Turkey rapped over massacres: German parliamentary motion critical of refusal to recognize killing of Armenians
By Friederike Peters

Windsor Star (Ontario)
June 17, 2005 Friday
Final Edition

Germany’s lower house of parliament Thursday approved a motion
criticizing Turkey for failing to recognize that the Turkish Ottoman
Empire was involved in the massacres of hundreds of thousands of
Armenians in 1915.

The extent of the massacres and deportations of Armenians is still
being played down or denied by the modern Turkish government,
contradicting the idea of reconciliation promoted by the European
Union, according to the motion, which was submitted by all
parliamentary groups. It stopped short of describing the killings
as genocide.

“The lower house of parliament regrets that an extensive discussion
of events in the then Ottoman Empire still is not possible and that
academics and writers who want to look into this part of Turkish
history are being prosecuted and defamed,” the motion said.

Turkey denies allegations that the Ottoman Empire’s treatment of its
Armenian subjects in 1915 was a planned genocide, arguing that an
Armenian rebellion caused clashes and the resulting deaths.

The European Union, with which Turkey is due to start membership talks
Oct. 3, has said the dispute with Armenia clouds Turkey’s bid to join.

“It’s not possible to accept the notion of ‘genocide’ without relying
on documents and information,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said at a news conference in Beirut, Lebanon today.

“We are proud of our history. Therefore we cannot stand by while this
issue is being used as a political tool, as free political capital
by lobby groups.”

Turkey should take responsibility for the deaths because the evidence
of genocide is “abundantly documented,” the Purdue University,
Indiana-based International Association of Genocide Scholars said in
a letter to Erdogan on April 6.

During a visit to Turkey on May 4, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
urged the Armenian government to accept a proposal by Turkey that
scholars from both countries study the genocide claims.

More than one million Armenians died in massacres, on death marches
through the Syrian desert or in camps, the German motion said.

Acknowledging the former injustice would help normalize the
relationship between Armenia and Turkey and stabilize the Caucasus
region, it said.

The lawmakers said Turkey is showing some positive signs that it
is beginning to address the issue, such as an invitation to Turks
of Armenian origin by the Turkish National Assembly to talk about
the crimes, an exchange of documents between Turkish and Armenian
historians and Erdogan opening the first Armenian museum in Istanbul.

Still, they criticized the cancellation by the Turkish Justice
Ministry of a conference on the subject by Turkish academics that
had been due to take place in May.

– The motion also expressed regret that the German government of
the time didn’t act to prevent the killings even though it was aware
of what was happening. Germany and Turkey were allies in the First
World War.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 17, 2005, Friday

UKRAINE AIMS AT ARMENIA

SOURCE: Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kurier, No 21, June 15 – 21, 2005, p. 3

by Samvel Martirosjan

UKRAINIAN MILITARY IS PREPARED TO BECOME PEACEKEEPERS IN THE KARABAKH
CONFLICT AREA

Kyiv aspires for the role of a serious player in the Caucasus.
Lieutenant General Valery Frolov, Senior Second-in-Command of the
Ukrainian Ground Forces, said the other day that the Ukrainian
Defense Ministry could send peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh after
two months’ worth of training provided the Rada authorized it. Pyotr
Poroshenko, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council,
does not rule out the possibility of deployment of Ukrainian
peacekeepers in the conflict area with the consent of all involved
parties. Poroshenko is convinced that the peacekeeping mission in the
region – just like in all other latent conflict areas – will boost
the image of Ukraine as a national leader. Ukraine merely needs trust
of both warring sides and it will certainly become the regional
guarantor of peace.

It does not seem, however, that Ukraine itself is unanimous on the
matter. Georgy Kryuchkov, Chairman of the Rada Committee of National
Security and Defense, was extremely critical of the statements on the
possibility of peacekeeping deployment. He said that it would not
have hurt to know what the Rada thought on the matter before making
statements like that.

Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh took the offer of Ukrainian peacekeepers
without enthusiasm. Masis Mailjan, Deputy Foreign Minister of
Nagorno-Karabakh, said that it was not time yet to talk of
peacekeepers. Mailjan is convinced that the truce on the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh front this last 11 years has been maintained
only through preservation of parity. The diplomat added that the
composition of peacekeepers must be run by all involved parties
including Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, in any case.
“According to the decision of the 1994 OSCE Budapest summit,
deployment of international peacekeeping contingent in the Karabakh
conflict area requires a political agreement signed by all warring
sides,” he said.

Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanjan, also called Kyiv’s
statement untimely. “It may become necessary when the conflict is
over, but statements like that are certainly untimely at this point,”
he said.

Despite what Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia might be thinking on the
matter, there is more to the statement on the agreement of all
involved parties than meets the eye. Ukraine cannot be neutral in the
Karabakh conflict. It does not even matter that a great deal of
Ukrainian mercenaries fought on the side of Azerbaijan in the war
over Nagorno-Karabakh (detachments of mercenaries were formed under
the aegis of UNA-UNSO or the so called Kyiv Patriarchate). Along with
everything else, Ukraine was major supplier of arms for Azerbaijan in
the war. In 1993, official Kyiv confessed to the UN Conventional Arms
Roster the delivery of 100 tanks and 110 helicopters to Azerbaijan.
Information on larger quantities of munitions, artillery pieces,
armored vehicles, aircraft, and spare parts delivered to Azerbaijan
from Ukraine appeared both before and after that document.

What with its practically direct involvement in the Karabakh conflict
in the past, Kyiv’s aspirations for the role of peacekeeper in the
area look certainly quaint. Moreover, Ukraine’s ambitions in the
Caucasus are not even restricted to that. Practically simultaneously
with the offer of Ukrainian peacekeepers for the Karabakh conflict
area, Kyiv invited Armenia to join GUAM. Addressing journalists in
the wake of the meeting of GUAM Parliamentary Assembly in Yalta, Rada
Chairman, Vladimir Litvin, said that countries like Russia,
Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Armenia could join the organization in
future. According to Litvin, every country should aspire for
membership in international structures for the purpose of advancing
its interests, provided interests of other countries are taken into
account too. “This is what processes of globalization demand. Unless
one is present, others will make decisions for him,” Litvin said.

Oskanjan responded to Litvin’s words the following day. Speaking on
behalf of official Yerevan, he denied any knowledge of offers of this
sort. “Whenever one joins some organization, he must have faith in
its principles and goals,” Oskanjan said. “GUAM itself as an
organization is revising its goals and programs at this point…”

As a matter of fact, Kyiv seems to have succeeded in persuading the
Armenian authorities at least on one matter. The matter concerns
transit of Iranian gas via Armenia to Georgia, Ukraine, and on to
Europe. This is one of the worst problems that mar the
Russian-Armenian relations at this point. Moscow is doing what it can
to prevent this turn of events, suggesting that Armenia be content
with getting Iranian gas exclusively for its own needs.

In short, all of a sudden Kyiv grew extremely interested in Armenia.
>>From the political point of view, Ukraine’s actions look clumsy. The
impression is that official Kyiv is trying to elbow its way into some
niches in the region by driving Russia out. How independent the
Ukrainian leadership is in the matter is impossible to say. It is
clear, however, that the statements with far-reaching implications
are made in haste which is why their effect sort of falls flat. If
Kyiv’s advances to Armenia are clumsy from the political point of
view, then it can be certainly relied on to be better prepared in the
sphere of economic relations. Anything to elbow Moscow out.

ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN

KAPAN-MEGHRI HIGHWAY TO BYPASS SHIKAHOGH RESERVE

YEREVAN, JUNE 17, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Minister of Transport and
Communication Andranik Manukian stated at the June 17 public hearing
that the Kapan-Meghri highway will be built by bypassing the Shikahogh
Reserve. He announced that the previous project envisaging that
the road will intersect the reserve at the Mtnadzor Forest has been
withdrawn. According to him, a commission to provide the technical and
economic substantiation of the alternative project has been set up. By
this alternative project, the road not only does not cross the reserve
but also runs through the village of Shishkert which would be of great
importance for the economic development of Syunik marz. Minister of
Nature Protection Vardan Aivazian welcomed the decision underlining
that the economic damage should be assessed not only in terms of
the number of the trees cut down but also means the destruction
of the unique ecosystem, which is even more dangerous. Director
of the World Wild Fund (WWF) Armenian Office Karen Manvelian said
that the implementation of the previous project would result in the
destruction of the Mtnadzor Forest as part of the Shikahogh Reserve,
as well as of tens of plant and animal species included in the Red
Book. At the conclusion of the hearing, the environmental community,
under the pressure of which the initial project was withdrawn, stated
its intention to conduct the monitoring of all the activities on the
construction of the Kapan-Meghri highway. The hearing was organized by
the working group “SOS Shikahogh” composed of representatives of the
Coalition of Ecological NGOs, WWF, the American University of Armenia,
the Armenian Tree Project and the organization Armenian Forests.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkey losing enthusiasm for joining European Union
Many citizens think member nations are biased against them
San Francisco Chronicle
Seth Rosen, Chronicle Foreign Service
Friday, June 17, 2005

Ankara, Turkey — With Europe still reeling over the “no” votes in
France and the Netherlands on the European constitution, many Turks
are also having second thoughts about their 40-year drive to join
the European Union.

“If the Europeans are backing out of their own project, then why should
we be so enthusiastic?” asked Dogu Ergil, a newspaper columnist and
professor at Ankara University.

For Turks, the French rejection of the constitution occurred on an
ironic day — May 29, the anniversary of the Ottoman Turks’ capture
of Constantinople in 1453 and their emergence as a power extending
into Europe.

To many Frenchmen, the referendum seemed to be a way to repel another
Turkish invasion of Europe.

“Europeans are frightened of us and have prejudices against us,
but they don’t know anything about Turkey or our experience over the
last 100 years,” said Dogan Selcuk, a 31-year-old computer engineer
in Istanbul.

One of the central themes of the “no” campaign in France and the
Netherlands was opposition to enlargement of the bloc, and especially
to the membership of predominantly Muslim Turkey.

In the days leading up to the French referendum, posters reading
“Turkey in Europe … I vote No” were plastered on walls in
France. Dutch voters turned down the proposed constitution three days
later, on June 1.

Now there is concern that the fervent anti-Turkish tenor of the debates
in both countries foretells setbacks for Ankara’s aspirations and
will further erode Turkish support for membership, which had already
dwindled as the Europeans demanded a string of concessions on human
rights and judicial and political reform.

In the most recent poll, conducted just weeks before the referendums,
support for EU membership had fallen to 63 percent, from 75 percent
in December, when Turkey finally secured a date to begin negotiations
for membership.

“Europeans don’t fully understand the limits to patience on this
side,” said Suat Kiniklioglu, director of the Ankara office of the
German Marshall Fund of the United States. “The euphoria is gone.”

On Wednesday, EU President Jose Manuel Barroso said members of the
coalition must honor its commitments to Turkey despite public concern
about the expansion plans, calling it a question of “good faith.” He
made the comments in Brussels at a press conference on the eve of
the first all-member EU meeting since the two “no” votes were cast.

To many Turks, the EU has long been seen as an elixir for all that
ails the nation. Proponents still believe that EU membership will
buttress the burgeoning democracy and transform the country into a
potent economic force, as it did for Spain.

Under pressure from the EU, the governing Justice and Development
Party has abolished the death penalty, curtailed human rights abuses,
reduced the role of the military in civilian affairs and granted
ethnic Kurds more cultural rights.

