Author: Topchian Jane

THANKS GOD, THE NEIGHBORS ARE KIND-HEARTED PEOPLE

A1+
[02:33 pm] 17 October, 2006

It is already five years 40-year-old Vardan lives in the cellar of a
house on Azatutyun 11. In order to turn the cellar into a dwelling
place, Vardan used a lot of things found in the rubbish bins. The
inhabitants of the building also render their assistance to Vardan
by giving him clothes, food, etc.

Vardan has got no relatives. Vardan would have become a beggar but
for the neighbors’ assistance.

Vardan knows all the inhabitants of the building quite well. From
time to time he does various things for them getting food in return.

The neighbors claim that Vardan is a "conscientious person." He
helps the elderly people of the neighborhood doing shopping for
them. Mrs. Karine says that in case any of the neighbors helps Vardan
the latter expresses his gratitude many times.

Vardan has no problems in the neighborhood. But sometimes the boys make
fun of him. Nevertheless, Vardan is content with his conditions. If his
neighbors were not so kind Vardan would have to change his dwelling
place as he could rely neither on the state assistance nor on the
possibility of finding a job.

HENRY CUNY: ARMENIA COUNTRY OF INEXHAUSTIBLE TREASURES

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.10.2006 16:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II received
French Ambassador to Armenia Henry Cuny, who is completing his mission
in Armenia. The Catholicos thanked the Ambassador for active diplomatic
mission in Armenia. In his turn H. Cuny conveyed the gratitude of the
French government to the Armenian religious leader for strengthening
ties between the two peoples. "Armenia is a country of historical
evidence. It is a land of inexhaustible treasures," the Ambassador
stressed, reports the Press Office of Holy Echmiadzin.

Anatolia news agency, Ankara,
13 Oct 06

FRENCH LAW ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE UNACCEPTABLE – TURKISH CYPRIOT HEAD

Istanbul, 12 October: "Adoption of such a draft law (in the French
National Assembly, criminalizing denial of the so-called Armenian
genocide) cannot be accepted and believed," said President Mehmet Ali
Talat of [self-declared] Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC),
who arrived in Istanbul after completing his meetings in Brussels.

Regarding the French draft law, Talat said that a very strange law
was adopted in the French National Assembly, adding that it is not a
believable decision while France is claiming championship in the
so-called freedom of thought.

"France acted by believing that it will make the whole world accept
the so-called Armenian genocide. Moreover, they made this by banning
freedom of expression and thought," he added.

Regarding Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk’s winning Nobel Prize for
literature, Talat said that it is pleasing news. Talat congratulated
the Turkish literature world and Turkey for this success.

Associated Press
Oct 13 2006

Turkish Group Boycotts Some French Goods

ISTANBUL, Turkey – The Turkish Consumers Union announced a limited
boycott of French goods Friday in reaction to a French law that would
make it a crime to deny that mass killings of Armenians in Turkey was
genocide.

The non-governmental group, which seeks to educate and advocate for
Turkish consumers, said the boycott would begin with the French oil
products company Total, and that the union would publicize a new
French company for Turks to boycott each week.

"From today on, every week we are going to boycott a French brand,
and show our reaction in a language that France can understand,"
group chairman Bulent Deniz said.

"By adopting the bill on making denial of the so-called Armenian
genocide a crime, the French National Assembly expressed its
opposition to freedom of thought."

He said the boycott would continue until the law was defeated or
annulled.

Total trade between the two countries last year stood at nearly $10
billion. Turkey imported goods from France worth nearly $6 billion.

On Thursday, French lawmakers _ in a 106-19 vote _ approved a bill
that would criminalize denying the mass killings of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I amounted to genocide,
but the bill still needs to be approved by the French Senate and the
president to become law.

Turks were outraged by the decision, which was widely viewed as a
hostile measure. The European Union on Friday said the bill was
"counterproductive."

Turkey acknowledges that great numbers of Armenians were killed in
fighting and mass expulsions, but does not accept the label of
genocide.

In Istanbul, customers at some retail centers were being urged by
salespeople not to purchase French goods as a reaction to the French
lawmakers’ vote.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had called on Turks Thursday to
be moderate in their response, and the Foreign Ministry said it would
do everything it could to ensure the law was not passed.

