Hyelog

Standing up to be counted

2008-06-02T19:04:00.001-04:00

June 02, 2008
Kevin Cavanagh
The Hamilton Spectator

For all the oratory that erupts when politicians gather, a nation's legislators are ultimately measured more by what they do than what they say. So it was no small statement of principle last week when Canada's House of Commons passed a bill recognizing the 1930s Ukrainian famine as an act of genocide.

The bill refers to a devastating famine of 1932-33 in which shocking numbers of people -- up to 10 million -- were starved to death in a fertile agricultural region known as Europe's breadbasket.

Whether such atrocities should be recorded for history's sake as state-sanctioned homicide is a politically explosive debate, which -- even generations after the fact -- can trigger backlashes from present-day regimes of countries that are implicated in, embarrassed by and/or in denial of said outrage.

As you'd expect in a debate fired with nationalism and pride, there's hot contention over whether such incidents constitute mass murder, or the slightly more benign consequence of politics of the day. In this case, some historians and a lot of Russians reject the notion that the famine was a calculated extermination by the Soviet Union's monstrous dictator Josef Stalin.

But a growing number of countries around the world have come to accept that the denial of food to an entire population was nothing less than a strategy by Stalin to exterminate millions of Ukrainians and silence their clamour for independence.

This was the second time in recent years a Canadian government had the gumption to take a stand on a controversial issue in the global community. Four years ago, our Parliament became one of a very few to stand up and recognize the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as a genocide, a label that elicits fierce anger from Turkey.

Does it even matter that a country such as Canada takes a stand on something that happened so long ago? Yes. It's a statement of principle seen and heard around the world, and helps shape global consensus about what is tolerable and acceptable in civilized society.

Sensitivity and fear of controversy lead many governments to take the easy way out and simply not have an opinion, one way or the other. Cynics suspect Ottawa's decision last week was done to win favour with a million Canadian voters of Ukrainian descent, considering the feds just last fall said they had no plans to recognize the famine as a genocide. But the fact is this private member's bill received all-party support, as did the 2004 vote on Armenia.

In the end, side-stepping difficult decisions because of fear or intimidation is simply an abdication of responsibility by people who should lead. It's a dangerous step down a path toward submissively swallowing censorship, propaganda and freedom.

The world will never learn from its history if we don't face up to it.

Editorials are written by members of the editorial board. They represent the position of the newspaper, not necessarily the individual author.

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.

Turkish official's claim about closed Armenian archives denied

2008-05-23T14:23:00.004-04:00

May 24, 2008
The Armenian Reporter
by Armenian Reporter staff

Halacoglu put his foot in his mouth again!

The archives of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun) through 1925 are open to scholars, confirmed Tatul Sonentz-Papazian, who took responsibility for the archives in Watertown, Mass., in the late 1980s. His statement came in response to a campaign by the head of the ultranationalist Turkish Historical Society, Yusuf Halacoglu, to raise doubts about the Armenian Genocide by claiming that Armenians are suppressing certain records.

"The Dashnak archives in Boston are very important. They contain the answers to many of the questions asked today," Mr. Halacoglu said, according to a May 20 report in the Turkish daily Hurriyet. "The Dashnaks were until now saying that they cannot open their archives because they do not have the money to catalog it. So I said: 'We will give you whatever money you need, just as long as we can have the archives opened.' However, there was no response."

In a phone interview with the Armenian Reporter, Mr. Sonentz-Papazian said that the cataloguingof the archives through 1925 was in fact completed in 1995. Those archives, which include thousands of documents from Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and ARF bodies in the rest of the world, have been microfilmed and have been available for the scrutiny of scholars, Mr. Sonentz-Papazian said.

The archive has been used by various scholars including historians Houri Berberian, Vincent Lima, and most recently Dikran Khaligian.

Five thick volumes of documents from the archives have been published to date. The first four were prepared by the late Hratch Dasnabedian. The fifth was prepared by Yervant Pamboukian. Mr. Pamboukian told the Reporter that he is working on the sixth volume. He added that the entire microfilm collection is being converted to a digital format by an outside contractor.

In the Hurriyet article, Mr. Halacoglu is quoted as saying that he offered $20 million to the ARF to facilitate the cataloging and opening of the archive. "I asked historians Ara Sarafian and Hilmar Kaiser to convey this proposal to our colleagues there."

Reached by the Reporter, Mr. Sarafian denied having been asked to convey such a proposal. "This is obviously a publicity stunt," he said. "Halacoglu thrives on such publicity." He added, however, that issues remain with the accessibility of other Armenian archives outside Armenia.

Mr. Sonentz-Papazian said that he had seen Mr. Kaiser only a month ago and no such proposal had been conveyed.

Genocide Denial Robs us of our Humanity

2008-05-15T12:29:00.000-04:00

Mayıs 15, 2008
Haber: Politika

The recent debate on Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) decision to develop a Grade 11 ‘Genocide: Historical and Contemporary Implications’ curriculum, which has been approved by the Minister of Education in Ontario, unleashed a sophisticated and deceptive campaign to discredit the curriculum and the TDSB. Any rational, responsible person would applaud the teaching of our students the catastrophic effects of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. That Turkish Government agents and lobbyists are campaigning to deter TDSB from introducing this extremely valuable course is dismaying, but not surprising. The well-funded and aggressive efforts by Turkey to deny the Armenian Genocide have been so prevalent in Turkey and around the world that they have become infamously known as “an industry of denial.” The motives and methods of these history-distorting efforts are well documented and studied by Holocaust and Genocide scholars, historians, educators and psychologists.

The Turkish denial machine employes falsehoods, innuendo, unsubstantiated accusations and revisionist historical discourse to promote its version of history.

What happened during the TDSB Program and Services Committee’s meeting in Toronto on January 16 is another demonstration of the extent the Turkish nationalists will go to silence anyone who does nor share their revisionist narrative of history. The Turkish representatives tried to intimidate and to silence such prominent Canadians as Prof. Frank Chalk, director of the Montréal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies; David Warner, former Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly; Leo Adler, prominent criminal lawyer and human rights advocate; and Hon. Jim Karygiannis, MP, who attended the meeting to show their strong support for the curriculum and the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the Grade 11 history course.

To try to curtail freedom of expression of any Canadian and to taunt them with abuses and profanities is shameful and a threat to democracy. The scene was reminiscent of the trials of many righteous Turkish individuals who in recent years have challenged the Turkish Government for its denial of the Armenian Genocide and who have been silenced under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code.

It looks like The Turkish nationalists are trying to import that anti-democratic modus operandi to Canada.

Since it would take volumes to categorically reply to Turkish lobbyists’ falsehoods, I would like to address some of their revisionist historical discourse. We will note their false suggestions and then offer the factual corrections.

Introduction of the curriculum would incite hatred against Turkish children.

It is claimed that if such a curriculum is introduced it would “create hatred against Turkish children.”

Despite Turkish lobbyists’ allegations, there’s absolutely no shred of evidence from any authority–government or educational–that Turkish school children have been bullied by their Armenian classmates in Canada. Raising fears that mentioning the Genocide of Armenians would result in the persecution of Turks is a red herring intended to plant fear among educational institutions in Canada.

Most Armenians and Turks overwhelmingly distinguish between the perpetrators of the genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and people of Turkish descent today, wherever the latter may live. The January 19 commemoration of the first anniversary of the assassination Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Ottawa by a group of Armenians and Turks, who are members of the Turkish-Armenian Dialogue Group of Ottawa, is the best illustration of this attitude. Mr. Dink was assassinated in front of his Istanbul office by a member of a nationalist Turkish political group.

It is also possible to teach that genocide is wrong without teaching hatred of the perpetrators. One can explain their motivations and why they were wrong. One can explain the destruction and the suffering they caused. This is being done successfully in our current educational system where the Holocaust is taught without blaming contemporary Germany or Germans.

After a decade of teaching about the Armenian Genocide in schools in 12 American states (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Rhode Island, Virginia, and California), there has not been a single registered or documented incident of “bullying, hate, and racism” against Turkish children.

Many righteous Turks during the Armenian Genocide risked their lives to save their Armenian neighbours, friends, and business associates. Furthermore, we value the many Turkish intellectuals, historians, journalists and over 12,000 German-Turks who, despite death threats, persecution, and prosecution challenged the official narrative of the Turkish government on the Armenian Genocide and asked the Turkish government to come to terms with this sad chapter of its history.

Here is what the German Turks wrote:

“What we have learned at school (Turkish) is a forgery of history.” They asked the Turkish Government to repent for the crime of Genocide which “we feel morally obliged to end their (Armenians) disillusions and agony”. Furthermore, the association asked for “international condemnation of the crimes committed against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontian-Greeks.”

While official Turkey denies its responsibility for the Armenian Genocide, Turkish intellectual Taner Akçam wrote in the Turkish newspaper Yeni Binyil (October 1, 2000):

“The manner in which the Armenian question is being discussed is in itself indicative as to what is the main problem of our country. We do not possess the culture affording open debate about mass murders. We are devoid of the moral foundations which enable us to damn such crimes. One needs to have a sense of sorrow in order to be able to speak of the great human tragedies; but we do not possess such a sense of morality. Look at the things that have been written about this topic. In them you don’t find a single sentence, a single word that recognizes the tragedy.”

When Turkish children learn about these righteous Turks, they can be proud of the way these people acted. They will be absolved of any responsibility. As renowned writer Ahmet Altan stated in May 2005: “I have nothing in common with the terrible sin of the past Ittihadists [the government of the day]… instead of justifying and arguing on behalf of the murderers, why don’t we praise and defend the rescuers’ compassion, honesty, and courage?”

Historians are disputing the Armenian Genocide.

After 92 years and numerous history books, government documents (British, French, United States, and even then-Turkish allies Germany and Austria), photographs by war correspondents, massive coverage by Western journalists, missionaries and NGOs, and documentary films, we maintain that it’s redundant to try to prove what has been proven countless times. After all, would anyone demand that a historians’ committee be formed to question whether the Holocaust took place?

The Turkish Government agents cite the same half-dozen historians and writers to back their allegations. Practically everyone listed has taught history at institutions where their chair has been funded by the Turkish government. These historians have close relationships with the government of Turkey; have privileged access to Turkish historic archives and are provided with frequent all-expense paid trips to Turkey. The publication of their books are often funded by the government of Turkey.

Many genocide scholars have questioned the credibility of these half-dozen historians.

Colin Imber, in the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, called Justin McCarthy’s work: “Junk food, junk bonds and now junk history … This is a cruel description, but one which is perfectly appropriate for a book which is carelessly written, is often misinformed, and shamelessly follows a Turkish nationalist agenda.”

Ton Zwaan, in de Volkskrant (Dutch newspaper) wrote: “Among bona fide historians McCarthy is known as one of the professional deniers, subsidized by the Turkish government.” Zwaan continued: “In a groundless, hazy and disorderly argumentation replete with half-truths and complete untruths, McCarthy attempts to persuade his readers that an Armenian genocide never transpired in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and 1916.”

Many Turkish historians, among them Taner Akcam and Muge Gocek, also questioned McCarthy’s research and trustworthiness.

Guenter Lewy is a well know revisionist. His work–from the killing of Roma Gypsies in the Second World War to the Vietnam War–is well documented. This is what the Journal of Genocide Research wrote: “Lewy’s . . . book which seeks not only to exclude the Nazis’ Romani victims from the Holocaust-which is not anything new-but goes a step further to say that they were not even the targets of attempted genocide. . . ‘The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies’ is a dangerous book.”

After reading Lewy’s biased article on the Armenian Genocide, Prof. Gregory H. Stanton, said: “I am appalled. It is such a blatant denial article . . . As you know, the evidence for the Armenian genocide does not just rest upon the three sources Guenter Lewy attempts to discredit. (He doesn’t even do a good job of discrediting those sources.) It also rests on literally thousands of eye-witness testimonies, eyewitness reports by diplomats and missionaries, and a mountain of other data. Lewy’s article is directly contrary to the official opinion of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, passed by unanimous resolution, declaring that the Armenian massacres were genocide, and that attempts to deny that fact have no basis in sound scholarship.”

Norman M. Naimark from Stanford University recently reviewed Guenter Lewy’s latest book for the jounral Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Naimark concluded that “… if Lewy wishes to maintain his claims to historical objectivity by using accepted judicial definitions of genocide, then the difficulty of finding direct evidence for the Young Turks’ premeditated planning of mass murder should not prevent him from concluding that genocide took place. At its core, then Lewy’s argument is illogical.”

The International Association of Genocide Scholars, in a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister labelled such historians as “scholars who advise your government and who are affiliated in other ways with your state-controlled institutions are not impartial. Such so-called “scholars” work to serve the agenda of historical and moral obfuscation when they advise you and the Turkish Parliament on how to deny the Armenian Genocide.”

One of the historians Turks often cite to buttress their denialist arguments is Bernard Lewis. Mr. Lewis has been convicted in French court for denying the Armenian Genocide. His flip-flopping on the Armenian Genocide is well documented. In an earlier version of his book, “The Emergence of Modern Turkey,” Lewis wrote: “A struggle between two nations for the possession of single homeland, that ended with the terrible holocaust of 1915, where a million and half Armenians perished.”

I have no intention to enter into a “my historian is more credible than your historian” contest here, although the number of international historians who acknowledge the truth of the Genocide of Armenians exceeds the names cited by Turkish lobbyists by a hundred fold. To mention just one group of 126 Holocaust scholars, among them Elie Wiesel, Yehuda Bauer, Israel Charny, Steven Katz, Steven Jacobs, and Irving L. Horowitz, who on March 9, 2000, issued a statement declaring that “The World War I Armenian Genocide is an incontestable historical fact and accordingly urge the governments of the Western democracies to likewise recognize it as such.”

The Turkish archives are open. Armenians refuse dialogue

One of the most disingenuous Turkish arguments is that Turkish archives are open and that Armenian archives are closed on the genocide issue. They use this argument to mislead and to divert attention from the real issue, the crime of Genocide. Furthermore, they try to imply that Armenians have something to hide and do not want to open their archives for inspection or to enter into a dialogue with Turks.

What is the truth?

In regard to the Armenian Genocide, there are four main Turkish sources of archives:

1–The Prime Ministerial Archives

2–The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) [the governing party in 1915] Archives

3–The Special Organization [the organization which carried out the Genocide] Archives

4–The Interior Ministry Archives.

According to the Istanbul Military Tribunal (1919 - 1921), which was established to try Turkish Government leaders who had ordered the implementation of the Armenian Genocide, most of the documents related to the latter three organizations have been either “stolen or destroyed.” During the trial, the Turkish persecutor in his indictment, stated: “Investigation of what had occurred reveals that important documents pertaining to this office [Special Organizations] …have been purloined.”

In the same indictment, he also stated that “all of the documents and ledgers of the Central Committee [CUP] have been purloined.” Furthermore, many witnesses during the trials testified that the documents of CUP had been removed by Central Committee member Dr. Nazim.

In regard to the Interior Ministry Archives, Aziz Bey (former director of General Security), revealed that Talât Pasha, the interior minister, prior to fleeing the country, took suitcases of documents, information and reports, and burned them.

The only archives which are open are the Prime Ministerial Archives. These archives are limited to a small group of selected historians who a priori have demonstrated their support of Turkish government’s genocide denialist narrative. Furthermore, researchers are allowed only 25 documents per day, which severely limits the ability to work there.

Recently, Mehmet Sait Uluisik, a German citizen of Turkish origin, was banned from entering Turkey to carry research in the Prime Minister’s Ottoman archives on the role of Circassians in the Armenian Genocide. The Circassians were armed and funded by the government of Turkey.

Thus to claim Turkish archives are open to scholars is inaccurate. The critical archives pertaining to the Armenian Genocide are not in the archives, while the available ones are of limited access.

The accusation that Armenians refuse to dialogue with Turks is another myth.

Numerous attempts have been made by the Armenian Government and the Armenian Diaspora to dialogue with Turks. These attempts have failed because of the Turkish Government’s intransigent and unreasonable conditions. The Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC) is a prime example. Turkish and Armenian members of TARC agreed to submit the arbitration of the Armenian Genocide issue to a third party–the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). When ICTJ’s report concluded that what happened to the Armenians in Ottoman Turkey was a classic case of genocide and fulfilled four out of five conditions set by the UN Genocide Convention, the Turkish government pulled the plug on TARC by asking its Turkish members to withdraw from the commission.

In response to the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s letter to the President of Armenia, to establish a “joint group of historians… to study … the events of 1915,” Robert Kocharian, the President of Armenia, on April 25, 2005, replied by saying: “Your [Erdogan[ suggestion to address the past cannot be effective if it deflects from addressing the present and future, in order to engage in a useful dialogue, we need to create the appropriate and conducive political environment..in that context, an intergovernmental commission can meet to discuss any and all outstanding issues between our two nations.”

The Turkish Government did not respond to the Armenian Government’s positive approach to solve this issue. On April 11, 2006, the Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, reminded the Turkish Government and the international community that “we remain amazed that a letter sent by president Kocharian to Prime Minister Erdogan… remains simply ignored because the Turkish authorities did not like the response contained therein, and do not wish to broaden the scope of dialogue beyond histology.”

More recently, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Armenian Parliament organized a conference in the Armenian Parliament on Turkish Armenian relations. Among the invitees were Turkish professor Yusuf Halacoglu (president of Turkish Historical Society), Sedat Laciner (director of International Strategic Research Institute), former Turkish Ambassador Omer Engin Lutem (head of the Armenian Studies Institute of the Eurasian Strategic Research Center), Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, and Dr. Can Paker (Turkey’s special representative for relations with the European Union). None of the Turkish invitees attended this important and unique conference. The Turkish side missed a golden opportunity to meet Armenian politicians, historians and scholars to discuss relations between the two neighboring nations.

The Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Tigran Torosian, voiced his concern that Turkey’s decision not to participate in the discussions would not contribute to dialogue between the two nations.

The above examples clearly show that Turkish government’s manipulative offer of dialogue with Armenians is akin to the neo-Nazis’ suggestion of an independent, objective historical commission to determine whether the Holocaust took place or the Flat Earth Society’s offer to hold an academic dialogue with National Geographic about the true shape of the earth.

If the Turkish Government does not allow its citizens, historians and intellectuals to freely discuss the issue of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, and prosecutes them under article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, how can one take its offer of dialogue with Armenians and the creation of “historians commission” seriously?

The Canadian Armenian community does not bear any animosity towards the Canadian Turkish community. On the contrary, we sympathize with the members of the Turkish-Canadian community and Turks in general, particularly when they have been mislead for too long and denied their own history, by the Turkish Government.

We are hopeful the Turkish Government halts its campaign of falsification of history and focuses on the Genocide issue without hysteria, racism, nationalistic fanaticism and that the Turkish people will acknowledge the misdeeds of their predecessors and extend a hand of friendship to the Armenian people.

Ardash Amroyan

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.

Traveling across the peace bridges over closed borders

2008-05-13T10:17:00.003-04:00

Monday, May 12, 2008
TDN
Başak Güneş Başat

I certainly welcome this kind of exchange people-to-people promoting understanding. In the same breath I wish to add that among those who visited Armenia there were no Turkish nationalists. However may be through these exchanges the message will get to the nationalists.

A travel agency recently organized the first-ever cultural tour to Armenia, with which Turkey has no diplomatic relations. “The hospitality was great,” one partıcipant said. “During our last dinner, Armenians sitting next to us in the restaurant joined us to dance.” The urbane group, however, could not avoid their hosts’ genocide claims and listened patiently to genocide stories

Despite sour relations between Ankara and Yerevan, a Turkish travel agency decided to organize a cultural tour to Armenia and mustered a group of 30 tourists for a 10-day trip to Turkey's neighbor to the east.

The visit, the first of its kind, was organized by Fest Travel, known for its cultural tours worldwide. “We have organized tours almost everywhere around the world,” said trip leader Faruk Pekin, who is also Fest Travel's general director. “This time, it was Armenia's and Georgia's turn.”

Since the borders between Turkey and Armenia are closed, the group flew to Georgia, then traveled to Armenia by bus.

“Although there are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey, we encountered no problems with visa procedures except for a few bureaucratic ones on the Armenia-Georgia border,” Pekin told the Turkish Daily News.

Turkey sealed the border in 1993 to protest Armenian forces' occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus, a de facto independent republic that is officially part of Azerbaijan.

The Armenians were pleasant and interested in their group, Pekin said.

“In one church, they opened the treasury room just for us,” he said.

After crossing the Georgian-Armenian border, the group visited the Haghpat and Sanahin monasteries, named world cultural heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Tour member Ertan Şerbetçi said he found the mountaintop churches and cathedrals the most fascinating parts of the tour.

He was also impressed by the trip's upbeat tone.

“We experienced nothing negative,” he said.” The conflict is not between the Armenian and Turkish nations.”

Fellow traveler Leyla Çizmeci said she was proud to take part in the agency's first cultural visit to Armenia.

“The hospitality was great,” she told the TDN. “At our last dinner, Armenians sitting next to us in the restaurant joined us to dance.”

Nonetheless, the urbane group could not avoid encountering Armenian genocide claims condemning Turks for the killing of 1.5 million ethnic Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 and saying the whole world should recognize it as "genocide."

“The group patiently listened to stories of genocide,” said Çizmeci. “Talking and listening to each other is the way to get rid of prejudices, and such kinds of trips between two countries may help normalize bilateral ties.”

The greenery she observed throughout the tour and the Georgian and Armenian music that accompanied them on the bus made the trip an unforgettable 10 days, she said.

The tour of Yerevan included visits to the Matenadaran Museum of Ancient Manuscripts, Yerevan Square, Republic Square, Yerevan State University, the Haghtanak (Victory) Bridge, the state historical museum, the city concert hall and opera house and the parliament building.

After Yerevan, the group took in the Ejmiatsin Cathedral, Hripsime Monastery, Surp Guyane Church and Zvartnos Cathedral. The last stop was the Garni Temple and the Geghard Monastery, with its view of Mount Ararat.

The number of participants reflects the sizable demand that exists for visiting Armenia. Another tour is planned for the end of August.

“We also hope to contribute to building warmer ties between our two countries,” Pekin said.

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.

Turk-Armenian Business Council not permitted to open branch in Istanbul

2008-05-09T10:34:00.002-04:00

08.05.2008
PanARMENIAN.Net

If Turkey's government is sincere shouldn't it not walk the talk? This is another evidence of its lack of sincerity.

A Turkish-Armenian business organization is not permitted to open a branch in Istanbul, in total contrast to the government’s willingness to restart political dialogue with Armenia.

While political leaders of both Turkey and Armenia debate ways to "open dialogue," an effort by a Brussels-based association of Turkish and Armenian businessmen has been told that even an Istanbul office for the nongovernmental organization is off the table.

The request began with Brussels-based Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council’s request last year to establish an office in Istanbul. But the request was quietly rejected by the Interior Ministry in February, the Turkish Daily News reports.

Kaan Soyak, co-chairman of the Council, confirmed that four Turkish members of the organization including himself applied last May to open the office supposed to connect the Turkey-EU network in order to foster business opportunities.

"We have received no response for nine months and in February, the Istanbul Governor’s Office sent a letter rejecting our request without any justification," Soyak said.

Until February, he continued, Turkish and Armenian members of the Council had the impression that the Interior Ministry would allow the opening of the office because at round-table discussions in the United States last November, Turkish diplomats heralded the government’s plans to allow the office. However, the letter from the Istanbul Governor’s Office was in total contrast to expectations.

The government’s rejection comes right after calls for dialogue with Armenia in the wake of the elections, a development that raised hopes for the opening of a new chapter in troubled relations.

The Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council is a nongovernmental network of Turkish and Armenian business leaders working since 1997 for the restoration of normal relations between Turkey and Armenia and for the reopening of their common border.

The two neighbors have had no diplomatic links after Turkey took Azerbaijan’s side in the Karabakh war and closed the border with Armenia. Ankara also opposes demands for recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».

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.

Armenian Orthodox leader urges world to recognize WWI-era killings as genocide

2008-05-07T17:59:00.002-04:00

May 7, 2008
Jerusalem Post
Source: AP

The head of Armenia's Orthodox Church took part in Pope Benedict XVI's public audience on Wednesday and urged all countries to recognize that Turks committed genocide against Armenians early last century.

Karekin II sat at Benedict's side during the traditional weekly audience in St. Peter's Square - part of a visit to the Vatican that is the latest high-level contact between Catholic and Orthodox leaders.

Addressing a crowd of faithful assembled in the square, Karekin appealed "to all nations and lands to universally condemn all genocides that have occurred throughout history."

"Denial of these crimes is an injustice that equals the commission of the same," he said. "Many countries of the world recognize and condemn the genocide committed against the Armenian people by Ottoman Turkey."

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.

KENTUCKY BECOMES 41st STATE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

2008-05-07T17:51:00.001-04:00

Armenian National Committee of America
Eastern Region
122 W 27th St, Ste 412, New York, NY 10001
Tel. (917) 428-1918 * Email. ancaer@anca.org

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release ~ 2008-05-01
Contact: Karine Birazian ~

KENTUCKY BECOMES 41st STATE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

FRANKFORT, KY - The Armenian National Committee of America- Eastern Region (ANCA-ER) welcomed today a proclamation issued by Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The "Bluegrass State" proclamation brings the number of states to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide to forty-one. The full text of the Kentucky proclamation is provided below.

The powerfully worded proclamation designated April 24, 2008, as "Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide" in the state of Kentucky, noting that "recognition of the ninety-third anniversary of this genocide is paramount to guarding against the repetition of future genocides and educating people across the Commonwealth about the atrocities of these horrific events."

"Gov. Beshear's proclamation reflects the growing sentiments of U.S. government officials to speak with moral clarity on the Armenian Genocide," stated ANCA Eastern Region Director Karine Birazian. "The burgeoning Kentucky Armenian community's initiative serves as an inspiration to Armenian American activists across the U.S. to redouble efforts to end Turkey's gag rule on U.S. affirmation of this crime against humanity."

