Tweet
ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
12/20/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <http://www.asbarez.com/>HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ.COM
1) Mixed Reaction to Turkey Decision
2) EU Fears Turkey Clash May Mask Cyprus Friction
3) Armenian Genocide and Territorial Losses on Russian State TV
4) No Karabagh in Settlement Negotiations, Stresses Baku
5) US Takes 'Terrible Tragedy' Route
1) Mixed Reaction to Turkey Decision
BRUSSELS (Combined Sources)--While Turkish leader Tayyip Recep Erdogan
returned
home to a hero's welcome after agreeing to accession terms with the EU, there
has been a less enthusiastic reaction in some European capitals.
Erdogan arrived back in Turkey on Saturday, December 18 to a rapturous
reception and was hailed as the "conqueror of Europe."
He said, "We did not receive 100 percent of what we wanted, but we can say
that we succeeded," according to Le Monde.
Reflecting the momentous nature of the decision, Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul
said, "Turkey is a very different country than it was two days ago."
STREET PROTESTS
But elsewhere in Europe, the reaction has been less positive. Supporters of
the populist Northern League Party in Italy took to the streets to protest at
the decision. According to media reports, they unfurled banners saying,
"Yes to
Christian roots."
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel announced that his country would join
France in holding a referendum on Turkey's accession, adding another potential
obstacle in Ankara's path.
This decision was criticized by Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot who said,
"We have never said to the Turks, neither in 1999 nor in 2002, that a
referendum would lie at the end of the process. We have to be fair."
And Nicolas Sarkozy, former Finance Minister and rising star of French
politics, renewed his call for a "privileged partnership" with Turkey, rather
than full membership.
Sarkozy, who hopes to take over from Jacques Chirac as French President in
2007, said, "If Turkey were European, we would know it…I'm for a privileged
partnership but I'm reserved about membership, like a large number of notable
voices".
"Europe already has difficulty functioning with 25 members. The more members
Europe has, the less we will be integrated, the less we will share common
values and the more fragile we will be."
France will put all issues to Turkey during negotiations over it joining the
European Union, "including that of the Armenian genocide," French Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier said Monday.
"What has to be done now is start membership negotiations which are going to
be very long, very difficult, during which we will put all issues on the
table,
including that of the Armenian genocide, with the hope of obtaining a response
from Turkey before membership," he told French radio station RTL.
To add the Armenian issue to a list of others--most notably Ankara's
recognition of the Greek Cypriot government--is seen as a bargaining chip in
the membership negotiations that are to begin in October next year, and a way
of showing the French public that Turkey is being made to heed Paris's voice.
Barnier said that Chirac, in supporting Turkey, "is expressing a vision,
expressing where the interest of our country, our continent, lies for him."
The
French president has promised that the final decision on whether Turkey
gets to
join the European Union or not, as far as French voters are concerned, will
come in a referendum at the end of the negotiations.
VETO THREATS
Cyprus warned over the weekend that it could still block Turkey's membership
bid. Speaking on Cypriot television, President Tassos Papadopoulos said, "The
Republic of Cyprus has the right not to consent to the start of entry talks."
Controversy over Cyprus nearly put an end to the deal during last Friday's
negotiations, with Turkey refusing to recognize the republic and the EU
insisting that Turkey expand its customs agreement to the new Member States--
including Cyprus.
And Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reports that the Kurdish minority in Turkey
are disappointed because their hopes to have their language recognized were
not
raised as an issue. Of the 70 million people in Turkey, 20 million are Kurds.
MUCH WORK TO DO
Even Erdogan stressed the amount of difficult work to do. Turkey must now
open
and close 31 "chapters" during negotiations, covering such areas such as
Justice and Home Affairs and Competition.
Any EU member can veto the closing of a chapter leaving much scope for
blocking Turkish progress.
And even if the laborious process of agreeing accession is achieved,
referendums in France or Austria could still see Turkey falling at the last
hurdle.
2) EU Fears Turkey Clash May Mask Cyprus Friction
BRUSSELS (Reuters)--European Union diplomats voiced concern on Friday that the
Turkish president's refusal to let the leader of the ruling party become prime
minister might reflect friction with the powerful military establishment over
an early peace deal on Cyprus.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a staunch secularist, vetoed constitutional
amendments on Thursday to lift a parliamentary ban on Tayyip Erdogan, head of
the Justice and Development Party (AKP), preventing him from leading the
government.
Erdogan, who has spearheaded Turkey's drive to win a date for starting EU
accession talks and favors an early peace deal on Cyprus, was barred from
standing for office because he received a jail sentence in 1999 for Islamist
sedition.
