I’m honest and I’m committed to serving the people
of California," Poochigian said. "I’m not as colorful as some people
running (for office), but I am who I am."

But critics said that consistency is part of the problem. They said
he has a long predictable conservative legislative record that may
play well in his home district but places him far to the right of
the California mainstream on pollution, reproductive rights and
worker safety.

Charles Suren Poochigian, the grandson of Armenian immigrants who
fled genocide, was raised on a raisin farm outside Fresno. Except
for attending law school at Santa Clara University and serving in
Sacramento, he has spent virtually his entire life in the Fresno
area. He and his wife, Debbie, married in 1977 and raised three
children together.

Poochigian has played up his bland, unpretentious background —
even telling one interviewer his favorite breakfast is oatmeal —
to show he is a consistent, hard-working straight shooter who will
fight hard for crime victims and support local police.

The senator has tried to contrast his lifestyle with Brown’s.

"We are different in so many other ways," Poochigian said in a debate
sponsored by The Chronicle and CBS 5-TV. "While he was running for
president and traipsing around the world with his amassed wealth,
I was busy at home raising a family with my wife, attending recitals
and sporting events and being very involved in my community."

Former colleagues said Poochigian is not as boring as he might seem.

They describe him as man who thrives in one-to-one relationships and
small meetings, and makes corny puns.

"I can attest that Chuck has a wonderful sense of humor," said
former Assemblyman Curt Pringle, who was Poochigian’s roommate in
Sacramento for three years in the 1990s. "But that’s not his strong
suit. Chuck is a principled yet practical legislator who builds very
solid relationships that let him get things done. … I tried to
forget his corny puns."

As a legislator, Poochigian also touts his ability to work with
Democratic colleagues, citing his co-sponsorship of 2004 legislation
that revamped the workers’ compensation system.

Some Democrats said the Fresno senator is one of the nicer legislators
around the capitol — but nice only counts for so much.

"I will agree that he is very knowledgeable, very cordial, knows
the ins and outs of the political arena," said state Sen. Liz
Figueroa, D-Fremont, who served with Poochigian in the Assembly
starting in 1994. "He will take the time to listen, is very polite
and respectful. But I don’t recall that he ever changed his mind on
anything. … He has a very conservative view of the world. He is
the polar opposite of me. I don’t see that changing."

Poochigian said Brown and his supporters have distorted his record
to make him appear more conservative and inflexible. For example,
Poochigian said he personally opposes abortion except in cases of rape,
incest or to save the life of the mother but said that abortion rights
are "settled law" that he would uphold as attorney general. He said
his opposition to Proposition 71 funding for stem cell research was
mainly on fiscal, not moral, grounds.

But critics fear that Poochigian as attorney general would narrowly
focus on violent criminals and sex offenders and undercut lawsuits
filed by incumbent Bill Lockyer against automakers, tobacco companies
and energy companies. Poochigian already has taken a stand against
a lawsuit Lockyer filed Sept. 20 against auto manufacturers over
emissions.

Critics note that Poochigian opposed voter initiatives legalizing
medical marijuana, banning .50 caliber bullets and sending nonviolent
drug offenders into treatment before jail. They fear he would use
his office to undercut those laws.

Among his most vociferous opponents are environmentalists who rate
him as one of the worst legislators on environmental protection.

"It would be a disaster to have Chuck Poochigian in charge of
enforcing California’s environmental laws," said Bill Magavern of
the Sierra Club. "He has been a friend of the polluter and an enemy
of California’s environment."

The League of Conservation Voters reports that over the past 11
years, Poochigian has voted for only 9 of 200 bills supported by
environmentalists. The Sierra Club said that in 2003-05, Poochigian
voted against all 25 bills considered most important by the group.

They also said that on at least 10 occasions, Poochigian voted against
environmental bills supported by Republican Govs. Pete Wilson and
Arnold Schwarzenegger, including AB32, a recent landmark bill to
reduce global warming.

"To think that this one bill is going to change everything for the
better is Pollyannaish," Poochigian said of AB32.