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

#####

TEXT OF KENTUCKY PROCLAMATION MARKING THE 93RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Proclamation

By Steven L. Beshear
Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

To All To Whom These Presents Shall Come:

WHEREAS, One and one-half-million Christian Armenian men, women and children were the innocent victims of a brutal genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish Government from 1915-1923; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian genocide has been recognized as an attempt to eliminate all traces of a thriving, ancient civilization over 3,000 years old; and

WHEREAS, Recognition of the ninety-third anniversary of this genocide is paramount to guarding against the repetition of future genocides and educating people across the Commonwealth about the atrocities of these horrific events; and

WHEREAS, Armenian-Americans living in Kentucky have greatly enriched our state through their leadership in various aspects of society;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, STEVEN L. BESHEAR, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2008, as

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE in Kentucky.

DONE AT THE CAPITOL, in the City of Frankfort this 28th day of April, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand Eight and in the 216th year of the Commonwealth.

STEVEN L. BESHEAR
GOVERNOR

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.

CBC Ombudsman Rejects Turkish Government's Denial of the Armenian Genocide

2008-05-05T09:04:00.003-04:00

May 3, 2008
Armenian National Committee of Canada

It is a shame that Turkey resorts to denial tactics in order to project a clean image to the world. As said in this release “By its persistent policy of denial, the present Turkish Government is making itself automatically the inherent target of responsibility for the 1915 Genocide.”

Ottawa – A well-financed campaign to censor CBC Radio's ‘As It Happens’ program, orchestrated by the Turkish government and its agents, has been rejected by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Ombudsman Vince Carlin.

After a professional examination of the Turkish denialists complaint that CBC “did not give sufficient attention to Turkey’s official claim that the events of 1915 did not constitute a genocide,” Mr. Carlin said, “While not ignoring significant dissent from 'mainstream' views, the journalist must not distort the concepts of 'balance' by giving equal weight to any contending theory.”

The ombudsman added, “In the cases at issue, the preponderance of credible academic work has found that the Turkish government took deliberate action against the Armenian population and those actions fit what became the definition of Genocide.”

The ombudsman elaborated on the journalist’s ethical conundrum of “giving voice to those who deny events which were part of the historical consensus.” On this thorny issue, Mr. Carlin said, “the implications of such notion are evident when one thinks of giving substantial time to those who deny that there was a genocide directed against Jews during World War II.”

In the ombudsman’s view, “ while fairness and balance would impel journalists to be on the look-out for credible contradictory evidence, appropriate weight must be given to broad-based conclusion, in this case not only academic-based, but also endorsed by UN agencies and the Canadian Government.”

The CBC ombudsman concluded his findings by noting that “the concept of balance is not mathematical.” Accordingly, he found that “no violation of CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices in treatment of theses items.”

The latest campaign of silencing freedom of speech in Canada was launched after CBC's ‘As It Happens’ program interviewed United States Congressman Adam Schiff (Oct. 18, 2007), Turkish historian Taner Akçam (Oct. 12, 2007), and an official from the Toronto District School Board on the proposed Grade 11 Genocide Curriculum (Dec. 14 2007).

The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) cognizant of the campaign, responded to the Turkish government’s misinformation by making essential presentation (testimonies of historians' and scholars, books, and other relevant documents) to the ombudsman to refute the Turkish denialist fabrications.

Aris Babikian, Executive Director of ANCC, commended the CBC ombudsman's findings and conclusions. 'Once again CBC has demonstrated that it is not willing to compromise its journalistic integrity. We congratulate the CBC ombudsman and ‘As It Happens’ staff for not capitulating to the Turkish government’s propaganda machine, threats, intimidation, and bullying.”

“It is high time the Turkish government recognized that its Armenian Genocide denial policy is a bankrupt one and that Turkey can not muzzle freedom of the press and suppress freedom of expression in the civilized world, as it has done in Turkey,” Babikian said, urging the Turkish people to rise against the “Turkish Deep State” and utranationalists who are running the country's denialist policy.

Dr. Girair Basmadjian, President of ANCC observed that “By its persistent policy of denial, the present Turkish Government is making itself automatically the inherent target of responsibility for the 1915 Genocide.”

Swedish Archives Confirm: It was a genocide!

2008-04-21T08:51:00.003-04:00

Press Release
April 21, 2008
Armenica.org
Uppsala, Sweden
info@armenica.org
www.armenica.org

Swedish Archives Confirm: It was a genocide!

A recently conducted study at the Uppsala University has revealed highly interesting information in the Swedish Archives, which once again confirm the researchers' view of the events in the Ottoman Turkey during the First World War: the Christian minorities, the Armenians in particular, were subjected to genocide.

The massacres in Ottoman Turkey during the First World War claimed the lives of approximately 1.5 million out of a world population of four million Armenians, while over 250,000 Assyrians/Chadeans and equal number of Pontic Greeks. In 1923, for the first time in over 2,500 years, Armenians no longer lived on 85 % of their fatherland. Thus, the Armenian genocide was, in a sense, a successful genocide, acquiring the perpetrators an Armenia without Armenians.

The conducted survey covers the period between 1915 and 1923 and includes, among others, reports which the Swedish Ambassador, Cosswa Anckarsvärd, and the Swedish Military Attaché, Einar af Wirsén, both stationed in Constantinople, sent to the Foreign Department (found in the National Archive) and the General Staff Headquarters (found in the War Archive) in Stockholm, respectively. In total, about eighty documents were found with direct relevance to the so-called Armenian Question, of which some are over-explicit in their message: the Turkish Government conducted a systematic extermination of the Armenian Nation.

On July 6, 1915, Ambassador Anckarsvärd, writing to the Swedish Foreign Minister, Knut Wallenberg, concludes: "Mr. Minister, The persecutions of the Armenians have reached hair-raising proportions and all points to the fact that the Young Turks want to seize the opportunity, since due to different reasons there are no effective external pressure to be feared, to once and for all put an end to the Armenian question. The means for this are quite simple and consist of the extermination [utrotandet] of the Armenian nation [emphasis added]." Anckarsvärd's reports until 1920 persisted in the same insight. At several occasions, the Ambassador points out that "It is obvious that the Turks are taking the opportunity to, now during the war, annihilate [utplåna] the Armenian nation [emphasis added] so that when the peace comes no Armenian question longer exists." In a later report (1917) he underlines that the massacres are not clashes between the Muslim and the Armenian populations, but "that the persecutions of Armenians have been done at the instigation of the Turkish Government [emphasis added]..." As an explanation to the prevailing famine in Turkey during 1917, the Embassy Envoy Alhgren mentions the shortage of workers, which is claimed partly to be a result of "the extermination of the Armenian race [utrotandet af den armeniska rasen] [emphasis added]". Major Wirsén's reports to the General Staff concur with Anckarsvärd's analysis. In 1942 Wirsén published his memoirs, entitled Minnen från fred och krig ("Memories from Peace and War"), reflecting upon his time as Swedish Military Attaché in the Balkans and Turkey. In a chapter entitled Mordet på en nation ("The Murder of a Nation"), Wirsén renders his observations of the Armenian massacres: "Officially, these [deportations] had the goal to move the entire Armenian population to the steppe regions of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria, but in reality they aimed toexterminate [utrota] the Armenians [emphasis added], whereby the pure Turkish element in Asia Minor would achieve a dominating position." In the conclusion of this chapter he recalls his conversation with the Turkish Grand Vizier Talaat Pasha and notes: "The annihilation of the Armenian nation [emphasis added] in Asia Minor must revolt all human feelings.The way the Armenian problem was solved was hair-raising. I still can see in front of me Talaat's cynical expression, when he emphasized that the Armenian Question was solved."

The mentioned quotations are a fraction of the information presented in the study. In addition to the mentioned archives of the Foreign Ministry and the General Staff, the reports from the Swedish missionaries and the Swedish newspapers were also included in the study and concur with the same view. The surveyed documents are mainly in regard to the Armenian Question, but the data bed indicates that other Christian groups, such as Greeks and Syriacs, were affected by the same fate.

The study clearly emphasises the concept of "bystander". While the word itself implies that the bystanders do not participate in the genocide, some contend that they are far from just a neutral viewer to the tragedy, but passive participators in the annihilation. The British statesman and political thinker Edmund Burke's statement captures the essence of the bystanders to genocide: "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." The documents clearly indicate that the Swedish Government was well informed about the state-orchestrated extermination of the Armenians. They also disclose that the Government, fully in accordance with the policy of a small state, consciously chose not to intervene in the matter, neither during the massacres nor after when the League of Nations suggested Sweden as a mandate power in Armenia. While resorting to isolationism during the period of the implementation of the genocide, Sweden followed the general stream, in particular that of the Major Power's, during the post-war period when the question of securing the future of the Armenian Nation was discussed. Sweden, as all other states, chose to secure its national interests rather than standing out from the rest by advocating Armenia's right and the question of punishing the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide. The present-day Swedish Government does not seem to be willing to become involved in the question either. Just last fall, the Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, during an interpellation in the Swedish Parliament, refrained from officially recognising the 1915 genocide, partly by referring to "the need of additional research about what really transpired in the Ottoman Empire." The surveyed documents should at least quench that need; the official reports from the Swedish Ambassador and the Swedish Military Attaché in Constantinople are unambiguous: Armenians were subjected to genocide.

The study in its whole is included in a master thesis paper which will be presented in the Higher Seminar at the Uppsala University's Department of History. It will also be available at http://www.armenica.org . Vahagn Avedian, Editor of Armenica.org and Master Degree Student at Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

RECOGNIZING THE GENOCIDE

2008-04-20T18:34:00.002-04:00

19 April 2008
Frontier Times, Bulgaria

Another Bulgarian city adopted a declaration recognizing Turkish genocide over Armenians and Bulgarians.

April 17, in Rousse, the Municipal Council approved with 36 in favour, 3 against and 6 abstained a special declaration wherein the town's governors recognize the genocide over Armenians and Bulgarians carried out by the Turkish state and army. Between 1903 and 1913, tens of thousands of Bulgarians were slaughtered by the Turkish in the territories that remained out of the Bulgarian state, and between 1915 and 1918 of over 1.5 MILLION Armenians, having before that, in 1895/6 butchered between 100,000 and 200,000 Armenians.

Besides the recognition of these acts of extreme violence in the beginning of 20th century, the declaration calls for "the Republic of Turkey assuming the responsibility and offer its apologies for the five centuries of enslaving of Bulgarians, for the crimes committed and mass murders perpetrated of all Bulgarians who, under the force of the Berlin Treaty (of 1878), remained within the boundaries of Turkey and to pay indemnities to the heirs of the refugees for their suffering and for the robbing of their properties and possessions that were left on its (Turkey's) territory."

This declaration will be presented to the embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Sofia and also delivered to the Human Rights Commission in the EU Parliament. The declaration was initiated by ATAKA and VMRO representatives and was earlier adopted in the city of Bourgas. Meanwhile, the Turkish consul from Bourgas was reported to have arrived in Rousse and attempted in discussions with the mayor to prevent the adoption of such a declaration. After Bourgas approved the declaration, the Turkish city of Edirne, in a harsh reaction to this, terminated all common projects, and severed all connections between the two cities.

Bulgaria was enslaved by the Turkish between 1396 and 1878. In the first century of slavery alone, the Bulgarian population was diminished from about 2,000,000 to just over 200,000. Mass slaughter was carried over Bulgarians most regularly, with some of the most brutal taking place in 1876 as the April Uprising was crushed, leaving some hundred thousand, including women and children, dead. The modern Turkish state has continually refused to recognize the terror performed over other peoples in its earlier history and has demonstrated especially harsh attitude to the Armenian genocide question.

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.

Naming a Vatican courtyard after Armenia’s patron saint

2008-03-26T18:12:00.004-04:00

February 23, 2008
Catholic News Service

Under a beautifully sunny sky Friday, Pope Benedict XVI presided over the formal naming of the St. Gregory the Illuminator Courtyard on the north side of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The courtyard, between the basilica’s exterior wall and a booth selling tickets to reach St. Peter’s famous dome, is named after the patron saint of Armenia, the evangelizer who brought Christianity to the country in 301.

St. Gregory is no stranger to the courtyard now named after him. In January 2005, Pope John Paul II presided over the unveiling of a statue of the bearded and mitered saint in a niche of the basilica facing the courtyard.

Unveiling the stone tablet with the courtyard’s new name on it, Pope Benedict was joined by officials from St. Peter’s Basilica, from Vatican City’s central government and Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni of Cilicia.

The pope told the group, “More than 17 centuries ago, this great saint made the Armenians a Christian people,” the first nation to declare itself officially Christian.

By calling the saint “the illuminator,” Pope Benedict said, Armenians recognize that he led the people from darkness to the light of Christ, but also that through his teaching and preaching he shed light on the truth about human life.

PHOTO: Pope John Paul II blesses the statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator which was placed in a niche on the northern exterior wall of St. Peter’s Basilica in this January 2005 file photo. Pope Benedict XVI officially named the little courtyard which the statue faces after the saint Feb. 22. (CNS/Catholic Press Photo)

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.

Knesset panel to consider recognition of Armenian genocide

2008-03-26T18:01:00.002-04:00

26/03/2008
Haaretz
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent

The Knesset decided Wednesday that a parliamentary committee will hold an unprecedented hearing on whether to recognize the World War I-era mass murder of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.

The decision to hold a hearing, which was proposed by Meretz Chairman Haim Oron, was approved by a 12-MK margin. The government did not oppose the motion.

The Knesset House Committee will decide whether the issue will be handed over to the Knesset Education Committee, as Oron wants, or to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as requested by Yisrael Beiteinu MK Yosef Shagal. The latter generally holds hearings behind closed doors.

Oron wants the committee to recognize the Armenian genocide, pointing out that similar recognition has been afforded recently by the French parliament and the United States Congress. "It is appropriate that the Israeli Knesset, which represents the Jewish people, recognize the Armenian genocide," said Oron. "It is unacceptable that the Jewish people is not making itself heard."

The Meretz MK added that he raises the proposal every year ahead of Armenian Genocide Day, which falls on April 24.

Minister Shalom Simhon, who represented the government in the Knesset debate, did not object to sending the issue to committee. Simhon said the Jewish people have a special sensitivity to the issue and a moral obligation to remember tragic episodes in human history, including the mass murder of the Armenians.

Nonetheless, Simhon added that, "in the course of time this has become a politically charged issue between Armenians and Turks ? and Israel is not interested in taking a side."

Shagal warned that recognizing the killings as a genocide could have repercussions for Israel's diplomatic relations with Turkey, as well as the fate of tens of thousands of Jews who live in Azerbaijan.

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.

TURKISH SECURITY OFFICIALS ADMIT COVER-UP IN DINK MURDER CASE

2008-03-23T09:47:00.001-04:00

Friday, March 21, 2008
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
By Gareth Jenkins

On March 20, two members of the Turkish Gendarmerie admitted receiving detailed intelligence regarding a plot to assassinate Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and then, after Dink’s murder, trying to cover up their knowledge by lying to investigators.

The confessions came as two Gendarmerie officers, known by their initials as O. S. and V. S., went on trial for dereliction of duty after evidence emerged that the security forces in the eastern Black Sea city of Trabzon had been informed of the plot to assassinate Dink months in advance but had failed either to apprehend the plotters or attempt to protect Dink (Anadolu Ajans, CNNTurk, NTV, March 20).

On January 19, 2007, the 52 year-old Dink was shot dead outside the Istanbul office of the Agos newspaper where he worked as editor-in-chief and which serves Turkey’s dwindling Armenian community. Dink was killed by Ogun Samast, an unemployed, poorly-educated 17 year-old who had traveled from Trabzon to carry out the assassination. Minors are often used to carry out murders in Turkey as, under Turkish law, anyone under 18 they can only be sentenced to a maximum of a few years in jail. It later emerged that Samast had been a member of a ultranationalist gang with strong Islamist sympathies led by the then 24 year-old Yasin Hayal. Hayal and his associates were well known to the security forces in Trabzon and some of them worked as police informants. On March 20, the gendarmerie officers admitted that, in August 2006, one of Hayal’s relatives had warned them that Hayal was planning to kill Dink and had given him YTL 500 (around $400) to buy a gun for the assassination. The officers were also told that someone linked to the gang had carried out surveillance of Dink in Istanbul and even drawn up diagrams showing the route taken by Dink as he traveled from his home to the Agos office (Radikal, Milliyet, Sabah, Hurriyet, Cumhuriyet, March 21).

A soft-spoken advocate of reconciliation between Turks and Armenians, in February 2004 Dink wrote a series of articles in Agos calling for dialogue without any preconditions. He maintained that an insistence that Turkey should first recognize the tragic events of 1915 as a genocide was an obstacle to reconciliation. In an article he wrote in Agos, Dink called on Armenians to “cleanse their blood of the poison of genocide” and engage in dialogue with Turks.

However, the mere mention of the word genocide resulted in Dink being prosecuted under the notorious Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which makes it a criminal offence to denigrate the concept of “Turkishness.” In October 2005, Dink was convicted and given a suspended prison sentence of six months. Even though he never served time in jail, the publicity surrounding his trial made Dink a hated figure for many Turkish ultranationalists. Extraordinarily, given the numerous calls for him to be killed in the Turkish ultranationalist press and Internet chat rooms and the telephoned death threats that Dink himself reported to the Istanbul police, and unlike almost any prominent Turkish Muslim who receives similar threats from extremists, Dink was not given police protection. When he was killed by Samast as he left the Agos office to pay some bills at his local bank, Dink was completely alone.

In their statements to the court, both O. S. and V. S. insisted that they had forwarded the intelligence of the plot to kill Dink to their commanding officer, Colonel Ali Oz, the head of the Gendarmerie in Trabzon. They claimed that Oz had not only failed to take action but, during the investigation that followed Dink’s murder, had instructed them to deny any prior knowledge of the plot to kill Dink.

When taken in isolation, it would be possible to attribute the cover-up simply as an attempt to hide incompetence. But, when combined with other evidence that has emerged since Dink’s murder, the conclusions are more disturbing. When Samast was captured, some of the arresting officers took photographs of him posed heroically in front of the Turkish flag. Ultranationalist publications and chat rooms buzzed with praise for the killing. There were even songs written in Samast’s honor and posted on YouTube.

There is little doubt that the majority of Turks, even many Turkish nationalists, were appalled by Dink’s murder. Indeed, one of the most moving tributes to him appeared in Yeni Cag, the main ultranationalist daily newspaper. On the evening of January 19, 2007, thousands of Muslim Turks joined with Armenians to march through the center of Istanbul chanting “We are all Dink” and “We are all Armenians.” On January 19, 2008, Muslim Turks also dominated the numerous ceremonies held to remember Dink on the first anniversary of his murder.

Nevertheless, the confessions by the two gendarmerie officers will reinforce suspicions that racial and religious prejudice remains a serious problem both in Turkish society as a whole and in the country’s security forces. Earlier this year, it emerged that, at the time of his death, Andrea Santoro, a Roman Catholic priest who was shot by Oguzhan Akdin, a 16 year-old youth with ultranationalist and Islamist sympathies, was under surveillance by the police on the ludicrous suspicion that he was plotting to facilitate the annexation of Turkey’s eastern Black Sea coast by Greece. On April 18, 2007, three Christian missionaries in the southeastern city of Mardin were tortured and then had their throats cut by a group of students from a hostel run by an Islamic foundation. During their trial, evidence has emerged that these students too were in contact with members of the local security forces. Lawyers acting for the families of the victims claim that they have been receiving numerous death threats, are being harassed by security officials and that key evidence – such as tape recordings of confessions detailing links between the accused and security officials – that was present at the beginning of the trial, has now disappeared.

There is no suggestion that any high-ranking members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were involved either in any of the killings or in the subsequent cover-ups. But neither does the government appear to understand the extent of religious and racial prejudice in Turkey or the need to amend legislation that fuels it. The effective protection of minorities is a prerequisite for Turkish accession to the EU, which has long pressed for the abolition of legislation such as Article 301 of the Penal Code (see EDM, January 8). However, since the beginning of the year, the AKP has preferred to focus almost exclusively on trying to push through legislation to lift the headscarf ban that prevents pious Sunni women from attending university (see EDM, February 11, February 25) and, most recently, on legislative changes to circumvent the party itself being outlawed following the public prosecutor’s application for its closure on March 14 (see EDM, March 17).

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.

Photographs unravel Turkey's ethnic tapestry

2008-03-10T17:54:00.002-04:00

March 10, 2008
International Herald Tribune, France
By Sabrina Tavernise Published:

SAMSUN, Turkey: They were suspected to be missionaries. Then fugitives. But when the motley band of Turkish intellectuals finally arrived in this Black Sea city last month, people seemed to understand that they really only wanted to tell stories.

The group - a Kurdish feminist, an Armenian writer, and an academic and a photographer, both Turkish - were presenting a book of photographs of people from Turkey.

The book counted 44 different ethnicities and sects across Turkey, and captured them in pictures dancing, eating, praying, laughing and playing music. If it sounds innocuous, it was not. Turkey, a country that has had four military coups in its 85-year history, has a very specific line on cultural diversity: Anyone who lives in Turkey is a Turk. Period.

Attila Durak, a New York trained photographer, compiled the book, traveling around Turkey for seven consecutive summers, living with families and taking their portraits.

His intent was to show that Turkey is a constantly changing kaleidoscope of different cultures, not a hard piece of marble monoculture as the Turkish state says, and that acknowledging those differences is an important step toward a healthier society.

People see themselves in the photographs, and they realize they are no different," said Durak, whose book, "Ebru: Reflections of Cultural Diversity in Turkey," was published in 2006. "Those Kurdish people have kids who play together like ours," he said, referring to viewers' reactions. "Look, they dance the same kind of wedding dance."

Ever since Turkey became a state in 1923, it has been scrubbing its citizens of identities other than Turkish. In some ways, that was necessary as a glue to hold the young country together. European powers were intent on carving up its territory, a patchwork of remains from the collapsed Ottoman Empire, and Muslim Turkishness was a unifying ideology.

But it forced families from different backgrounds, who spoke different languages, such as Armenian, Kurdish, Greek, Georgian, Macedonian, Bosnian, to hide their identities. Family histories, such as the crushing events of Turkey's genocide against Armenians in 1915, were never spoken of, and children grew up not knowing their own past or identity.

"Memories like that were whispered into ears behind closed doors," said Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer who learned only in her 20s that her grandmother was Armenian. "There was a big fear involved in this, so the community itself perpetuated the silence."

It is that locked past Durak and his colleagues seek to open. Their method is telling their own stories to audiences across Turkey as an accompaniment to exhibits of Durak's photographs to open a conversation about the past and chip away at stereotypes.

The academic, Ayse Gul Altinay, an anthropology professor from Sabanci University in Istanbul, is a kind of national psychiatrist, identifying the most painful points from the country's past and offering a way to think about them that is most direct route to healing.

She uses the Turkish art form, Ebru, the process of paper marbling that produces constantly changing interwoven patterns, as a metaphor for multiculturalism.

"We're not a mosaic, different from one another and fixed in glass," said Altinay, who earned her doctorate from Duke University. "Ebru is done on water. It is impossible to have clear lines or distinct borders."

In Samsun, a bustling city with a nationalist reputation, the fifth in Turkey to see the exhibition, the audience was small but interested. The Armenian writer, Takuhi Tovmasyan, talked about how she was gruffly banished from a piano recital hall after winning a competition, when teachers learned her last name, which is overtly Armenian.

"I hid this feeling for a long time," said Tovmasyan, who has published a book of family recipes and stories as way to open up a conversation about the past. "But when I saw these photographs, I decided I needed to talk about it."

The discussions have hit a nerve. At a presentation in Kars, an eastern Turkish city, a man in his 50s wearing a suit spoke through tears about discovering that his family had been Molokan, Russian Old Believers. It was the first time he was speaking publicly about it, he said. Others have apologized to Tovmasyan in emotional outpourings.

In Samsun, a young man in a white sweatshirt said, "I personally apologize for 'Get out,' on behalf of all my friends," eliciting applause. "It's really a terrible thing."

Durak's subjects look into his camera with a directness that is startling. A Jewish man sits in a chair in Istanbul. A gypsy in a flower print shirt plays the saxophone. A woman from the Black Sea stands in a doorway, her fingers touching her collarbone.

Each one is labeled for ethnicity and sect, a method of categorization that initially struck the local authorities in Samsun as something close to a seditious act.

"They said, 'we have to investigate, maybe they are wanted by the police,' " said Ozlem Yalcinkaya, an organizer from a student group, Community Volunteers Foundation, who arranged the exhibit. "I said, 'If they are fugitives, why would they be putting their names on the exhibition posters?' "

Another one of their questions went to the heart of what the group is trying to change. When it was revealed that Tovmasyan was Armenian, police officials were stumped.

"What do you mean Armenian," Yalcinkaya recalled an officer saying. "A Turkish citizen, or from Armenia?"

The answer was both - a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent - but because the Turkish state does not recognize mixed identities, the concept was foreign and baffling to the police.

In the end, the authorities relented, and the municipality even allowed use of its lecture hall.

"The genie is out of the bottle," Altinay said. "Too many people are interested in looking into who we are, who lived on this land before us," for the healing process to be stopped.

A young woman in the audience echoed that thought, as she apologized to Tovmasyan. For as gloomy as the past was, the future was more hopeful, she said, because young people are much more flexible and accepting than the older generations.

"In a few years time, a lot of people will be doing a lot of apologizing," she said.

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.

Turkey Blocks EU Funds over Bulgaria's Burgas Recognition of Armenian Genocide

2008-03-10T11:41:00.001-04:00

10 March 2008, Monday
Sofia News Agency, Bulgaria

Turkey's government declined to sign a EU-funded cooperation agreement with Bulgaria because of the decision of the city council in the Black Sea city of Burgas to recognize the genocide of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1922.

The funds blocked by Turkey under the PHARE Trans-border Cooperation Program amount to EUR 32 M, the Bulgarian private TV channel BTV reported. EUR 12 M of these are for the 2007-2009 period.

The agreement was supposed to be signed on March 6 by the district governors of the Bulgarian Burgas District, and the Turkish Edirne District but the meeting was canceled by the Turkish side.

"It is not within the authority of the Burgas City Council to take decisions on political matters, especially with regard to this issue as there is no consensus between Turkey and Armenia over it, and the interference by a third party will not be of any help", declared Turkey's General Consul in the city of Burgas on Sunday, March 9.

The Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov also received Saturday a letter from the Edirne District Governor regarding Burgas City Council's decision to recognize the Armenian genocide stating: "This decision is offensive and we denounce it. Until it is canceled we will discontinue all social, cultural, and economic contracts with your district."