He denies his AKP has Islamist views. The AKP vowed on Friday to use its
parliamentary majority to over-ride the veto.
"This standoff could reflect serious differences between the military and the
president, on the one hand, and Erdogan and his party on the other, over
Cyprus," a senior EU diplomat said.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for an accord by February 28 to
reunite Cyprus after the two sides failed to agree at last week's
Copenhagen EU
summit. Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash is widely seen as a key obstacle
to a deal.
"Erdogan and his advisers are very eager to move on Cyprus as soon as
possible
and eager to put quite lot of pressure on Denktash. The fact that this is not
the line that some hardliners might subscribe to at this point could be
reflected by this decision by the president," the EU diplomat said.
NOT NECESSARILY SETBACK
However, other EU officials played down the dispute, saying it was neither a
major crisis nor necessarily a setback for Turkey's drive to meet EU standards
of democracy and human rights.
"This is not a major political crisis in Turkey and we would not draw
conclusions on whether the move is in contradiction with the Copenhagen
criteria," said one EU diplomat.
Those criteria set standards on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law
which every EU candidate must meet before it can open accession talks. EU
leaders agreed last week to review in December 2004 whether Turkey has met the
standards.
Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said
the EU had taken a strategic decision on rapprochement with Turkey and hoped
the constitutional issue would not affect that process.
"We expect developments regarding Cyprus very soon, as the secretary-general
of the United Nations has said, therefore we hope and expect this (political)
situation will not affect the resolution of this major issue very soon," she
told Reuters.
EU officials said Sezer had acted entirely constitutionally by refusing to
approve amendments which appeared to be tailored to the political ambitions of
one man.
"This proves that the system works. Sezer is a strong defender of democracy
and the constitutional order. We trust him," one EU government official told
Reuters.
The amendments have the full backing of Turkey's secularist opposition
Republican People's Party, which has said it would vote in favor of the
changes
again when they go through parliament a second time.
Another senior EU source said it was strange to have the respected leader
of a
party democratically elected to rule a country not allowed to take office. The
EU has treated Erdogan as de facto leader of Turkey since the election.
"It is not good to have somebody as a real leader not able to exercise
power...And Erdogan is a real leader, a strong man. This is not good news,"
the
source said.
The amendments that Sezer vetoed would have let Erdogan stand in a
by-election
early next year. Erdogan's right-hand man, Abdullah Gul, is now prime minister
but is expected to step down if his boss enters parliament.
3) Armenian Genocide and Territorial Losses on Russian State TV
YEREVAN (Yerkir)--The Russian Cultural Fund and the "Rossia" TV company, in
association with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's (ARF) Moscow office,
have produced a documentary that seeks to unveil the truth about the 1917
Russian Revolution.
"Who Paid Lenin?" uses rich archival footage and rare documents to affirm
that
the success of the revolution, and subsequent Russian concessions were the
result of an agreement between Germany and Lenin.
It tells of a plan offered to Lenin by Alexander Israel Helphand (Parvus),
who
was the connection to Jacob Furstenberg--Germany's immediate link to Lenin,
whereby the Bolsheviks seized power.
In the film, ARF Bureau member and Armenian National Assembly vice speaker
Vahan Hovhannisian speaks of the devastating consequences the Bolshevik
Revolution had for the Armenians.
With the Bolsheviks signing the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with Germany, they
pulled
out of the war by making vast concessions to Germany and its allies. Namely,
the Russians surrendered Ukraine, Finland, the Baltic provinces, the Caucasus,
and Poland.
Under the treaty, Russian troops--though at the edge of victory--withdrew
from
Western Armenia. The Kars and Ardahan regions of Eastern Armenia were
surrendered to Turkey, leaving Armenians open to yet another massacre by
Turkey.
The 1921 Moscow and Kars treaties upheld those concessions by the Bolshevik
government to Turkey.
The film also contains historic footage from the Armenian genocide.
"Who Paid Lenin?" will debut on Rossia TV on December 22 at 11:35 p.m. Moscow
time.
4) No Karabagh in Settlement Negotiations, Stresses Baku
BAKU (Armenpress)--Azeri Foreign Affairs Ministry Press Secretary Meti Mirza
told "Interfax" news agency that Azerbaijan categorically rejects Mountainous
Karabagh Republic's participation in negotiating a peace settlement to the
conflict.
