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AAA: Armenia This Week - 01/10/2005

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  • AAA: Armenia This Week - 01/10/2005

    ARMENIA THIS WEEK

    Monday, January 10, 2005



    In this issue:



    Parliament OK's Armenia's joining of U.S.-led coalition in Iraq

    Senior European politicians call for formalizing Armenian control of NK

    Heritage Foundation: Armenia remains regional leader in economic freedom


    Baltic Times: Turkey must face the truth to be admitted to EU



    PARLIAMENT APPROVES IRAQ DEPLOYMENT

    A solid majority of the Armenian Parliament members voted last month to
    approve the government's decision to join the U.S.-led coalition in
    Iraq. The 46-person task force drawn from professional military,
    including commanders who have Kosovo peacekeeping experience, includes
    transportation, de-mining and medical personnel and is due to deploy in
    Iraq within two weeks. They will serve for at least a year as part of
    the Polish-led multi-national division south of Baghdad.



    Parliamentarians voted 91 to 23 with one abstention following seven
    hours of closed-door debate that ran late into the night of December 27.
    Defense officials led by Minister Serge Sargsian lobbied for the move as
    important for Armenia's national interest. Prime Minister Andranik
    Margarian's Republican Party, Speaker Artur Baghdasarian's Country of
    Law Party, United Labor Party of businessman Gurgen Arsenian, opposition
    National Unity Party of Artashes Geghamian and a number of non-party
    members voted in favor, while the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
    (Dashnaktsutiun) and the opposition Justice Bloc voted against.



    In comments following the vote Sargsian said that "Armenia cannot have
    stayed aside from actions by other states that are aimed at peace and
    stability, and at combating terrorism. I think that the U.S. needs
    Armenian support in Iraq, otherwise there would be no such decision."
    Dashnaktsutiun leaders, while voting against deployment, said they
    "understood" the government's motives. The Justice Bloc, along with
    several non-government organizations, accused the government of exposing
    the Armenian community in Iraq and Armenia itself to possible
    retaliatory attacks by anti-U.S. insurgents and terrorists. A recent
    poll found that just as in most other countries with forces in Iraq, the
    majority of Armenians opposed the move.



    Iraqi Armenians, as well as other Christian minorities in Iraq, have
    already come under insurgents' attacks. The Armenian government
    officials argued that they would be at risk whether or not Armenia takes
    part in Iraq's stabilization. (Sources: Armenia This Week 12-13;
    Associated Press 12-27; Interfax 12-27; RFE/RL Armenia Report 12-27,
    1-7)



    SENIOR EUROPEAN POLITICIANS PROPOSE FORMALIZING ARMENIAN CONTROL OF NK

    Armenia should take "temporary control" over Nagorno Karabakh until a
    new popular referendum is held there in five to ten years. This is what
    the former Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio and the current chairman
    of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Pierre Lellouche of France suggest as
    a compromise way out of the current deadlock in the Karabakh peace
    process. Palacio and Lellouche recently toured the Caucasus.



    Nagorno Karabakh held a legally sanctioned referendum in 1991 that paved
    the way for its formal separation from then Soviet Azerbaijan.
    Successive Azeri governments refused to abide by results of that vote
    and launched several unsuccessful offensives to take control of the
    region and remove its population until the current cease-fire came into
    effect in 1994. In 2001, following protracted negotiations, the late
    Azeri President Heydar Aliyev was close to an agreement that would lead
    to Karabakh's incorporation into Armenia in exchange for the return of
    most of the Azeri districts now held by Karabakh Armenian forces. The
    Azeri government has since insisted on unilateral Armenian concessions
    before agreeing on Karabakh's status.



    Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mamedyrov
    are due to meet in Prague tomorrow to continue their discussions on a
    new approach to settlement. The two officials are reportedly considering
    combining mutually acceptable approaches from past proposals that had
    been turned down. Last year, the "peace process" over Karabakh was set
    back substantially, following Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's comments
    that he would not make compromises and would seek ways to put greater
    pressure on Armenia.



    Most recently, the Azeri government blocked rail traffic into Georgia to
    tighten its economic blockade against Armenia. Azeri officials alleged
    that some of the goods, like fuels from Central Asia shipped via Baku to
    Tbilisi, were destined for Armenia. The move had no impact on Armenia's
    market, however, where prices for gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel
    fell reflecting wider market trends. (Sources: Armenia This Week 12-13,
    20; Arminfo 12-14, 1-10; Zerkalo 12-22; Le Figaro 12-21; Mediamax 12-21;
    Noyan Tapan 12-22)



    ARMENIA IMPROVES ECONOMIC FREEDOM RECORD, REMAINS REGIONAL LEADER

    The annual rating of economic policies around the world, prepared by the
    Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, a leading U.S.
    conservative think tank, was published last week. Armenia has once again
    improved its record, while continuing to lead its region in economic
    freedom. Armenia was ranked 42nd out of 161 countries, just behind
    Poland and ahead of France, and is the best rated "mostly free" economy
    in the former Soviet Union. Georgia is ranked 100th, Azerbaijan - 103rd,
    and Turkey - 112th.



