Author: Tigranian Ani

EU PARLIAMENT DEALS SETBACK TO TURKEY
By Jeremy Smith

Reuters
09/28/05 14:27 ET

STRASBOURG, France, Sept 28 (Reuters) – European Union lawmakers
chided Turkey on Wednesday, five days before it is due to open EU
membership talks, demanding that Ankara recognise the 1915 killing
of Armenians as genocide before it joins the bloc.

The European Parliament gave grudging blessing to the start of
negotiations next Monday after a heated debate that vented strong
criticism of Turkey’s human rights record.

But it postponed a vote to ratify Turkey’s extended customs union
with the EU in a bid to put pressure on Ankara to open its ports and
airports to traffic from EU member Cyprus.

The non-binding resolution was a political slap in the face for Turkey,
which insists there was no genocide.

The Turkish lira and stock market lost ground on the news, although
traders said they did not believe the Oct. 3 opening of talks was
at risk.

Former Turkish foreign minister Yasar Yakis from the ruling AK party
told NTV television: “These decisions of the European parliament make
things more difficult for Turkey.”

EU governments remain deadlocked on a negotiating mandate for the
talks, with Austria holding out for a more explicit mention of an
alternative to membership.

Ankara reaffirmed on Wednesday it would accept nothing less than
full membership.

Diplomats said the 25 EU foreign ministers would probably hold
an emergency meeting on Sunday night in Luxembourg, hours before
negotiations are meant to start, to seek an agreement.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country holds the revolving
EU presidency, told his Labour Party conference in Brighton, England,
the decision was a test for the EU.

“It would now be a huge betrayal of the hopes and expectations of the
Turkish people and of Prime Minister (Tayyip) Erdogan’s programme of
reform if, at the crucial time, we turned our back on Turkey,” he said.

“For Turkey would lose from a ‘no’ decision. But Europe and its people
would lose even more.”

RECOGNISE CYPRUS

The EU legislature demanded that Turkey recognise Cyprus soon and
said negotiations could be suspended unless it granted access to
Cypriot aircraft and shipping by next year.

The vote followed an emotional debate in which many deputies attacked
Turkey’s record on human rights, religious freedom and minorities,
reflecting widespread public hostility to the poor, populous, mostly
Muslim nation ever joining the EU.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn regretted the decision to delay
ratification of the extended customs union, saying it would weaken
Brussels’ hand with the Turks, but stressed it would have no impact
on the start of negotiations.

Rehn warned Turkey it would have to amend its new penal code, adopted
to meet EU criteria, if hardline judges were still able to prosecute
the country’s leading novelist for expressing his views on the killings
of Armenians under Ottoman rule.

“The case of author Orhan Pamuk is emblematic of the difficulties
to ensure effective and uniform implementation of these reforms, and
also of the struggle between reformers and conservatives in Turkey,”
Rehn told the European Parliament.

An Istanbul judge is prosecuting the writer for “denigrating Turkish
identity” by endorsing the term genocide. He faces up to three years
in jail if convicted.

Other judges tried in vain to halt an academic conference in Istanbul
on the Armenian issue last week.

EU lawmakers demanded an undertaking that when the Turkish parliament
ratifies a protocol extending the customs union to new EU member
states, it will not attach a government declaration refusing to
recognise Cyprus.

Rehn had warned parliament it would be scoring “an own goal” if it
refused to approve the extended customs union.

Many lawmakers questioned the EU’s ability to absorb Turkey financially
and politically, especially after French and Dutch voters’ rejected
a draft EU constitution designed to streamline the bloc’s creaking
institutions to cope with enlargement.

Greens party leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit caused uproar by accusing some
right-wing critics of Turkey of “surfing on a wave of racism.”

Rehn said that on balance, Turkey had made sufficient progress on
human rights to justify opening talks, saying the negotiations would
give the EU crucial leverage over the direction of Turkish reforms.

Opinion polls show a majority of EU citizens, especially in France,
Germany and Austria, oppose Turkish membership.

Hans-Gert Poettering, leader of the conservative European People’s
Party, said if Turkey did not improve its human rights record within
a period after starting talks, “then we should be prepared to suspend
the negotiations.”

(Additional reporting by Marcin Grajewski in Brussels; Zerin Elci in
Ankara and Mike Peacock in Brighton, England)

Big Night

Dance music’s all grown up at the Dance Music Hall of Fame

Fly Life

The Village Voice (New York)
September 27th, 2005 3:44 PM

by Tricia Romano

While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognizes dinosaurs of a bygone
era, the Dance Music Hall of Fame honors living legends. François
Kevorkian, Jellybean benitez, and Frankie Knuckles were among the
artists, DJs, producers, and label managers inducted at DMHOF’s second
annual ceremony last week.