"It's a mistake for the Armenian side to give direction on with whom Baku
should negotiate," said Mirza responding to Armenia's Foreign Ministry's Press
Secretary Hamlet Gasparian, who said last week that if Azerbaijan does not
deem
Armenia capable of implementing independent policy, then they may speak with
Mountainous Karabagh directly.
Gasparian was responding to Azeri President Aliyev, who said that Armenia is
"Russia's advanced post in the South Caucasus."
"If the Azerbaijani side…is confused and doesn't know with whom to hold the
negotiations [on Karabagh], we will again have to point to Stepanakert. We
hope
they know where Mountainous Karabagh is situated," Gasparian warned.
Calling for negotiations only between Armenia and Azerbaijan for seeking
peace
in Karabagh, Mirza also stressed: "The Armenian community in Mountainous
Karabagh cannot participate in the negotiations with Baku because, as the
Azerbaijani community, it sees only a one-sided resolution to the conflict."
5) US Takes 'Terrible Tragedy' Route
WASHINGTON, DC (Washington File)--The United States said last week that it
acknowledges the "terrible tragedy" the Armenian community in Anatolia faced
during World War I, but declined to comment on whether the European Union
should make it a precondition for the start of accession talks with Turkey.
"Our position on the Armenia question is, I think, pretty well known…We've
acknowledged the terrible tragedy that befell the Armenian community in
Anatolia in the last years of the Ottoman Empire," State Department Spokesman
Richard Boucher told a press briefing last week.
He said Washington had been encouraging civil society and diplomatic
discussions about the tragedy, as well as political dialogue between Armenia
and Turkey on the issue.
Boucher indicated the US position on the issue had remained unchanged since
the president issued a traditional message on April 24, 2003.
Asked whether the question of the Armenian genocide should or should not be a
precondition for Turkey's entry to the EU, he said that it was up to the
Europeans to decide.
"We believe that Turkey has gone a long way in meeting the requirements of
membership and the requests that were asked of Turkey, and it will be for the
Europeans to make that judgment themselves."
The European Parliament adopted a resolution last Wednesday calling on EU
leaders to open entry talks with Turkey. It also urged Ankara to acknowledge
the genocide but made it clear it would not be a condition for the start of
accession talks.
All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier
and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and
subscription requests.
(c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved.
ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for
academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through
mass media outlets.
--Boundary_(ID_KRRuA1v3JN7XN9PrlfF2Mg)--
TOP STORIES
12/20/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <http://www.asbarez.com/>HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ.COM
1) Mixed Reaction to Turkey Decision
2) EU Fears Turkey Clash May Mask Cyprus Friction
3) Armenian Genocide and Territorial Losses on Russian State TV
4) No Karabagh in Settlement Negotiations, Stresses Baku
5) US Takes 'Terrible Tragedy' Route
1) Mixed Reaction to Turkey Decision
BRUSSELS (Combined Sources)--While Turkish leader Tayyip Recep Erdogan
returned
home to a hero's welcome after agreeing to accession terms with the EU, there
has been a less enthusiastic reaction in some European capitals.
Erdogan arrived back in Turkey on Saturday, December 18 to a rapturous
reception and was hailed as the "conqueror of Europe."
He said, "We did not receive 100 percent of what we wanted, but we can say
that we succeeded," according to Le Monde.
Reflecting the momentous nature of the decision, Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul
said, "Turkey is a very different country than it was two days ago."
STREET PROTESTS
But elsewhere in Europe, the reaction has been less positive. Supporters of
the populist Northern League Party in Italy took to the streets to protest at
the decision. According to media reports, they unfurled banners saying,
"Yes to
Christian roots."
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel announced that his country would join
France in holding a referendum on Turkey's accession, adding another potential
obstacle in Ankara's path.
This decision was criticized by Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot who said,
"We have never said to the Turks, neither in 1999 nor in 2002, that a
referendum would lie at the end of the process. We have to be fair."
And Nicolas Sarkozy, former Finance Minister and rising star of French
politics, renewed his call for a "privileged partnership" with Turkey, rather
than full membership.
Sarkozy, who hopes to take over from Jacques Chirac as French President in
2007, said, "If Turkey were European, we would know it…I'm for a privileged
partnership but I'm reserved about membership, like a large number of notable
voices".
"Europe already has difficulty functioning with 25 members. The more members
Europe has, the less we will be integrated, the less we will share common
values and the more fragile we will be."
France will put all issues to Turkey during negotiations over it joining the
European Union, "including that of the Armenian genocide," French Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier said Monday.
"What has to be done now is start membership negotiations which are going to
be very long, very difficult, during which we will put all issues on the
table,
including that of the Armenian genocide, with the hope of obtaining a response
from Turkey before membership," he told French radio station RTL.