On Friday, a Turkish parliamentary commission charged with EU
harmonization called on France to reject or retract the law. "Our
commission condemns this unjust decision and hopes that France will
succumb to common sense and turn back from this mistake," the
statement said.

Radio Liberty. Czech Rep.
Oct 13 2006

Armenian Studens Salute France Over Genocide Bill

By Irina Hovannisian

Hundreds of students rallied outside the French embassy in Yerevan
Friday to thank France’s parliament for passing a bill that would
make it an offence punishable by jail to deny that Armenians suffered
a genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

Chanting `Long live France!’ and waving French and Armenian flags,
they marched through the city center in two separate demonstrations
organized by the student organizations of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and another youth organizations.

`We express our sincere gratitude to our French friends and welcome
this historic step,’ an organizer of the first rally representing the
Social Democratic Hnchakian Party said, reading out a petition
outside the embassy building in central Yerevan.

`We are here to express our joy at the adoption of this law and hope
that sooner or later such a bill will be adopted in Turkey,’ said one
of the participants.

`That horrible crime must be accepted by all means,’ agreed another,
referring to the 1915-1918 mass killings and deportations of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

France is one of about two dozen countries that have officially
recognized the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 Armenians as genocide.
Ignoring vehement protests from the Turkey, the lower of house of its
parliament went farther and adopted legislation on Thursday that
establishes a one-year prison term and 45,000 euro ($56,570) fine for
anyone denying the genocide. Armenia promptly welcomed the move as a
`natural reaction to the intensive, aggressive and official denial of
the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish state.’

`France recognized the fact of the Armenian genocide long ago,’ Henry
Cuny, the French ambassador to Armenia, said, addressing the jubilant
students outside his mission.

Cuny made no direct mention of the bill, which his government did not
support, urging young Armenians instead to strive to improve `your
relations with your neighbor Turkey.’ `I think that for any country
having good relations with a good neighbor is very important,’ he
said, adding that Turkey should reopen its border with Armenia and
`embrace values’ espoused by the European Union.

Visiting Yerevan earlier this month, French President Jacques Chirac
indicated that Turkey has to recognize the Armenian genocide if it
wants to join the EU. The statement was echoed by other top French
politicians. EU officials insist, however, that genocide recognition
is not a precondition for Ankara’s entry to the bloc.

GREECE ON TURKEY’S EU OBLIGATIONS

Athens News Agency, Greece
Oct 12 2006

Greece on Thursday reiterated that European Union hopeful Turkey must
recognise EU member-state Cyprus as soon as possible.

In a regular weekly press briefing, foreign ministry spokesman George
Koumoutsakos referred to a paradox, as he said, in Turkey’s quest for
EU membership, namely, the fact that it continues to not recognise
a country that is a member in an organisation it wants to join,
something he termed "paradoxical and irrational".

Conversely, the spokesman said the upcoming period will allow for
opportunities to "lift this paradox".

Asked about the screening of Turkey’s ongoing EU accession process,
Koumoutsakos said the chapter on "business and industrial policy" was
discussed at a work group level within the EU recently, and that the
Greek side had aired certain "substantive concerns" over technical
issues. He added that the Cypriot side had expressed a negative
opinion, leading to the tabling of relevant discussions for the future.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on
the substance of a recent initiative by the Finnish EU presidency
vis-?-vis the Cyprus issue and Turkey’s stance, merely noting that
the action aims to seek input by all interested sides. He also said
that Athens has a standing position over the matter and does not wish
to enter a reasoning of ‘trade-offs’.

Finally, Koumoutsakos was again asked about Wednesday’s somewhat
eyebrow-raising quip by his counterpart at the Turkish foreign
ministry, Namik Tan, who reportedly responded to Koumoutsakos’
allusion to the ubiquitous "train crash" metaphor – a leitmotif
in press reports and European leaders’ comments about EU-Turkey
relations over the recent period – by saying that "Greece’s specialty
are airplane accidents. I would advice him (Koumoutsakos) to stick
with those instead of train accidents".

"I must tell you, because I know him, that Mr. Tan is a gentleman,
and for this reason his statement surprised me," Koumoutsakos said,
while declining to comment further. The spokesman’s exact statement
in Athens was: "Turkey will not derail if it follows the tracks…"

In an ANA-MPA dispatch from Istanbul later on Thursday, Tan told an
ANA-MPA correspondent that his comments were misinterpreted.

