Nakharar

That guy looks just like me. Except without the intensity.

He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. Benjamin Franklin

It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. Mark Twain

You mean Stormig? Where is she by the way?

Turkey regrets EU's 'injustice' Turkey has described an EU declaration criticising Ankara's refusal to recognise Cyprus as unjust, one-sided and politically motivated. The bitter words from foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan come less than two weeks before Turkey and the EU are due to begin talks on Turkish membership. The EU declaration said that Turkey would have to recognise Cyprus before it could join the EU. The talks, supposed to begin on 3 October, are likely to last 10 years. "We regret the publication of this counter-declaration. It has a style which does not accord well with the traditional spirit of co-operation that has existed between Turkey and the EU over a period of more than 40 years," Mr Tan said. He also called on the EU to keep promises to lift the economic blockade against northern Cyprus and to provide financial aid to the region. The declaration ignored the "rights and expectations of the Turkish Cypriot people" Mr Tan said, describing this as a "serious injustice". Turkish officials say the EU's efforts to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots have been blocked by Cyprus, a member of the EU since May 2004. The EU declaration came in response to an earlier declaration by Turkey in July, saying that its extension of a customs union with the EU to all new member states did not imply recognition of Cyprus. Since then, Turkey has continued to block Cypriot ships and aircraft from its ports and airports. Public frustration Wednesday's declaration says the EU expects full implementation of the customs union and removal of "restrictions on means of transport". It also says the EU will "evaluate full implementation" of the customs union in 2006. Mr Tan said this was a "new element" in what he described as a "one-sided and politically motivated" text that could weaken the UN peace process for the divided island. The process came to a halt last year after Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of a peace plan drawn up by UN Secretary-Genral Kofi Annan, and Greek Cypriots voted against. Turkish newspapers on Thursday reflected a mood of frustration with the EU. "The growing mood is such in Turkey that if the government were to announce that it will suspend relations with the EU, the support it would get from the public would soar," foreign affairs commentator Semih Idiz wrote in the English-language Turkish Daily News. Final hitch He added that Turks felt that Greek Cypriots were being "rewarded" for rejecting the UN peace plan, and were beginning to think "enough is enough". Another commentator, Asli Aydintasbas, speculated that even if membership talks begin as planned on 3 October, they could easily break up shortly afterwards. Before the talks can begin, EU member states have to agree a negotiating framework which divides the entry talks with Turkey into 35 policy areas. A spokesman for the EU's UK presidency said on Wednesday that only one country, Austria, still had objections to the proposed framework, and that he was confident the problem could be resolved in time. Austria has long argued that the framework should mention the possibility that Turkey will ultimately be offered a "privileged partnership" rather than full membership. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4271778.stm

EU MPs add provisos to Turkey bid The European Union parliament has backed plans to start talks on Turkish accession, but insisted on a number of provisos before it is allowed entry. MPs insisted Ankara recognise the killings of thousands of Armenians in 1915 as genocide. Turkey denies that the killings were systematic. MPs also postponed a vote on ratifying Turkey's customs arrangements because of its refusal to recognise Cyprus. Neither decision affects entry talks which are due to start on 3 October. The negotiations, once started, are expected to take about 10 years. The European Commission said the postponement of the vote was an "own goal" by the parliament. The Armenian killings have long been a taboo subject in Turkey. Armenians, supported by 15 countries, including France, Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, accuses the then Ottoman rulers of carrying out a "genocide". Turkey disputes the charge, saying that a few hundred thousand died and that the deaths occurred in a civil war in which many Turks were also killed. But Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan did condemn a Turkish court's decision to order the cancellation of a conference about the killings which was due to have been held last week. Vetoes await Further talks about Turkey's accession are set for Thursday to try to resolve a deadlock over the question of the negotiating framework for Turkish membership. Turkey has been clear that it will not accept the option of privileged partnership, which Austria is pushing to be inserted into the negotiating framework; only full membership will do. The BBC's Jonny Dymond says that even if they get the framework they want, the membership process will be a long and painful one. This is partly because so much needs to be done by Turkey to adapt itself to EU rules. It needs to absorb the 80,000 page long EU rule book into its domestic law. One member state has already boasted about the number of potential vetoes it has during the negotiations process. There is also the question of Turkey's continuing human rights reform process. Expectations The European Commission has promised to monitor closely how Turkey proceeds. If it is deemed to be slipping backwards in theory or practice, then the commission will not hesitate to make its misgivings public. To add to all the difficulties, there is the question of public expectations in Turkey. Our correspondent says many Turks see the membership process as a genuine negotiation, a process of give and take. But by and large, Turkey has simply to do what it is told if it wants to join the club - which for many is a sharp change in culture, he adds.

