EU-TURKEY: MPs TO ATTEND TRIAL OF TOP AUTHOR
30-Nov-05
Adn Kronos International (AKI)
Istanbul, 30 Nov. (AKI) - A delegation of observers from the European Parliament will attend the upcoming trial of Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, due to start on 16 December, the European Peoples Party in Strasbourg said in a statement. The delegation will be headed by Dutch Euro-MP Camiel Eurlieng.
Pamuk, one of Turkey's best known authors, faces three years in jail for making controversial comments about his country's killing of Armenians and Kurds.
[...]
"Freedom of expression is one of the fundamental rights which Turkey must respect. It is essential for Turkey's eventual membership of the EU," she said.
Most historians contend that the death of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, the destruction of their villages, and confiscation of their land under Ottoman Empire and Turkish rule during the period 1915 – 1923 amounts to genocide, a plan to exterminate the ethnic Christian minority - considered a threat by Istanbul's Islamic masters – and empty out its traditional lands for occupation by Turks.
The official Turkish version of the story is that during World War I the Armenians living under Ottoman rule collaborated with the Empire's Russian enemies and formed military groups who attacked and killed thousands of Turkish civilians in the Empire's eastern provinces. For security reasons, the Armenian population was moved from Turkey's Anatolia to Syria and the region of Mesopotamia. Many Armenians died during this trek, but this was due to diseases and natural factors, rather than a mass extermination campaign.
Turkish politicians, academics and military officials still defend this stance and also argue that recognising the genocide claims would encourage Armenians, backed by the EU and the United States, to achieve their "hidden" aims – state compensation for the "so-called" victims, including handing over land now part of modern-day Turkey to Armenia.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Adn Kronos International (AKI)
Istanbul, 30 Nov. (AKI) - A delegation of observers from the European Parliament will attend the upcoming trial of Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, due to start on 16 December, the European Peoples Party in Strasbourg said in a statement. The delegation will be headed by Dutch Euro-MP Camiel Eurlieng.
Pamuk, one of Turkey's best known authors, faces three years in jail for making controversial comments about his country's killing of Armenians and Kurds.
[...]
"Freedom of expression is one of the fundamental rights which Turkey must respect. It is essential for Turkey's eventual membership of the EU," she said.
Most historians contend that the death of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, the destruction of their villages, and confiscation of their land under Ottoman Empire and Turkish rule during the period 1915 – 1923 amounts to genocide, a plan to exterminate the ethnic Christian minority - considered a threat by Istanbul's Islamic masters – and empty out its traditional lands for occupation by Turks.
The official Turkish version of the story is that during World War I the Armenians living under Ottoman rule collaborated with the Empire's Russian enemies and formed military groups who attacked and killed thousands of Turkish civilians in the Empire's eastern provinces. For security reasons, the Armenian population was moved from Turkey's Anatolia to Syria and the region of Mesopotamia. Many Armenians died during this trek, but this was due to diseases and natural factors, rather than a mass extermination campaign.
Turkish politicians, academics and military officials still defend this stance and also argue that recognising the genocide claims would encourage Armenians, backed by the EU and the United States, to achieve their "hidden" aims – state compensation for the "so-called" victims, including handing over land now part of modern-day Turkey to Armenia.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 7:26 AM
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