"My statements had absolutely no intention of provoking or irritating,"
he said, while adding that he has repeatedly in the past highlighted
the positive side of Greek-Turkish relations and has made systematic
efforts to clear-up possible misunderstandings between Athens and
Ankara.

Comment on French decision

Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, Koumoutsakos was asked about
Thursday’s decision by the French National Assembly to pass a law
making it a crime to deny that ethnic Armenians suffered genocide at
the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I.

"It is well known that the Greek parliament adopted a 1996 resolution
condemning the Armenian genocide. At the same time, we believe that
in the modern world the past must not be an obstacle for the future."

ONLY FINANCIAL FACTOR PREVENTS TURKEY FROM RECOGNIZING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE?

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.10.2006 14:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish experts, who wished to remain unknown
underscore that in the matter of recognition of the Armenian Genocide
not only the political, legal and moral aspect, but first of all
the financial and economic ones are important to Ankara. "We could
theoretically recognize the genocide as an act committed even before
the creation of the contemporary Turkish Republic. If it is the case
Armenians will lay suits on material compensations and we will be
ruined," this opinion is currently widely spread in the public and
political circles of Turkey, reports Vremya Novostey.

TBILISI MORE CONSISTENT IN MOVING TOWARDS NATO, THAN YEREVAN AND BAKU

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.10.2006 14:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The NATO does not put any time limits for accession
of a country to the Alliance.

Each country, wishing to become a NATO member, should fulfill the terms
and then speaking of its accession will be possible, NATO Secretary
General’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central
Asia Robert Simmons stated at a news conference in Yerevan.

In his words, Georgia is more consistent in moving towards the NATO
than Armenia and Azerbaijan and the first phase of its program is
underway. "It is a program for NATO accession, and not IPAP. Neither
Armenia, nor Azerbaijan stated a desire to join the Alliance,"
Simmons said.

As for Georgian-Russian relations, the NATO Secretary General’s Special
Representative expressed confidence that the tension in the relations
between Russia and Georgia will be settled peacefully.

Robert Simmons also told about the agenda of the coming NATO
agenda. "Three issues will be discussed: increase of the military
presence of the NATO in Afghanistan, expansion of cooperation with
countries of the Pacific basin and NATO capacity to military operations
in various parts of the world," Simmons said.

SERGEY IVANOV: RUSSIA NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CONFLICTS ON POST-SOVIET SPACE

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 11 2006

Russia carries no responsibility for the frozen conflicts on
post-Soviet space, RF Deputy Premier, Defense Minister Sergey
Ivanov told the journalists. "As for the conflicts on the territory
of the former USSR, we have not initiated these and we carry no
responsibility, we are the guarantor of settlement," said Ivanov in
response to the question whether Russia may recognize the independence
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia because of the strained relations
with Georgia.

"It means that the two parties of the conflict, e.g. Moldova and
Transniestria, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgia and Abkhazia, Georgia
and Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, should somehow speak to each
other," RF Deputy Prime Minister noted. He said that the process is
different in case of different conflicts. Ivanov remarked that the
existence of frozen conflicts on former USSR territory is the result
of collapse of the Soviet Union.

CRIMINALS WANT TO GRAB POWER

A1+
[05:15 pm] 11 October, 2006

Shadow economists and criminal elements in Armenia are tired of serving
others and want to grab power, deputy Shavarsh Kocharyan warns. He says
that the political, economic, administrative and criminal structures
have united into one which will result in handing the power on to
each other like batons.

Referring to the arrest of NA deputy Hakob Hakobyan, Shavarsh Kocharyan
said that "this way the authorities sort out their relationship",
otherwise other deputies would be punished too in similar
circumstances. "He has broken the laws of the game", Kocharyan said.

According to him, Hakob Hakobyan may be punished by losing a
significant sum of money.

The Parliamentary elections are to be held in six months, but the
opposition unites in the anti-criminal movement instead of uniting
for gaining power.

According to the head of the National Democratic Party, this is rather
strange; that’s why his party did not join the movement.

He also claimed that combat against criminals is the business of the
authorities and not that of the opposition as they do not have police
or courts.