He also dismissed criticism from environmental organizations that
back Brown.

"It’s pure politics, partisan politics," Poochigian said. "I have a
very strong record of support for the environment. … I’m a believer
in our political and economic system; you have to find ways to clean
the environment that are compatible with a healthy economy."

———————————- ———————————————-
Cha rles "Chuck" Poochigian Party: Republican

Age: 57

Hometown: Fresno

Career: Private business lawyer, 1975-88; aide to Gov. George
Deukmejian, 1988-91; appointments secretary, Gov. Pete Wilson, 1991-94;
Assembly, 1994-98; state Senate, 1998-current.

Accomplishments: Author of legislation that would add to the list of
crimes that qualify as a sexually violent offense assault with intent
to commit rape and continuous sexual abuse of a child; author of a
law to strengthen witness and victim notification of the release of
violent felons; established a model Rural Crime Prevention Program.

Quote: "I fight for victims and against criminals. California needs
a ‘top cop’ who will fight crime head-on, not someone in search of
another headline."

Education: California State University Fresno, bachelor’s degree;
Santa Clara University, law degree.

Web site:

RUSSIAN FEDERAL SECURITY SERVICE REFUTES AZERI MEDIA REPORTS

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 14 2006

Press Service of the Frontier Department of RF Federal Security Service
did not confirm the statement of Azeri mass media on bombardment of
Turkish territories by Armenia on October 11. Turkish mass media
report that the General Staff of Turkey has condemned Armenia of
bombarding Turkish territory. According to the data of the General
Staff, "October 11 servicemen of Armenian frontier troops opened fire
in the direction of Turkish territory. There are no victims."

Let us remind that frontier guards of the Russian Federal Security
Service are deployed along the Armenian-Turkish border and there
are solely no "servicemen of Armenian frontier troops" here. Some
independent observers consider that the accusations of the Turkish
side are connected with the adoption of the bill on penalizing negation
of the Armenian Genocide by the National Assembly of France.

RIZHKOV IS COMING

A1+
[12:23 pm] 16 October, 2006

The 11th session of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental cooperation
committee will take place in Yerevan tomorrow.

On the same day co-chair of the Committee Nikolay Rizhkov will arrive
in Yerevan. He will be received by President Robert Kocharyan and
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan.

On October 18 Catholicos of All Armenians His Holiness Garegin II
will receive the members of the delegation.

The delegation will return to Moscow on October 19.

The Daily Star, Lebanon
Oct 14 2006

Don’t negotiate over the gains of enlightened discourse

By Ralf Dahrendorf
Commentary by
Saturday, October 14, 2006

Not long ago, one might have concluded that, at least in Europe,
there were no taboos left. A process that had begun with the
Enlightenment had now reached the point at which "anything goes."
Particularly in the arts, there were no apparent limits to showing
what even a generation ago would have been regarded as highly
offensive.

Two generations ago, most countries had censors who not only tried to
prevent younger people from seeing certain films but who actually
banned books. Since the 1960’s, such proscriptions have weakened
until, in the end, explicit sexuality, violence, blasphemy – while
upsetting to some people – were tolerated as a part of the
enlightened world.

Or were they? Are there really no limits? Outside Europe, the
"anything goes" attitude was never fully accepted. And there were
limits in Europe, too. The historian David Irving is still in
detention in Austria for the crime of Holocaust denial. This is, to
be sure, a special case. The denial of a well-documented truth may
lead to new crimes. But is the answer to the old question, "What is
truth?" always so clear?

What exactly are we doing if we insist on Turkey’s acknowledgement
that the Armenian genocide did take place as a condition of its
membership in the European Union? Are we so sure of Darwin’s theories
of evolution that we should ban alternative notions of genesis from
schools?

Those concerned with freedom of speech have always wondered about its
limits. One such limit is the incitement to violence. The man who
gets up in a crowded theater and shouts, "Fire!" when there is none
is guilty of what happens in the resulting stampede. But what if
there actually is a fire?

