Author: Topchian Jane

A. PAPYAN: RELATIONS WITH TURKEY MUST BE REGULATED LEGALLY

Panorama.am
15:53 14/11/06

Armenia may recover its title on historic lands and regulate relations
with Turkey bringing the issue into the legal field, Ara Papyan,
ex-ambassador of Armenia to Canada and an adviser at the Armenian
foreign ministry, told a press conference today. In his words, in terms
of politics and military Armenia is much weaker than Turkey. Therefore,
it must use the legal field, he said.

A. Papyan mentioned that according to international law the arbitration
decision of U.S. President Wilson on the territorial delimitation of
Turkey and Armenia is a legal basis which has no statute of limitation.

In December 1920, Armenia and Turkey and 20 other countries signed this
decision. Another legal document, which defines the Armenian-Turkish
border, does not exist, he said. Armenia must recover its title
on the territories let’s say via international court of U.N., he
said.

SERGE SARGSIAN TO MEET WITH MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION LEADERSHIP AND IRAQI DEFENCE MINISTER IN IRAQ

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 13 2006

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. On November 13, RA Defence Minister,
Secretary of the National Security Council under RA President, Serge
Sargsian left for Iraq.

As Noyan Tapan was informed from RA Defence Minister Press Service,
the visit’s goal is to familiarize himself with the service conditions
of Armenian peacekeepers on the spot, to meet with the Defence Minister
of Iraq, as well as with the milti-national division’s leadership.

Answering journalists’ question at the airport, whether the Armenian
side is ready to continue its peacekeeping mission in Iraq, S.Sargsian
said: "We have already applied to the National Assembly to prolong
the mission term, as I am sure as at that time that Armenia cannot
be only a security consumer. Armenia should have its modest, but
stable contribution to processes of international security. And as
time showed, our soldiers and officers carry out important, difficult
and dangerous, as well as a necessary mission first of all for the
Republic of Armenia. With their service they once more confirm that
Armenia is a fully-fledged state."

During a briefing the Minister said that senior lieutenant Georgy
Nalbandian who received a mine injury in the tract of legs when
carrying out a military task was moved to Germany and his life is
out of danger now. "I hope after some time he will recover and will
return to Armenia to continue his service to the homeland. I express
support to his family and I am sure that our armed forces need his
experience and knowledge," S.Sargsian said.

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 10 2006

Turkey expands property rights of non-Muslim communities
10.11.2006 14:32

The Turkish Parliament has adopted a law, which expands the property
rights of non-Muslim communities of the country. Thus, Ankara has
fulfilled the recurrent requirement of the European Union on
reinforcement of minority rights.
The new law to be still signed by the President allows the Christian
Greek and Armenian, as well as the Jewish communities to demand
return of the property confiscated in 1974 by the Turkish state.

WHICH ARMENIAN ORGANIZATIONS WILL SUPPORT ARKADY GHUKASYAN?

Lragir, Armenia
Nov 9 2006

NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan is visiting the United States, where
the annual telethon will be held on November 23. The president left
for the United Stated 20 days before the telethon to meet with the
representatives of the Armenian organizations. Because it is not
easy to persuade people to give money. Especially that you have done
this before.

The Armenian community of America is not homogeneous. There are
controversies between organizations and individuals. Often an
organization refuses to take part in an event because another
organization helped to organize it. There are controversies among
the political parties and other organizations. This is the reason why
there is no established all-Armenian organization up today. It is not
clear how complicated the situation has become after the election to
the U.S. Congress.

Will Arkady Ghukasyan be able to come to persuade all these forces?

Who will support the president of Karabakh who has already stated
that he will not run in the election next year.

TURKEY’S DIPLOMATIC TRIALS
by Jennifer Campbell, The Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Citizen
November 8, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition

Talk about a last-minute change of heart. Organizers of an academic
conference on Turkey scheduled for last Friday received word from the
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade that morning
that the funding they’d been promised was being yanked.

The one-day conference went ahead anyway but the surprise announcement
left some wondering about the department’s motives.

Turkish Ambassador Aydemir Erman was typically diplomatic. He
admitted the department withdrew its support but added it still sent
a representative to the conference. Foreign Affairs director Peter
Lundy gave an overview about bilateral relations but wouldn’t speak
to the media.

Spokeswoman Catherine Gagnaire said the department had hoped the
conference would remain focused on Turkey and Canada.