Mayor Nikolov, who is from the Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov's GERB party, expressed his surprise over Turkey's sharp reaction. He said the City Council was going to discuss the matter during its next session.

The Burgas City Council is dominated by members of the extreme right Ataka Party, and of the GERB party. On February 28 it voted to recognize the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, and declared April 24 Day of Remembrance.

Last week members of the rightist Democrats for Strong Bulgaria party of the former PM Ivan Kostov tabled a proposal for recognizing the Armenian Genocide to the city council in Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

Bulgaria's parliament has rejected similar motions by the rightist opposition several times, allegedly because of the ethnic Turkish part Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which is a junior partner in the governing three-way coalition.

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.

Armenian poll challenge rejected

2008-03-09T16:33:00.002-04:00

19 March 2008
BBC News, UK

The constitutional court in Armenia has rejected opposition claims that the presidential election was rigged.

The court accepted opposition claims there were some violations but said this could not call into question the entire poll.

The original announcement that Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian had won sparked days of protests.

The government declared a 20-day state of emergency on 1 March as eight protestors died in clashes with police.

Public gatherings have been banned and restrictions placed on the media.

Official election results in Armenia gave Serzh Sarkisian 53% of the vote, and the main opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian 21.5%.

Mr Ter-Petrosian had alleged there was widespread fraud at the poll, but his legal appeal was rejected.

The outgoing President, Robert Kocharian, has warned that the authorities will not tolerate any more mass demonstrations even after the state of emergency is over.

The BBC's Matthew Collin says a small group of female opposition supporters defied the measures on Saturday when they dressed in black and laid flowers where the clashes had taken place, in memory of those who died.

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.

'Turkish taboos' and freedom of expression

2008-03-08T10:41:00.002-05:00

Saturday, March 8, 2008
Turkish Daily News
Robert ELLIS

A fortnight ago the Danish section of PEN, the worldwide association of writers, held a panel discussion in Copenhagen on Turkish taboos, freedom of expression and media freedom in Turkey. There was general agreement among the four Turkish panelists, a journalist, a novelist, a poet and the president of Turkish PEN, that the four main taboos were the Armenian genocide claims, the Kurdish question, the military and Atatürk.Two of the panelists pointed out that these taboos are characteristic of Kemalist orthodoxy, but that the advent of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was accompanied by a freer discussion of these issues. Prime Minister Erdoğan's landmark speech in Diyarbakır in 2005, when he became the first Turkish leader openly to admit there was a Kurdish problem, was also mentioned.

The Armenian issue:

Nevertheless, the first taboo, that surrounding the Armenian "genocide," still remains on both sides of the political divide. For example, three years ago in a party address Tayyip Erdoğan said, “Turkey has never committed genocide throughout its history,” and two weeks ago he added, “the character of this nation does not let it commit such crimes.”Therefore, Orhan Pamuk must have behaved like a bull in a china shop when he claimed in an interview with the Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger three years ago, “30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it.” The official Turkish reaction was not long in coming, as Pamuk was prosecuted according to Article 301 of the Penal Code for “the public denigration of Turkishness,” but the charge was dropped on a technicality.The recent arrest of the ultra-nationalist Ergenekon gang revealed their plan to assassinate Pamuk and linked them to the murder of the Turkish-Armenian publisher Hrant Dink and the three Christians in Malatya. Indeed, these murders, as well as that of Father Andrea Santoro in Trabzon, can be linked to the virulent strain of ethnic nationalism that arose 100 years earlier during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid from 1876 until 1909.

That period was characterized by extensive massacres of Armenians from 1894-96 and again in 1909. As historian Donald Bloxham said in “The Great Game of Genocide,” the perpetrators believed they were acting in accordance with the true interests of the state.This period was also characterized by a rise of Armenian nationalism and the founding of the two leading revolutionary groups, the Hunchaks and the Dashnaks, in 1887 and 1890. In 1913 the Committee of Union and Progress (“the Young Turks”) came to power through a coup d'état, but it was the outbreak of World War I the following year, and Turkey's alliance with Germany, that sealed the fate of the Armenian people.Turkey's defeat at the hands of the Russian army, aided by Armenian volunteer battalions, on the eastern front in January 1915 was widely blamed on the Armenians, but the turning point came with the Armenian uprising in Van in eastern Turkey on April 20 and the Allied landings at Gallipoli on April 25. On April 24 more than 200 prominent Armenians were arrested in Istanbul and sent to the interior, where most were later executed.On May 27, 1915 the Deportation Law (the tehcir law) was passed to provide for the deportation of the Armenian population for reasons of national security.

This is where the facts are hotly disputed, ranging from Ambassador Morgenthau's telegram to Secretary of State Lansing in July 1915, which spoke of “a campaign of race extermination…under a pretext of reprisal against rebellion,” to Professor Özay Mehmet from Carleton University in Canada, who recently claimed, “the Ottoman Armenians committed treason and were relocated out of the war zone.”So far 22 countries have officially recognized the tragic events of 1915-16 as "genocide" and Barack Obama has pledged recognition as a plank of his campaign.

However, the crux of the issue is not international recognition but that the topic is not open to free debate in Turkey.

'Stab in the back' :

On an academic level, scholars who organized a conference at Boğaziçi University in May 2005 on the Armenian question during the Ottoman Empire were accused by government spokesman, Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek, of “stabbing the Turkish nation in the back.” The conference was postponed, but after an international outcry it reconvened at Bilgi University four months later.The main Turkish fear is that a discussion of the Armenian and Kurdish issues could once again lead to a partition of Turkey. This view was confirmed by a prominent member of the Armenian community in the United States, Harut Sasunian, who stated in December that the ultimate goal of the Armenians was recognition of their claims and getting amends and land from Turkey.As noted, the main obstacle to freedom of expression in Turkey is Article 301 of the Penal Code, which has resulted in the prosecution of a large number of authors, publishers and journalists. In yet another cosmetic change, the government plans to change the wording from “denigration of Turkishness” to “denigration of the Turkish nation,” which brings us back to square one. But as long as Turkish people are denied a full understanding of their past they will be unable to build a firm foundation for the future.

………….

The views expressed by commentator Robert Ellis are the author's own and reflect neither endorsement nor editorial policy of the Turkish Daily News. Mr. Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish press (meltem@get2net.dk).

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.

Armenia: The United States is Muted on the Armenian Political Crisis

2008-03-05T12:26:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Eurasianet
By Joshua Kucera

The continuing political crisis Armenia stemming from the March 1 violence in Yerevan has unfolded with little comment from the United States, either from the US government or from influential Armenian-American lobbying groups.

The root cause of the crisis is found in the disputed presidential election on February 19, in which Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian was declared the winner. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Asserting that widespread fraud enabled Sarkisian’s victory, the main challenger Levon Ter-Petrossian mounted a permanent protest in Yerevan. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. A government attempt to disperse the demonstrators during the pre-dawn hours of March 1 sparked an escalating confrontation that culminated in armed clashes. Officially, eight people died in the clashes, but witnesses believe the death toll could be substantially higher. Under state of emergency regulations imposed on March 1, the government enjoys broad powers to restrict press freedom, making verification of competing claims next to impossible. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

A statement by Karekin II, the spiritual leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, urged that both sides compromise. "Let us practice wisdom and reasoning, refraining from fraternal hostility and actions that deepen the discord. All problems and issues which trouble us, shall be solved through peaceful means, respect for the law and the safe paths of dialogue,” Karekin II said in a statement issued March 3. "Each of us must answer for our actions before history and our generations. Let us not risk the stability of our country with further unwise actions.”

Kocharian on March 5 vigorously defended his decision to impose a state of emergency, which in addition to restricting the flow on information, also allows for the limitation of non-governmental organization activity and the roll-back of civil liberties, including freedom of assembly. The president appeared to place all blame for developments on his political opponents, and vowed to “to track down all inciters, masterminds and executors of the unrest,” according to comments distributed by the official Armenpress news agency. Kocharian also stated that he had no intention of extending the state of emergency, which is due to expire on March 20.

The government’s media blackout has silenced at least five Armenian news outlets. And in a move that is sure to create difficulties for US-Armenian relations, President Robert Kocharian’s adminsitration has also suspended broadcasts of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and has blocked the RFE/RL website in Armenia.

There are several reasons for the relative US silence on recent developments in Armenia, analysts say. On a geopolitical level, Armenia is not deemed of vital strategic importance by Washington, as the Caucasus country lies outside the Caspian Basin energy corridor that passes through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

In addition, the Armenian crisis is not viewed in Washington as a struggle pitting democratic forces against an authoritarian regime. It is more of an internecine struggle, in which a dispute among an entrenched political elite over the division of spoils has escalated to the point where it got out of control. Ter-Petrosian and his supporters are generally not seen as being any more democratically oriented than the incumbent Kocharian-Sarkisian team. To substantiate that point, some observers point to the fact that in the 1996 presidential election, Ter-Petroisian, who was running then as an incumbent, was accused of many of the same electoral abuses that he now assails the Kocharian administration for.

Finally, Armenian-American diaspora groups, which wield significant power in Washington’s policy towards Armenia, have chosen not to call attention to the crisis there.

The State Department issued a mildly worded statement on March 1, condemning the violence. The statement implied equal responsibility for both the government and the protesters. “Any unlawful actions such as violence and looting worsen the situation and must stop. We hope that the State of Emergency declared today will be lifted promptly and that political dialogue resumes,” the statement said.

But that is not enough, said Cory Welt, associate director of the Eurasian Strategy Project at Georgetown University. “The United States and the Europeans should certainly do one thing – stop pretending there is democratic progress where there is none. It’s one thing to shy away from giving the street false cause for optimism; it is another to be so patronizing about ‘baby steps’ toward democracy when there are none.”

“What makes the Armenian case so unusual is the willingness of the United States and Europe to move forward with business as usual when there is no business to be done - Armenia is neither a security nor an energy partner for the West,” Welt said.

Given the recent developments, Welt suggested that Washington should suspend aid from the Millennium Challenge Account, which is supposed to encourage Armenia to build democratic institutions. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The flow of Millennium Challenge assistance should not resume until there is a full, independent accounting for the violence on March 1 and 2, Welt added.

There has also been a relatively muted response from Congress, including from the members who are active in pro-Armenian issues. Armenian lobby groups have not pressed Congress to get involved in the crisis in Armenia, according to one Congressional staff member, speaking on condition of anonymity. That is partly because the lobby groups have political ties with the parties in power in Armenia, but partly because they feel that focusing on Armenia’s negatives is bad public relations.

“Frankly, in terms of the Armenian-American lobby, they get really ginned up and energized about the Armenian genocide resolution, but they don't really want to look at corruption, because that doesn't put them in a very favorable light,” the staffer said. “This doesn't help them with their agenda.” [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The Armenian National Committee of America did not release any statement on the crisis, and as of the morning of March 5 its website carried no mention of the situation unfolding in Armenia. The Armenian Assembly of America did post a statement on its website, calling on all sides to “adhere to the rule of law and to refrain from violence, as well as to ensure that the media will cover the events as they take place with fairness and balance.” Neither organization returned calls and emails by a EurasiaNet correspondent seeking comment.

“Without energy or particular strategic importance, Armenia is left in the United States with the politically quite strong Armenian diaspora,” Welt said. “In the end, it is not the lobbies that should be held responsible, but their representatives in Congress who have far greater reason to be troubled by the hypocrisy of avoiding discussion or comparison of the internal state of Armenia when shaping US policy in its confrontations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.”

Part of the diaspora groups’ ambivalence can be explained by the fact that the main opposition candidate, Ter-Petrossian, strove to weaken the political strength of the Armenian diaspora when he was in office. In addition, his willingness to negotiate with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh angered members of the diaspora groups. Ultimately, Ter-Petrosian’s willingness to negotiate on the Karabakh issue initiated a chain of events that led to his resignation in 1998. He was replaced by Kocharian.

The Karabakh contact line dividing Armenian and Azerbaijani troops was the scene of heavy fighting on March 4-5. Azerbaijani officials on March 5 claimed that Armenian forces launched an attack, in part out of a desire to distract attention from events in Yerevan. Armenian officials countered that Azerbaijani forces initiated the clash. The death toll was placed at between eight and 16. Kocharian, in commenting on the fighting, stated that officials in Baku were trying to take advantage of Armenia’s domestic difficulties. "In all likelihood Azerbaijani leaders thought that because of recent events in Yerevan, the army of Nagorno-Karabakh has lost its vigilance or communication,” Kocharian told Armenpress

In addition, the Armenian diaspora groups tend to disengage from Armenian political issues because the corruption and authoritarianism conflict with the American values that they have acquired, said Yossi Shain, a political scientist at Georgetown University who studies the politics of diaspora groups.

“One can argue that in the mind of the diaspora, Armenia as a homeland has served more as a notion, perhaps a mythical vision than as a concrete sovereign state,” Shain said. “If the [Armenian] state represents something hostile to their ideology, they will remove themselves. They will be more keen to identify with Armenia as a whole than to identify with one regime, if it violates what they consider to be the values of America.”

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.

Street theater scares children, shocks nation

2008-03-05T12:03:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, March 5, 2008
TDN

Celebrations in Aşkale, Erzurum, include workers dressed up as Armenians acting out hanging an imam and murdering a family before being killed themselves by high school students playing the Turkish militia. While the mayor defends the event as educational, experts, commentators and newspapers call for an end to such displays of animosity

ANKARA – TDN with wire dispatches

The 90th anniversary of the liberation of the eastern province of Erzurum's Aşkale region was celebrated there Monday, with municipality workers – in a staged event – dressed as members of an Armenian gang sending the imam to the gallows, torching the mosque and bayoneting a doll in a crib, to the alarm of many locals.

The daily Sabah described the story as “shocking” on its front page yesterday, and Hürriyet's headline read, “The mentality in this day and age.”

The daily Radikal's front page headline was, “This disgrace should end.”

The celebrations began with town administrator (kaymakam) Zeyit Şener, Mayor Ahmet Yaptırmış and Regional Commander Captain Ertuğrul Yavuz laying a wreath at the Atatürk statue in the town square.

Just like in previous years, celebrations continued with municipality workers dressing up as Armenians and playing out a massacre committed by Armenians over 90 years ago. The workers first sat around a table and drank alcohol – actually cold tea – before acting out torching the local mosque. Murat Billur, a barber who played the imam in the play, was hung from the makeshift gallows in the town square as he recited the call to prayer.

The workers then acted out the murder of a family and bayoneted a doll in a crib to screams from the town's children.

The play ended with Aşkale High School students, who played the Turkish militia that freed the town from occupation, attacking and “killing” the workers.

Yaptırmış, of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), defended the play. They repeat the event every year, he said, so children will always remember what happened. “Keeping these sentiments alive will give us an honorable future,” he said.

“There are no bans. I don't think children will be affected adversely,” he said.

‘We are ashamed'

Municipality workers who played the Armenians said the mayor issued orders and they obeyed.

One worker, Celal Akar, said his family, friends and neighbors criticized him for playing an Armenian. “Sometimes they even make fun of us. We don't want to be part of the play, but when the mayor says it we can't object. We have been doing this for at least 20 years,” he said. The municipality is responsible for the organizing the event, but Şener was upset when he saw the play. “Next year's celebrations will be without Armenians,” he said.

Media, experts criticize the event:

Burning and stabbing people in front of children is very harmful for young and impressionable kids, said psychologist Alanur Özalp, speaking to Hürriyet. “We all saw teenagers being exploited in the murder of Hrant Dink and priest (Andrea) Santoro. When asked, these teenage murderers said, ‘He was Turkey's enemy. They told me to go and kill him.' Such scenes should not be repeated when we are trying to rid ourselves of the image of barbarian Turks,” she said.

Celebrations portraying Turkey's neighbors as enemies have ended in many regions in Turkey, said Erdun Babahan, editor-in-chief at Sabah, in his column yesterday. “As long as your children grow up watching things like this, it will never be hard to find teenage triggermen to do bad jobs,” Babahan said.

There is a difference between teaching history to children and becoming ugly and rude while doing so, said Hürriyet's Oktay Ekşi in his column yesterday. “Isn't there a more civilized way of teaching history to children? Which is right? Teaching civilization and peace, or animosity to future generations?”

Ekşi asked how teachers and parents could make their children, who were obviously shocked and scared, watch such scenes. “Now do you see how those who murdered Dink and Santoro grow up? Now do you understand what Rakel Dink meant when she said, ‘Nothing can be done without questioning how a baby can become a murderer,'” he said.

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.

Writer Demirer on Trial for "Armenian Genocide"

2008-03-05T10:42:00.004-05:00

05-03-2008
Bıa news centre
Erol ÖNDEROĞLU

I salute all Turks who have shown heroism both during the Armenian genocide and up to now and into the future. For these are the ones who deserve to be honoured. It surpasses human comprehension why the present government sticks to honouring the likes of Talat, Enver and Jemal as their ancestors and NOT those Turks who risked and even gave their lives to save Armenians. Because of this the offer of the government for a historical panel on the Genocide sounds hollow, so does the restoration of the Holy Cross church at Aghtamar island to a museum with no cross on top. The world has eyes to see and ears to hear.

In protest at Hrant Dink's murder, writer Demirer had called on others to commit the same "crime" as Dink had done, i.e. to recognise the factuality of an "Armenian genocide." He is now facing a trial under Articles 301 and 216.

A day after journalist Hrant Dink’s murder on 19 January 2007, writer Temel Demirer read a press statement in central Ankara, saying that the journalist had not only been killed for being Armenian, but also because he had spoken of an “Armenian genocide.”

Trial under Articles 301 and 216
Around a year later, Demirer has been taken to court under Article 301 and 216 for “denigrating the Turkish Republic” and “inciting to hatred and hostility.” The case will be heard at the Ankara 2nd Penal Court tomorrow (6 March).

Temel Demirer and the Solidarity Initiative had said, “We owe something to those being tried for their thoughts and actions, those being obstructed, tortured, imprisoned and killed.”

In a previous statement Demirer said that he believed that there was a genocide carried out against the Armenians in the Ottoman period, that the state was then the “customs of the the Committee of Union of Process”, and that these customs had been continued up to cases like the Susurluk scandal (which revealed connections between the state and contract killings).

Calling on others to commit "crimes" in protest
The indictment prepared by Chief Public Prosecutor Levent Savas on 24 December 2007 is based on police reports and police recordings. According to the indictment, Demirer said the following at the protest meeting:

“We live in a country where murders and silencing the truth are partners. Hrant was murdered not only because he was Armenian but because he said expressed the reality that a genocide took place in this country. If the Turkish intellectuals do not commit 301 crimes under Article 301, then they will be guilty of Hrant’s murder, too."

"There is a genocide in our history, it is called the Armenian genocide. At the cost of his life, Hrant told us all about this reality. Those who do not commit a crime against the murderous state are part of the murder. Those who killed the Armenians yesterday are today attacking our Kurdish brothers and sisters. Those who want the brotherhood of peoples need to face up to this history. We have to commit crimes to avoid that what happened to the Armenians happens to the Kurds. I call on all of you to commit crimes. Yes, there was an Armenian genocide in this country."

The statement was signed by the following:

Fikret Başkaya, İsmail Beşikçi, Yüksel Akkaya, Mehmet Özer, Necmettin Salaz, Ahmet Telli, Ruşen Sümbüloğlu, Tayfun İşçi, Mahmut Konuk, İbrahim Akyol, Abdullah Aydın, Oktay Etiman, Sait Çetinoğlu, Halil İbrahim Vargün, Özgen Seçkin, Zişan Kürüm, Mete Kaan Kaynar, Hakkı Atıl, Mustafa Kahya, Anıl Aslan, Hüseyin Ontaş, Erol Bıyıklı, Cennet Bilek, Serpil Köksal, Selçuk Kozağaçlı, H. İbrahim Vargün, Evrim Kılıç, Yılmaz Erdoğan, Pınar Dursun, Samet Erdemir, Özer Akkuş, Özgür Doğan, Mehmet Toğan, Ramazan Gezgin, Metin Uzunöz, Onur Işık, Hüseyin Gevher, Ülkü Çevik, Hüseyin Güngör, Muzaffer Çelikkol, Rıza Karaman, Metin Ayhan, İrfan Kaygısız, Çağdaş Küpeli, Devrim Kahraman, Tülay Koçak, Ali Ersin Gür, Muharrem Demirkıran, Haldun Açıksözlü, Adil Okay, Confederation of Europe Workers from Turkey (ATIK) (EÖ/GG)

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.

POLICY AND PERSONALITY: A RIFT OPENS IN TURCO-GERMAN TIES

2008-02-15T10:24:00.004-05:00

Friday, February 15, 2008
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
By Gareth Jenkins

Erdogan was called by his critics a wolf in sheep's clothing. Now that clothing has come off, so that the world sees as he is. Nothing wrong in insisting that Turks should keep their heritage alive in Germany and elsewhere. The problem is while he is saying "assimilation is a crime against humanity", he is not admitting that Turkey has a strong policy of assimilating its minorities since 1923. While he is saying that genocide does not exist in the Turkish culture he is ignoring the genocidal policy against the Armenian population by the Young Turks rulers during 1915-1923. I find this a shame.

The recent angry exchanges between the Turkish and German governments over the integration of Turks living in Germany have highlighted the increasing vulnerability of Turkish policy to the personality of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On February 10, Erdogan told an audience of around 18,000 Turks in the German city of Cologne that they should resist attempts to assimilate them into German society but should remain faithful to their Turkish traditions (Hurriyet, Milliyet, Yeni Safak, Zaman, Sabah, February 11).

Erdogan had already clashed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the education of the Turks living in Germany. Approximately 2.5 million people of Turkish origin currently live in Germany, around one-third of whom have German citizenship. Erdogan insists that the priority of children of Turkish origin should be to learn Turkish, with German as a second language. He has called for an increase in the number of Turkish schools in Germany and even promised to send teachers from Turkey. In contrast, Merkel has called on all those living in Germany to prioritize learning German in order to facilitate their integration into German society and ensure their full access to public services and employment. She condemned Erdogan’s speech in Cologne and pointedly remarked: “We shall have to continue debating our understanding of integration issues with the Turkish prime minister” (Anatolian Agency, February 11).

Merkel’s statement triggered an angry response from Erdogan. On February 12, he told a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), “Assimilation is a crime against humanity. I may think differently from Merkel on this matter but I explicitly declare that nobody can dictate to the Turkish community to assimilate” (Hurriyet, February 13).

On February 13, Erdogan went one step further. “We may not agree with Mrs. Merkel on the subject of assimilation and integration. This is true. In any case, if I act according to what she thinks then I am not myself. Nor are we ourselves. We have no desire to be like them” (Milliyet, February 14).

[...]

Erdogan’s latest outburst will have done little to persuade the opponents of Turkish accession in the EU of the error of their ways. Indeed it will have further alienated the very country that Turkey needs most to convince. Relations with France, the other main opponent of Turkish accession, are currently extremely tense, not least over France’s recognition of the Armenian genocide. There appears little prospect of an imminent improvement. But the same could not have been said about Germany. Over the last 18 months, Merkel had reduced the references in her public speeches to her opposition to full Turkish membership. There was hope that the two countries could at least engage in a productive dialogue without being held hostage to public rhetoric. These hopes have now suffered a severe blow. Perhaps most bewilderingly, Erdogan’s outburst came just weeks after a number of Turkish officials, including Gul and Babacan, responded to criticism of the AKP’s reluctance to implement the reforms required for EU membership by promising that 2008 would be “the year of the EU.”

But even more bewildered will be the members of Turkey’s non-Turkish minorities, particularly by Erdogan’s declaration that “assimilation is a crime against humanity.” Over the years, particularly in the predominantly Kurdish southeast and the Laz-speaking northeast of Turkey, the Turkish authorities have changed the names of thousands of villages and hamlets and replaced them with Turkish names. Non-Turkish minorities still face restrictions on the use of their languages and even the names that they can call their children. Unlike in Germany, anyone who takes Turkish citizenship is almost automatically required to assume a new Turkish name. While Erdogan’s insistence on Turks in Germany being educated in their mother tongue is in marked contrast to his refusal to allow education in minority languages such as Kurdish inside Turkey.

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.

In Turkey, a Patriarch in Dire Straits

2008-02-14T09:27:00.002-05:00

2-14-2008
AINA, CA
By John Couretas www.acton.org

With the release of a new book, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I -- best known as the Orthodox Church's Green Patriarch for his environmental activism -- offers a concise summary of the Eastern Christian tradition and views on a wide range of social issues.

The publication of Bartholomew's "Encountering the Mystery" next month arrives at a time of deep crisis for the patriarchate, a crisis that has registered little interest among Europe's secularized political classes or, for that matter, Christians outside the Orthodox Church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate, located in Istanbul on the historic East-West crossroads of the Bosporus Straits, has been suffering a slow asphyxiation for decades. And it is not at all certain that this ancient see of the Church, the living witness of a Byzantine Christianity that has proclaimed the Gospel since the establishment of Constantinople in the fourth century -- indeed since the time of the Apostles -- will survive.

Bartholomew, a Turkish citizen, presides over a flock of Orthodox Christians that has shrunk to 3,000-4,000 members, one of the smallest religious minorities in a land of 72 million people that is 99 percent Muslim. The other constitutionally recognized minorities include some 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians and 23,000 Jews. But there are significant minorities of non-Muslim believers, including Syriac Orthodox, Baha'is, Protestants, and Roman Catholics.

Who will follow?

By law, Bartholomew must choose a successor who is a Turkish citizen and thus subject to a constitution that enshrines the modern, secularist principles formulated by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the national hero who established the modern state of Turkey after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. But the patriarchate has long been viewed with suspicion by Turkish nationalists who see it as a "foreign" institution that often sided with Greece in the centuries-old, warring rivalry with Turkey.

In 1971, the Turkish government shut down Halki, the partriarchal seminary on Heybeliada Island in the Sea of Marmara. And it has progressively confiscated Orthodox Church properties, including the expropriation of the Bûyûkada Orphanage for Boys on the Prince's Islands (and properties belonging to an Armenian Orthodox hospital foundation). These expropriations happen as religious minorities report problems associated with opening, maintaining, and operating houses of worship. Many services are held in secret. Indeed, Turkey is a place where proselytizing for Christian and even Muslim minority sects can still get a person hauled into court on charges of "publicly insulting Turkishness." This law has also been used against journalists and writers, including novelist Orhan Pamuk for mentioning the Armenian genocide and Turkey's treatment of the Kurds.