This is the context in which we may see the invasion of Islamic
taboos into the enlightened, mostly non-Islamic world. From the fatwa
on Salman Rushdie for "The Satanic Verses" to the killing of a nun in
Somalia in response to Pope Benedict XVI’s Regensburg lecture and the
Berlin Opera’s cancellation of a performance of Mozart’s "Idomeneo,"
with its severed heads of religious founders, including Mohammad, we
have seen violence and intimidation used to defend a particular
religion’s taboos.

There are questions here that are not easily answered by civilized
defenders of the Enlightenment. Toleration and respect for people who
have their own beliefs are right and perhaps necessary to preserve an
enlightened world. But there is the other side to consider. Violent
responses to unwelcome views are never justified and cannot be
accepted. Those who argue that suicide bombers express understandable
grudges have themselves sold out their freedom. Self-censorship is
worse than censorship itself, because it sacrifices freedom
voluntarily.

This means that we have to defend Salman Rushdie and the Danish
cartoonists and the friends of "Idomeneo," whether we like them or
not. If anyone does not like them, there are all the instruments of
public debate and of critical discourse that an enlightened community
has at its disposal. It is also true we do not have to buy any
particular book or listen to an opera. What a poor world it would be
if anything that might offend any group could no longer be said! A
multicultural society that accepts every taboo of its diverse groups
would have little to talk about.

The kind of reaction we have seen recently to expressions of views
that are offensive to some does not bode well for the future of
liberty. It is as if a new wave of counterenlightenment is sweeping
the world, with the most restrictive views dominating the scene.
Against such reactions, enlightened views must be reasserted
strongly. Defending the right of all people to say things even if one
detests their views is one of the first principles of liberty.

Thus, "Idomeneo" must be performed, and Rushdie must be published.
Whether an editor publishes cartoons offensive to believers in
Mohammad (or Christ, for that matter) is a matter of judgment, almost
of taste. I might not do it, but I would nevertheless defend the
right of someone who decides otherwise. It is debatable whether
recent incidents of this kind require a "dialogue between religions."
Public debate making clear cases one way or the other seems more
appropriate than conciliation. The gains of enlightened discourse are
too precious to be turned into negotiable values. Defending those
gains is the task that we now face.

Ralf Dahrendorf, a former European commissioner from Germany, is a
member of the British House of Lords, a former rector of the London
School of Economics, and a former warden of St. Antony’s College,
Oxford. THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration
with Project Syndicate ().

Financial Times (London, England)
October 13, 2006 Friday
London Edition 2

Turkey’s EU bid hit by French bill on Armenians

By MARTIN ARNOLD, VINCENT BOLAND, DANIEL DOMBEY and GEORGE PARKER

Turkey’s prospects of joining the European Union took a heavy blow
last night when France’s National Assembly approved a bill that
outraged Ankara and that critics say will set back the cause of
reform within Turkey.

The French legislation, which could still be blocked by the Senate,
would make it a crime to deny that Armenians were the victims of
genocide in the last years of the Ottoman Empire.

The bill was read in Turkey as a sign that France was now permanently
opposed to Ankara’s bid to join the EU.

Bulent Arinc, the parliamentary speaker, criticised France’s "hostile
attitude" towards Turkey. "This is a shameful decision. We are very
sorry to see that this (bill) was passed only because of internal
(French) politics."

Turkey denies genocide, and the judicial authorities have prosecuted
writers who have used the term to describe thekillings of Armenians.

Opinion polls show a majority of French voters oppose Turkish
membership. The issue is sensitive in France because of the country’s
450,000-strong Armenian community, which has grown rich and
influential.

Jacques Chirac, the French president, favours Turkish accession to
the EU but prominent ministers such as Nicolas Sarkozy are opposed.
Segolene Royal, the Socialists’ leading presidential candidate, has
been non-committal, saying she would defer to public opinion on the
question.

But Mr Chirac said on a visit to Armenia this month that Turkish
recognition of the Armenian genocide should become a pre-condition of
EU membership.