But reform fatigue has set in, said Omer Taspinar, a Turkish expert at
the Brookings Institution in Washington. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan did not appoint a chief negotiator for the process until
mid-May, and to the chagrin of the EU, the Turkish parliament was
slow in passing a new penal code that further protects women’s rights.

Although EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said negotiations on
Turkey’s admission should begin in October as scheduled, despite the
referendum, many in this nation of 70 million have become disillusioned
with the stringent stipulations of the EU.

“Enthusiasm about membership is eroding, and as the EU demands become
clearer, the public will shy away more and more,” said Hasan Unal,
a professor of international relations at Bilkent University here in
Turkey’s capital.

Since the EU’s go-ahead in December, many Turks have seen a sea
change in the attitude of Europeans. As public opinion across the
continent has crystallized against Turkish accession to their club,
European politicians have started taking a firmer stance as well.

“There’s a panic in Europe right now because they didn’t think
Turkey would implement the reforms so quickly and meet the EU
challenges,” said Zekeriya Akcam, a lawmaker from the ruling Justice
and Development Party who participated in the convention that drafted
the EU constitution.

In an attempt to bolster the pro-constitution campaign, French
President Jacques Chirac even pledged to hold a separate referendum
on Turkey’s membership. And to ease the fears of member states that
unskilled laborers will inundate their countries, measures also have
been promised to prevent the free movement of labor in the initial
years of Turkey’s membership.

Such moves are seen as evidence of increasingly unjust treatment
of Turkey’s application, said Onur Oymen, the vice chairman of the
Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee and a member of parliament for
the opposition Republican People’s Party, who points out that French
citizens did not vote when Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania applied to
join the EU.

In the latest volley, the European Court of Human Rights, based in
France, ruled last month that the 1999 trial of Kurdish rebel leader
Abdullah Ocalan was unfair because of the participation of an impartial
military judge.

Though the court is not an EU institution, the Ocalan case is seen as a
litmus test of Turkey’s commitment to improving its human rights record
and implementing painful reforms that are a prerequisite to membership.

Some analysts believe the EU is meddling in Turkey’s internal affairs
to dissuade it from continuing down the negotiation path. “What
the EU is trying to do is frustrate us with unacceptable demands so
that Turkey will say, ‘We give up and don’t want to be a member,’
” said Unal, the professor at Bilkent University. “This way they
don’t have to turn us down.”

The prospect of having to make concessions on politically sensitive
topics has also made more Turks question the price of membership.

Some European politicians, emphatically led by the French, have called
on Turkey to recognize the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks in 1915 as “genocide” — a red line for all Turkish politicians.

The EU also insists that Turkey extend its 1996 customs agreement
with the EU to the 10 member states that joined in 2004, including
Cyprus. This would amount to unprecedented recognition of Cyprus by
Turkey, which backs the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus on the divided Mediterranean island.

“People are disappointed with the double standards we are facing,”
said Hasan Ali Karasar, a researcher at Ankara’s Center for Eurasian
Strategic Studies. “What they ask for is against our tradition,
culture, history and strategic location.”

A growing chorus of pundits in Turkey, frustrated with perceived
EU meddling in internal affairs, is beginning to see a “privileged
partnership” – – a category that would cement economic ties while
leaving contentious political issues aside — as an alternative to
full membership. The formula is advocated by many anti-constitution
campaigners in France and the Netherlands, and by Germany’s Christian
Democrats, who are favored to win elections in September.

The government is still insisting, for now, that the final target
must remain full membership.

“A privileged partnership is not on the agenda,” said Kiniklioglu of
the German Marshall Fund. “We must continue the drive toward reform
and membership. We go all the way or bust.”

ELECTIONEERING FINISHED IN NKR

STEPANAKERT, June 17. /ARKA/. The election campaign of candidates
for the National Assembly of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has
been finished in the country. Since May 17, the candidates have been
actively engaged in the election campaign. The NKR Public TV & Radio
Company broadcast candidates’ appearances, meetings were held as well.