In a 2005 report on the Halki Seminary controversy, the Turkish think tank TESEV examined what it called the "the illogical legal grounds" behind the closing and how it violates the terms of the 1923 peace treaty of Lausanne signed by Turkey and Europe's great powers. TESEV concluded that "the contemporary level of civil society and global democratic principles established by the state, are in further contradiction with the goal to become an EU member." And, because of its inability to train Turkish candidates for the priesthood, TESEV warned: "It is highly probable that the Patriarchate will not be able to find Patriarch candidates within 30-40 years and thus, will naturally fade away."

The patriarch's solution to Turkey's problems -- and that of religious minorities -- is to move the country to a more Western model of tolerance and religious freedom by bringing it into the European Union. "It is my conviction that the accession of Turkey to the European Union would benefit all of its citizens, including the minority communities of the country," Bartholomew writes in his new book. "For Turkey would be required to make significant, indeed substantial modifications to its legislation, adhering to the principles of other European nations."

The EU Card

Unfortunately, recent history is not so favorable to this view. It is a doubtful proposition that the EU mandarins in Brussels, who resisted any effort to mention the Christian roots of European civilization in a failed draft constitution, would come rushing to the aid of the Patriarchate and other religious minorities. Tellingly, Turkish authorities still refuse to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, which claimed 1.5 million lives at the hands of the Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Mesrob II, also facing a shortage of clergy, is pleading with the Turkish government for permission to open a seminary.

In its 2007 report on religious freedom in Turkey, the U.S. State Department reported a number of religiously motivated killings, stabbings and beatings of Christians and their religious leaders, along with attacks on church properties. In April, three members of a Protestant church in Malatya were tortured and killed in a Christian publishing office. In February 2006, Roman Catholic priest Andrea Santoro was gunned down in his church along the Black Sea coast. Witnesses said the killer screamed "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," before firing two bullets into Santoro's back as he kneeled to pray. Death threats made to American Christians are widely noted.

Indeed, Turkish society itself is deeply conflicted about its secularizing principles and a resurgence of Islamist sentiment. In the past week, major cities have seen street demonstrations triggered by a proposal to lift the ban on Muslim women wearing the traditional headscarf at universities. Writing in Hurriyet, the Turkish daily, commentator Bekir Coskun asked if lifting the ban on the headscarf was a step toward the Arab culture of the middle ages. "Would someone please explain to me what kind of 'nationalism' this is, turning the most beautiful culture in the world, a culture that exists in some of the best geography in the world, towards Arabistan?" Coskun asked.

Unfortunately, the gravity of the situation facing the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other religious minorities in Turkey hasn't much moved the passions of America's opinion shapers.

In a Jan. 25 review of Bartholomew's "Encountering the Mystery" in the Wall Street Journal, Charlotte Allen dismisses the book as a collection of "bromides" and "platitudes" designed to appeal to secular progressives (except, presumably, for the parts on monasticism, prayer and theology). She mocks the Patriarch's writings as simply "yadda yadda yadda." Allen also describes Bartholomew as a sort of "pope," an abysmally misapplied term for him, as anyone familiar with Eastern Orthodox tradition understands. But, helpfully, she announces that Orthodoxy "is not dead yet." You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from 300 million Orthodox Christians all over the world.

People concerned about religious freedom, and those groups established to promote religious tolerance and freedom, should raise the public's awareness about what is happening to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other religious minorities in Turkey. A growing movement to establish civil society think tanks in Turkey should be encouraged as one of an important means of building up that country's ability to work out its own conflicts -- on its own terms -- about religious freedom. With that, perhaps, respect for the rights of religious minorities will soon become a defining element of "Turkishness."

By John Couretas
www.acton.org

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.

New Dink murder trial prompts renewed calls for justice

2008-02-14T09:20:00.001-05:00

13/02/2008
Southeast European Times, MD

Turkey must ensure that all those behind the assassination journalist Hrant Dink are brought to justice to avoid damage to its image within the EU, a European lawmaker said Tuesday.

The Turkish authorities were criticised Tuesday (February 12th) for failing to act on demands for a full-blown investigation into the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink to ensure that all involved in the plot will face justice.

A day after the third hearing in the case against 19 people charged in the murder of the founder and editor of the Istanbul-based bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly, Agos, observers appeared increasingly sceptical that the whole truth will ever be established.

"We reiterate our support for all who are calling for the judicial system to do its job in this case," the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said in a statement on Tuesday. "We regret that the conditions are not in place for the truth to emerge… In these circumstances, we doubt that the judges will manage to establish once and for all the responsibility and guilt of the different protagonists."

Dink, 53, was gunned down on January 19th 2007 outside his newspaper's offices. In July 2006, he was given a six-month suspended sentence after being convicted on charges of "denigrating Turkishness" because of an article in which he described the killings of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as "genocide".

A hardline nationalist from the Black Sea city of Trabzon, Ogun Samast -- the primary suspect in the case – has confessed to the murder, citing Dink's statements on the Armenian issue as his motive. The other defendants include Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, a police informer.

Reports following the journalist's murder indicated that the police had received more than one tip-off about the assassination, but had failed to take any action to prevent it. Dink family lawyers have also repeatedly claimed that there has been destruction of evidence and that the authorities have refused to probe the suspected involvement of members of the country's security forces in the plot.

"The trial cannot proceed in a healthy manner because documents containing information on more than 6,000 telephone calls made by some of the defendants have been destroyed by security officials in Trabzon," Lawyer Erdal Dogan said.

Dutch member of the European Parliament and co-chair of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission Joost Lagendijk attended the court hearing. He criticised the Turkish government for failing to act on its promise for a proper investigation into the case to reveal all who were involved in it.

"It's clear that police officers and security services knew about these plans, but they didn't act," he told the BBC. "Or some of them were probably actively involved in the planning. All of these things should be dealt with in this court case, and if it doesn't happen, it will leave a very dirty stain on Turkey's image."

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com

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.

Some Questions to Israel

2008-02-14T09:04:00.002-05:00

February 13, 2008
The Conservative Voice, NC
by Axin Arbili

As a Kurd, I want to know from the State of Israel;

Why is Israel allied with the Turkish military? Why does Israel support the Turkish forces in murdering Kurdish civilians? Why does Israel provide unmanned aerial vehicles, intelligence, and equipment used by the Turks to attack the Kurdish liberation movement, capture, torture, murder our freedom fighters? Why does Israel participate in the Turkish crimes against humanity? Why does Israel support the Turkish military dictatorship and thus a status quo that is barbaric, criminal, genocidal? Why does Israel support the Turkish propaganda, tyranny, fascism?

What are the benefits of this partnership for Israel? Why does Israel value an alliance with a state which is Islamic, which has traditionally, emotionally, religiously always sided with the Palestinian Muslims? Why does it believe in a friendly Turkish state which actually permits and supports anti-Israel, anti-Jewish propaganda in its schools, media, mosques? Are the Jews still dhimmis of the Turks, as they were under the Ottomans? Is Israel afraid of Turkey? Has Ankara perhaps threatened you, forced you to cooperate?

Or is Israel simply following US guidelines for maintaining Western “strategic interests” in the Middle East? Why did Israeli governments and Jewish organizations in the USA help prevent, on behalf of the Turkish regime, the recognition of the Armenian genocide by Senate and Congress? Why is the genocide, after nine decades of proven facts and documentation, still not been recognized by your own parliament? Isn’t that a shame for the State of Israel and for all those conscious of the Shoah? How can Israel complain about Ahmadinejad’s statement of the Holocaust being a myth when at the same the Jewish parliament refuses to recognize the Armenian genocide? Shouldn’t Israel be different from other nations? Shouldn’t Israel be a beacon of moral conscious, truth, hope, and justice for the world? Why is Israel engaged in double games and double-standards of realpolitik?

But what really is Israel’s gain in all of this? In what ways does Israel profit from collaborating with the Turkish regime and military, a state which denies the existence and rights of 30 million people, which is suppressing their identity, language, and culture, which is burning and bombarding their villages, which is humiliating, terrorizing, murdering innocent men, women, and children just because they are Kurds who want to live as free Kurds. Don’t the Jews have any empathy at all for the suffering of a defenceless people? Why is there no word of condemnation from Israel about the Turkish atrocities and crimes? Why is Israel silent? Is it just (weapons) business as usual, are profits more important than human life?

At least why doesn’t Israel remain neutral, why is it engaged on the Turkish side? Does Israel hope the Turks will be on their side in case of war with Iran? Don’t the Jews know that the Turkish Muslims will not fight another Muslim state that has the same strategic interests in the region, which is the domination over the Kurds, occupation and exploitation of Kurdish lands? Don’t they know that the Turkish and Iranian regimes have agreements on that and are cooperating for decades? Do the Jews really believe that their purpose is served by supporting a state of terror and crime, and that this will lead to more security in their neighbourhood, to peace with the Arabs?

Why help bomb a movement that truly strives for freedom and democracy, that could be a natural ally of Israel?

What are Israel’s reasons for a pact with the Devil?

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.

Listening to Grasshoppers-Genocide, Denial and Celebration

2008-02-13T11:04:00.003-05:00

Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Etalaat, India
Arundhati Roy

In the state of Gujarat, there was genocide against the Muslim community in 2002.
I use the word Genocide advisedly, and in keeping with its definition contained in Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The genocide began as collective punishment for an unsolved crime-the burning of a railway coach in which 53 Hindu pilgrims were burned to death. In a carefully planned orgy of supposed retaliation, 2,000 Muslims were slaughtered in broad daylight by squads of armed killers, organised by fascist militias, and backed by the Gujarat government and the administration of the day. Muslim women were gang-raped and burned alive.

Muslim shops, Muslim businesses and Muslim shrines and mosques were systematically destroyed. Some 1,50,000 people were driven from their homes.

Even today, many of them live in ghettos-some built on garbage heaps-with no water supply, no drainage, no streetlights, no healthcare. They live as second-class citizens, boycotted socially and economically. Meanwhile, the killers, police as well as civilian, have been embraced, rewarded, promoted. This state of affairs is now considered 'normal'. To seal the 'normality', in 2004, both Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani, India's leading industrialists, publicly pronounced Gujarat a dream destination for finance capital.

The initial outcry in the national press has settled down. In Gujarat, the genocide has been brazenly celebrated as the epitome of Gujarati pride, Hindu-ness, even Indian-ness. This poisonous brew has been used twice in a row to win state elections, with campaigns that have cleverly used the language and apparatus of modernity and democracy. The helmsman, Narendra Modi, has become a folk hero, called in by the BJP to campaign on its behalf in other Indian states.

As genocides go, the Gujarat genocide cannot compare with the people killed in the Congo, Rwanda and Bosnia, where the numbers run into millions, nor is it by any means the first that has occurred in India. (In 1984 for instance, 3,000 Sikhs were massacred on the streets of Delhi with similar impunity by killers overseen by the Congress Party.) But the Gujarat genocide is part of a larger, more elaborate and systematic vision. It tells us that the wheat is ripening and the grasshoppers have landed in mainland India.

It's an old human habit, genocide is. It has played a sterling part in the march of civilisation. Amongst the earliest recorded genocides is thought to be the destruction of Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War in 149 BC. The word itself-genocide-was coined by Raphael Lemkin only in 1943, and adopted by the United Nations in 1948, after the Nazi Holocaust. Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines it as:
"Any of the following Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [or] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
Since this definition leaves out the persecution of political dissidents, real or imagined, it does not include some of the greatest mass murders in history. Personally I think the definition by Frank Chalk and Kurt Jonassohn, authors of The History and Sociology of Genocide, is more apt.

Genocide, they say, "is a form of one-sided mass killing in which a state or other authority intends to destroy a group, as that group and membership in it are defined by the perpetrator." Defined like this, genocide would include, for example, the monumental crimes committed by Suharto in Indonesia (1 million) Pol Pot in Cambodia (1.5 million), Stalin in the Soviet Union (60 million), Mao in China (70 million).
All things considered, the word extermination, with its crude evocation of pests and vermin, of infestations, is perhaps the more honest, more apposite word. When a set of perpetrators faces its victims, in order to go about its business of wanton killing, it must first sever any human connection with it. It must see its victims as sub-human, as parasites whose eradication would be a service to society. Here, for example, is an account of the massacre of Pequot Indians by English Puritans led by John Mason in Connecticut in 1636:

Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword; some hewed to pieces, others rune throw with their rapiers, so they were quickly dispatchte, and very few escaped. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fyre, and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stincke and sente thereof, but the victory seemed a sweete sacrifice....

And here, approximately four centuries later, is Babu Bajrangi, one of the major lynchpins of the Gujarat genocide, recorded on camera in the sting operation mounted by Tehelka a few months ago:

We didn't spare a single Muslim shop, we set everything on fire...hacked, burned, set on fire...we believe in setting them on fire because these bastards don't want to be cremated, they're afraid of it.... I have just one last wish...let me be sentenced to death...I don't care if I'm hanged...just give me two days before my hanging and I will go and have a field day in Juhapura where seven or eight lakhs of these people stay...I will finish them off...let a few more of them die...at least 25,000 to 50,000 should die.

I hardly need to say that Babu Bajrangi had the blessings of Narendra Modi, the protection of the police, and the love of his people. He continues to work and prosper as a free man in Gujarat. The one crime he cannot be accused of is Genocide Denial.

Genocide Denial is a radical variation on the theme of the old, frankly racist, bloodthirsty triumphalism. It was probably evolved as an answer to the somewhat patchy dual morality that arose in the 19th century, when Europe was developing limited but new forms of democracy and citizens' rights at home while simultaneously exterminating people in their millions in her colonies. Suddenly countries and governments began to deny or attempt to hide the genocides they had committed. "Denial is saying, in effect," says Professor Robert Jay Lifton, author of Hiroshima and America: Fifty Years of Denial, "that the murderers did not murder. The victims weren't killed. The direct consequence of denial is that it invites future genocide."

Of course today, when genocide politics meets the Free Market, official recognition-or denial-of holocausts and genocides is a multinational business enterprise. It rarely has anything to do to with historical fact or forensic evidence. Morality certainly does not enter the picture. It is an aggressive process of high-end bargaining, that belongs more to the World Trade Organisation than to the United Nations.

The currency is geopolitics, the fluctuating market for natural resources, that curious thing called futures trading and plain old economic and military might.
In other words, genocides are often denied for the same set of reasons as genocides are prosecuted. Economic determinism marinated in racial/ethnic/religious/national discrimination. Crudely, the lowering or raising of the price of a barrel of oil (or a tonne of uranium), permission granted for a military base, or the opening up of a country's economy could be the decisive factor when governments adjudicate on whether a genocide did or did not occur.

Or indeed whether genocide will or will not occur. And if it does, whether it will or will not be reported, and if it is, then what slant that reportage will take. For example, the death of two million in the Congo goes virtually unreported. Why? And was the death of a million Iraqis under the sanctions regime, prior to the US invasion, genocide (which is what Denis Halliday, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, called it) or was it 'worth it', as Madeleine Albright, the US ambassador to the UN, claimed? It depends on who makes the rules. Bill Clinton? Or an Iraqi mother who has lost her child?

Since the United States is the richest and most powerful country in the world, it has assumed the privilege of being the World's Number One Genocide Denier. It continues to celebrate Columbus Day, the day Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, which marks the beginning of a Holocaust that wiped out millions of native Indians, about 90 per cent of the original population. (Lord Amherst, the man whose idea it was to distribute blankets infected with smallpox virus to Indians, has a university town in Massachusetts, and a prestigious liberal arts college named after him).

In America's second Holocaust, almost 30 million Africans were kidnapped and sold into slavery. Well near half of them died during transportation. But in 2002, the US delegation could still walk out of the World Conference against Racism in Durban, refusing to acknowledge that slavery and the slave trade were crimes. Slavery, they insisted, was legal at the time. The US has also refused to accept that the bombing of Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden and Hamburg-which killed hundreds of thousands of civilians-were crimes, let alone acts of genocide. (The argument here is that the government didn't intend to kill civilians. This was the first stage in the development of the concept of "collateral damage".) Since the end of World War II, the US government has intervened overtly, militarily, more than 400 times in 100 countries, and covertly more than 6,000 times. This includes its invasion of Vietnam and the extermination, with excellent intentions of course, of three million Vietnamese (approximately 10 per cent of its population).

None of these has been acknowledged as war crimes or genocidal acts.

'Union' (racial/ethnic/religious/national) and 'Progress' (economic determinism) have long been the twin coordinates of genocide.

Armed with this reading of history, is it reasonable to worry about whether a country that is poised on the threshold of "progress" is also poised on the threshold of genocide? Could the India being celebrated all over the world as a miracle of progress and democracy, possibly be poised on the verge of committing genocide? The mere suggestion might sound outlandish and, at this point of time, the use of the word genocide surely unwarranted. However, if we look to the future, and if the Tsars of Development believe in their own publicity, if they believe that There Is No Alternative to their chosen model for Progress, then they will inevitably have to kill, and kill in large numbers, in order to get their way.
Advani's chariot of fire: And so the Union project was launched in bits and pieces, as the news trickles in, it seems clear that the killing and the dying has already begun.

It was in 1989, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, that the Government of India turned in its membership of the Non-Aligned Movement and signed up for membership of the Completely Aligned, often referring to itself as the 'natural ally' of Israel and the United States. (They have at least this one thing in common-all three are engaged in overt, neo-colonial military occupations: India in Kashmir, Israel in Palestine, the US in Iraq.)

Almost like clockwork, the two major national political parties, the BJP and the Congress, embarked on a joint programme to advance India's version of Union and Progress, whose modern-day euphemisms are Nationalism and Development. Every now and then, particularly during elections, they stage noisy familial squabbles, but have managed to gather into their fold even grumbling relatives, like the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

The Union project offers Hindu Nationalism (which seeks to unite the Hindu vote, vital you will admit, for a great democracy like India). The Progress project aims at a 10 per cent annual growth rate. Both these projects are encrypted with genocidal potential.

The Union project has been largely entrusted to the RSS, the ideological heart, the holding company of the BJP and its militias, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal. The RSS was founded in 1925. By the 1930s, its founder, Dr Hedgewar, a fan of Benito Mussolini, had begun to model it overtly along the lines of Italian fascism. Hitler too was, and is, an inspirational figure. Here are some excerpts from the RSS Bible, We or Our Nationhood Defined by M.S. Golwalkar, who succeeded Dr Hedgewar as head of the RSS in 1940:

Ever since that evil day, when Moslems first landed in Hindustan, right up to the present moment, the Hindu Nation has been gallantly fighting on to take on these despoilers. The Race Spirit has been awakening.

Then: In Hindustan, land of the Hindus, lives and should live the Hindu Nation.... All others are traitors and enemies to the National Cause, or, to take a charitable view, idiots....
The foreign races in Hindustan...may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges; far less any preferential treatment-not even citizen's rights.

And again: To keep up the purity of its race and culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races-the Jews.

Race pride at its highest has been manifested here...a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit by. (How do you combat this kind of organised hatred? Certainly, not with goofy preachings of secular love.)

By the year 2000, the RSS had more than 45,000 shakhas and an army of seven million swayamsevaks preaching its doctrine across India. They include India's former prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the former home minister and current leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, and, of course, the three-time Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi. It also includes senior people in the media, the police, the army, the intelligence agencies, judiciary and the administrative services who are informal devotees of Hindutva-the RSS ideology. These people, unlike politicians who come and go, are permanent members of government machinery.

But the RSS's real power lies in the fact that it has put in decades of hard work and has created a network of organisations at every level of society, something that no other organisation can claim.

The BJP is its political front. It has a trade union wing (Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh), a women's wing (Rashtriya Sevika Samiti), a student wing (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) and an economic wing (Swadeshi Jagaran Manch).

Its front organisation Vidya Bharati is the largest educational organisation in the non-governmental sector. It has 13,000 educational institutes including the Saraswati Vidya Mandir schools with 70,000 teachers and over 1.7 million students. It has organisations working with tribals (Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram), literature (Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad), intellectuals (Pragya Bharati, Deendayal Research Institute), historians (Bharatiya Itihaas Sankalan Yojanalaya), language (Sanskrit Bharti), slum-dwellers (Seva Bharati, Hindu Seva Pratishthan), health (Swami Vivekanand Medical Mission, National Medicos Organisation), leprosy patients (Bharatiya Kushtha Nivaran Sangh), cooperatives (Sahkar Bharati), publication of newspapers and other propaganda material (Bharat Prakashan, Suruchi Prakashan, Lokhit Prakashan, Gyanganga Prakashan, Archana Prakashan, Bharatiya Vichar Sadhana, Sadhana Pustak and Akashvani Sadhana), caste integration (Samajik Samrasta Manch), religion and proselytisation (Vivekananda Kendra, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Jagaran Manch, Bajrang Dal). The list goes on and on...

On June 11, 1989, Congress Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi gave the RSS a gift. He was obliging enough to open the locks of the disputed Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, which the RSS claimed was the birthplace of Lord Ram. At the National Executive of the BJP, the party passed a resolution to demolish the mosque and build a temple in Ayodhya. "I'm sure the resolution will translate into votes," said L.K. Advani. In 1990, he criss-crossed the country on his Rath Yatra, his Chariot of Fire, demanding the demolition of the Babri Masjid, leaving riots and bloodshed in his wake. In 1991, the party won 120 seats in Parliament. (It had won two in 1984). The hysteria orchestrated by Advani peaked in 1992, when the mosque was brought down by a marauding mob. By 1998, the BJP was in power at the Centre. Its first act in office was to conduct a series of nuclear tests. Across the country, fascists and corporates, princes and paupers alike, celebrated India's Hindu Bomb. Hindutva had transcended petty party politics.

In 2002, Narendra Modi's government planned and executed the Gujarat genocide. In the elections that took place a few months after the genocide, he was returned to power with an overwhelming majority. He ensured complete impunity for those who had participated in the killings. In the rare case where there has been a conviction, it is of course the lowly footsoldiers, and not the masterminds, who stand in the dock.
Impunity is an essential prerequisite for genocidal killing.

India has a great tradition of granting impunity to mass killers. I could fill volumes with the details.

In a democracy, for impunity after genocide, you have to "apply through proper channels". Procedure is everything. In the case of several massacres, the lawyers that the Gujarat government appointed as public prosecutors had actually already appeared for the accused. Several of them belonged to the RSS or the VHP and were openly hostile to those they were supposedly representing. Survivor witnesses found that, when they went to the police to file reports, the police would record their statements inaccurately, or refuse to record the names of the perpetrators. In several cases, when survivors had seen members of their families being killed (and burned alive so their bodies could not be found), the police would refuse to register cases of murder.

Ehsan Jaffri, the Congress politician and poet who had made the mistake of campaigning against Modi in the Rajkot elections, was publicly butchered. (by a mob led by a fellow Congressman.) In the words of a man who took part in the savagery:
Five people held him, then someone struck him with a sword...chopped off his hand, then his legs...then everything else...after cutting him to pieces, they put him on the wood they'd piled and set him on fire; burned him alive.

The Ahmedabad Commissioner of Police, P.C. Pandey, was kind enough to visit the neighbourhood while the mob lynched Jaffri, murdered 70 people, and gang-raped 12 women before burning them alive. After Modi was re-elected, Pandey was promoted, and made Gujarat's Director-General of Police. The entire killing apparatus remains in place.

The Supreme Court in Delhi made a few threatening noises, but eventually put the matter into cold storage. The Congress and the Communist parties made a great deal of noise, but did nothing.

In the Tehelka sting operation, broadcast recently on a news channel at prime time, apart from Babu Bajrangi, killer after killer recounted how the genocide had been planned and executed, how Modi and senior politicians and police officers had been personally involved. None of this information was new, but there they were, the butchers, on the news networks, not just admitting to, but boasting about their crimes. The overwhelming public reaction to the sting was not outrage, but suspicion about its timing. Most people believed that the expose would help Modi win the elections again. Some even believed, quite outlandishly, that he had engineered the sting. He did win the elections. And this time, on the ticket of Union and Progress. A committee all unto himself. At BJP rallies, thousands of adoring supporters now wear plastic Modi masks, chanting slogans of death. The fascist democrat has physically mutated into a million little fascists. These are the joys of democracy. Who in Nazi Germany would have dared to put on a Hitler mask?

Preparations to recreate the 'Gujarat blueprint' are currently in different stages in the BJP-ruled states of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

To commit genocide, says Peter Balkian, scholar of the Armenian genocide, you have to marginalise a sub-group for a long time. This criterion has been well met in India. The Muslims of India have been systematically marginalised and have now joined the Adivasis and Dalits, who have not just been marginalised, but dehumanised by caste Hindu society and its scriptures, for years, for centuries. (There was a time when they were dehumanised in order to be put to work doing things that caste Hindus would not do.

Now, with technology, even that labour is becoming redundant.) Part of the RSS's work involves setting Dalits against Muslims, Adivasis against Dalits.

Hundreds of thousands have broken faith with the institutions of India's democracy. Large swathes of the country have fallen out of the government's control. (At last count, it was supposed to be 25 per cent). The battle stinks of death, it's by no means pretty. How can it be when the helmsman of the army of Constraining Ghosts is the ghost of Chairman Mao himself? (The ray of hope is that many of the footsoldiers don't know who he is. Or what he did. More Genocide Denial? Maybe). Are they Idealists fighting for a Better World? Well... anything is better than annihilation.
The Prime Minister has declared that the Maoist resistance is the "single largest internal security threat". There have even been appeals to call out the army. The media is agog with breathless condemnation.

Here's a typical newspaper report. Nothing out of the ordinary! Stamp out the Naxals, it is called.

This government is at last showing some sense in tackling Naxalism. Less than a month ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked state governments to "choke" Naxal infrastructure and "cripple" their activities through a dedicated force to eliminate the "virus". It signalled a realisation that Naxalism must be stamped out through enforcement of law, rather than wasteful expense on development.

"Choke". "Cripple". "Virus". "Infested". "Eliminate". "Stamp Out".
Yes. The idea of extermination is in the air. And people believe that faced with extermination, they have the right to fight back.By any means necessary.
Perhaps they've been listening to the grasshoppers.