ANALYSIS-EU dream has already turned sour for some Turks 29 Sep 2005 10:20:27 GMT Source: Reuters By Jon Hemming ISTANBUL, Sept 29 (Reuters) - It may take 10 years before Turkey joins the European Union, but even at this nascent stage of negotiations EU demands have inflamed Turkish nationalism. The constant stream of criticism from the European Union has revived memories of Western meddling in the 19th and early 20th centuries that put an end to Turkey's empire and, but for a nationalist uprising, would have dismembered Turkey itself. "The whole issue of nationalism represents the most difficult and the deepest gap between Turkey and the EU," said one Turkey-based EU diplomat. While the EU was formed to overcome the discredited nationalism that came close to destroying the continent in World War Two, Turkish identity was forged by Kemal Ataturk's 1920s nationalist struggle that fought off French, British and Greek invaders and suppressed Kurdish and Islamist threats. Thus European calls for more rights for the Kurds, pressure over Cyprus and for Turkey to recognise the Armenian genocide 90 years ago, unite the far right, far left and many in the secular establishment against what they see as underhand EU plots. "Turkey is experiencing the same betrayal by intellectuals that broke up the Ottoman Empire," said nationalist party leader Muhsin Yazicioglu this month. LEFT AND RIGHT UNITE While most Turks still favour joining the EU, support has fallen from 73 percent a year ago to 63 percent in a recent survey. However, as Turkey and the EU get down to the nitty-gritty of negotiations, support could fall even further, analysts say. "There is only one fault line in Turkey and that is between those for and against the EU," said Istanbul University professor Mehmet Altan. Meanwhile, opposition in Europe to Turkey's membership -- as high as 80 percent in Austria and 74 percent in Germany -- feeds the sense of suspicion and discrimination felt by many Turks. This has made for some strange bedfellows. Scruffy leftists with bushy Lenin beards found themselves rubbing shoulders with smart dark-suited right-wing nationalists last weekend at a demonstration against an Istanbul conference by liberal academics discussing claims of Armenian genocide. "No EU, no USA, but a completely independent Turkey," the leftists chanted, pointing angrily at the EU flag flying above the exclusive private university hosting the conference. "Turkey is Turkish and will stay Turkish," the rightists clamoured, in similar vein. The EU closely watched the conference controversy. "We see this is a question of whether the Turkish mentality can change and whether openness can prevail over those who prefer a nationalist view of their history," the diplomat said. Both the right-wing Nationalist Action Party and the Turkish Communist Party are planning anti-EU protests on Oct. 2, the day before Brussels is due to start long and difficult talks that could lead to Turkey's eventual entry to the bloc. However, more worrying for Turkey's EU supporters and Turkish liberals dreaming of shedding their oriental past is the depth of nationalism in the establishment and the army. STATE CHALLENGED For most Turks, Kemal Ataturk is still a hero who saved Turkey from foreign forces during and after World War One, restored national pride and turned the country towards Europe. However for some, his state-centred, top-down legacy sits uneasily with the pluralist, democratic EU Turkey seeks to join. "The way to democratise this country, to realise individual rights and freedoms, to transform a Kemalist state into a democratic state which values people is the EU," said Altan. The so-called "deep state" and the powerful military are uneasy about surrendering any sovereignty to Brussels, he said. Europe is "trying to change our national culture by imposing foreign values, fashion and languages that do not match Turkish customs and traditions", complained Turkish Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok this year. Increased Kurdish rebel attacks and a violent nationalist backlash have raised tension in Turkey ahead of Oct. 3 and undermined Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government which has cast aside its Islamist roots to champion Turkey's EU cause. However, many in Erdogan's own party, including ministers, come from a nationalist background. They, and many across the political spectrum, could baulk at too many concessions to EU demands on Cyprus, the Kurds and minority rights. "When they get bored by this EU process and because they cannot offer any logical counter-argument, they'll get angry and work up nationalist reaction," Altan said. "It is a reaction by those fattened in the past and represents their helplessness."

