Cablegate: Armenian Press Blasts Turkish Reception Of

VZCZCXRO0356
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #0858 1771059
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261059Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3425
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1068
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0027
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0477

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000858

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU AM
SUBJECT: ARMENIAN PRESS BLASTS TURKISH RECEPTION OF
CATHOLICOS GAREGIN II

-------
SUMMARY
-------

1. Armenian cultural and political leaders blasted the GOT in
the press following an incident during which a group of about
50 protesters reportedly egged cars carrying Armenian
religious dignitaries on their way to meet the leader of the
Armenian Apostolic Church at the Istanbul airport. According
to the press, the visit of Catholicos Garegin II to Turkey
was the third such visit by an Armenian religious leader
since 1961. Most news reports on the visit focused on the
protest, while other stories covered the reactions of
Armenian National Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosyan and other
Armenian cultural and political figures to the news. AZG, a
center-right daily paper, criticized the Constantinople
Patriarchate for publishing information on the visit only on
its Turkish-language website, and not on its English- and
Armenian-languages sites. End Summary.

2. Many Armenian news outlets carried reports of the airport
protest, running headlines including "Istanbul incident
during visit of Catholicos of All Armenia is barbarism," and
"Scandal at Istanbul airport proves that process of democracy
establishment in Turkey remains at low level." A news story
on the website of government-run ArmRadio concluded with this
purely editorial comment: "Although the accident was not that
serious, it wholly expressed the essence of the people, which
has taken the course towards the European Union."

3. According to reports, Torosyan questioned Turkey's
European Union aspirations, saying that the protest
demonstrated definitively that the Turkish people do not
share European values and culture. He also suggested that
GOT Prime Minster Erdogan not address issues of freedom of
religion when he addresses the next session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE),
implying that discussion of the topic would be hypocritical.
News outlets also quoted writer Razmik Davoyan expressing
sentiments similar to those of Torosyan. Davoyan said
Turkey's EU aspirations were inconsistent with "hatred" of
Armenia. He said incidents such as the Istanbul airport
protest would not occur in Armenia, because Armenia's social
values preclude such behavior.

4. The independent online news outlet Panorama.am covered a
meeting of the Pakagits discussion club on June 23, during
which the club invited political and cultural leaders to
discuss the Catholicos's visit. According to the article,
the discussion group participants uniformly criticized the
airport protest, but did not agree on whether the protest had
been sponsored by the GOT.

5. AZG noted that Lraber, the official bulletin of the
Constantinople Patriarchate, posted information about the
Catholicos's visit on its Turkish-language webpage, and not
on its English- or Armenian-language pages. AZG noted that
while Armenians who live in Istanbul speak Turkish, it is not
a lingua franca among diasporan Armenians or Armenians in
Armenia. "By posting information on the Turkish-language
page only, Lraber has deprived Armenians in the Diaspora and
Armenia of the opportunity to get information on the visit of
Garegin II so as to limit the response to the visit of the
Catholicos," AZG reported.
EVANS

© Scoop Media