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.

The 'deep state' is smiling at me in the Malatya massacre case - II

2008-02-13T10:52:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
TDN
Orhan Kemal Cengiz

The legal team trying to unveil the truth about Malatya massacres is under a strange surveillance.

In the first piece of this series I quoted from news coverage in the local media in Malatya about the “legal team” representing the victims in this case. The tone, the style and the way it prepared clearly shows that “the writers” of this news aimed at creating hostility toward us and trying to show us as if we are there for illegitimate purposes. This effort starts with the title, “Is this a new game?” and goes like that along the text.

However, when we went into the details we realized we were not only confronting a bunch of hostile “journalists” there, but this was a “prepared and delivered” story. The details showed us very clearly that “some circles” tapped telephone conversations between the members of the legal team and somehow penetrated into our e-group which we use to discuss our legal strategies and to get organized. Anyway I would like to give you some specific examples of some items which can only be obtained through interception of our communications.

The names of the lawyers who were going to come to Malatya for the hearing are given in it. There were only two (normal) ways of obtaining these names. One is to check the hotel reservation book and the other one is to look at the power of attorneys given to the court. They could have obtained all the names of lawyers with these ways but except one. Mr. Serkan Cengiz's name was not registered in neither in the hotel book nor did he deliver a power of attorney to the court then. The only way to obtain his name was to check the list of the members of the legal team's e-group, which is of course not public.

In the news coverage they inform the public that Mr. İhsan Özbek, pastor of the Kurtulus Church, will not come to Malatya for the hearing and I was replaced with him. I am their lawyer, so it is not possible to have this kind of replacement but somehow the “authors” of this news coverage knew that Mr. Özbek would not come to the hearing. I requested him not to come for security reasons. Mr. Özbek did not declare to anyone that he would not come to the hearing.

The text mentions our possible legal strategies in this case. It is true that we were planning to submit a new context to the court in which we intended to show the similarities between Santora, Dink and Malatya murders. However, this intention was never declared anywhere. Somehow these local newspapers knew it and were able to inform their readers about our strategy.

There is very specific information in that news coverage that I would like to mention specifically. It mentions that we were making a preparation to allege that the crime concerned was indeed genocide. This was true. Some time ago before the hearing, Mr. Ergin Cinmen, a member of our legal team, called me from Istanbul and he suggested to offer the court to change the qualification of the crime from “terror” to “genocide.” And he explained his reasons for this demand. I agreed with him and I said “let's discuss this in the legal team's meeting before the hearing in Malatya.” Namely, this idea of us was even not known by our other friends before our meeting in Malatya. However, this newspaper somehow managed to guess what we would demand before the court.

In that mews coverage it is stated that I will make a press conference after the hearing in Malatya which was true again. However, like many other things, this was not declared anywhere; it was only known by the members of the legal team.

After considering all these items, we came to the conclusion that somehow this news coverage prepared by one of the “intelligent” agency or with the help of them.

Strange things continued to happen while we were in Malatya for the first hearing. In the first hearing we submitted some petitions to the court in order to show them how we perceive the case. A volunteer assistant stayed at the hotel during the hearing and tried to send these petitions to the members of the press while we were delivering them to the court. However, he was not able to enter into his email accounts; whenever he attempted to lodge into his mail addresses he saw the same sentence on his screen: “entrance into this website was forbidden by the court's order.” His three different accounts were blocked and he was in shock when came back to the hotel from the court room.

Apparently, someone did not like the idea that our petitions will be on a wide range circulation. Of course there was no such “court order” but there were some people who somehow knew that this computer was going to use for the distribution of our petitions and they were able to stop our communication by using this “label.”

Highly 'sophisticated' letter of conspiracy :

While we were having a legal team meeting in İzmir for the second hearing, a quite weird news arrived into our meeting room. Journalists kept calling us, asking if we had any information about an “informer letter” which attributed whole responsibility of these murders on me. Everyone had a difficulty for a while to understand what that was all about. This is a very long letter. But I would like to make long quotations to give you the taste of Turkish style conspiracy producing:

“Important lessons had been learned from the Africa Mission. The Asia, Middle East and Turkey Mission should be directed in the same way. But some unexpected events began to occur. Within the Mission, the German "School" (ekol) began to dominate. This had to be stopped. And that's exactly what happened. On 13.12.2004 the covert group ('Kripto') was mobilized and given its operational orders. In relation to this, certain problems had begun to be discussed within the Adana, Malatya, Diyarbakır and Van Mission. For example, the rivalry in Malatya between the German School the American School had gradually begun to turn into enmity. In this respect, the Mission's bosses in America had begun to feel a significant unease regarding Germans within the Mission. The Americans thought that if this problem was not solved, in time, American interests in the region would suffer. The Germans had the opportunity to become dominant across the board. The plan was put into effect in a very professional manner. America employed Armenians under the umbrella of the covert group. The Armenian Protestants would work for America. The Germans would be liquidated. Since I am here only discussing the Malatya dimension, I won't talk in detail about Istanbul, Nevşehir, Kayseri, Adana, Mardin, Urfa, Van, Diyarbakır. Because important events will shortly take place there, too. From now on Kripto is going to take decisive steps. Turkey is going to be covered with blood.”

There is subtitle after this paragraph, reading:

“The Employment by Kripto of Orhan Kemal Cengiz for the Purpose of Conducting Operations and Making Plans”

What it is written under it, is the subject of the next piece…

orhan.kemal@superonline.com

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.

Professor criticized for genocide views

2008-02-13T10:35:00.003-05:00

2/13/08
Daily 49er, CA
Rosaura Figueroa and Erin McKenzie

Professor Ali Igmen was the focus of defamatory remarks, sent possibly to him by a CSULB faculty member, for his insistence on the existence of an Armenian genocide.

The Scholars in Conversation on the Armenian Genocide forum on Tuesday proved to be controversial on the most personal of terms for Ali Igmen, director of the oral history program at the Cal State Long Beach History Department. Igmen was targeted during the forum's discussion and debate on allegations of propagandizing his views on the hotly debated existence of an Armenian genocide.

According to Igmen, the allegations came from a tenured professor from another college at CSULB who attacked Igmen's credibility for supporting definition of the events as genocide.

The tensions surrounding the controversial subject may have led to an increased police and security presence at the presentation. Protesters were told to stand in the back room before the disputed Armenian genocide forum took center stage.

The panel discussion included experts Richard Hovannisian from UCLA and Taner Akcam from the University of Minnesota, who discussed their investigative findings with a full audience of students, professors and guests.

Both Hovannisian and Akcam emphasized the Turkish rejection of any such genocide taking place between 1915 and 1918. The Turkish government claims the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians was a result of a civil war and the targeting of Turks by Armenian rebels, rather than genocide.

"It is important for a society to face its own history," Akcam said. Few Turkish scholars are willing to discuss the topic openly and are apprehensive about using the word genocide, according to Akcam. He also said that avoiding the term allows for the liberty of denial.

The panel did not include any scholars who supported the Turkish's government stance on the issue.

"Some students approached me and said that both sides were not represented," said Igmen after the forum. "But they were civil and polite, and I was not upset by them."

About a dozen supporters clapped as an open question-and-comment session highlighted the absence of any opposing viewpoint.

"[It's] not possible to consider a denialist point of view," said Akcam.

Hovannisian added that to invite a scholar who supported the Turkish government's official stance was equivalent to inviting a Holocaust denier to a forum on the genocide of the Jewish population and others during the times of Nazi Germany.

According to Akcam, the Turkish government has done a cleansing of national archives in order to destroy proof pertaining to an Armenian genocide. He referred to the absence of any such incident in Turkish textbooks as a case of social amnesia and denial.

However, Akcam said that not all proof could be destroyed because the Armenian genocide was a massive state effort that left trails.

Hovannisian said the 800 accounts he has gathered from survivors of the genocide were proof that could not be ignored. He also compared the Armenian genocide to background music - it's there all the time, but we never listen to it.

Akcam called for a need of more Turkish scholars who are willing to recognize and discuss the Armenian genocide as a crime.

"Turkey must change their language," said Akcam.

Currently, the word genocide is considered a national threat to the Turkish government, according to Akcam.

Hovannisian pointed to fear of financial repercussions as one reason for the Turkish government's unwillingness to acknowledge an Armenian genocide, which he described as unique because it fulfills all five aspects of the United Nations' definition of genocide.

Andy Franks also contributed to this report.

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.

Erdogan's Visit Leaves German Conservatives Fuming

2008-02-12T11:26:00.002-05:00

February 12, 2008
Spiegel Online, Germany
By David Crossland

Erdogan also announced that "There Is No Genocide In Our Culture And Civilization ". While the reaction has been on the Erdogan's statement on assimilation, there has been no reaction in the German media to this damning statement he made towards the German culture. This is a far cry from the Turkey's reaction when Pope Benedict XVI made a reference in University of Regensburg in Germany on 12 September 2006, to a text written in 1391 as an expression of the views of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus. Is Turkey quick to be offended or is it that the German media does not care when Turkey takes a swipe at the German culture right in Germany? And how does Erdogan's statement on assimilation in Germany square with the way Turkey treats its minorities see The Assimilation Policy of Turkey Continues?

Conservative German politicians have accused Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan of interfering in German affairs and harming efforts to integrate the country's Turks. Are they really that angry or do they just want to whip up sentiment against Turkey's bid to join the EU?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservatives have heaped criticism on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for telling Germany's 2.5 million Turkish immigrants that "assimilation is a crime against humanity."

Erdogan, speaking in front of almost 20,000 people (more...) at a stadium in the German city of Cologne on Sunday, called for people of Turkish descent not to give up their cultural heritage.

He encouraged Turks abroad to integrate in their new home countries, learn new languages and apply for political representation -- without forgetting their Turkish background. "It is important to learn German, but your Turkish language should not be neglected," he said. Erdogan had already caused controversy on Friday by calling for Turkish-language high schools to be set up in Germany.

His four-day visit to Germany was overshadowed by the deaths of nine Turkish immigrants, five of them children, in an apartment block fire in the southern city of Ludwigshafen. Speculation has been rife in the local Turkish community and in Turkish media that it was a racially motivated arson attack, but the cause of the fire has not yet been found. The blaze awakened memories of a fire in the western town of Solingen in 1993 in which five Turkish women and girls died. That fire was caused by German youths.

Prominent German conservatives have rebuffed Erdogan's comments. Erwin Huber, the head of Bavaria's conservative Christian Social Union, went as far as to call for a review of Turkey's EU accession talks. "Erdogan preached Turkish nationalism on German soil. That is anti-European and confirms our misgivings regarding Turkish EU membership," Huber told the Münchner Merkur newspaper. "One must now consider and examine whether it makes sense under these circumstances to continue accession talks with Turkey."

The deputy parliamentary group chairman of Merkel's conservatives, Wolfgang Bosbach, called on Erdogan not to interfere in German affairs. "A Turkish government shouldn't try to conduct domestic policy in Germany," Bosbach told the Westdeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Merkel also criticized Erdogan's comments, saying anyone with German citizenship was a full-fledged citizen regardless of their roots. "Their loyalty then belongs to the German state. That's why I think we need to further discuss the view of integration with the Turkish Prime Minister," she said.

The governor of Bavaria, Günther Beckstein, told N24 television: "The task (for Turks) is to be good citizens in Germany, to learn German, to speak German in their families." Beckstein called Erdogan's remarks "nationalistic" and "highly displeasing."

Conservative newspaper Die Welt writes that Erdogan has done integration in Germany a disservice:

"He acted rashly (and) with demagogic intent by comparing the Ludwigshafen fire to that of Solingen in 1993. He alleged a racist motivation for which there are no indications so far."

"This is the message that will stick: The Germans don't want integration; they want to rob the Turks of their Turkishness, of their culture. That is grist for the mill of the not especially small number of Turks or Turkish descendants who aren't very interested in integrating and who try to blame the Germans for that."

"Integration also involves assimilation. A person who grows into another culture changes by doing so. He leaves much of the culture he descends from behind. He gives up the old to become someone new. It's a beautiful, painful process. In the long run it makes no sense to refuse to accept that."

Business daily Handelsblatt writes that Germany's conservatives have seized on Erdogan's integration comments to push their own long-running opposition to Turkish EU membership:

"A strange debate has broken out after the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to Germany. Chancellor Merkel feels the need to speak out after the prime minister warned of an undesired assimilation of his compatriots, and Bavaria's governor (Günther) Beckstein even claims to have detected nationalist tones. It seems as if an artificial conflict is being launched here."

"It's clear what purpose that debate could serve. The conservatives -- not just in Germany -- are suspicious about Turkey's determined march into European institutions. So every word uttered by Turks is examined to see whether it meets European standards."

"The word assimilation might have been unfortunate. But Erdogan basically called for support for a sensible integration of the Turks living in Germany. His proposal to set up Turkish schools here isn't that far-fetched. What makes Erdogan's idea any different from Berlin's efforts abroad? A frightening portion of the federal government's cultural budget goes toward setting up German schools. And German teachers work there. So why all the outrage?"

"The only explanation for all the fuss can be that emotions always run high regarding Turkey's efforts to get closer to Europe -- whether Turkey tries to become a member of the EU, or loosens its ban on headscarves, or promotes preserving its own cultural identity in Germany. All too often the Turkish government is presumed to be secretly motivated by a creeping Islamization. It's time to deal with Turkey more soberly."

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.

ARMENIAN AMERICANS MOURN PASSING OF CHAIRMAN TOM LANTOS

2008-02-12T09:19:00.001-05:00

2008-02-12
DeFacto Agency, Armenia

But it was a similarly stubborn bout of idealism that led Lantos to vociferously back last year's measure about the Armenian genocide in Turkey. "One of the problems we have diplomatically globally is that we have lost our moral authority which we used to have in great abundance," Lantos said at the time. "People around the globe who are familiar with these events will appreciate the fact that the United States is speaking out against a historic injustice. Lantos' Legacy: Justice Worth A Fight

February 11 the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) joined with Armenian Americans from across the United States in mourning the loss of long-serving California Congressman Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor and human rights champion who, in his final months in office, played a vital role, as Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, in this panel's adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

In separate letters to Congressman Lantos' wife of 58 years, Annette, and to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian underscored the gratitude of the Armenian American community to Chairman Lantos for his leadership in rejecting the powerful forces of denial and securing, this past October, his Committee's passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. Hachikian also shared the hope and expectation that the full House of Representatives will, in the coming weeks, complete the Chairman's unfinished work by securing full Congressional recognition and commemoration of this crime against all humanity.

Speaking on the PBS Newshour on October 11, 2007, a day after the Resolution's adoption at the committee level, Chairman Lantos told correspondent Margaret Warner that, "This is one of those events, Margaret, which has to be settled once and for all: 1.5 million utterly innocent Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered. And the Turkish government, until now, has intimidated the Congress of the United States from taking this measure. . . I think it's important, at a time when genocides are going on in Darfur and elsewhere, not to be an accomplice in sweeping an important genocide under the rug."

Elected to office in 1980, Lantos was Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and one of the country's leading champions of human rights. In 1983 he co-founded the congressional Human Rights Caucus. Commenting on her husband's passing, his widow noted that his life was "defined by courage, optimism, and unwavering

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.

Today Third Hearing in Dink Murder Case

2008-02-11T18:25:00.000-05:00

11-02-2008
Bıa news centre
ErolÖNDEROGLU

Today Third Hearing in Dink Murder CaseThe trial of the murder suspects of journalist Hrant Dink continues with the third hearing today. The hearing will be recorded and might yet be opened to the press, pending a court decision.

Today (11 February) is the third hearing of the trial related to journalist Hrant Dink’s murder. The trial takes place at the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court in Besiktas, central Istanbul.

The editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper Agos was shot dead on 19 January 2007.

Court case monitored by Hrant Dink's friends and supporters
A group called the “Hrant Dink Awareness Group”, made up of MPs, writers, journalists and others, has vowed to follow the case to ensure that justice is done.

In a published statement, the group said, “We will continue this effort until justice is done, until our conscience is clear.” The group will make a press statement in front of the Besiktas court building at 10 am.

Trial may be opened to press
The trial has been closed to the press because the gunman suspect O.S. was said to be under age. However, should the court pay heed to a forensic medical report which, based on bone measurements, sets his age at 19, the trial may be opened to the press.

If the court accepted a higher age, this would also affect the suspect’s trial – the prosecution would then demand a life sentence with more severe restrictions.

Hearing to be recorded
For the third hearing, it is expected that visual and audio recording technology has been prepared. The joint attorneys had cited reforms in Criminal Procedure Law and demanded the recording of the hearing. This request had been granted and thus, this would be the first time in Turkey that a hearing is recorded.

Justice needs to be pursued
Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer for the Dink family has expressed her appreciation of the public support in the trial:

“The voices who are pursuing the case and standing witness in the case have also caused some developments to come to light. This pursuit gives us hope. We must continue to pursue justice.”

This hearing may also hear the account of Coskun Igci, brother-in-law of murder suspect Yasin Hayal and gendarmerie informant, who stated in the Trabzon court case against two gendarmerie officers for gross negligence that he told the gendarmerie in Trabzon four months before the murder that Hayal was planning such an attack.

The Hrant Dink murder trial in Istanbul began on 2 July 2007, with the second hearing on 1 October. O.S., the young man on trial for shooting Dink, said at the second hearing: “Yasin Hayal forced me to do this. Out of fear, I did not understand how it happened, I shot Hrant Dink. I regret it. If I had known that he had family, I would not have shot him.”

No prosecution of police officer Zenit
The Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court has decided not to open a separate investigation into police intelligence officer Muhittin Zenit, who spoke to suspect Erhan Tuncel hours after the murder of Hrant Dink. Zenit had displayed knowledge of the planned murder in expressions such as “[the gunman] was not going to run away, but he did.” Tuncel said to Zenit in the conversation, “It was clear how he was going to be shot.”

It is expected that seven of the eight detained suspects in the case, O.S. ,Erhan Tuncel, Yasin Hayal, Zeynel Abidin Yavuz, Ahmet Iskender, Tuncay Uzundal and Mustafa Öztürk, will be questioned at this hearing. (EÖ/TK/AG)

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.

Turkey is not far from committing Kurdish genocide

2008-02-11T16:15:00.000-05:00

11 February 2008
Kurdish Aspect, CO
Kurdishaspect.com - By Dr Hoshiar Molod (Saudi Arabia)

In response to a previous article, some readers have sent me prejudiced comments indicating disapproval of the article “In response to their brutality, Kurdistan should boycott Turkish products[1]”. One reader described me as being backward and not realistic in urging a boycott of Turkish products. Another reader compared my views to those of German Nazism and French nationalists.

I would like to ask those readers of their views regarding the Turkish aggressive attacks on the innocent people in Kurdistan. Every civilized person should support the boycott of Turkish products in view of the cruelty the Turkish government practices in the region. A boycott is more powerful and is more effective than demonstrations in the streets, because it affects Turkey’s economy. Turkey’s policy in the region and the rest of the world is quite insensitive and ignorant.

Turkey’s double standard is very obvious when the Turkish President sending friendly messages to Europe and presenting the democratic side of secular Turkey while restarting on fighting the PKK. Turkey has to apologize for the Armenian genocide instead of committing another massacre in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The comments by some readers intended to undermine my view on boycotting Turkish products are some examples of the double standard that Turkey has always presented. When something is not in Turkey’s favor, it’s acceptable for the Turkish public and Turkish business communities to take the boycott approach.

A boycott was carried out by the Turkish streets in response to the implementation of the human right laws by European countries. In 2000 the Turkish consumer association boycotted Belgian made products[2], asking Belgian to undermine its civil society and extradite someone to be executed in Turkey. In 2006 various Turkish supermarkets also boycotted French products[3], because the French parliament passed the Armenian genocide bill.

The question is why the Turkish society sometimes excuses the boycott approach and sometimes speaks negatively about it?

It is the double standard of Turkey’s international policy. When any other government’s view is not in favor of the Turkish politics in the region, the Turkish streets are encouraged to protest against that specific government by boycotting the products of that country.

The Armenian genocide is a crime against humanity and the world is no longer ignoring that illicit act by the Turkish government. It is ironic that despite their differences both Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama are in agreement on the issue of the Turkish government recognizing the Armenian genocide[4].

The fact of the matter is that Turkey has never recognized the genocide of the Armenians and is not very far from committing another massacre in Kurdistan. The only reason for the Turkish attacks is to undermine Kurdish existence.

Apart from the Kurdish public, no one else seems to care about the situation in Kurdistan. Therefore I would like to renew my plea to the international community to boycott Turkish made products not only because Kurdistan is being attacked by the Turkish war machine on a daily basis, but actually because of the appalling record that Turkey has in the crimes against humanity such as the killing of Kurds and the genocide of the Armenians.

Finally, you should realize that with any Turkish made product you buy, you are backing, encouraging and promoting the denial of the Armenian genocide[5], the Assyrian genocide[6], the Greek genocide[7], and contributing to the recent killing of innocent Kurdish civilians by the Turkish government.

End notes:

1- www.kurdishaspect.com, Tuesday, 15 January 2008, In respond to their brutality, Kurdistan should Boycott Turkish products.
2 - www.news.bbc.co.uk, Tuesday, 22 August, 2000, Turkish consumers boycott Belgian goods.
3- The Journal of Turkish weekly, Sunday, 15 October 2006, Turkish Supermarket Chains Boycott French Goods.
4- www.turkishdailynews.com.tr, Thursday, 17 January 2008, Hillary wins White House (In dreams of Turkish officials).
5 - International Herald Tribune, Thursday, 12 October 2006, French lawmakers approve bill on Armenian genocide.
6- www.aina.org, Sunday, 4 March 2007, EU Conference Calls on Turkey to Recognize Assyrian Genocide.
7- www.cnn.com, Saturday, 10 February 2001, Greek genocide decree angers Turks.
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.

The return of the scarves Rural Kurds revive an old Armenian tradition

2008-02-11T16:03:00.000-05:00

Jan 31st 2008
From The Economist

AGACLI- FOR centuries Armenians in the village of Agacli, in south-east Turkey, cultivated silk. With it they wove fine carpets and flowing scarves that were traded all along the silk road from China to Europe. That was until 1915, when Ottoman forces slaughtered most of the villagers, and hundreds of thousands of other Armenians. The village was taken over by Kurds and, in the 1990s, became a target for terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Residents began to flee when the PKK started raiding the area demanding food and shelter.

Weary of the violence, Agacli's 62-year-old mayor, Yusuf Bayram, decided two years ago to try to revive the silk trade. He was inspired by his wife, the daughter of two Armenians rescued as children by Kurdish neighbours during the 1915 massacres. But a lone pair of gnarled mulberry trees planted by the Armenians were all Mr Bayram had—until the European Union rode to the rescue with a big grant.

New mulberry trees were planted, silkworms and looms brought in. Some 15 teenage girls have been trained to spin, weave and dye the silk. Despite finger-numbing cold, they have just produced their first batch of scarves. Gulay Aslan, a former seamstress who trains the girls, says their biggest challenge is sustainability. “The EU money is finished. We need to stand on our own feet, to find markets,” she declares.

The women have formed a co-operative, but their only customer is Diyarbakir's chamber of commerce. At $35 each, the scarves cost far more than those of competitors in China and India. “They use machine-spun silk, our girls make everything by hand,” boasts Mr Bayram. Just like the Armenians, he adds.

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.

Ethnic Armenian journalist's murder trial continues in Turkey

2008-02-11T15:26:00.000-05:00

11 February 2008
Earthtimes, UK

Ankara - The trial of the 19 people charged in connection with the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink continued Monday, with defendants refusing to answer the questions of lawyers engaged by Dink's family, the NTV television station reported. "She has become a saint," Erhan Tuncel told the court, referring disparagingly to Dink's wife Rakel who was present in the court.

Tuncel said he had no bad intentions,saying he had called the police after the murder but that Dink's lawyers were doing their best to have him sentenced to a heavy prison term.

Tuncel was later accused by a fellow defendant of having "sold out" his friends.

Dink, 53, was shot dead outside the Istanbul office of his Agos newspaper in January. Oguz Samast was arrested soon after in the Black Sea town of Samsun where he reportedly confessed to the killing.

Samast has been charged with murder, being a member of a terrorist organization and carrying an unlicensed weapon and faces up to 42 years behind bars if found guilty.

On Monday Samast too refused to answer questions.

The other 18 people on trial face a variety of charges including incitement to murder and forming a terrorist organization.

Dink's murder sparked a wave of anger and shock across Turkey with tens of thousands of people attending his funeral in Istanbul.

There were also nationalist counter-protests, especially in Samast's home town of Trabzon, against the way in which Dink's supporters waved banners saying "we are all Armenians."

Dink was a hate figure for nationalists owing to his well-known writings concerning the massacres of Armenians by Turks in 1915.

Dink said the massacres were a genocide that Turkey should acknowledge, while the official line in Turkey is that while hundreds of thousands of people were killed the deaths did not constitute a genocide.

Earlier on Monday a group of around 2,000 supporters of Hrant Dink called for the murder to be investigated thoroughly.

"This is a test for democracy and Justice," actress Derya Alabora told supporters waving placards saying "For Hrant. For Justice".

Lawyers for Dink's family attending the trial have complained that the investigation into the murder did not look closely at how the police had failed to act upon numerous warnings that Dink's life was in danger.

Speaking outside the court, European Parliamentarian Joost Lagendijk said it was imperative that the Turkish government act on its promises to amend Article 301 of the criminal code, the same code that Dink had been found guilty of "insulting Turkishness".

"We don't want any more statements from the government about changing 301. We want them to change it," Lagendijk said.

Copyright, respective author or news agency

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.

Turkish Activists Demand Justice At Dink Murder Trial

2008-02-11T15:21:00.000-05:00

Monday 11, February 2008
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia

Source: AFP

Turkish intellectuals and politicians called for a fair and transparent ruling Monday in Istanbul as the third hearing began in a case against three alleged killers of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

"This stain must be cleaned so that a Turkey where opinions are no longer judged and those who express them are no longer condemned can exist," said a statement read to journalists near the Besiktas court.

The statement was signed by politicians from various leanings, as well as well-known intellectuals who called for "complete transparence" in a case that is being closely followed by the European Union, which Turkey is looking to join.