"As controversies developed relating to Turkey’s differences with
other countries including Armenia and Cyprus, this shifted the focus
of the conference," Ms. Gagnaire said in an e-mail. "Consequently,
the department withdrew its official sponsorship."

The federal funding withdrawal came days after Foreign Affairs
Minister Peter MacKay showed up at a reception for the newly formed
Canada-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship Group and spoke encouragingly
about Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s proposal to strike
a joint historical commission to examine facts about what the Turks
call the "Armenian tragedy" and what the Armenians prefer to label
a genocide.

In May, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the 1915 atrocities a
genocide, a move that led to the Turkish government calling Mr. Erman
home for high-level consultations.

It’s not clear whether Armenian protesters outside old city hall the
morning of the conference had anything to do with Foreign Affairs’
decision. They were handing out material discrediting scholar Guenter
Lewy, a professor from the University of Massachusetts who delivered
a paper titled "History as a Present Day Problem: The Ottoman Armenia
Question."

Mr. Lewy says he’s met by Armenians wherever he goes.

CLIMATE-CHANGE POLICY and visas

RESULT IN CoolER relations

When it comes to Canada-European Union relations, the newly arrived
head of the European Commission delegation is already dealing with the
fallout of a diplomatic firestorm. Dorian Prince had been preparing
for the Canada-EU Summit scheduled for Nov. 27 in Finland but the
Prime Minister’s Office sent the delegation a terse letter last week
requesting the meeting be postponed.

The Europeans were set to talk about at least two touchy subjects:
the Kyoto protocol and the visa issue between the EU and Canada. Mr.

Harper has said Canada won’t be able to meet its earlier commitments
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Yesterday, Mr. Prince was gracious about the change of plans.

"Of course, it’s disappointing that the summit has had to be postponed
because of technical and timing issues on the part of the prime
minister," Mr. Prince said. "But we look forward to hosting a summit
in the spring."

In the meantime, the EU will plug away at the visa issue. On Monday
Franco Frattini, the European commissioner on justice and home affairs,
arrived in Canada for a two-day visit during which he planned to put
a little political pressure on his Canadian counterparts.

Canada and the first 15 EU member states had a visa-free relationship
but when the 10 new members joined in May 2004, there were seven to
which Canada didn’t extend that courtesy: Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia,
Poland, Lithuania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Canada did recently
agree to let Estonia join the visa-free club, something EU officials
take as encouraging.

"It has been discussed at the ministerial level in the past, and Canada
has written to us saying they intend to extend the visa suspension
to all member states so there are steps in the right direction,"
Mr. Prince said.

"So this visit is to show that it is important and to show that Europe
encourages a dialogue. I think Canada has accepted (the need for
reciprocity) in principle but it’s taking longer than we would like."

Mr. Prince noted that the Eastern European states in question have
come a long way.

"I can understand that from a Canadian point of view they’ve had
problems in the past but what they have to realize is that the
situation has changed," he said.

"The situation in the Czech Republic cannot be compared to the
situation 10 years ago after the fall of the Communist regime. Today,
the situation is stable, the economy is doing extremely well."

SLOVENIAN EXCHANGE

The president of Slovenia’s national assembly led a delegation to
Canada over the weekend. France Cukjati and a group of parliamentarians
are visiting Ottawa and Toronto.

In Ottawa, they met Commons Speaker Peter Milliken and Senate Speaker
Noel Kinsella.

They also met Peter Van Loan, parliamentary secretary to the
minister of foreign affairs. They met the chair of the Canada-Europe
Parliamentary Association and the chair of the committee on foreign
affairs. In Toronto, the delegation visited members of the Slovenian
community and the legislative assembly and met with Mississauga Mayor
Hazel McCallion.

Slovenia doesn’t share the complaint expressed by many of its fellow
EU members that recently joined the organization: Unlike travellers
from those Eastern European states, its citizens don’t require a visa
to visit Canada.

Jennifer Campbell is a freelance writer and editor in Ottawa.

TRANSLATORS STAND TRIAL IN TURKEY

OhmyNews International, South Korea
Nov 8 2006

Government’s war on freedom of expression extends beyond writers

Turkish translators and publishers facing charges for insulting
the state have called for international solidarity for freedom of
expression.

The Professional Association of Turkish Book Translators (CEVBIR)
has launched a campaign to stop publishers and translators from being
tried under the articles of the penal code on insulting the Turkish
state and Turkishness.

Currently, three translators, two editors and one publisher face
charges for the publication of two books.