    The study notes the Armenian government's sound fiscal policies, low
    level of protectionism, but also continued problems with revenue
    collection. While these revenues have grown significantly in recent
    years, they remain low when compared to the overall size of the economy.
    In his comments in recent weeks, President Robert Kocharian promised a
    crackdown on tax and tariff evaders both in the business sector and
    among corrupt government officials. (Sources: Armenia This Week 1-16-04;
    Arminfo 12-27, 1-10; http://www.heritage.org <http://www.heritage.org/>
    )



    A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA

    122 C Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 393-3434 FAX
    (202) 638-4904

    E-Mail [email protected] WEB http://www.aaainc.org



    http://www.baltictimes.com/art.php?art_id=11612



    15.12.2004

    The Baltic Times [Riga, Latvia]

    TURKEY MUST FACE THE TRUTH



    The debate over whether to include Turkey in the European Union
    crystallizes the essence of what it means to be "European." Not
    surprisingly, the range of answers is broad, often diametrically
    opposite. Geography, history, religion, economics and even mentality
    have been cited as reasons why or why not to invite the Muslim country
    to the world's biggest economic bloc. Simple "expansion-fatigue" within
    the 25-nation (and soon to be 27-nation) union is another.



    One thing you can't take away from Turkey: the country truly longs to be
    a EU member. Both its political leaders and the public, any the
    religious and the secular segments of society, want to build their
    future as part of Europe. They have had this desire for decades now,
    even throughout the multiple political changes and economic pitfalls the
    country has undergone.



    As a result, on Dec. 17 EU leaders are likely to give the green light to
    begin accession talks - e.g., to designate Turkey a candidate country
    for membership - at their summit in Brussels. This will entail 10 - 15
    years of accession negotiations before the country is formally granted
    member status, and there are likely to be a number of stop signs and
    roadblocks along the way. But even on this score the debate is heated,
    with pro-Turkey advocates arguing that accession criteria for the
    70-million-plus country should be no different than for, say, miniscule
    Malta.



    But they should. The choice of accepting an ant or an elephant into the
    family has radically different implications for the household, and those
    who are blind to that are likely to be the first to complain when
    something goes wrong later.



    Regarding Turkish membership, the real issue is not about size. It is
    about mentality. Specifically, the country has refused to acknowledge
    the genocide of 1915, when over 1 million Armenians were led to their
    death in the Syrian deserts or just slaughtered. The incident has been
    well documented and includes thousands of eyewitness accounts. Yet
    Turkey continues to deny it, saying a lot of people died at the time,
    including Turks (an argument Russia employs in regards to WWII, as Balts
    are well aware). The country has closed its archives and even banned use
    of the word genocide. Is this the behavior of someone ready for Europe?



    Imagine how different Europe would be today if for the past 60 years
    Germany had denied the Holocaust. Now transfer that image onto the
    Anatolian peninsula and you will see what is taking place today - Turks,
    Kurds and Armenians living side by side and in a state of deep animosity
    and suspicion.



    Thankfully, France has taken the lead in putting the genocide issue on
    the accession table. (France is one of the only countries that has
    recognized the 1915 Genocide. The United States hasn't.)* Foreign
    Minister Michel Barnier said last week that France wants Turkey to
    recognize the genocide as part of its membership requirements. "This is
    an issue that we will raise during the negotiation process. We will have
    about 10 years to do so, and the Turks will have about 10 years to
    ponder their answer," he said.



    It was the first time someone has tried to link EU membership with the
    Ottoman atrocities. As expected, the reaction from Ankara was swift and
    unequivocal, with one official saying that Turkey would never recognize
    the "so-called genocide."



    If that is the case, then the door to the EU should be closed. As a
    Polish poet once wrote, "How frightening is the past that awaits us." If
    a country cannot come to terms with its past - as Germany has - then the
    future will have precious little to offer it. In Europe, truth and
    reconciliation must come first.



    * AAA Note: The Armenian Genocide had been affirmed by the United States
    in the past. The April 21, 1981 proclamation by then President Ronald
    Reagan used the term Genocide in reference to the Armenian deportation
    and massacres, although subsequent U.S. presidential statements
    commemorating the events have avoided the term.



    The Genocide has also been affirmed by a number of national parliaments
    around the world, most recently by the Netherlands on December 21, 2004.
    Other countries, whose parliaments have affirmed the Armenian Genocide
    include: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy,
    Lebanon, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and
    Uruguay.



    Visit http://www.aaainc.org/info/Genocide.pdf and
    http://www.armenian-genocide.org/affirmation.html to learn more.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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