To add the Armenian issue to a list of others--most notably Ankara's
recognition of the Greek Cypriot government--is seen as a bargaining chip in
the membership negotiations that are to begin in October next year, and a way
of showing the French public that Turkey is being made to heed Paris's voice.
Barnier said that Chirac, in supporting Turkey, "is expressing a vision,
expressing where the interest of our country, our continent, lies for him."
The
French president has promised that the final decision on whether Turkey
gets to
join the European Union or not, as far as French voters are concerned, will
come in a referendum at the end of the negotiations.
VETO THREATS
Cyprus warned over the weekend that it could still block Turkey's membership
bid. Speaking on Cypriot television, President Tassos Papadopoulos said, "The
Republic of Cyprus has the right not to consent to the start of entry talks."
Controversy over Cyprus nearly put an end to the deal during last Friday's
negotiations, with Turkey refusing to recognize the republic and the EU
insisting that Turkey expand its customs agreement to the new Member States--
including Cyprus.
And Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reports that the Kurdish minority in Turkey
are disappointed because their hopes to have their language recognized were
not
raised as an issue. Of the 70 million people in Turkey, 20 million are Kurds.
MUCH WORK TO DO
Even Erdogan stressed the amount of difficult work to do. Turkey must now
open
and close 31 "chapters" during negotiations, covering such areas such as
Justice and Home Affairs and Competition.
Any EU member can veto the closing of a chapter leaving much scope for
blocking Turkish progress.
And even if the laborious process of agreeing accession is achieved,
referendums in France or Austria could still see Turkey falling at the last
hurdle.
2) EU Fears Turkey Clash May Mask Cyprus Friction
BRUSSELS (Reuters)--European Union diplomats voiced concern on Friday that the
Turkish president's refusal to let the leader of the ruling party become prime
minister might reflect friction with the powerful military establishment over
an early peace deal on Cyprus.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a staunch secularist, vetoed constitutional
amendments on Thursday to lift a parliamentary ban on Tayyip Erdogan, head of
the Justice and Development Party (AKP), preventing him from leading the
government.
Erdogan, who has spearheaded Turkey's drive to win a date for starting EU
accession talks and favors an early peace deal on Cyprus, was barred from
standing for office because he received a jail sentence in 1999 for Islamist
sedition.
He denies his AKP has Islamist views. The AKP vowed on Friday to use its
parliamentary majority to over-ride the veto.
"This standoff could reflect serious differences between the military and the
president, on the one hand, and Erdogan and his party on the other, over
Cyprus," a senior EU diplomat said.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for an accord by February 28 to
reunite Cyprus after the two sides failed to agree at last week's
Copenhagen EU
summit. Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash is widely seen as a key obstacle
to a deal.
"Erdogan and his advisers are very eager to move on Cyprus as soon as
possible
and eager to put quite lot of pressure on Denktash. The fact that this is not
the line that some hardliners might subscribe to at this point could be
reflected by this decision by the president," the EU diplomat said.
NOT NECESSARILY SETBACK
However, other EU officials played down the dispute, saying it was neither a
major crisis nor necessarily a setback for Turkey's drive to meet EU standards
of democracy and human rights.
"This is not a major political crisis in Turkey and we would not draw
conclusions on whether the move is in contradiction with the Copenhagen
criteria," said one EU diplomat.
Those criteria set standards on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law
which every EU candidate must meet before it can open accession talks. EU
leaders agreed last week to review in December 2004 whether Turkey has met the
standards.
Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said
the EU had taken a strategic decision on rapprochement with Turkey and hoped
the constitutional issue would not affect that process.
"We expect developments regarding Cyprus very soon, as the secretary-general
of the United Nations has said, therefore we hope and expect this (political)
situation will not affect the resolution of this major issue very soon," she
told Reuters.
EU officials said Sezer had acted entirely constitutionally by refusing to
approve amendments which appeared to be tailored to the political ambitions of
one man.
"This proves that the system works. Sezer is a strong defender of democracy
and the constitutional order. We trust him," one EU government official told
Reuters.
The amendments have the full backing of Turkey's secularist opposition
Republican People's Party, which has said it would vote in favor of the
changes
again when they go through parliament a second time.
Another senior EU source said it was strange to have the respected leader
of a
party democratically elected to rule a country not allowed to take office. The
EU has treated Erdogan as de facto leader of Turkey since the election.
"It is not good to have somebody as a real leader not able to exercise
power...And Erdogan is a real leader, a strong man. This is not good news,"
the
source said.