In its declaration, the translators association states that "the
translator does not express an opinion of his/her own, s/he has to
abide by what is written by the author," and thus "cannot be held
responsible for the content of the text s/he has translated."

"We move from the maxim that a book, regardless of its content,
should not be tried unless it contains an explicit and direct call for
violence and war. In our association, we do not defend translators on
the basis of our ideologies. Our members share diverse worldviews. But
our concern is to ensure that translators practice their profession
without any fear of becoming their own censurers or prosecutors,"
said Tuncay Birkan, the association’s president.

Legal Basis for the Indictments

The association explains that the Turkish law regarding intellectual
and artistic property views literary translators as the owners of a
"derivative work." In cases where the owner of the original work
does not reside in Turkey or is outside Turkish jurisdiction, the
translator becomes subject to prosecution as "the owner of the work."

This is made possible under the articles of the penal code on "crimes
committed through publications" (i.e., "to humiliate the state, to
insult the military forces, to deliver separatist propaganda, etc.")
and the press law.

Criticizing this interpretation of a translator as the owner of the
work, members of the association think that following this reasoning,
"anyone could be brought before the court, from cover designers to
those printing them in printing houses, and even readers."

Current Cases

Translators Lutfi Taylan Tosun and Aysel Yildirim, along with the
owner of Aram Publications, are currently standing trial for the
Turkish translation of John Tirman’s "Spoils of War: the Human Cost
of America’s Arms Trade," which was published in 2005. They were
charged under several articles of the penal code, including Article
301 on the denigration of Turkishness, the republic and the foundation
and institutions of the state, as well as articles concerning the
protection of the memory of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of
the Republic.

If found guilty, the translators and the publisher face up to seven
and a half years in jail.

Translator Ender Abadoglu and the owner and two editors of Aram
Publications are also standing trial under Article 301, and under
Article 216, for the translation of "Manufacturing Consent: the
Political Economy of the Mass Media" by Noam Chomsky and Edward S.

Herman, published by Aram Publications in March.

The book is purported to accuse Turkey of genocide against its own
population, having incited people living in the southeast to hatred
and hostility.

Abadoglu, the publisher and the editors all face up to six years
in prison.

Previously, an investigation was carried out regarding Elif Shafak’s
"The Bastard of Istanbul." Charges were filed against the author,
translator Asli Bicen and publisher Semih Sokmen for comments
characters in the book made about the mass killings of Armenians in
the final years of the Ottoman Empire. Later, the charges against
Bicen and Sokmen were dropped because the author resides in Turkey.

Bicen said, "A translator under threat of being tried has either
to self-censure when translating a book or give up translating
it totally." Bicen asked readers: "Do you want to give up reading
translated texts? Not having read Dostoyevsky, Edward Said or Chomsky
even once?"

Many translators share this view, stating that during their careers
they translate numerous texts from authors with whom they do not
agree. The association emphasizes this point: "We do not have to agree
with the statements about ‘genocide,’ Ataturk’s nationalism, etc. in
the books, but it is our duty to protest strongly when the authors,
publishers and especially the translators of these books start to be
tried in the courts."

Article 301 and 216

Translators and publishers have been tried under Article 301 of the
penal code like many other writers, including Orhan Pamuk, the winner
of this year’s Nobel literature prize, who claimed that "one million
Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey."

Journalist Perihan Magden also faced prosecution due to a newspaper
column she published in December 2005 in which she defended the
principle of conscientious objection and the refusal to perform
military service.

Both authors were acquitted.

Article 301 has been criticized due to its vagueness, which can be
interpreted in ways that could criminalize a wide range of critical
opinions. Paragraph four of the article states that "expressions of
thought intended to criticize shall not constitute a crime." However,
the attempt to draw a distinction between criticism and denigration
is considered problematic. Many are concerned that the ambiguity
would lead to arbitrary interpretation of the article by prosecutors
and judges.

This article is not the only one in question. Articles 1 and 2 of the
law numbered 5816 prohibit publicly insulting the memory of Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk, prescribing one to three years imprisonment.

Article 216 of the Turkish penal code prohibits the incitement to
hatred and enmity of one group of the population against another
group of a different social class, race, religion, sect or region. In
the event of an open and immediate danger regarding public security,
the law prescribes one to three years imprisonment.