European Parliament postpones Turkey customs vote The European Parliament on Wednesday postponed a vote to ratify Turkey's extended customs union with the European Union (EU) after Ankara said its signing of the protocol does not mean any form of recognition of Cyprus. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) feared that the Turkish declaration would form part of the ratification process in the Turkish parliament and thus gain legal force. Nevertheless, in a political resolution voted afterwards, the European Parliament approved the start of accession negotiations with Turkey on Oct. 3 as scheduled. Olli Rehn, EU commissioner for enlargement, expressed regret over the decision of the European Parliament. "Unfortunately today's decision does not strengthen our position in urging Turkey to stick to its commitment, that is, following the signature, to ratify and implement the Protocol without delay," Rehn said in a statement. "However, this is a postponement, not a rejection," he said. The European Parliament voted 311-285 with 63 abstentions to postpone the vote on the parliament's approval of the Protocol to the Ankara Agreement, which extends Turkey's customs union with the EU to all its new members, including Cyprus. "The postponement has no impact on the start of the negotiations, since the only condition related to the protocol was its signature by Turkey, which has taken place," said Rehn. Despite Ankara's signing of the protocol in July, it still bars Cyprus from using its ports and airports. Turkey refuses to recognize the Greek-Cypriot government which represents Cyprus in the EU. Cyprus has been divided into the Turkish-Cypriot north and the Greek-Cypriot south since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded north of the island after a failed Greek-Cypriot coup seeking union with Greece. The Turkish-Cypriot breakaway state in the north is recognized only by Ankara. A majority of MEPs demanded guarantees from the Turkish authorities that the declaration was not going to be part of the ratification process in the Turkish parliament, fearing that it would then have legal implications. Although the parliament voted to support the start of accession talks on Oct. 3, a date set by EU leaders in a December summit, it said the European Commission, EU's executive body, must assess if Turkey has fully implemented the protocol by the end of 2006. If not, this could lead to halting the accession negotiations. The parliament also wanted each negotiation session at ministerial level to be preceded by an assessment of the fulfillment of the political criteria, both in theory and in practice, "thus exerting permanent pressure on the Turkish authorities to maintain the pace of the necessary reforms." MEPs reiterated that the accession negotiations are an open- ended process and will not automatically lead to Turkey's EU membership. EU governments are to work out a negotiating framework, which sets basic rules for the talks. Austria wants the negotiations to lead to an alternative to membership, such as a partnership. Ankara on Wednesday threatened to shun away from negotiations if full membership is not the goal of the talks. Source: Xinhua

The proposition that the people are the best keepers of their own liberties is not true. They are the worst conceivable, they are no keepers at all; they can neither judge, act, think, or will, as a political body. John Adams (1735 - 1826)

I count religion but a childish toy, And hold there is no sin but ignorance. Birds of the air will tell of murders past. I am asham'd to hear such fooleries! Christopher Marlowe (1564 - 1593), Jew of Malta, Prologue

I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. Robert McCloskey, State Department spokesman

Happy Birthday Gevo wherever you may be.

He is right you know. Menopause will cure it. You just have to wait 25-30 years.

I find it strange and promising that someone from her background being the daughter of a Turkish diplomat has become so enlightened like that. Must be a drop in the ocean. I think I better write her an e-mail.

Have a fun 30-something birthday Maral! Or is it forty-something?

A hero is one who does what he can. The others don't. I get these quotes in my mailbox everyday. Hero is a little bit far fetched, but we Armenians sure are couch potatoes (or sloths) compared to him. All we do is lament these artefacts after they are gone. A tee bit late in my opinion. A good idea would be to start a campaign to exclude Turkey from the Unesco World Heritage Program unless all Armenian artefacts and buildings are safeguarded i.e. not destroyed. And persuade the Council of Europe to not only reprimand but force them to comply with the various Conventions of the Council and Unesco or freeze their membership if they don't comply. This can be coupled with other demands (such as the Roman ruins in Eastern Turkey and others), so that it doesn't look like Armenian demands only. It should be up to AGBU or ANCA to start a campaign, but it has to be a continuous effort. I don't think that they would be interested in such a campaign though, given the current political climate.

Food is the most primitive form of comfort. Sheila Graham

I believe that every human has a finite number of heart-beats. I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises. Neil Armstrong

Can someone post that Abbey Road ad? I already have a mental picture in my mind but I'm still curious.

I noticed something while watching CNN during their week long focus on India. Is there any connection between the names Vahram and Vikram?

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

If the genocide bill passes one day, but most likely not this time, the Turks will fight to the end. Or at least recognize the Genocide according to their own terms.

The beggining of the end for what? For us in the diaspora who won't find a raison d'etre? For Turkey? Or both? But then we have the unresolved issue of Artsakh. That'll be enough fuel to keep us going for a while.

That place is a mosque? The minaret doesn't appear adjacent to the church. Most likely belongs to another mosque. I mean a real one. <_< Maybe we should thank them for not tearing it down. They easily could have done that and probably is very tempting for them too. I won't be surprised if that happens. Who is there to stop them?

To the world you might just be a person. But to a person you might be the world.