The NKR CEC has established a press center to report all the
information on elections.All conditions for observers, many of whom
are in the NKR, have been created.

On June 19, parliamentary elections are to be held in the NKR. A total
of 89,576 voters have been registered to vote in party-ticket elections
and 87,548 voters to vote in the single-mandate elections. A total
of 105 individual candidates, as well as the Free Homeland Party,
Democratic Party of Artsakh, Party of Moral Revival, Social Justice
Party, Our Home – Armenia, NKR Communist party and the opposition
bloc ARF “Movement 88” are to take part in the elections. P.T. -0–

OPENING OF THE NKR CENTRAL ELECTION COMMITTEE PRESS CENTER TAKES PLACE IN STEPANAKERT

YEREVAN, June 17. /ARKA/. Opening of the NKR Central Election Committee
Press Center took place at the presence of a group of international
and local observers in Stepanakert. According to the ARKA’s reporter in
Stepanakert, the Chairman of the NKR Election Committee Sergei Nasibyan
spoke at the ceremony, noting that Nagorno-Karabakh always strived
to hold elections at any levels on the base of democratic principles
and in accordance with international standards. “This time enough
measures are taken so that they are held at a due level and become
a step on the way to democratization of society and international
acknowledgement of NKR”, he said.

Opening of the center equipped with computers and telephone
communication devices will allow creating the conditions for full
-fledged and operative work of reporters and observers. The Head of
the Press Center is appointed reporter Michael Ajyan. A.H. -0–

NKR PRESIDENT APPEALS TO NKR PEOPLE ON THE OCCASION OF THE ELECTIONS TO NKR NA

STEPANAKERT, June 17. /ARKA/. NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan appealed
to NKR people on the occasion of the elections to NKR NA. He noted that
he believed that the deputies of the new convocation of the Karabakh
parliament will be most worthy candidates. “Pre-election campaign is
being over and it was held positively and became one more step for the
further democratization of our state and society”, according to the
statement of the president. Meantime, it’s noted in the statement that
some candidates forgetting about elementary norms of ethics, pursue
only one goal, namely by any means, including inadmissible ones, to
discredit rivals, without introducing to electors their own programs
on legislative activity. The president guaranteed in his appeal that
voting will be fair and transparent. “I assure you that any attempts
to violate the law, as well as post-elections destabilization of the
situation will receive due evaluation. The initiators and performers
will be held responsible”, he said.

In his message Ghukasyan noted that the approaching elections are
have an important international meaning for Nagorno-Karabakh. “By our
attitude to elections we should demonstrate the world irreversibility
of democratic reforms in the country and contribute to international
acknowledgement of NKR. If the forthcoming parliamentary elections
are not in line with European standards, then the image of our state
will suffer, and its authority on the international arena will in
its effect negatively on peaceful process of the settlement of the
conflict with Azerbaijan. In other words, the fate of Artsakh and
our achievements are at stake”, according to the message. A.H. -0–

Turkish prime minister criticizes German chancellor for Armenia resolution

AP Worldstream; Jun 17, 2005

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder for failing to curb a parliament resolution calling
on Turkey to re-examine its role in the deaths of 1 million Armenians.

“He should have made his position clear, he should have been able
to influence lawmakers, and parliamentarians should have made their
reservations clear,” Erdogan said late Thursday. “I wonder if he
tried and was not successful.”

Erdogan said he found the decision, “without discussing the issue
and without negotiations, very wrong. More than wrong, I also find
it ugly.”

“I like politics that has a backbone,” he added.

Erdogan spoke at Istanbul’s airport upon returning from a summit
in Lebanon, where the accusations of genocide against Armenians
also played heavily. Lebanese Armenians protested the Turkish prime
minister’s visit, burning Turkish flags in Beirut.

Erdogan suggested that Schroeder had in the past supported Turkey’s
position.