Translator Tosun said, "In Western media, the problem was brought up
through famous names such as Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak and Article
301. However, the restrictions on the freedom of expression in Turkey
are not confined to Article 301. Writers, translators and publishers
are relatively fortunate in terms of attracting media attention from
the West. But there are many other politicians, NGO activists, women,
and religious and ethnic minorities under pressure, who do not attract
much media attention."

cleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=32 7250&rel_no=1

ARAM KARAPETIAN IN THE AUTHORITY SPHERE
Naira Mamikonian

Aravot, Armenia
Nov 6 2006

In his words, both "New Times" and the authorities are in the same,
pro-Russian sphere.

"New Times" Party issued a statement on October 31 affirming that
the unknown person, who phoned Aram Karapetian and tried to connect
him with criminal elements, had performed RA Defense Minister Serge
Sargsian’s, RA chief of Police Hayk Haroutiunian’s and RA NSS chief
Gorik Hakobian’s order.

It’s strange that all scandal stories connect with Aram Karapetian,
and the initiators are always RA power ministries. What do they always
become the target?

In A. Karapetian’s opinion it may be explained by two circumstances:
"First of all we, as the opposition, mostly play in the authority
field,"- "NT" leader stressed, taking into consideration his and the
authorities’ pro-Russian orientation where they try to demonstrate
their power. "The authorities have always tried to demonstrate that
they are always in geopolitical, pro-Russian sphere. On the other
hand our party becomes a rival with its pro-Russian orientation.

Anyway, the political logic leads to it", – "NT" leader said
Mr. Karapetian said on the occasion of the lack of activity in the
opposition field that there were visible and invisible sides of
processes. The visible side is political and public passivity inside
the country, irrespective of invisible side where "great processes
occur", in particularly in the context of geopolitical developments.

He gave as example; the problems connected with Karabakh, Iran,
Georgia, where the orientation of the authority isn’t obvious. "For
example, mutual relations with the outside world, when people have
promised several things to several places but the year is over
and they don’t manage to keep their promise", – A. Karapetian
said and added: "In my personal opinion, the authorities try
to deepen "complementarism" and to sit on two chairs, giving
promises everywhere". He meant our authorities’ promise given to
the authorities of Georgia not to assist any of the parties in the
context of Russian-Georgian relations".

Taking into consideration the circumstance that we have a conversation
with a pro-Russian politician who is well informed about any
information coming from Russia that R. Kocharian had discussed with
his Russian colleague during his last visit to Moscow about his
possible resignation at the end of the year or at the beginning of
the coming year. It is also said that after Kocharian’s resignation,
during the coming 2-3 months, Serge Sargsian will succeed him and
Ara Abrahamian, the head of World Congress of Armenians, will be
appointed in the post of Prime Minister.

"I have heard such kind of conversations but as I don’t have any
reliable information, it will be unserious to tell anything about it.

At the same time, I think there is a certain ground for those
conversations", – A.Karapetian said.

As regards the conversations about Serge Sargsian and Ara Abrahamian,
A. Karapetian noted that those conversations were demonstrations
of PR. "I remembered an anecdote: a man says to his friend that his
wife always reproaches him, that the neighbor’s 80 years old husband
does everything and he isn’t able to do anything. The friend answers
him, you also say. I didn’t say it was a lie, I simply remembered
an anecdote. I also may say that in my opinion, Armenia has such
agreements, for example with Nigeria, according to which David Lokian
will become the head of that country and Vahan Hovhannisian will
become the Prime Minister. Let’s say, – A. Karapetian joked.

"MY TONGUE IS MY ENEMY"

A1+
[07:45 pm] 06 November, 2006

After the announcement of Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan about
accusations against him by Aram Karapetyan, the head of the New Times
party has made a statement.

"Every time he has to answer a serious question, he calls people
pitiable. It is obvious that he loses control more and more
often. Despite the fact that Mr.

Sargsyan and I act in the Russian political-geographic field, he
has already lost the game with his illogical steps which has created
serious ground for mental disorder.

I would like to advise Mr. Sargsyan not to forget the famous Armenian
saying ‘My tongue is my enemy’", Aram Karapetyan said.

GEORGIA FACES A HAGGLE FOR GAS
By Stephen Mulvey

BBC News, UK
Nov 2 2006

Russia’s proposal to double the price of gas to Georgia is in line
with its declared policy of putting a halt to energy subsidies for
former Soviet states.

But the policy is applied inconsistently.

Georgia cannot easily afford to pay market prices for gas The importing
countries can, and do, haggle to get a price below the supposed market
price of between $200 and $250 per 1,000 cubic metres.

Armenia and Ukraine are two recent examples.