On January 19, 2006, 52-year-old Dink was shot outside the office of the weekly publication he ran -- the Turkish-Armenian Agos -- by a 17-year-old boy with close links to Turkish nationalists.

A group calling themselves "The Friends of Hrant Dink" read a statement to a separate crowd of several hundred people in Besiktas. They demanded that justices "do their job correctly and follow this through to the end." The courthouse was surrounded by police as those standing trial arrived in armed police vans.

Dink campaigned for reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia, but ran into trouble with the law for articles in which he labeled the 1915-1917 mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during World War I a "genocide." The journalist was slapped with a suspended sentence of six months in jail under article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which deals with offences that insult Turkishness and is denounced by the EU.

Monday's hearing took place behind doors due to the fact alleged murderer Ogun Samast is a minor. Samast has confessed to the murder and could face up to 42 years in prison. His co-charged, Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, allegedly ordered the attack on Dink and could face life in prison. Sentences ranging from 7.5 to 35 years have already been handed out to 16 others accused in the case.

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.

MEP warns Turkey time running out

2008-02-11T15:15:00.000-05:00

11 February 2008
BBC News

Protesters say the planners behind the killing are still at large. A senior Euro MP has said that the EU is losing patience with Turkey over its promise to change its controversial law restricting freedom of speech. Joost Lagendijk, joint head of the parliament's Turkey committee, was speaking as a court heard the case of murdered journalist Hrant Dink.

Mr Dink had been convicted under a law which bans "insulting Turkishness".

The MEP said Turkey's leaders had repeatedly promised to overturn the law and it was now time for them to act.

The EU opened talks on Turkish membership in 2005 but there have been repeated concerns about Ankara's willingness to make the necessary changes to its laws.

"We have to take ourselves seriously," Mr Lagendijk told the BBC News website.

"We're preparing a report for the European Parliament which will be voted on in April and if nothing has moved by then on freedom of expression, the report will be negative."

Article 301 of Turkey's penal code was used against Hrant Dink after he described the mass killings of Armenians in 1915-1917 as genocide.

A 17-year-old has confessed to his killing and another 18 people have gone on trial as associates. But there are claims that the real figures who planned the killing are not on trial.

Two days after Ankara relaxed the law banning Islamic headscarves in universities, Mr Lagendijk said he feared a public outcry over the decision would be used by the government as an argument against pushing through further reform.

"They've opened a Pandora's box and nobody is quite sure where it will end," he said.

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.

The Assimilation Policy of Turkey Continues

2008-02-11T11:38:00.002-05:00

2-11-2008
AINA, CA
By Orom Lahdo
EasternStar New Agency
On November 24, 1934, Turkey introduced the surname act. In Turkey, this law is called "Soyadi kanunu". The purpose of this law was to force all groups of people, regardless of their ethnicity or religion, to assume a Turkish last name. This law is still applied today, and it is strictly forbidden for Christians or any ethnic minorities to assume "non-Turkish names". These names are by law prohibited in Turkey.

Nuri Amno (formerly Aktas), an Assyrian from the city of Midyat, is today a Swiss citizen. He changed back the Turkish last name Aktas, which was forced on his family, to Amno, when he was granted Swiss citizenship. In order to do the same change in Turkey, the barrister Rudi Sümer in Midyat was hired.

Nuri Amno (formerly Aktas), who through his double citizenship also is registered in the municipality of Midyat, applied in the summer of 2007 to have his enforced Turkish last name "Aktas" changed back to Amno, which is the last name that his grandfather and generations before him had used before the compulsory legislation was introduced in 1934.

Sümer handed in an application for a change of the last name Aktas to Amno to a Turkish court of law. The application was refused be the court, which motivated its decision with support of the Turkish law of names, saying that "the new last name must originate from the Turkish language" and that "it is not permitted to assume names from foreign races or nations". The quotes are from law no 2552 § (3.7) in the Turkish Law.

Sümer appealed against this decision to the Supreme Court of Turkey (Yargitay), which established the decision of the lower courts. Sümer says that this decision is in contradiction to 10 § in the Turkish constitution, which stipulates "everybody's equal value before the law, irrespective of race, religion or e thnicity." After the decision of the Supreme Court, there are no higher instances to appeal to in Turkey. Sümer has therefore appealed to the court of the European Union, the court for human rights, in Strasbourg.

This is the first time an Assyrian appeals a decision made by a Turkish court to the European court in Strasbourg. The case is the first of its kind, and could become a precedent. According to Sümer, similar cases are usually taking five years before a decision is announced by the European court. The case was taken by the court in 2007.

By Orom Lahdo
EasternStar New Agency

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.

Erdogan: There Is No Genocide In Our Culture And Civilization

2008-02-10T15:06:00.000-05:00

2/9/2008
Turkish Press, MI

An article of faith by Erdogan. This is a racist statement. Does this mean that genocide is embedded in the German culture? I hope the Germans' ears have been perked up by this statement. It also shows the main problem in Turkey pathologically not being able to dissociate themselves from the genocidal regime of the Young Turks.

MUNICH - Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday there was no such thing like genocide in Turkish culture and civilization.
Erdogan replied to questions on several matters after his speech at the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy in Germany.

In regard to Armenian allegations regarding the incidents of 1915, Erdogan said, "there is no such thing like genocide in our culture. We cannot accept it. We are ready to discuss the matter by the means of documents."

Replying to a question, he said, "we are holding talks with (Iraqi President Jalal) Talabani, because he is president. Our cross-border operation continues in a tripartite mechanism (USA, Turkey and Iraq)."

Upon questions on the Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code, Erdogan said, "we earlier made a legal arrangement on it, but it was not liked by the EU. We are preparing another one now. It will be ready soon."

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Turkish Leader Criticizes European 'Double Standard' on PKK

2008-02-09T17:56:00.000-05:00

09 February 2008
Voice of America
By Al Pessin
Munich

Below it says: "the Turkish prime minister challenged Armenia's foreign minister to provide proof Turkey was responsible for a massacre of Armenians in 1915". True to his word may be Turkey should go ahead and as announced take the case to the ICJ rather than make useless noise in public forums. He is displaying an incredible disregard to an immense literature on the Armenian genocide. This is just laughable.

Turkey's prime minister criticized European nations Saturday for providing sanctuary to groups that support the Kurdish Workers Party, which Turkey, the European Union and the United States have labeled a terrorist organization. VOA's Al Pessin reports from Munich, where Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to the European Security Conference on Saturday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at Conference on Security Policy in Munich, 9 Feb 2008 Prime Minister Erdogan called on European countries to stop allowing affiliates of the group, known as the PKK, to raise money and promote their cause. The prime minister said he would not name any countries specifically, but he also called for the extradition of PKK members who are held in Europe. He is heard here through an interpreter.

"Countries who apply double standards, or who remain unwilling towards terrorism, in time, will become shareholders of negative consequences of terrorism," he said.

Prime Minister Erdogan said European countries already suffer from drug trafficking used to finance PKK activities.

He also called on the European Union to move forward with Turkey's long-standing application for membership, and he rejected calls by some in Europe to give Turkey a 'privileged partnership' status, short of full membership.

In answer to questions from the audience of senior officials and leading security experts from Europe, North America and elsewhere, the Turkish prime minister challenged Armenia's foreign minister to provide proof Turkey was responsible for a massacre of Armenians in 1915.

And he denied a charge by a Russian questioner that Turkey is harboring Chechen terrorists.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will deliver a major speech at the conference on Sunday. He says he will lay out what he sees as the justification for European involvement in bringing stability to Afghanistan - the need ensure it does not again become a terrorist safe haven. Gates says he wants to convince ordinary Europeans to support additional troop deployments to help the undermanned NATO mission in Afghanistan.

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.

Bryan Ardouny: article 301 has become a painful reminder of open wounds of genocide

2008-02-09T12:32:00.000-05:00

09.02.2008
PanARMENIAN.Net

Bryan Ardouny, Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), addressed a letter to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to appreciate publication of "Freer Speech" editorial dedicated to the problem of article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

"We commend you for your Jan. 29 editorial ("Freer Speech") highlighting Turkey's continued and inexplicable use of Article 301 to indict citizens for openly discussing the Armenian Genocide.

"Turkey is the only country in the world where speaking the truth about the Armenian Genocide is regarded a prosecutable offense. For simply mentioning the atrocities, Hrant Dink was hauled to court and convicted in 2005. His life was ultimately taken by forces determined to squash public discussion of this fact of world history.

"Sadly, one year after Mr. Dink's assassination, Ankara has yet to overturn the climate of intolerance, prejudice and repression which led to this unspeakable crime. Instead, Mr. Dink's son, Arat Dink, was recently convicted under this much-criticized law for referencing the Armenian Genocide.

"Article 301 has become a painful reminder of the open wounds of genocide and its denial. It is time for Turkey to provide more than just lip-service and get to the business of reforming its laws and stop its ongoing campaign of denial," Mr Ardouny whote in his letter.

! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».

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Bad news for Erdoğan?

2008-02-08T11:55:00.000-05:00

08.02.2008
Today's Zaman, Turkey
ALI H. ASLAN

Bad news for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Given the results of the "super Tuesday" primaries in the US, Barack Obama, whom Erdoğan lashed out at after he promised to acknowledge the so-called "Armenian genocide," has never been so close to winning the Democratic Party's nomination for the 2008 presidential elections.

Erdoğan harshly criticized Senator Obama, depicting him as an "acemi" (rookie) politician. Many people fall into the trap of underestimating others. As an underestimated politician who has proven to be the most durable "black" leader in the "white-dominated" Republic of Turkey, Erdoğan should have known this more than anyone else. Furthermore, he himself was not more experienced than Obama in government affairs and he was only two years older than Obama (46) when he became prime minister with the Turkish general elections in 2002. And I'm telling you, the chances for Obama to be the next president of the US are no less favorable than Erdoğan's 2002 bid. The Clintons, who also seem to have underestimated him, should nowadays be grappling with this fact more than anyone else.

Obama made a strong start by winning the Iowa caucus. The Clinton camp became increasingly nervous after Obama stole the normally Clinton-loyal black Americans in South Carolina. But it wasn't until this Tuesday that alarm bells started to ring for Clinton. Once considered the obvious frontrunner in the Democratic race, Senator Clinton now feels the breath of Obama on her neck.

Elections in the first five states granted Clinton 51 percent more delegates than Obama. In the aftermath of Super Tuesday, however, delegate tallies are almost even or only slightly in favor of Clinton according to varying counts due to the confusing calculation methods of the Democratic primaries. Obama has the psychological edge since he won five more states than Clinton, whereas the big enchilada, California, went to Hillary.

There is an even more dramatic comparison in their respective monetary situations. Who would expect an "underdog" candidate like Obama to surpass Clinton in terms of campaign funds? Senator Clinton, whose campaign ran out of money, had to borrow $5 million from her personal account. Obama, on the other hand, enjoys $32 million raised in January alone, compared to Hillary's $13.5 million.

Everybody knows money talks in politics (although perhaps not as much as Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who has spent millions from his own fortune so far, has counted on). Vice versa, talk generates money (though not necessarily as much as former preacher Mike Huckabee might have wished for). Obviously, Obama has proven very successful in transforming his speaking abilities into campaign funds. His debate performance may not be extraordinary, but he can definitely score high points when he addresses crowds. The wider American public probably first got acquainted with Obama during his impressive nationally televised victory speech in Iowa. And it should be no surprise that he was able to garner increasing numbers of young voters, who constitute the backbone of his political organization.

It looks like the more people get to know Obama, the more likely they are to vote for him. So time is on Obama's side in this unusually long intra-party race. The Clinton campaign is far from being dead. But eventually we might very well find ourselves in a situation where we will be talking more about White House foreign policy under Obama's command. If only, of course, he also beats the Republican candidate. That person seems to be Senator John McCain, given his lead over the remaining two contenders, Romney and Huckabee, which is mathematically almost impossible to beat.

Speaking of mathematics, it's almost a certainty that Clinton, Obama or McCain is going to be the next US president. All of them are multilateralists, and that's good for the US and for the world. I'm sure their counterparts in Ankara, no matter how enraged they might be at times, will do their best to not reduce Turkey's relations with the US to issues like the debate over Armenian allegations of genocide. They would expect the same from the American side. After all, even the US cannot afford a "with us or against us" mantra on particular policy topics. How can Turkey do so?

a.aslan@todayszaman.com

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Of Grasshoppers and Men - An Interview with Arundhati Roy

2008-02-08T10:38:00.000-05:00

February 08, 2008
Znet
By Khatchig Mouradian and Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy was born in 1959 in Shillong, India. She studied architecture in New Delhi, where she now lives, and has worked as a film designer, actor, and screenplay writer in India. Roy is the author of the novel The God of Small Things, (Random House/HarperPerennial) for which she received the 1997 Booker Prize. The novel has been translated into dozens of languages worldwide. She has written several non-fiction books: The Cost of Living (Random House/Modern Library), Power Politics (South End Press), War Talk (South End Press), and An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire (South End Press) and Public Power in the Age of Empire (Seven Stories/Open Media).

Roy was featured in the BBC television documentary, “Dam/age,” which chronicles her work in support of the struggle against big dams in India and the contempt of court case that led to a prolonged legal case against her and eventually a one-day jail sentence in spring 2002. A collection of interviews with Arundhati Roy by David Barsamian was published as The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile (South End Press). Roy is the recipient of the 2002 Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Prize.

On Jan. 18, 2008, Roy delivered the Hrant Dink memorial lecture at Bosphorus University in Istanbul. In her lecture, titled “Listening to Grasshoppers: Genocide, Denial and Celebration,” Roy reflected on the legacy of Hrant Dink and dealt with the history of the “genocidal impulse,” the Armenian genocide of 1915 and the killing of Muslims in Gujarat, India in 2002.

Speaking about the slain editor of the Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, Roy said, “I never met Hrant Dink, a misfortune that will be mine for time to come. From what I know of him, of what he wrote, what he said and did, how he lived his life, I know that had I been here in Istanbul a year ago I would have been among the one hundred thousand people who walked with his coffin in dead silence through the wintry streets of this city, with banners saying, ‘We are all Armenians,’ ‘We are all Hrant Dink.’ Perhaps I’d have carried the one that said, ‘One and a half million plus one.’”

“I wonder what thoughts would have gone through my head as I walked beside his coffin,” she added. “Maybe I would have heard a reprise of the voice of Araxie Barsamian, mother of my friend David Barsamian, telling the story of what happened to her and her family. She was ten years old in 1915. She remembered the swarms of grasshoppers that arrived in her village, Dubne, which was north of the historic city Dikranagert, now Diyarbakir. The village elders were alarmed, she said, because they knew in their bones that the grasshoppers were a bad omen. They were right; the end came in a few months, when the wheat in the fields was ready for harvesting.”

In this interview, conducted by phone on Feb. 2, we talk about some of the issues she raised in her lecture and reflect on genocide and resistance.

Khatchig Mouradian—What was going through your head when you were writing the speech for the commemoration in Istanbul of Hrant Dink’s assassination?

Arundhati Roy—These days, we are going through a kind of psychotic convulsion in India. Genocide and its celebration are in the air. And it’s terrifying for me to watch people celebrating genocide every day. It was at a time when I was very struck by this celebration in India and the denial in Turkey that they asked me to go to Istanbul.

When I landed in Istanbul, I realized that there’s a very big difference between what Armenians, Turks and others could say outside Turkey—where everybody could be very direct about the Armenian genocide—and inside Turkey—where, Hrant Dink, for example, was trying to find a way of saying things in order to continue living. His idea was to speak out, but not to die.

In Istanbul, I spoke with people and I was very concerned not to give the impression that I flew in, made a speech, and flew out leaving everybody else in trouble. I was interested in helping to create an atmosphere where people could begin to talk about the Armenian genocide to each other. After all, that’s the project of the Armenians who are living in Turkey and trying to survive there.

At the same time, I was somebody who is involved quite deeply in issues in India and I didn’t want to be some global intellectual who flies in, makes some superficial statements and then flies out. I wanted to relate the issue to what I knew and what I fought for, and tried to push a little bit more and a little bit more. And this is not a simple thing to do.

K.M.—The story that weaves your lecture together is that of your friend, David Barsamian’s mother, Araxie Barsamian. In an interview, you say, “I think that a story is like the surface of water, and you can take whatever you want from it.” What did you take from the story of Araxie Barsamian?

A.R.—In fact, David happened to be in India just before I went to Turkey and we talked about the issue. It mattered to me that I knew him. I’m not saying that if I didn’t know him I wouldn’t have spoken, but it suddenly became something that was more personal. I was having the discussion with a friend that there are people who talk about politics that is informative and politics that is transformative. These are such silly separations because in Turkey, for example, everybody knows what happened. It’s just that there’s a silence around it and you’re not allowed to say what happened. And when you say it, it becomes transformative in itself. I made my point through the words of David’s mother instead of going and saying, “Look, that bullet that was meant to silence Hrant Dink actually made someone like myself take the trouble to go and read history. Whether I say it and I don’t say it, you and I know what happened, and if you want to maintain the silence, then people here will have to fight with that, as I will have to fight with the celebration around genocide in India.”

This is something that a novel writer does. How you say what you want to say is as important as what you want to say. By telling Araxie Barsamian’s story, the history comes alive. You could say that 1.5 million people were killed or you could say that the grasshoppers arrived in Araxie Barsamian’s village…

K.M.—You spoke about the difference between speaking about the Armenian genocide outside and inside Turkey. But in your speech, you are quite bold: You do not come off as trying to imply things rather than stating them outright. You are not trying to avoid using the term genocide…

A.R.—When I started speaking about the term “genocide,” defining it, then talking about the history of genocide and what’s happening in India today—how Indian fascists killed Muslims—I wanted to make it clear that that the genocidal impulse has cut across religions and that the same ugly, fascist rhetoric that the Turks used against the Armenians has been used by the Christians against the Indians, has been used by the Nazis against the Jews, and today, it is being used by Hindus against Muslims. Genocide is such a complex process. The genocidal impulse has never been related to just one culture or just one religion. I spoke about the Armenian genocide and its denial openly to the extent that I could without shutting down the audience.

I would like to note that in my readings, one problem I realized is that many scholars who have studied the Armenian genocide in detail—almost all of them—keep on insisting that it was the first genocide of the 20th century and, in asserting that, they deny the other genocides that took place—for example, the genocide against the Herrero people in 1904. So I was also trying to talk about the Armenian genocide without giving the impression that some victims are more worthy than others.

K.M.—How was your lecture received?

A.R.—The important thing was that it was received. It wasn’t blocked out. It wasn’t denied. People didn’t say, “Oh, here’s a person who has come here to tell us about our own past.” That’s because I wasn’t just talking about the past of Turkey. For me, that was the way of guaranteeing that my talk was received.

The biggest thing is that it was received. It was taken in and it was thought about. I saw many people in tears in the hall. And I hope that in some tiny, little way, it will change the way this subject is spoken of. I might be presuming too much…

K.M.—As you point out in your lecture, genocide and gross human rights violations have plagued us for centuries and they continue to do so. What has changed?

A.R.—I don’t think that there’s been that much change in the genocidal impulse. Technology and industrialization have only enabled human beings to kill each other in larger numbers. I talked about the slaughter of 2,000 Muslims in the state of Gujarat in India. It was all on TV.

About three months ago, the killers were caught on camera talking about how they decided how to target the Muslim community, how it was all planned, how the police was involved, how the chief ministers were involved, how they murdered, how they raped. It was actually broadcast on TV and it worked in the favor of that party. The people who voted for them said, “This is what they deserve.” So I actually feel that this notion of the liberal conscience, of human conscience, is a fake notion. Today in India we are on the verge of something terrible. Like I say in the article, the grasshoppers have landed, and there is a kind of shutting down and cutting off of the poor from their resources, herding them off their land and rivers. And people are just watching. Their eyes are open but they are looking the other way. And again and again we think of the fact that in Germany when Jews were being exterminated, people must have been taking their children to piano lessons, violin lessons, worrying about their children’s homework. That kind of absolute lack of conscience is still present today. No amount of appeal to conscience can make any change. The only way disaster can be averted is if the people who are on the receiving end of that can resist.

Khatchig Mouradian is a journalist, writer and translator, currently based in Boston. He is the editor of the Armenian Weekly. He can be contacted at: khatchigm@hotmail.com.

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.

Turkish parliament crafts law to return property confiscated from religious minorities

2008-02-07T16:32:00.000-05:00

2008-02-07
PR-Inside.com, Austria
© AP

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's parliament is considering a law that would allow properties confiscated by the state to be returned to Christian and Jewish minority foundations.

The reform appears designed to meet conditions set by the European Union for Turkey's membership in the bloc, but critics say the measure would not go far enough. Parliament is expected to vote as soon as next week on returning property to religious minorities, and the ruling party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has the majority required to approve the law.

Parliament first approved it in November 2006. But the president at the time, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, was a secularist who was often at odds with Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government, and he vetoed it. The country's population of 70 million, mostly Muslim, includes 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 Jews, and fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians.

The law would allow foundations to recover confiscated properties, but it was not clear if they would be allowed to reclaim property that has been sold or whether they would be compensated for the loss of such properties. President Abdullah Gul, a close associate of Erdogan, is expected to approve the measure.

The Istanbul-based Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, an independent research center known as TESEV, predicted that Turkey would face more criticism from Europe if the law «does not ensure the return or indemnification of the seized assets of non-Muslim foundations.

Religious minorities have often complained of discrimination in Turkey, which has a history of conflict with Greece, which is predominantly Christian, and with Armenians, another mostly Christian group. Many Armenians accuse Turkish authorities of trying to exterminate them early in the last century, but Turkey says mass killings at that time were the result of the chaos of war, rather than a systematic campaign of genocide.

The law allows foundations to reclaim properties, including churches, school buildings and orphanages, that are registered under the names of saints. The law does not address some types of confiscated properties, such as cemeteries or minority school properties.

The proposed bill said authorities shall consider «the international principle of reciprocity» in implementing it, in an apparent reference to Turkish demands that similar measures are implemented in Greece to expand rights of the ethnic Turkish minority there.

Luiz Bakar, the spokeswoman for the Armenian Patriarchate, an Orthodox Christian group based in Istanbul, expressed concern over uncertainities about how the law would be implemented.

«We are ethnic Armenians, but we are Turkish citizens, we are not foreigners. So, applying the principle of reciprocity to us would amount to discrimination,» Bakar said.

«The inclusion of this provision in the draft law shows that the state is still not regarding non-Muslim citizens as equal citizens,» the TESEV report said.
Turkey seized some properties owned by minority foundations in 1974 around the time of a Turkish invasion of the island of Cyprus that followed a coup attempt by supporters of union with Greece.

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Turkey takes action against the shadowy far right

2008-02-07T16:29:00.000-05:00

Feb 07, 2008
The Toronto Star
Haroon Siddiqui

Given the prevailing paranoiac obsession with Islam, the media have duly informed us that the "Islamist" government of Turkey is set to lift the "secular" ban on the hijab in universities.

Another view of this development would be that a democratic government is about to restore some basic human rights for women: freeing them from state strictures on what they should or should not wear.

Meanwhile, a more significant development in Turkey is going unnoticed in the West: the busting of a right-wing plot of murder and mayhem, designed to destabilize the country and trigger a coup against the elected government.

Number one on the plotters' hit list was Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk.

Thirty-three members of a clandestine cell are charged with "provoking armed rebellion."

They include: A retired army general who was earlier allegedly associated with bombings and extrajudicial killings – incidents that were blamed on "Islamists" and others; A leading prosecutor who had hauled Pamuk and other writers into court, on the infamous charge of "insulting Turkishness" – such as questioning the official denial of the 1915-17 Armenian genocide; Some former army officers with links to an anti-Semitic academic, who thinks that "Hitler was right about certain things," and that 9/11 was the work of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service.

Turkey is abuzz with the expectation that a thorough probe and a transparent trial may, finally, unmask "the Deep State."

That refers to the shadowy forces in the army, the judiciary and the bureaucracy long suspected of working with the mafia to advance their ultra-nationalist agenda.

They are thought to have been behind the murder of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 and a judge in Ankara in 2006.

The latest arrests are unprecedented, and follow a public pledge by Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan to expose and eradicate such elements.

He has been democratizing Turkey to strengthen its candidacy for the European Union. He has run into stiff resistance by the old guard, led by the army, which is ostensibly safeguarding Turkey's secular traditions against the "Islamic" encroachments of his religious Peace and Justice Party.

In fact, he is dismantling the autocratic policies put in place back in 1925 by Kemal Ataturk. That legacy includes keeping religion at bay with bayonets, denying the wrongs done to the Armenians, oppressing the Kurdish minority and silencing political and intellectual dissidents.

Erdogan has already begun restoring the linguistic and cultural rights of the Kurds, even while battling Kurdish separatists in the south along the border with Iraq.

Last year, he nominated as his presidential candidate Abdullah Gul, whose wife wears a hijab. That led the army to threaten a coup. Gul won handily. Now the government is easing the ban on the hijab.

Next, it hopes to axe the law against "insulting Turkishness."

But its move against the nationalists is its boldest.

Last week, the main headline on Page 1 of the English newspaper Zaman captured the widespread public sentiment:

"Million-dollar question: Who's the boss of the Deep State? It's time to get the number one in the operation."

A historic democratic battle to end the quasi-dictatorship of the Turkish army and expose the elusive fascist forces that have long haunted Turkey has finally begun.

Too bad the West remains fixated on a piece of cloth called the hijab.

Haroon Siddiqui, the Star's editorial page editor emeritus, appears Thursday and Sunday. Email: hsiddiq@thestar.ca

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TURKEY PLANS TO COMBAT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE AT THE HAGUE

2008-02-06T16:05:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
By John C. K. Daly

This exactly what Turkey needs. I welcome any steps taken in this regard. I hope Turkey will abide with whatever decision the ICJ comes up with. A similar attempt to convince another court see Swiss convict Turk of denying Armenian genocide and Turkish politician loses final appeal against Swiss racism conviction, high court says and IP Leader Perincek To Apply To ECJ Regarding Decision Of Swiss FSC .

The tragic events in eastern Anatolia in 1915 continue to roil not only Turkish-Armenian relations, but the international community and Turkish-American relations as well.