Additional reporting by George Parker in Brussels and Daniel Dombey
in London

ACCORDS ON WITHDRAWING MILITARY BASES FROM GEORGIA TO BE RATIFIED
by Lyudmila Yermakova

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
October 10, 2006 Tuesday 08:42 AM EST

The Federation Council Committee for CIS Affairs recommended on
Tuesday that the upper chamber should ratify the Russian-Georgian
agreement on periods, order of temporary functioning and a withdrawal
of military bases and other military facilities, located in the
Georgian territory. The Federation Council will debate this item at
its plenary session on Friday.

Deputy chief of the Russian General Staff Alexander Skvortsov,
acting as the Russian president’s official representative at the
examination of this question, emphasized that the budget for this
year and the Russian budgets for 2007 and 2008 provide for adequate
funds to implement these agreements. Some expenses will be also taken
from funds, appropriated for the upkeep of the Russian Armed Forces.

It is planned that a withdrawal of military hardware from the military
base in Akhalkalaki will be carried out by the year-end. The final
withdrawal of the military base in Batumi as well as the headquarters
of the Group of Russian Troops in Transcaucasia is provided for during
2008. The agreement was signed in Sochi on March 31, 2006.

Calling on senators to ratify the agreement, Colonel-General Skvortsov
noted that "non-ratification of the agreement can give a pretext to
the Georgian leadership to pump up the situation and to launch new
provocative actions". He also stressed that the document "does not
contain provisions, running counter to Russian legislation".

The deputy chief of the General Staff also called attention to
a rule that protection of social interests of servicemen would be
undeviatingly observed during a withdrawal. For instance the question
is being settled on providing them with housing. Housing is already
turned over for occupancy to families of servicemen who are already
leaving Georgia. In 2007, they will receive another 250 apartments.

The committee also recommended ratification of an Agreement on
organizing transit of military cargoes and personnel across the
Georgian territory. Based on international norms, the document
regulates questions of transit by various types of transport of
military cargoes and personnel to ensure operation of the 102nd
Russian military bases in Armenia, in the city of Gyumri.

NATO REPRESENTATIVE TO DISCUSS PARTNERSHIP PLAN IN ARMENIA
by Tigran Liloyan

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
October 11, 2006 Wednesday

A high-ranking NATO official will discuss in Yerevan the current
stage of cooperation, in particular the progress of an individual
partnership plan.

The NATO secretary-general’s representative for Caucasus and Central
Asia Robert Simmons arrives in the Armenia capital on Wednesday on
his tour of the region, an Armenian Foreign Ministry official told
ITAR-TASS.

Simmons will meet Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, Defence Minister
Serzh Sarkisyan and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan.

He will inform about his trip ambassadors of NATO countries in Yerevan.

Simmons will unveil a NATO information centre in Armenia, the setting
up of which is a part of the country’s individual partnership with
the Western alliance that began in last year’s December.

Armenia "is going to activate practical and political cooperation with
NATO with the aim of coming closer with the alliance," the individual
partnership plan published in August says.

Armenia’s obligations under the plan confirm the determination to
implement a security accord signed with NATO.

Yerevan "will continue the formation of one peacekeeping battalion
meeting the NATO criteria with a view of its further transformation
into a peacekeeping brigade".

TURKEY’S ARMENIANS SEE NO GOOD IN FRENCH GENOCIDE BILL
by Nicolas Cheviron

Agence France Presse — English
October 10, 2006 Tuesday

Turkey’s Armenians have raised their voice against a French bill that
makes it a jailable offense to deny their ancestors were the victim
of genocide under Ottoman rule, wary it will antagonize Turks and
further strain an already tense debate on the issue.

The draft law, to be debated and voted in the French parliament
Thursday, calls for one year in prison and a hefty 45,000-euro
(57,000 dollar) fine for anyone who denies that the World War I
massacres constituted genocide.

Among the first to condemn the bill was journalist Hrant Dink, who is
among a handful of taboo-breaking intellectuals in Turkey who have
openly argued that the massacres were genocide, drawing nationalist
ire and landing himself in court.