In April, Armenia signed a three-year contract to buy gas for $110
per 1,000 cubic metres, after agreeing to sell part of a gas-fired
energy plant and part of a new pipeline to Armenia from Iran.

A fortnight ago, Ukraine negotiated a price of $130 per 1,000 cubic
metres, but in this case the payback is less clear.

Subsidies

Gazprom is always keen to buy up energy infrastructure, but Ukraine
is equally keen to hang on to its export pipeline – the one that
carries most of Gazprom’s exports to Europe.

Comments made by the Russian prime minister after the deal was struck
signalled that Ukraine may have paid a political price – an agreement
to co-ordinate with Russia the timing of its entry into the World
Trade Organization.

So what are the prospects for Georgia?

The lessons from Armenia and Ukraine would appear to be that if
Georgia wants cheap gas it either has to give up part of its energy
infrastructure, or to make some political concessions.

What such concessions might be is unclear, though there has been
speculation that the recent deterioration of relations between Georgia
and Russia may in some way be linked to its increasingly close ties
with Nato.

‘Blackmail’

At any rate, Gazprom’s announcement will certainly have given Georgian
foreign minister Gela Bezhuashvili food for thought as he visits
Moscow for talks aimed at defusing recent tensions.

No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of
intimidation

US Vice-President Dick Cheney The timing of Gazprom’s announcement
is probably no coincidence, though negotiations on a new gas contract
have been on the agenda for some time.

This way of doing business alarms the US and the EU.

In May, US Vice-President Dick Cheney made a speech in the Lithuanian
capital Vilnius, attacking Russian foreign policy.

"No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of
intimidation or blackmail, either by supply manipulation or attempts
to monopolise transportation," he said.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, meanwhile, told the French paper
Le Figaro that Russia had "used its energy resources as political
weapon".

The EU’s position is that Russia and its energy partners would be
best served by a genuine open market for energy, and a transparent
pricing policy.

It has put huge efforts into getting Russia to sign the Energy Charter
Treaty – which would, among other things, have allowed foreign energy
companies in Russia to export gas and oil via Russian pipelines –
but has now more or less accepted defeat.

The current EU strategy is to negotiate a framework for energy sector
co-operation in a new strategic partnership agreement.

Iranian option

At a summit in Finland last month, President Vladimir Putin said
Russia was prepared to have this discussion, though he did not promise
any concessions.

Talks are due to start soon but they will take months, and unlike the
Energy Charter Treaty, the EU-Russia agreement is unlikely to be much
help to a non-EU country like Georgia.

Georgia is short of money and cannot easily afford to pay $200 or
more for 1,000 cubic metres of gas.

In the long run it will be able to buy more gas from Azerbaijan.

It may still have a chance to get competitively priced gas from Iran
via the Armenian pipeline, though Russia’s increased stake makes that
look less likely.

So in the short term, it has a problem.

UN REPORT: THIRD OF RA POPULATION HUNGERS

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 31 2006

A number of people in Armenia, who have shortage of foodstuffs,
has reduced twice the recent 10 years. However, this number is not so
small. – 29% of the population, it is said in the Report on Food Safety
in the World, prepared by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization .

As the UN site informs, the Report authors also pay attention to a
huge number of starving people in Tajikistan, Armenia And Uzbekistan.

These three countries are included in the list of states, which
faced the most serious problems in the area of food safety. The
experts note that Azerbaijan and Georgia have achieved noticeable
successes in hunger-fight within the last 10 years. In 1993-1995,
2,5 mln people were underfed in these countries. In 2001,2003, their
number has reduced to 700-800 thsd people.

The FAO Report notes that in the countries with transient economy,
60% of the population faced a sharp shortage of food. In Russia,
Ukraine and Belarus, the number of those underfed makes up 3%.

It is underlines in the Report that such countries as Estonia, Croatia,
Lithuania and Macedonia have succeeded to solve the tasks, set by the
international community in food safety. Latvia, Russia, Slovenia and
Turkmenistan achieved a progress in it . In the experts’ opinion,
these states will be able to reach the goal, set in 1996, that is,
to twice reduce the number of underfed people in the world by 2015.

The main conclusion of the Report is that the international community
will not manage to fulfill the goal, set at the World Food Summit
in Rome in 1996, i.e. to twice reduce the number of hungry people
in the world by 2015. It failed to reach successes in this area for
the recent 10 years. The number of hungry people for this period
has increased by 23 mln and reached 820 mln people, while 70% of
population in some African countries hungers.