Kevorkian, whose history in dance music stretches back to the disco era,
nabbed two honors – for Remixer and DJ – so it was only fair that he gave
the longest speech, in which he thanked everyone from Kraftwerk to David
Mancuso to Larry Levan. Since dance music will never get respect in
America (as host dj cousin Brucie noted in a speech), it may be the only
time you’ll hear people like Detroit techno artists Derrick May and Jeff
Mills and Kevorkian’s former Body & Soul colleague Danny Krivit getting
props from someone on a podium. After Kevorkian was finished, Brucie
cracked, “He mentioned everyone in the goddamn room!”

The awards show, held at the considerably tonier Grand Ballroom at the
Manhattan Center, was all grown up this year. Fancy banquets and glitzy
big-screen TVs, coupled with a more professional production than last
year’s seat-of-your-pants show at Spirit, led Danny Tenaglia to quip: “I
feel like I’m at an Italian wedding!” He surmised why he wasn’t getting
inducted just yet. “I’m not old enough!” Then we high-fived.

Before the show, Randy Jones – known as “the Cowboy” from the Village
People and wearing a cowboy hat to make sure you knew that – hung out with
his lawyer. “I trusted him with everything!” he said, to which his
lawyer added, “And I took it all!”

A large man later stopped me and insisted that I take his picture. “I’m
very important.” I didn’t recognize him. He was Patrick Adams, whose
name didn’t ring a bell, but whose songs did. He cited “Push Push (In
the Bush)” to jog my memory. Say no more. I took his picture.

You know how during normal awards shows you fall asleep during the
musical performances because they suck so badly? This was not a problem.
The music was so good I wished they’d skip the speeches altogether. Ray
Chew and the Crew, the Apollo Theatre’s house band, was unbelievably
good – turning out medleys of popular disco hits and backing performances
by the Trammps, Kathy Sledge leading Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,”
and a tribute to Sylvester, featuring Martha Wash, Byron Stingily, and
Alyson willia ms.

Disco was barely a twinkle when I was born, but Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will
Survive” was one of the first songs I remember. Her performance had
everyone on their feet, including producer inductee Nile Rodgers, who
was also celebrating his birthday. (“How’s everyone know that?” he
wondered earlier. I told him they probably planned the whole event just
for him.) Rodgers watched the Chic reunion with a Cheshire cat-sized
grin, as original Chic singer Fonzi Thornton, along with Sylver Logan
Sharp and Jessica Wagner, ran through a medley of the band’s monster
hits, “Le Freak,” “Dance, Dance, Dance,” and “Good Times.” Rodgers, when
accepting his induction, said, “People always ask me what the proudest
moment of my life is, and that’s when ‘Good Times’ was No. 2 for weeks
after ‘My Sharona.’ And people said dance music was dead.” Funny,
they’re still saying that. And disco really sucks too.

What doesn’t suck: hurricane benefits. The “NY Loves NOLA” benefit at
the Ace of Clubs, ACME Bar & Grill, and the Culture Project – in an
all-day cabaret and theater performance marathon featuring a hilarious
performance from Mr. Miyagi’s Theater Company – raised $4,291 for the Red
Cross.

,flylife,68240,15.html

PRESS RELEASE
“YERKIR”, UNION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
FOR REPATRIATION AND SETTLEMENT
47 Bagramyan ave., ap. 10/A, Yerevan, Armenia
Contact: Robert Tatoyan,
Tel. +(374 1) 26 28 75
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

YERKIR UNION STATES THE NECESSITY OF ADOPTION OF LAW ON REPATRIATION

At present, the debates on adopting the changes in Armenian
Constitution take place in National Assembly of Republic of Armenia.

“Yerkir” union considers that the provision on dual citizenship,
present in new draft, can have negative consequences on national
interests of Armenia, if simultaneously, the law on repatriation will
not be adopted.

“Yerkir” union has prepared the open letter, where presented its views
on this subject. The letter has been sent to Chairman, vice-speakers
and heads of fractions of National Assembly of RA.

The full text of the open letter (in Armenian) can be found on the
site of organization at

PRESIDENT HALONEN TO CAUCASUS FOR A WEEK

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland
Sept 26 2005

President Tarja Halonen, who recently returned from a one-week visit
to New York and a brief trip to St. Petersburg, is off again on Monday.

This time, the President will visit three South Caucasian countries –
Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, all of which have had fairly little
official contacts with Finland.