The amendments that Sezer vetoed would have let Erdogan stand in a
by-election
early next year. Erdogan's right-hand man, Abdullah Gul, is now prime minister
but is expected to step down if his boss enters parliament.
3) Armenian Genocide and Territorial Losses on Russian State TV
YEREVAN (Yerkir)--The Russian Cultural Fund and the "Rossia" TV company, in
association with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's (ARF) Moscow office,
have produced a documentary that seeks to unveil the truth about the 1917
Russian Revolution.
"Who Paid Lenin?" uses rich archival footage and rare documents to affirm
that
the success of the revolution, and subsequent Russian concessions were the
result of an agreement between Germany and Lenin.
It tells of a plan offered to Lenin by Alexander Israel Helphand (Parvus),
who
was the connection to Jacob Furstenberg--Germany's immediate link to Lenin,
whereby the Bolsheviks seized power.
In the film, ARF Bureau member and Armenian National Assembly vice speaker
Vahan Hovhannisian speaks of the devastating consequences the Bolshevik
Revolution had for the Armenians.
With the Bolsheviks signing the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with Germany, they
pulled
out of the war by making vast concessions to Germany and its allies. Namely,
the Russians surrendered Ukraine, Finland, the Baltic provinces, the Caucasus,
and Poland.
Under the treaty, Russian troops--though at the edge of victory--withdrew
from
Western Armenia. The Kars and Ardahan regions of Eastern Armenia were
surrendered to Turkey, leaving Armenians open to yet another massacre by
Turkey.
The 1921 Moscow and Kars treaties upheld those concessions by the Bolshevik
government to Turkey.
The film also contains historic footage from the Armenian genocide.
"Who Paid Lenin?" will debut on Rossia TV on December 22 at 11:35 p.m. Moscow
time.
4) No Karabagh in Settlement Negotiations, Stresses Baku
BAKU (Armenpress)--Azeri Foreign Affairs Ministry Press Secretary Meti Mirza
told "Interfax" news agency that Azerbaijan categorically rejects Mountainous
Karabagh Republic's participation in negotiating a peace settlement to the
conflict.
"It's a mistake for the Armenian side to give direction on with whom Baku
should negotiate," said Mirza responding to Armenia's Foreign Ministry's Press
Secretary Hamlet Gasparian, who said last week that if Azerbaijan does not
deem
Armenia capable of implementing independent policy, then they may speak with
Mountainous Karabagh directly.
Gasparian was responding to Azeri President Aliyev, who said that Armenia is
"Russia's advanced post in the South Caucasus."
"If the Azerbaijani side…is confused and doesn't know with whom to hold the
negotiations [on Karabagh], we will again have to point to Stepanakert. We
hope
they know where Mountainous Karabagh is situated," Gasparian warned.
Calling for negotiations only between Armenia and Azerbaijan for seeking
peace
in Karabagh, Mirza also stressed: "The Armenian community in Mountainous
Karabagh cannot participate in the negotiations with Baku because, as the
Azerbaijani community, it sees only a one-sided resolution to the conflict."
5) US Takes 'Terrible Tragedy' Route
WASHINGTON, DC (Washington File)--The United States said last week that it
acknowledges the "terrible tragedy" the Armenian community in Anatolia faced
during World War I, but declined to comment on whether the European Union
should make it a precondition for the start of accession talks with Turkey.
"Our position on the Armenia question is, I think, pretty well known…We've
acknowledged the terrible tragedy that befell the Armenian community in
Anatolia in the last years of the Ottoman Empire," State Department Spokesman
Richard Boucher told a press briefing last week.
He said Washington had been encouraging civil society and diplomatic
discussions about the tragedy, as well as political dialogue between Armenia
and Turkey on the issue.
Boucher indicated the US position on the issue had remained unchanged since
the president issued a traditional message on April 24, 2003.
Asked whether the question of the Armenian genocide should or should not be a
precondition for Turkey's entry to the EU, he said that it was up to the
Europeans to decide.
"We believe that Turkey has gone a long way in meeting the requirements of
membership and the requests that were asked of Turkey, and it will be for the
Europeans to make that judgment themselves."
The European Parliament adopted a resolution last Wednesday calling on EU
leaders to open entry talks with Turkey. It also urged Ankara to acknowledge
the genocide but made it clear it would not be a condition for the start of
accession talks.
All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier
and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and
subscription requests.
(c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved.
ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for
academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through
mass media outlets.
--Boundary_(ID_KRRuA1v3JN7XN9PrlfF2Mg)--