“His position was directly opposite” to the parliament’s decision,
Erdogan said, adding that the decision was “wrong from the point of
view of political ethics.”

Erdogan also said Turkey had opened up its archives for researchers
to study the Ottoman-era killings, but said no one had taken up the
offer to examine them.

“History will put them to shame, the future will put them to shame,”
he said.

Many Armenians have said that the Ottoman archives have been purged
of necessary documents and have rejected Erdogan’s offer.

German lawmakers on Thursday adopted a resolution asking the government
to press Turkey to investigate the “organized expulsion and destruction
of the Armenians” and foster reconciliation.

Armenia accuses Turkey of genocide in the killings as part of a
1915-23 campaign to force Armenians out of eastern Anatolia.

Turkey denies that the killings were genocide, and says the death
count is inflated and that Armenians were killed or displaced along
with others as the Ottoman Empire tried to quell civil unrest.

The speaker of the Turkish parliament, Bulent Arinc, said Friday he was
composing a letter to his German counterpart to condemn the decision,
the Anatolia news agency reported.

In the Turkish capital, Ankara, about 150 members of a Turkish trade
union on Friday protested the German parliament’s decision, shouting:
“Fascist Germany,” “Racist Germany” and “Germany, don’t test our
patience.”

The protesters, members of a civil servants union, scuffled with police
for about 10 minutes outside the German Embassy after a plainclothes
policeman removed and broke a black wreath the protesters had left
at the embassy gate.

They dispersed peacefully after the wreath was returned to the gate.

Turkish general views Armenians’ “anti-Turkish activities”

TRT 1 television, Ankara
17 Jun 05

[Presenter] Gen Yasar Buyukanit, Ground Forces commander, has commented
on the recent attack against the Turkish flag in Lebanon. He said
that the attack against the flag during Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip]
Erdogan’s visit to Lebanon was very ugly, adding: There are circles
in every part of the world that systematically engage in anti-Turkish
activities.

During a visit to the Erzincan Governor’s Office, the commander was
asked by reporters to comment on the issue.

[Buyukanit] Unfortunately, there are impertinent circles in every
corner of the world which systematically engage in anti-Turkish
activities. It is impossible for them to achieve their aims. The
Turkish nation is powerful enough to overcome them.

[Presenter] Yasar Buyukanit was asked to comment on Armenia’s refusal
to open its archives relating to the genocide allegations.

[Buyukanit] That is because it is not sure, it is not confident. Turkey
announced that its archives are open and invited Armenia to study
them, to set up a joint committee and study them together. If it had
self-confidence, Armenia would have taken up the offer. After all,
Turkey officially proposed to set up a joint committee. The systematic
anti-Turkish activities have become a source of livelihood for the
Armenians outside Armenia.

Turkey says planned elections in disputed Azeri-Armenian region illegitimate

Anatolia news agency
17 Jun 05

Ankara, 17 June: Namik Tan, spokesman of the Turkish Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, said that Turkey considered “illegitimate”
parliamentary elections planned to be held in Nagornyy Karabakh.

Replying to a question on parliamentary elections to be held in
Nagornyy Karabakh on 19 June, Tan stated, “Elections planned to be
held in Nagornyy Karabakh, which is still under Armenian occupation,
mean violation of principles of UN, OSCE (Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe) and Council of Europe, and international
law principles.”

Underlining that Nagornyy Karabakh issue was one of the main reasons
which prevented settlement of peace and stability, cooperation and
good relations between regional countries in southern Caucasus region,
Tan recalled that Turkey believed that a lasting solution should be
found to the issue through dialogue within the scope of territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan and in line of international law principles.

Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a similar statement
a few days ago, condemning the parliamentary elections planned to be
held in Nagornyy Karabakh.

The statement said that elections to be held in the region under
occupation would not affect positively solution process of the
Nagornyy Karabakh issue, underlining that such initiatives did not
have a legal validity. It added that it did not comply with the
Constitution of Azerbaijan.