"This is idiocy," the Turkish-Armenian Dink said in remarks to the
liberal daily Radikal. "It only shows that those who restrict freedom
of expression in Turkey and those who try to restrict it in France
are of the same mentality."

Dink, editor of the Turkish-Armenian bilingual weekly Agos, received
a six-month suspended sentence last year for "insulting Turkishness"
in an article about the 1915-1917 massacres.

He is scheduled to go on trial again under the same provision, this
time for saying the killings were genocide.

Dink said he was ready to defend freedom of expression even if it
means running the risk of imprisonment in France.

"I am standing trial in Turkey for saying it was genocide. If this
bill is adopted, I will go to France and, in spite of my conviction,
I will say it was not genocide," he said in a television interview.

"The two countries can then compete to see who throws me in jail
first."

Another Armenian journalist, Etyen Mahcupyan, said Turks see the
proposed law as an imposition on them to accept the genocide and
feared the French move could scupper a fledgling, timid debate in
Turkey to question its past.

"Initiatives like the one in the French parliament are awkward,"
he told AFP. "They push the Turks closer to the state and make them
more vulnerable to manipulation."

Discussing the massacres was a near-taboo in Turkey until recently
and an open debate on the issue — one of the most controversial in
Turkish history — still sends nationalist sentiment into frenzy.

Mahcupyan, a columnist for the conservative daily Zaman, called on
European countries to back efforts at improving democracy in Turkey,
which, he said, is the only way to ensure free debate to challenge
Ankara’s official line on the killings.

The Armenian Patriarchate had said the same thing in May, when the
bill was first submitted but ran out of parliamentary time before a
vote could be held.

"All initiatives creating obstacles to freedom of expression will
jeopardize the process of dialogue between Turks and Armenians and
will reinforce nationalist tendencies on both sides," it said.

Ara Kocunyan, editor of the small Armenian-language daily Jamanak,
criticized what he called the feeling of "self-victimization" with
which the Armenian diaspora in the West is pursuing its campaign to
have the massacres internationally recognized as genocide.

He urged instead increased efforts to combat the dire economic
situation in Armenia, to which Turkey has contributed by sealing
its border.

"If we stick to the current priorities, I fear those weeping today
for a father killed 90 years ago will find themselves weeping for
little Armenia in 50 years’ time," Kocunyan said.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917.

Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label, saying 300,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with invading Russian troops as the Ottoman Empire fell apart.

SARKOZY’S POLITICAL ADVISER CRITICIZES ARMENIAN BILL
By Ali Ihsan Aydin, Paris

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 11 2006

Francois Fillon, political adviser to Internal Minister Nicholas
Sarkozy, opposes the Armenian bill due before the French National
Assembly on Thursday.

Fillon, Sarkozy’s right hand man, said that the Armenian bill, which
would make it a crime to deny that Turkey perpetrated a genocide
against Armenians, was "a real mistake" and he called on French
parliamentarians to say "no" during tomorrow’s session.

In a statement to the French news channel LCI, Fillon admitted that
the French should stop enacting laws about historical issues. Fillon
also added that the Armenian issue had nothing to do with Turkey’s EU
membership process and he criticized those claiming that this should
be made a precondition.

One of the architects of the 2001 law recognizing the Armenian
genocide, socialist Jack Lang, the former minister of culture, has
reiterated that he is against the new bill. Speaking to the French
daily newspaper Liberation, Lang said that this new Armenian bill
would be against freedom of expression and unconstitutional.

ARMENIAN WOMAN WEIGHTLIFTER WINS RIGHT TO COMPETE AT BEIJING OLYMPICS

Armenpress
Oct 11 2006

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11, ARMENPRESS: Meline Daluzian, a woman weightlifter
from Armenia’s second largest town of Gyumri is so far the only
Armenian athlete that has actually won the right to represent her
country at 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after winning the bronze medal
at the World Championship last week in Santo-Domingo, the Dominican
Republic.

Pashik Alaverdian, secretary general of the Armenian Weightlifting
Federation, said Meline will have to win a place between the first
and fifth lines at a rating event next year to officially qualify
for the Games which he said is out of question.