Tarja Halonen has visited the area before. She was in Georgia in the
Soviet period in 1980, and in Armenia and Azerbaijan as Finland’s
Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1996, when Finland was actively
involved in seeking a solution to the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh.

Halonen’s visit this week will be the first by a Finnish head of
state to the countries since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991
led to their independence.

Armenia has had to examine its official protocol arrangements more
than usual, as Halonen will be the first woman president ever to
visit the country.

In addition to opening high-level contacts between the countries and
Finland, a key purpose of the visit is to acquire fresh information
on the situation in the countries, and on crisis areas, with respect
to Finland’s turn at the rotating EU Presidency in the second half
of next year.

The EU is heavily involved in the development of the three
countries. Georgia is especially keen to develop its ties with the
West, and all three are seen as likely to join the EU at some time
in the future.

President Halonen’s host in Armenia will be President Robert
Kotsharian. In Georgia, the host will be the young (37 years old)
and notoriously impulsive Mikhail Saakashvili, whose Dutch wife Sandra
is pregnant. In Azerbaijan the host will be President Ilham Aliyev.

Halonen will be granted an honorary doctorate in the Armenian capital
Yerevan, and she will also meet the leader of the Armenian Orthodox
Church, Karek II.

In the Georgian capital Tbilisi she will get a chance to visit
outside the city, and in the Azeri capital Baku she will take part
in a business seminar.

Among the speakers at the seminar will be President Halonen herself and
the Finnish Minister of Trade and Industry, Mauri Pekkarinen (Centre).

FIRST RESULTS ARE KNOWN

A1+
| 12:04:18 | 26-09-2005 | Politics |

The preliminary results of the elections are already known:
particularly the journalist of “A1+” was present in the Kenton
electoral area 9/32 located in the school after Charents where 451
of the 553 electors voted for Gagik Beglaryan, and 80 – for Rouzan
Khachatryan. 20 ballots were considered invalid.

We also have approximate data from the Central Electoral Committee
about the participation of electors. According to them, in Ajapnyak
32% of electors have participated, in Davtashen – 41%, in Avan – 33%,
in Malatia-Sebastia – 34%, in Kenton – 43%, an Shengavit – 12%,and
in Arabkir – 31.7%. That is, not even half of the total number of
voters has participated in the elections.

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Sept 23 2005

Turkey Almost Ready For Negotiations With E.U., Babacan

ANKARA – Turkey is almost ready for full membership negotiations with
the EU, Turkish State Minister and chief negotiator Ali Babacan said
on Friday.
Answering questions of reporters before he left for the United
States, Babacan said that the negotiation team had almost been set
up, and added, ”how can public institutions or NGOs contribute to
negotiations? We will discuss these matters in detail (after October
3rd when the EU is expected to launch full membership negotiations
with Turkey).”

Commenting on the court decision to suspend a conference titled
”Ottoman Armenians during the Empire’s Fall: Scientific
Responsibility and Problems of Democracy”, Babacan said that
hampering thoughts are not in compliance with the human rights and
freedoms that Turkey is trying to catch up with.

-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS-

Touching on economic developments, Babacan expressed no worry about
the primary surplus target, and said, ”according to our estimations,
we may record a primary surplus more than 6.5 percent (this year).”

Babacan forecast the year-end inflation rate below 8 percent, while
stated that Turkey had to pursue a firm budget policy even next year
since current deficit problems were not solved yet.

The Guardian, UK

Protesters Denounce Conference in Turkey

Saturday September 24, 2005 9:16 PM

AP Photo IST107
By BENJAMIN HARVEY
Associated Press Writer

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) – Scholars held the first-ever public discussions in
Turkey on Saturday about the early 20th-century massacre of Armenians,
choosing words carefully, avoiding emotional language and picking apart
history year by year at a gathering that nationalists denounced as
traitorous.

The European Union called the academic conference a test of freedom of
expression in Turkey, which is hoping to begin talks for membership in the
bloc next month.

The academic conference had been canceled twice, once in May after the
justice minister said organizers were “stabbing the people in the back,”
and again on Thursday when an Istanbul court ordered the conference closed
and demanded to know the academic qualifications of the speakers.
“This is a fight of ‘can we discuss this thing, or can we not discuss this
thing?”’ Murat Belge, a member of the organizing committee, said at the
conference opening. “This is something that’s directly related to the
question of what kind of country Turkey is going to be.”

The Armenian issue stirs deep passions among Turks, who are being pushed by
many in the international community to say that their fathers and
grandfathers carried out the first genocide of the 20th century.