For more than 25 years, Yerevan and the Armenian diaspora have lobbied to have the events in the wartime Ottoman Empire labeled as the 20th century’s first case of genocide, a definition that successive Turkish governments have furiously lobbied against. Now the issue seems set to appear before The Hague’s International Court of Justice and Permanent Court of Arbitration.

At issue is the February 2001 genocide resolution adopted by France, which concisely states: “France publicly recognizes the Armenian genocide of 1915.” It was a largely symbolic act, since it did not allow for the prosecution of those who deny that the 1915 massacre was genocide. At the time Ankara was furious, but despite the dispute, trade between France and Turkey grew 22% in 2002 and by 2006 had increased 131% (Wall Street Journal, March 12, 2007).

The issue has never really gone away, however. Last week veteran Turkish diplomat Sukru Elekdag, from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), brought up the issue following talks at the French parliament, where he was part of a Turkish Grand National Assembly delegation. Elekdag suggested that France should reconsider its legislation under the terms of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. “We can go to the Internal Court of Justice with France and ask whether the law adopted in France in 2001 is in compliance with the agreement in 1948 and whether the 1915 incidents constitute genocide.”

Speaking to Today's Zaman, Elekdag expanded on his observations, saying, “What would the authorized court rule if we assume that the UN Convention could be implemented retrospectively? … It is obvious that the court will rule that the French parliament is not authorized to make such a decision, and it will also have to announce that the UN Convention cannot be implemented retrospectively due to the principle of legality. This means that the 1915 incidents cannot be described as genocide. If the ICJ makes such a ruling, then Armenia's genocide allegation will entirely collapse” (Today's Zaman, February 5).

Elekdag, a former foreign ministry undersecretary and former ambassador to the United States, has a history of opposing international efforts to label the events of 1915 as genocide. Speaking at the “Turkish-Armenian Relations and 1915 Incidents” symposium at Ankara's Gazi University in 2005, he declared, “The Armenian diaspora's accusing Turkey of genocide is a legal crime” (Anatolian Times, November 25, 2005).

Having attempted to battle the decision in the media, the Turkish government is now set to take its case to The Hague. Ankara will argue that since France's genocide resolution was not based on any French court decision, then the French National Assembly’s decision should be based on a prior ruling by an international court. Elekdag told Hurriyet, “There is no international court ruling on the Armenian so-called genocide allegations. Is the French parliament a court? France is thus in the position of having disregarded the 1948 UN Convention” (Hurriyet, February 4).

Turkey will propose that Ankara and Yerevan each select three judges, who in turn will select a chairman. The panel will review Turkish archival material as well as the Dashnak (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) Party archives in Boston, Armenian Patriarchate archives, and those of foreign missions in the Ottoman Empire at the time to determine the validity of their documents. The survey will be followed by an extensive forensic survey of possible contributory factors such as demographics and disease, ending with testimony from relevant parties.

Even if Turkey succeeds in its Hague appeal the issue is hardly likely to go away for Ankara, as many EU politicians insist that Turkey must recognize the Armenian genocide before it can join the European Union.

The issue has also crossed the Atlantic. On January 30, 2007, U.S. Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA), George Radanovich (R-CA), and the co-chairs of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) introduced a resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide, which was only tabled in October after furious lobbying by the Bush administration (see EDM January 23, October 12, 17, 2007). Undeterred, Congressional critics in the House of Representatives recently introduced a new resolution condemning the January 19, 2007, murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink (Panarmenian.net, February 5). Furthermore, Democratic presidential candidates Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton have both stated that, if elected, they will recognize the Armenian genocide.

The imbroglio seems to be a classic case of political posturing versus historical reality, and the only certainty is that the issue seems unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

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.

The History of Genocide

2008-02-06T15:55:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, 06 February 2008
The Kurdish Globe
By Hazhar Aziz Surme

Kurds now understand more than any other nation the Armenian genocide. Kurds know how they were manipulated by the Young Turks to participate in the Armenian genocide. Armenians have long forgiven the Kurds because they have realized their mistake. What will it take Turkish nationals to gain the same understanding as the Kurds?

Genocide had been introduced to many nations in practical terms.

Before including the term 'Genocide' into the international dictionaries, and before the disciplines and rules concerning genocide were set; before international communities dealt with it and punished the criminals of genocidal crimes and considering it as an obvious phenomenon, genocide had been introduced to many nations in practical terms and the history of it goes back to the centuries before the Christ.

Here, we study the historical examples of genocide:

The genocide as a phenomenon in history:

In 615 B.C., the Babylons had murdered Assyrians in a massacre, and murdered most of them, and destroyed the city of Nineveh, to the extent when the Greek leader (Xenophon) in (427-335 BC), after two centuries, passed through the Nineveh city, he did not note that once upon a time people lived in the city.

It is also worth mentioning that in 596 B.C., Abu Khuznasri, the Chaldean King (605-562 B.C.), brought down the city of Yahooda in Israel, and put an end to two Israeli revolutions, but in 539 B.C., the Persian King (Cyrus 1) freed the Jewish people by destroying the Babel city.

In February 1258, the Mongols and Tatters, led by Holako, attacked the city of Baghdad, and then killed children, women, detained and disabled people (Mongols made no difference between those who stood against them and those who surrendered themselves to them, both were murdered). Aa a result, they killed 80000 people of Baghdad's residents in a period of 40 days.

When America was discovered in 1492, the original residents were Indians, a people of millions, but after the mass-migration of Europeans to the Americas, the Indians became foreigners in their own land, furthermore, their number, centuries later, were fewer than ever. If they were not annihilated, where to did they disappear?!!

Another kind of genocide, that is taken place in a different way, is that of British Imperialism spreading opium in China of 19th century, having negative influence on the Chinese community. Chinese youths, as a result were not able to stand up for their country, as addicted consumers of opium, and this indeed was the aim of English colonialism. When China closed the opium stores in the country, it had a negative aspect against the British economy, this is perhaps why, three years later, in 1842, Britain succeeded to set the Treaty of Nanjing that was considered as a blow to China, and then Hong Kong submitted to British demands. This is historically called the Opium War.

With the start of the First World War in 1914, many genocidal operations were taking place against various peoples around Europe, as a result, and millions of people were victims.

During the First World War, In April 22, 1915, the Germans used the Chloral poisonous Gas against the Frenchmen, and soon afterwards, the Englishmen started the first poisonous attack in September 25, 1915.

In April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hammed and the Turkish Youth organization, tried to put an end to the Turkish Armenians (to forbid the separation of Eastern Armenian from Turkey), and created the most infamous massacre against the Armenians. Sultan Abdul Hammed had killed about 300 thousand Armenians on the first hand. Separately, the attacks of the Young Turkey had killed about a million and half of the Armenians and also made 800 thousand others displaced. That's why, the Republic of Armenia, in the most recent years, made this day a memorandum day for the major genocidal events that were taken place against Armenians in history.

In 1933, the Iraqi authority of the time, murdered and annihilated more than 4 thousand Assyrians in the district of (Smel) of the Duhok city.

Franko, the Spanish dictator, during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), was the cause of annihilating hundreds of thousands of people, especially in the Jernica town, that became the source of Pablo Picasso's inspiration in his famous painting.

During the Second World War, 1939-1945, 18 million people from Sharistan were annihilated. 70 thousand Jews, and millions of Russians, Polish, hundreds of thousands of French, Dutch and Yugoslavian people?etc. were also murdered.

In 1948, Israel in Deer Yaseen, in a mass killing, murdered 252 people. In 1979, Bokasa, a brutal dictator, in the Central African Republic, was in charge of beheading approximately 100 children.

Clearly, there are many more examples of genocide and annihilation that the racialist dictators committed against other nations. Examples of these dictators like: Troilus, Chowchesku, Saddam, Castro and Radovan Kardchic. The latter, under the name of racism, annihilated and murdered many peace-lover Bosnians, especially in the city of Srebrenitsa, where 40 thousand people became victims and were murdered.

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.

'Deep state plot' grips Turkey

2008-02-04T11:43:00.000-05:00

Monday, 4 February 2008, 11:41 GMT

By Sarah Rainsford
BBC News, Istanbul

It is a story that has set Turkey abuzz with rumour and speculation.

At its heart is an ultra-nationalist gang known as Ergenekon, exposed when 33 of its alleged members were seized in a police raid in late January.

The claims widely reported in the Turkish press ever since read like a thriller.

They allege the gang was plotting to bring down the government.

It is claimed their plan was to assassinate a string of Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, fomenting chaos and provoking a military intervention in 2009.

A "menu" of targets had already been drawn up and a hitman hired when the police swooped, according to the daily Hurriyet.

Sabah newspaper linked the gang to the recent murder of three Protestant Christians and Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Those details - apparently leaked by police - have never been officially confirmed.

The lawyers of several of the accused told the BBC only that their clients have been charged under Article 313 of the penal code for inciting armed revolt against the government.

Those still detained include retired Brig Gen Veli Kucuk, an alleged mafia boss and an ultra-nationalist lawyer who provoked numerous prosecutions against prominent Turkish writers and intellectuals - including Mr Pamuk - for "insulting Turkishness".

'Deep state'

A brief statement at the outset linked the arrests to a raid in Istanbul last June. A large cache of hand grenades and explosives was discovered; then and a number of former military personnel detained.

There have been no further formal statements about the gang, or their plot. But that has not stopped the Ergenekon affair making top "news" for almost two weeks.

From the start, this operation has been portrayed as a blow against the "deep state" - which explains the excitement.

It is a term widely used to describe renegade members of the security forces said to act outside the law in what they judge to be Turkey's best interests.

The phenomenon, much-discussed but never proven, is said to stretch back to Cold War times, when illicit paramilitary gangs were supposedly set up in collaboration with Western intelligence agencies to prevent the spread of communism.

"When the Cold War ended those structures went out of business, but they still existed," claims newspaper columnist Cengiz Candar, who has no doubt a "deep state" exists.

"Then the threat changed. The target became Kurdish insurgents or Asala," an Armenian militant organisation that targeted Turkish diplomats, he says.

For ultra-nationalists today the threats to Turkey include EU accession, Armenian genocide allegations and any talk of a peace deal to end the 24-year-old Kurdish insurgency.

'Under watch'

In 1996, many Turks' suspicions of a "deep state" were confirmed when a car crashed in the town of Susurluk. Inside were a senior police chief, a prominent politician and a wanted assassin.

"Susurluk revealed weird connections between state officials and those who operate outside the limits of the law. It happened at a time when we had a lot of extra-judicial killings in Turkey," Mr Candar explains.

"But the investigation stopped just as there was speculation it was reaching very sensitive spots, even the military establishment. That only confirmed the existence of these networks in the public consciousness."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan clearly has his own suspicions.

He used the same "deep state" terminology to describe the police operation against Ergenekon.

"These gangs are not new in our country. Our aim is to get rid of them. We see gangs in the most important institutions. People who once worked in these institutions join these organisations," Sabah quoted Mr Erdogan saying, immediately after the initial arrests.

Praising the police raids, he added: "There is a deep Turkey working against the deep state. This prevents them [the gangs] being as active as they once were."

If the prime minister has proof linking Ergenekon members to active security officials, it has yet to be revealed.

"I think the government moved now to dirty these peoples' names and reputations. It's a warning that they're under watch," believes Irfan Bozan, who is following the story for the privately-owned NTV 24-hour news channel.

Army rebuttal

Mr Bozan also raises the possibility the operation is part of a continuing power struggle between a government led by devout Muslims and a staunchly secular military.

"At first it does look like an attempt to crack down on the deep state at last. But this is not a real challenge to those forces. This is an attack on those who are anti-government," Mr Bozan suggests.

Still, the chief-of-staff of Turkey's army was concerned enough by the suggestion the military might be tied to Ergenekon to issue a public rebuttal.

"The Turkish military is not a criminal organisation," Gen Buyukanit told journalists last week, apparently washing his hands of the accused.

"Military members who commit crimes are punished by the courts. It is wrong to try to link such incidents to the military as a whole," he said.

As the prosecutors gather their evidence the country is gripped, awaiting the next revelation, the next headline and the denouement.

After years of "deep state" rumours, many see the Ergenekon case as a real test of the government's will to dig deep and expose any ties between illicit gangs and the state. If they do really exist.

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.

Adam Schiff: Armenian Genocide denial imperils Turkey’s future

2008-02-01T18:04:00.000-05:00

01.02.2008
PanARMENIAN.Net

This week, Rep. Adam Schiff commemorated slain Agos editor Hrant Dink in a Congressional Record statement, Rep. Schiff’s spokesman, Mr Sean Oblack told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The statement says,

"Madame Speaker:

"It is with a mixture of anger and sadness that I rise today to honor the one year anniversary of the murder of Hrant Dink, the courageous Armenian-Turkish journalist, who was murdered by a Turkish extremist.

"Mr. Dink founded the bilingual newspaper Agos in 1996, giving a voice to Turkey’s Armenians. He acted on his beliefs of building community and acknowledging the past, for which he was persecuted, prosecuted and eventually forced to pay the ultimate price. Clearly, however, his life’s work was not in vain; at his funeral, approximately one hundred thousand people marched behind his coffin, chanting, "We are all Dink. We are all Armenians."

"Before Mr. Dink’s untimely death last January, the Turkish government constantly tried to limit his freedom of speech. It confiscated copies of Agos on many occasions and on the flimsiest of pretenses. In 2004, Mr. Dink wrote an article stating that Turkey’s first woman pilot was an
Armenian orphan adopted after 1915. The government convicted him of insulting "Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Penal Code, a law specifically designed to prevent discussion of the Armenian Genocide. He received a six-month suspended sentence. This was just one of several such prosecutions against Mr. Dink.

"Mr. Dink’s courage to confront the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide cost him his life. He continually received threatening telephone calls, emails, and letters. He reported this terrorization to the police, but they failed to protect him. On January 19, 2007 an extreme nationalist teenager shot Mr. Dink three times outside the Agos offices in Istanbul, killing him. Court hearings continue, but Mr. Dink’s family stated that the investigation of his murder was conducted in secrecy and is incomplete.

"Turkish prosecutions under Article 301 increased in 2007 and continued to affect Mr. Dink’s family. Arat Dink, his son, published an interview in which Mr. Dink said that the 1915 to 1917 Armenian massacres constituted genocide. Last October Arat Dink received a one year suspended sentence for publishing this interview. Punishing Mr. Dink’s son for publishing his murdered father’s words is a travesty and exposes the lengths to which Ankara will go to hide the truth about the Armenian Genocide.

"Mr. Dink’s death was devastating to the democratic principle of a free and unfettered press and to the efforts of a handful of Turkish intellectuals who have been fighting to expose the crimes of Turkey’s Ottoman predecessor. Denying the Armenian Genocide harms Turkey and imperils the future of this important nation. As the world marks the anniversary of Dink’s murder I reiterate my call for Turkey to honor the memory of Hrant Dink by repealing Article 301, and to acknowledge the truth of the Armenian Genocide.

"Together with his family and colleagues, the Armenian community in Turkey, and his admirers around the world, we remember Hrant Dink, heroic defender of speech and human rights, on the one-year anniversary of his murder."

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.

The culture of destruction in the First World War

2008-02-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

January 30, 2008
TimeOnline, UK

How a particularly cynical type of warfare came to dominate the early years of the twentieth century

In Turkey, such violence reached its apogee. A campaign against the Armenians, part of a wider programme to remove non-Turkish ethnic influences from the teetering Empire, became genocide in the spring of 1915. Hundreds of thousands perished out of an Ottoman Armenian population then estimated at 1.8 million. The Armenian genocide, which the Turkish authorities refuse to recognize to this day, and the so-called “Jew census” of autumn 1916, by which the German government tried to refute charges levied by the nationalist Right that Jews were not serving their country in sufficient numbers, indirectly set the stage for the Holocaust.

Craig Gibson

Alan Kramer
DYNAMIC OF DESTRUCTION
Culture and mass killing in the first world war
434pp. Oxford University Press. £18.99.
978 0 19 280342 9

Norman Stone
WORLD WAR ONE
A short history
187pp. Penguin: Allen Lane. £16.99.
978 1 84614013 6

In the popular imagination, the Second World War seems to have a monopoly on much of the twentieth century’s worst cruelties – and, one should add, with good reason. From the Nazis’ murderous policies against the Jews, the area bombing of European cities, the Japanese rape of Nanking, the Katyn forest massacre, through to the fire bombing of Tokyo and the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the scale and range of brutality exert a powerful hold, overshadowing much of what preceded and followed it.

While not discounting the centrality of such events, Alan Kramer wants us to re-examine the First World War for evidence of similar violence, in kind if not in scale, and for clues as to why the 1914–45 era as a whole has become synonymous with a particularly cynical type of warfare. He starts his book with the German invasion of Belgium in August 1914, and a scene fairly typical of that scorching summer. German troops entered a small town, with soldiers on foot, mounted artillery (the dreaded Uhlans), baggage and auxiliaries. In this case, it was the university town of Louvain, on the morning of August 19, 1914. As the civilian authorities had already ordered the people to turn in weapons and not to offer any resistance, the ensuing occupation was orderly, if somewhat oppressive. Signs were posted, hostages taken, and billets assigned. Alarmed by tales of German atrocities since the invasion had started, on August 4, the Flemish population remained docile.

When the alarm sounded in the early evening of August 25, however, German troops rushed to assembly points. About two hours later, sporadic shooting broke out. Retreating Germans from the north arrived in the town later in the evening, compounding the situation. A train came into the station; no one was sure whether it contained German reinforcements or advance elements of the British Expeditionary Force, about which rumours abounded. Spooked troops broke into houses suspected of harbouring francs-tireurs, firing wildly and rounding up terrified townsfolk. Houses were torched. Summary executions followed. At 11.30 pm, troops broke into the University Library, one of the most important collections in Europe. Using petrol and incendiary pastilles, they set fire to hundreds of thousands of volumes and manuscripts. Within hours, a priceless piece of European – indeed, world – heritage had been reduced to smoking ashes.

It would be easy, as well as more palatable, to believe that such a crime was the result of a particular confluence of factors that would soon be brought under control by officers eager to maintain discipline over troops. The following days proved otherwise. There were more executions, instances of torture, more houses set on fire, more civilians – including women, children and the elderly – rounded up, and now deported to Germany. Absurdly, even a bombardment was ordered. With a certain methodical precision, the Germans paid particular attention to anything of cultural significance, destroying the offices and records of local solicitors, judges, doctors and professors. With its fires visible from afar, Louvain was considered fair game for pillage by troops arriving during the next few days.

Alan Kramer uses the crime at Louvain as a starting point for a discussion of some of the wanton awfulness that Europeans perpetrated on each other (and the world) during the first half of the twentieth century. The Germans, of course, figure prominently. With vivid memories of irregular warfare during the Franco-Prussian War, German officers were instructed to ignore the provisions of the Hague Conventions on land warfare dealing with civilians and locally raised militias – despite the fact that the German government had signed them – and to instil terror in enemy territory, crushing the least sign of resistance. Other factors played a role. The Schlieffen plan, upon the success of which it was believed Germany’s fortunes rested, relied on the rapid passage of hundreds of thousands of German troops through Belgium – a small nation that, in German eyes, counted for nothing – and living off the land as far as possible. That not just few German soldiers were imbued with a healthy dose of anti-Catholicism, pseudo-messianic beliefs that encouraged them to disdain the physical world (theirs as much as the enemy’s), as well as to view war as a means to an other-worldly spiritual bliss, did nothing to discourage the crimes of Louvain. In other words, Nietzsche, Darwin and Freud, as much as Count Alfred von Schlieffen, played roles.

But Louvain, and the other crimes committed by the Germans in Belgium and Northern France, were not the result of forces beyond the scope of human agency. As news of the German outrages was reported in both the neutral and the enemy press, and as Germany’s reverse on the Marne, in early September 1914, put the outcome of the war in doubt, the German authorities took steps to ensure that there would be no more Louvains. And, with a few notable exceptions, there were none.

As has already been hinted, however, the case of Louvain was not unique, nor was it the first town where the Occupiers perpetrated atrocities. Because of its cultural importance, and because of the number of citizens murdered, however, Louvain has become synonymous with the crimes committed by the Germans in the First World War, as Auschwitz has for the later conflict. At the same time, Kramer argues that, though particularly heinous, Louvain was part of a broader trend – and one not necessarily the exclusive purview of Germany’s Sonderweg. Crimes against civilians and enemy combatants had become part of warfare in the early twentieth century – despite the good efforts of various international conventions and organizations such as the Red Cross.

The Balkan wars of 1912–13, for instance, were fought with the full arsenal of weapons available to the modern nation state, but without the organizational and logistical infrastructure necessary to ameliorate the new technology’s worst humanitarian effects. In a vast wilderness barely penetrated by serviceable roads – let alone railways – casualty rates, especially among civilians, soared. (This in part also explains why such rates remained higher on the Eastern Front during the First World War.) Still worse, these wars featured a novel type of ethnonationalism, which led to the forced expulsion of entire populations in a cruel effort to align ethnic and national boundaries. Where undesirable minorities were not driven from their homes, they were terrorized into acquiescence by rape, forced religious conversion, pillage, starvation. After the second Balkan war, the Carnegie Commission concluded that “It has become a competition, as to who can best dispossess and ‘denationalize’ his neighbour”. “Ethnic cleansing” may have entered the English lexicon in the 1990s, but the deed was invented in the years leading up to 1914.

The enemy within, a recurring problem – sometimes real, oftentimes imagined – for nation states in the era of the First World War, also contributed to the violence. The Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires contained large minorities whose loyalty to their rulers remained in doubt. Even the British, whose crushing of the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916 was exceptionally harsh, had problems. During the Russian retreat of 1915, suspected hostile populations of Germans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Jews and Poles were deported to the east. Given the prevailing conditions, an indeterminate number, though certainly in the tens of thousands, died.

In Turkey, such violence reached its apogee. A campaign against the Armenians, part of a wider programme to remove non-Turkish ethnic influences from the teetering Empire, became genocide in the spring of 1915. Hundreds of thousands perished out of an Ottoman Armenian population then estimated at 1.8 million. The Armenian genocide, which the Turkish authorities refuse to recognize to this day, and the so-called “Jew census” of autumn 1916, by which the German government tried to refute charges levied by the nationalist Right that Jews were not serving their country in sufficient numbers, indirectly set the stage for the Holocaust.

The totality of the First World War, and by that one means the total mobilization of the nation’s resources in the pursuit of total victory, has to be taken into account. Louvain can be attributed, at least partially, to German attempts to secure total victory over two enemies, France and Russia. When this failed – indeed, as all pre-war plans failed to produce a decisive, quick victory – the prolonged conflict that all belligerents feared, the Central Powers more than the Entente, ensued. Once the static war took hold on all fronts, in the winter of 1914–15, alternative strategies were sought and tried. While the Germans used poison gas in April 1915, the Allies turned their stranglehold on the seaways to good advantage by cutting off “contraband” war goods – the definition of which was flexible and grew to include virtually all commerce. Unrestricted submarine warfare against the Allies, and the sinking of the Lusitania, for instance, were a natural if legally dubious result. The starvation diet on which most Germans subsisted in the war’s final two years resulted in the premature deaths of hundreds of thousands. In turn, the occupied populations of Northern France and Belgium suffered, even if there were no more Louvains; besides being subjected to a subsistence diet, thousands were conscripted to perform forced labour in Germany or to build new defensive lines behind the Western Front. The same logic compelled the Austrians to strip the Italian countryside bare following the Battle of Caporetto and to treat Italian POWs with utter disdain. This was no cabinet war, to be sure. Total war required the dehumanization of the enemy, which included the mobilization of the civilian populace for hatred.

By contrast to Kramer’s innovative approach to the First World War, Norman Stone’s “short history” is a traditional account, with, for instance, Field Marshal Haig as a buffoon, surrounded by “creepy” young officers, British troops advancing in lines on July 1, 1916, and the German war machine as efficient and robust; despite the fact that recent research suggests alternative, more nuanced accounts might be more appropriate. It is also an entertaining history, filled with colour and bombast, less concerned with providing reams of documentation and more with telling an interesting tale well. In this Norman Stone succeeds admirably. Still, as in the assertion that British troops stopped singing their “superb” marching songs during the dark days of 1918 – a fascinating detail, but one for which no reference is provided – one yearns for a level of scholarly commitment that is simply not on offer in a short general history. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Louvain or any of the other cruelties that form the central core of Alan Kramer’s disturbing portrait barely warrant a mention.

Craig Gibson's first book, Behind the Front, 1914-1918: British troops and French civilians, is due to appear later this year.

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.

Formal Apologies Issued by Governments

2008-01-31T12:04:00.000-05:00

Wednesday January 30, 2008
Guardian Unlimited, UK
By The Associated Press

How can one forgive and make up without the other side repenting? May be this other side wants to prolong the pain.

APOLOGIES:

- 1998: Canada apologizes to its native peoples for past acts of oppression, including decades of abuse at federally funded boarding schools whose goal was to sever Indian and Inuit youths from their culture and assimilate them in white society.

- 1992: South African President F.W. de Klerk apologizes for apartheid, marking the first time a white leader in the country expressed regret for the system of legalized segregation that allowed 5 million whites to dominate 30 million blacks.

- 1990: The Soviet Union apologizes for the murder of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers shot during World War II and buried in mass graves in the Katyn Forest.

- 1988: The U.S. Congress passes a law apologizing to Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II and offering $20,000 payments to survivors.

- 1951: West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer acknowledges the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust and the following year, Germany agrees to pay reparations to Israel. In 1990, the then East German Parliament issues an apology to Israel and all Jews and others who suffered.

NO APOLOGIES:

- The U.S. has never issued a formal apology for the African slave trade or paid reparations to slave descendants. In 2007, Virginia became the first state to apologize for its involvement, followed by Alabama, Maryland and North Carolina. No state has offered reparations.

- The U.S. has never apologized to American Indians for past actions, including forced relocation and broken treaties and promises. American Indians have received compensation for their lands over the years, but no formal apology.

- Armenia has repeatedly requested an apology from Turkey for the killings of what historians estimate was up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey maintains the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

- China has accused Japan of not fully atoning for its invasions and occupation of China in the 1930s and 1940s, including wartime atrocities like the Rape of Nanjing, in which Japanese troops massacred as many as 300,000 people while taking the Chinese city in 1937.