“There are so many documents in hand with respect to the destruction of
Armenians,” said Taner Akcay, a Turkish-born professor at the University of
Minnesota, and author of books on the subject including, “A Shameful Act:
The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility.”
Dozens of officers in riot gear kept hundreds of shouting protesters at bay.
Some protesters pelted arriving panelists with eggs and rotten tomatoes.

Inside, the audience of more than 300 people was restrained, as only those
invited by the organizing committee and preapproved members of the media
were allowed past security.
The issue has been a taboo for many years in Turkey, with those who speak
out against the killings risking prosecution by a Turkish court. But an
increasing number of Turkish academics have called for a review of the
killings in a country where many see the Ottoman Empire as a symbol of
Turkish greatness.

The panelists, all Turkish speakers, carefully avoided any emotional
language during the first day of the two-day conference.

“Everyone waits for you to pronounce the genocide word – if you do one side
applauds and the other won’t listen,” Halil Berktay, program coordinator of
the history department at Sabanci University, said at the conference
Saturday.

Several governments around the world have recognized the killings of as many
as 1.5 million Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Turkey vehemently denies the charge, admitting that many Armenians were
killed, but saying the death toll is inflated and that Armenians were killed
along with Turks in civil unrest and intercommunal fighting as the Ottoman
Empire collapsed between 1915 and 1923.

After the conference was shut down Thursday, Turkey drew condemnation from
the European Commission.

Organizers skirted the court order by changing the venue of the conference.
The court-ordered cancellation Thursday was an embarrassment for the
country’s leaders, who are set to begin EU negotiations on Oct. 3.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul lamented that “there’s no one better at
hurting themselves than us,” and sent a letter wishing the organizers a
successful conference. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also condemned
the court’s decision, saying it did not befit a democratic country.

The participants were all Turkish speakers and included members of Turkey’s
Armenian minority like Hrant Dink, the editor in chief of Agos, a weekly
Armenian newspaper in Istanbul. There are some 70,000 Armenians living in
Istanbul.

,1280,-5300221,00.html

Pan Armenian News

US SENATOR HOPES FOR CONGRESS RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

22.09.2005 07:45

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia Artur
Baghdassaryan received California Senator, Republican Jack Scott, reported
the Press Service of the Armenian Parliament. J. Scott has arrived in
Armenia to open a regional Trade Center of California. The decision to open
the Center was passed by the Californian Senate in the presence of Mr. Scott
in 2001. The Senator is well-known for his activities favorable for Armenia
and promotion of recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the California
Senate. In the course of the meeting the Senator said that he hoped for the
US Congress to recognize the Armenian Genocide taken place in 1915. In his
opinion, the Trade Center will promote not only mutually favorable
commercial ties, but also tourism. A. Baghdassaryan expressed satisfaction
with the opening of the Trade Center. He underscored readiness to promote
strengthening the trade and economic relations. The parties noted the
importance of establishment of relations between parliaments of California
and Armenia. It was also noted in the course of the conversation that
interparliamentary ties had already been discussed with US House Speaker
Dennis Hastert.

ARMINFO News Agency
September 21, 2005

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT VISIT ERABLUR MEMORIAL

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 21. ARMINFO. The top political leadership of
Armenia visited the Erablur Memorial today to lay flowers to the
graves of national heros on occasion of the Day of Independence.

Attending the ceremony were Armenia’s President Robert Kocharyan,
Parliament Speaker Artur Bagdassaryan, Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan, Defence Minister Serzh Sargsyan, Nagorno Karabakh Republic
President Arkady Goukassyan and other top officials.

Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Army Mikael Haroutyunyan
told journalists that a highly capable army has been created since
the victorious early 90s. “For me independence starts here from the
graves of my comrades,” Haroutyunyan said.

KOLEROV: RUSSIA ACTS ON THE BASIS OF THE LAW ON COMPATRIOTS

DeFacto, Armenia
Sept 16 2005

The choice of each unrecognized state is to appeal to Russia or
minimize its participation in the conflict settlement. Chief of the RF
Presidential Department for Inter-Regional and Cultural Relations with
Foreign Countries Modest Kolerov stated it speaking at the conference
“Parallel CIS. Abkhazia, Pridnestrovie, the South Caucasus and Nagorno
Karabakh as realities of the post – Soviet territory”.

In his words, “40 000 of Russian citizens in the South Ossetia, 150
000 in Abkhazia is the imperative we cannot ignore”. “Both sides of the
conflict are compatriots for us, we should take it into consideration
and guarantee their humanitarian rights”, noted he.

According to Modest Kolerov, modern conception of human rights submits
such claims, including the right to free choice of citizenship, free
access to communications, the right to information, the right to free
choice of educational and cultural activity. “These are fundamental
rights”, stated Kolerov.