0THER:

- Although Japan issued a carefully worded apology in 1993 to the tens of thousands of women from neighboring countries forced to serve as sex slaves for its soldiers during World War II, parliament never formally approved it. Japan has rejected most compensation claims, saying they were settled by postwar treaties. A fund created in 1995 by the government but run independently has provided a way to compensate former sex slaves without making it official. Many women, however, have rejected the money.

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.

Genocide; is it a question of national identity?

2008-01-30T10:11:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Kurdish Globe, Iraq
By Eleni Fergadi

Last Saturday, the International Conference on Genocide against the Kurdish people commenced in Martyr Saad Adbullah's conference center here in Erbil.

The conference, which lasted for three days, began two weeks after the burial ceremony of the remains of the Anfal victims with the somewhat sober aim of "academic" remembrance of sorts; in a way to present the research that has been undertaken on this very black page of Kurdish history and at the same time "internationalize" these events with the hope that similarly to the national recognition it has received by the Federal High Court as genocide, the same would follow on an international level.

Scholars, writers, politicians and artists were invited to this conference to present their own perspectives and research on the Kurdish genocide from the Ba'athist government-simply put and in the words of the organizers-to present "a record" of the atrocities that began with the deportation of around 40,000 Kurds from areas surrounding Kirkuk on July 10, 1963, and the destruction of more than 800 Kurdish villages during that time. Much followed throughout Kurdistan, such as the bombardment of the cities of Qaladze (April 24, 1974) and Halabja (April 26, 1974), the chemical attacks during 1987-88, the infamous Anfal Campaign (1988), as well as the destruction of villages that were burned to the ground, the indiscriminate killing of civilians and the bombardment of refugee camps.

The daughter of the late Saad Abdullah, in whose memory the conference center was built, and current Minister of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, Mrs. Chinar Saad Abdullah, presented a detailed account of crimes perpetrated against the Kurds, providing startling statistics: The province most affected by the atrocities was Dohuk (70.33%), with Suleimanya (42%), Kirkuk (22%) and Erbil (17%) following; in terms of nationalities and religious affiliations, those who suffered the most were Kurds (99%) and Muslims (98%). In gender terms, 66.61% of victims were male and 33.39% female. The minister, while stressing the abhorrence of the Anfal Campaign, stated that in its duration "all human rights and ethics were violated."

The minister also provided figures relating to the preferred targets of the attacks (see Table above) and stated that 17% of those who survived the attacks suffer from mental and physical illnesses, pointing out that many families, having lost all possessions, still have to live under dire conditions.

At the Conference, the Chief of Staff of the presidential office, Fuad Hussein, reiterated that the aim of such a conference is "not only to deal with questions, but also to discuss the genocide...from different angles," expressing his hope that the workshops and panel discussions "will lead us to the answer of the question why this genocide...happened." Mr. Hussein also stressed that "just as our language, geography, history...form part of our national identity, so the genocide against the Kurds is the most important aspect in the formation of the Kurdish Nation." He added, "This tragedy must not only form part of our history, but it must also become a guideline for us to build a society far removed from hatred and violence....In this way we hope that one day we can feel so sure of ourselves that we can tell our children...and all the future generations...that the killings...will never happen again."

Within the framework of the conference, a documentary film on the genocide against the Kurds (Kurdistan TV) was shown on the first day (visitors could then watch it in a special amphitheatre that was held for this purpose); a series of photographs and artwork were exhibited and singers Diyari Qaradaghi and Melek performed Kurdish songs about Anfal. More than 60 papers were received by the ministries organizing the event; however, the time limit only allowed 37 to be presented. The papers will be published in a book on the subject and another conference will take place in Europe in the near future.

On Monday, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani visited the conference.

An interview on trauma and national identity

The Globe spoke with Dr. Zafer Yörük, a lecturer at the University of Kurdistan-Hawler and a specialist in identity politics, about the Kurdish genocide and the process of Kurdish nation-building, and it was discovered that in a nation-building process, such as the one Kurdistan is currently undergoing, there is more than meets the eye.

Dr. Yörük, what do you think of the International Conference on the Genocide against the Kurds?

"A few weeks ago, we witnessed the burial ceremony of the remains of victims, and this conference that followed shows both that the genocide and particularly the memories of Anfal are still fresh... this makes me fairly confident that the genocide can be called what in psychoanalysis is a trauma and in this case a collective one."

What is collective trauma?

"Trauma is a medical word used widely in the field of orthopedics to refer to the moment to define the cause of a broken leg or arm. When used as a psychiatric term, trauma refers to the same moment or experience, with the only difference being that what is traumatized is the soul and therefore healing the wound requires much more than a mere cast for a couple of weeks. In the case of collective trauma, we are talking about a different kind of scar, more so, because it was experienced collectively." Dr. Yörük explained: "Traumas determine our behavior usually in the form of a personality disorder. People repress their trauma; that is, they try to forget them and think that they never happened, but in reality the scars of the past traumas survive in our unconscious and come to the surface without us realizing it. For example, people who cannot cope with boundaries and authority in their adult lives definitely carry serious scars inflicted upon their souls by their fathers. Now, families and communities can share a collective trauma even though they have never experienced it themselves."

Can you be more specific?

"Older generations, who have experienced a trauma collectively, like the Kurds did, cannot repress; that is, they cannot simply ignore it, try to forget it and thus they 'speak it' to the younger generation in order to cope with it. This collective transmission is similar to what we call repression in the case of the individual. Vamik Volkan, an American psychiatrist, provides us with an interesting example when he discusses the Long March of the Red Indians. When a reporter interviewed a Navajo Red Indian on the subject, it was as if the interviewee was referring to an event that had taken place yesterday, but the journalist soon realized that the Long March had actually occurred 125 years before. Volkan argued that, for the Red Indians, the Long March is as real as the rising sun in the morning, even though they might not have experienced it themselves, even if it was an event that took place more than a century ago...the older generations projected their experiences to the younger ones and thus shaped the latter. So much so that the trauma itself has become the major collective bond that united the Red Indian community together; it has become the major plaster of a social identity. The problem with this style of building collective/national identity lies in what I said above. The scars of trauma have many negative effects on human behavior; they result in serious personality disorders. Therefore, if the genocide ends up as the most important factor of the Kurdish national identity, then there are dangers ahead...."

Are you implying that the Kurds should forget? And what do you mean by dangers? What are they?

"No, no, on the contrary...Kurds should be invited not to forget; that is, to remember what happened. But they should also be invited to forgive. From the beginning of the history of the 'person' and of the 'word' we have learned that the best way of coping with trauma is remembering it; that is, not repressing it, but at the same time trying to find ways to forgive those responsible. The beloved Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, for example, who was murdered last year outside his office in Istanbul, was well aware of this problem. In every public interview he gave, Dink systematically called on his people not to rely on the Armenian genocide for the existence of the Armenian nation and that is because he knew very well the potential disorders of such a practice. What are those disorders, you may ask? If you look at the emerging Turkish nationalist discourse preceding 1915, then you can see that the sole element that it relied on was some trauma that the Turkic-Islamic peoples of Central Asia, the Balkans and Caucasus had experienced during the 19th century. When these elements arrived in Anatolia from Russia and the Balkans, they not only brought with them a shared traumatic scar but also the feeling of revenge and compensation for what they had been through. It is precisely the reliance on a trauma in the Turkish nation-building that resulted in the Armenian genocide. The hatred and the consequent search for revenge and compensation were all projected onto the Christian peoples of Anatolia, particularly the Armenians, even though the only thing the Armenian population shared with the perpetrators of the past was that of religion; they were Christians. It is exactly this vicious circle, this chain of events that I am talking about. What I have said so far can be summarized as follows: In the process of nation-building, a collective trauma may be 'selected' to play a positive bonding role, but such selection also means the emergence of 'collective personality disorders.' Simply put, if the Kurdish nation insists on building itself by relying on the trauma of the genocide, then the potential danger of seeking compensation is very real. The Kurds should definitely remember, but they should also forgive."

What would you propose then?

When we are talking of building a community, a nation, then peoples' minds usually go back to the beginning of the 19th century, when nation-states and nationalism were mushrooming. When nationalism emerged, there were particular circumstances, such as modernity, new technologies and alienation. Almost 30 years have passed since Benedict Anderson showed that the nation is not natural, something that existed and exists 'just like that'; rather, it is what he called 'an imagined community.' Hobsbawm defined nation as 'an invented community' and I would rather call it 'a fabricated community.' Now, nationalism draws on both positive and negative aspects: The positive are usually a glorious past that is being reclaimed for today; for instance, Kurdish nationalist discourse refers to the glorious Med Empire, and the Kawa rebellion against the tyrant Dohak, and relates all these events to the Kurdish New Year (Newroz). It is these aspects that are imagined to be somehow shaping and determining the Kurdish identity of today. The Anfal and the genocide in general adds the traumatic dimension in play....No one should be allowed to deny that the genocide is as real as the rising sun, borrowing from Volkan's abovementioned example, but building an identity by emphasizing the genocide is a recipe full with traps. I think that in the 21st century the best way of creating a polity isn't by relying on methods left over by the 19th century, but to seriously activate and promote the norms of citizenship, solidarity and trust, as the primary bonds to cement a community together as one, the precondition of which are participation, accountability and transparency."

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Turkey blackmails U.S. presidential hopefuls

2008-01-30T10:01:00.000-05:00

30.01.2008
PanARMENIAN.Net

Levent Bilman, spokesman for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Turkey “feels regret over recent statements of the U.S. presidential candidates supporting the Armenian stance on the events of 1915.”

The press release issued by Bilman said, "The attempts to cast a shadow over our history in the name of competition among candidates within a political party, deeply hurts the Turkish nation. We invite the U.S. presidential candidate nominees to act responsibly in regards to both the past and future, to pay attention not to hurt an ally country and its nation with baseless statements, and keep in mind in this respect the delicacy of the Turkish-American relations," Anatolia News Agency reports.

Democrat presidential hopefuls Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards voiced support for the Armenian Genocide resolution and pledged to recognize the Armenian Genocide if elected President.

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A hell for free souls!

2008-01-30T09:42:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Turkish Daily News, Turkey
Orhan Kemal CENGIZ

Openness is the only cure for Turkey. Unfortunately for Turkey there is a price to pay for openness and that is the TRUTH about its past.

We cannot progress in solving our free speech problem at all. It is like a nightmare. The AKP (Justice and Development Party) has totally failed to make any significant change in Article 301. What they are proposing, as fellow columnist Yusuf Kanlı has wisely stated, is no reform, but an attempt to deceive. I accept that unless mentality changes the 301(s) will always be replaced by something else. But there is blood over this article, it turned into a terrible sin; it is a symbolic duty, a moral obligation for this government to get rid of this article.

The judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeals in the case against Orhan Pamuk, clearly showed that the judiciary has no intention to change its stance toward “denigrating Turkishness.” The Appeal Court comes to the conclusion that every Turkish citizen can bring a compensation case against Pamuk for his remarks about the “Armenian genocide.” This shows that even if we get rid of Article 301, the judiciary will immediately fill this gap with other very strong sanctions from private law. The last ruling of the Appeal Court concluded that 70 million Turks can bring cases against Pamuk because of his “insulting remarks” about Turkishness!

One hundred other 301s

Atilla Yayla received a suspended 15 month prison sentence this Monday because he allegedly mentioned Atatürk by referring to him as “this man/guy.” He has to pay attention to every single word he utters from now on. If he is found guilty once again, he has to serve this one year and three months in addition to the new sentence he receives. He has to remain silent. Will any academic dare say anything about Kemalism from now on then? I do not think so.

I also would like to mention some other cases that you may think are practical jokes.

Lawyer on trial

Once I saw a caricature in a magazine, I cannot remember its name. This caricature still vividly exists in my mind. In the first scene we saw a man who was hanged on a wall with his wrists cuffed. He says, “I know my rights, call my lawyer.” In the second scene we have a broader perspective and realize that there is another man beside him hanging on the wall like him, saying, “I am here.” This caricature has always reminded me of my dear friend Tahir Elçi, who is one of the frontline fighters of human rights in Turkey. In 1999 we were attending hearings in the European Court of Human Rights. Tahir was following the most horrific cases in southeastern Turkey. I was trying to help him before the European Court. We attended the hearings before the court in the Özkan and others vs. Turkey case, which was one of the most tragic village destruction cases the court had ever handled. One month later, I was representing Tahir before the European Court in the case Tahir Elçi and others vs. Turkey, in which the torture and mistreatment Tahir and his friends suffered was being reviewed by the court. It was a funny experience for all of us. He was the lawyer of the plaintiffs in a hearing and just one month later he was a plaintiff himself, giving testimony regarding his own case in another hearing in front of the same court.

Tahir has always followed the most difficult cases in Turkey and of course he has never been away from trouble. One of the recent cases he has been following is Uğur Kaymaz's case that concerns the extra judicial killing of 12-year-old Uğur and his father in front of their house in Mardin Kızıltepe in the Southeast. The police claimed that there was an exchange of fire between the deceased “terrorists” and themselves. However, forensic examination showed that both victims were shot from behind. Eskişehir Criminal Court was handling this case, but what happened in the end was that the members of the special forces who carried out this operation were acquitted. However, Elçi is now being tried because of his alleged “attempt to influence a fair trial.” After one of the hearings in the Kaymaz case, Tahir had given the following statement to the press: “We have not seen a fair attitude from the judges. They were insensitive toward our demands. We want a unbiased trial, we want justice.” This is the statement that put him on trial.

Sometimes I see Turkey as a surrealist country. Where else could this happen? The accused, in an apparent extra judicial case, have been acquitted but the lawyer of the victims put on trial with charges of “attempting to influence a fair trial” in a country in which the “real influencers” have never been tried.

Another surrealist case

Nalan Erkem was the member of board of directors of the İzmir Bar Association and she was responsible for the bar's “Torture Prevention Committee.” I had the privilege to work with her in this committee that we established together. As a result of its work, many cases of torture were brought to daylight and many cases were filed against the security forces that allegedly mistreated people under custody. On Nov. 5-6, 2003 there was an attempted revolt in the children dormitories of İzmir's Buca Prison. Nalan and some other lawyers went to prison to find out what had been happening there. They spoke to children and recorded their testimonies. The children had claimed that the gendarmeries forces and the guards beat them and they were kept in the cells stripped naked. The lawyers also noted that there were bruises and lesions on their faces and bodies. After exhausting attempts to bring the grievances of these children to the attention of the relevant authorities in İzmir and receiving no response to their applications, the lawyers sent a petition to the then minister of justice. Nalan had also held a press conference and read out this petition to the members of the press. Again, the accused who allegedly mistreated the juveniles in the prison were acquitted but Nalan, an anonymous heroine in the Turkish human rights movement, is on trial. The prosecutor argued that by holding this press conference, Erkem abused her duties.

In short, our freedom of expression problem is not limited to Article 301 and Turkey has become a hell for free souls!

Note:

The next hearing in Tahir Elçi's case is tomorrow and it is before the Eskişehir Court for Serious Crimes in Eskişehir at 9:00 am. The first hearing in Nalan Erkem's case will be held on Feb. 27 at 11:00 am in the fourth branch of the Court for Serious Crimes in İzmir.

* The writer can be reached at orhan.kemal@tdn.com.tr

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.

Memorial attacked night before service

2008-01-28T09:19:00.000-05:00

Jan 28 2008
ic Wales, United Kingdom
by Katie Bodinger, South Wales Echo

A MONUMENT set up in Cardiff to remember 1.5 million Armenians who were massacred in 1915 was vandalised ahead of a service for all the victims of genocide.

The memorial in the Temple of Peace, Cathays, Cardiff, made of sandstone and Welsh slate, was struck with a sledgehammer on Saturday night, smashing the cross off it.

Yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day and a service was held to remember all those who have died at the hands of ethnic cleansing.

Members of the Turkish community have condemned the damage.

Caerphilly Councillor Ray Davies, who campaigned for the Armenian monument to be erected, said many people at the service yesterday were close to tears when they saw what had happened.

“The desecration of the monument reminds us that we must always be vigilant against racism and hatred which is never far from the surface,” he said.

The pillar of pink stone was unveiled in November to remember all those Armenians who were murdered by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

It caused controversy at the time, with members of the Turkish community denying the killings amounted to genocide.

The sledgehammer which damaged the monument was found close to the scene yesterday.

But the service still went ahead as planned, despite protests from a small number of people who shouted through loud hailers.

Director of the Welsh Centre for International Affairs Stephen Thomas said: “It was particularly saddening for the Armenians present that this happened on the day of the Holocaust Memorial Day. This service wasn’t specific to the Armenians. We were trying to be all-inclusive about all those historical events where people have been massacred. It wasn’t very helpful in terms of trying to create a bridge and links between Turkey and Armenia that this was carried out. People were upset when they turned up and saw what had happened.”

Hal Savas, a member of the five-man delegation from the Committee for the Protection of Turkish Rights, was present at the service.

“Whoever has done it should be ashamed of themselves,” he said. “We would condemn any damage done to any religious monument.”

South Wales Police are appealing for witnesses. Contact them on 029 20222111.

katie.bodinger@mediawales.co.uk

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A Victorious Knight

2008-01-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

28 Jan. 2008
Washington Post, United States

Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Levon Aronian of Armenia won the elite Corus grandmaster tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, yesterday with an 8-5 score. They edged world champion Vishy Anand of India and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan by a half point.

A Victorious Knight

It is Carlsen's best result of his young career, and the 17-year-old Norwegian made it to the top with a roller-coaster finish. Being in the lead, he lost to Anand but recovered by beating former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia. In the dynamic English Hedgehog, Carlsen outplayed his opponent mixing tactics with a positional squeeze. The most remarkable piece in that game was Carlsen's king's knight, circling the board until it finally sealed Kramnik's fate.

[...]

Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia won the Corus B-group with a 9 1/2 -3 1/2 score and will play in the top group next year. Fabiano Caruana, the 15-year-old Italian champion who grew up in the United States, dominated the C-group with a 10-3 score. Ljubomir Ljubojevic of Serbia prevailed at the tournament of veteran grandmasters with a 4-2 score.

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Küçük gives the orders to kill

2008-01-27T18:53:00.000-05:00

Sunday, 27 January 2008
Sabah, Turkey

Veli Küçük, who has been arrested for managing the Ergenekon terrorist organization, has been accused of giving the orders for five murders.

Retired general Veli Küçük has been sent to the Kartal prison. The search of his private property, including an agenda and computer, revealed a six-step plan involving a coup in 2009. The Ergenekon terrorist organization's management schema was also defined name by name.

Six-step coup plan

It has turned out that the leader of the Ergenekon organization, Veli Küçük, gave the orders for five murders including Dink. A six-step plan for a coup in 2009 has also been revealed.

It has turned out that the leader of the Ergenekon organization, Veli Küçük, who has been sent to prison, gave the orders for five murders including Dink and four other attacks. A search of his private propoerty, including an agenda and computer, revealed a six-step plan involving a coup in 2009. It is claimed that Küçük also ordered the murders of Hablemitoğlu, Hrant Dink, the murders in Malatya, the İbrahim Çiftçi assassination and the attacks on the State Council. Küçük stated that the murders in Malatya and the assassinations of Dink and Çiftçi are entirely provocative, however, the assassination of Necip Hablemitoğlu was done upon the request of the German intelligence agency BNG. The Board of Directors made the decisions about the murders in Malatya and the assassinations of Dink and Çiftçi and the order was transmitted through the chain of command.

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.

The Legalization of the Anfal Campaign as Genocide and A Crime against Humanity

2008-01-27T13:21:00.000-05:00

January 26, 2008
Kurdish Aspect, CO
Kurdishaspect.com - By Dr. Nouri Talabany

Genocide is the greatest crime against humanity since its express purpose is the annihilation of a chosen group of people who have their own distinctive culture, and those guilty of this crime must be punished. The Ba'athist regime in Iraq, for about thirty years, committed a great many crimes against the people of Kurdistan, some of which are considered as genocide and crimes against humanity since they did, indeed, target a particular group of people with the express intention of exterminating them. The main perpetrators of these crimes and their accomplices, whether ordinary individuals or those in positions of power, are equally culpable, no matter the reasons for the crime – be they political, social, religious or any other.1

Genocide is considered an international crime. In an international document, signed in Paris, in December 9th, 1948, and rectified by the Iraqi Government in January 20th, 1959, defining the crime of genocide and aiming to prevent and punish the perpetrators of this crime, the General Assembly of the United Nations designated it a crime against humanity and asked that its perpetrators be indicted before either an international or internal court.

The "Anfal" is named after a sura of the Quran. It was a genocidal campaign in which the Ba'athist regime sought to exterminate the Kurds. In Iraqi Kurdistan it resulted in the deaths of more than 180,000 civilians, most of whom were buried alive in the desert near the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. They were killed, not because they were involved in an armed struggle with the Iraqi government, but simply because they were Kurds. The majority were villagers and some were taken from concentration camps where they had existed in appalling conditions since being forced from their villages. Their killers made no distinction between men and women, young and old, healthy and infirm; their aim was their annihilation. The consequences are long-term and far-reaching and affect almost every family in Kurdistan. Families knew nothing of the fate of their loved ones and had no means of discovering their whereabouts. It created enormous social problems, as women had no means of knowing whether their husbands were dead or alive and so could not remarry, and many children were orphaned. Some of the elderly and infirm were eventually released; they know what happened and are eye witnesses to this atrocity. Approximately 100 of them gave evidence to the Iraqi High Criminal Court when the accused were tried.2

The Iraqi High Criminal Court, in a decision taken on the 24th June, 2007, decided that the Anfal was genocide according to the internationally accepted definition as stated in the Convention of 1948 to which Iraq was a signatory. This recognition that Anfal was genocide is long overdue. This High Criminal Court, which tried some of the higher echelons of the Ba'athist regime, sentenced most of the accused to death. All those who are guilty of complicity in this crime, be they leaders or collaborators, Arabs or Kurds must be put on trial. Throughout history, the Kurds have suffered greatly while the outside world remained largely uncaring, but the Anfal operation was carried out openly, with assistance from some large European companies who supplied the chemicals, so that no one can plead ignorance, nor can we forget.

The Anfal campaign is comparable to other horrendous genocides, such as that of the Armenians during the First World War and the Holocaust in which millions of Jew were exterminated by the Nazis.3

When the trial of the accused began, I hoped that some international expert in genocide and crimes against humanity would assist the lawyers defending the families of the Anfal victims. Most Kurdish lawyers have no experience of dealing with crimes of such magnitude, since they have been cut off from the outside world as a result of the political isolation of Kurdistan for many years. Most of the state administration, both military and civil, and including different organisations of the Ba'ath Party, share the guilt for this crime. The Iraqi state is legally responsible for the Anfal operation and its consequences, as it is also responsible for the repayment of loans to many states, companies, and even some individuals, outside Iraq. Most of these loans were used to finance the wars that the Ba'athist regime began illegally against neighbouring countries like Iran and Kuwait, or to subjugate their own people. Currently, many of these countries, companies and individuals are still being repaid. In the same way, Iraq must undertake responsibility for compensating the relatives of the Anfal victims. Some government officials and their supporters make the excuse that the Ba'athist regime made no distinction between the killing of Kurds or Arabs, but they choose to forget that the express purpose of the Anfal, in which most state organisations participated, was the annihilation of the Kurds. Again, we must ask why the Iraqi government accepts responsibility for the repayment of these loans to the Ba'athist regime, yet appears not to be responsible for compensating the families of the victims of the Anfal because they are Iraqis.

During the Second World War, the Nazis killed millions of Jews. After

the war, the elected government of West Germany, led by Konrad Adenauer, compensated the families of those killed although it was in no way responsible for Hitler's crimes.4 For about ten years, it even compensated the state of Israel which was seen as having inherited those who lost everything and everyone in the Holocaust.

The German government asked the Jewish people for forgiveness and, in the same way, the Iraqi state must ask forgiveness of the people of Kurdistan and the relatives of the Anfal victims. This must be done by an Act of Parliament. This is a vital safeguard because, if it is done simply by a letter from the Prime Minister or by a declaration by his government, it would leave the way open for a future government to refuse to honour any decision taken by their predecessors. In fact, just such a situation occurred on June 26th 1966, when the government of General Naji Talib refused to honour the Declaration of the government of Dr. Abdul Rahaman Bazaz which set out the steps to be taken to peacefully resolve the Kurdish issue at that time.

In Arbil, in April 2002, at a Conference on the Anfal Operation, I proposed that the government and parliament of the Kurdistan region should ask the Iraqi state to ask forgiveness from the people of Kurdistan when Sadam's regime ended, and that it should then compensate the relatives of the Anfal victims. The Conference approved my proposal but, more than four years after the fall of the Ba'athist regime, no such action has been taken. In May 2007, I made the same proposal to the Parliament of Kurdistan in a session specially convened to discuss the crime of the Anfal campaign, hoping that they would act upon it. More recently in a seminar held in Arbil in July 2007, attended by many MPs from the Iraqi parliament and the acting Speaker and MPs from the Kurdistan parliament, I directed my words at the acting Speaker of the Iraqi parliament, stressing on reconciliation even for the past,5 but I added that forgiving does not mean forgetting because it is difficult to erase such crimes from memory.6 Asking forgiveness does not imply that either the Iraqi people or the present government are responsible for the Anfal operation, just as the German people and government, after the Nazi regime, were not responsible for the Holocaust. It is time for the Parliament and political parties of Kurdistan to insist on the Iraqi parliament asking forgiveness because, if the demands of our people are not met now, it is unlikely that this will happen in the future.

Before the fall of the Ba'athist regime, the Kurdish activists of the Diaspora, together with some international human rights organisations, e.g. Middle East Watch and Amnesty International, some MPs from several European countries and senators and representatives in the US, tried to persuade the international community that the crime of the Anfal operation was genocide. This was recognized by a Special Iraqi Court which, after examining the documents and hearing the evidence of the surviving relatives of the Anfal victims, convicted some high-ranking officials of the Ba'athist regime of genocide, crimes against humanity and even war crimes and condemned most of them to death. The result of these crimes was the death of more than 180,000 Kurdish civilians and the destruction of more than 4000 villages and small towns. The attack on Halabja in 1988 was not the only instance of the use of chemical weapons. They were used in several areas, from 1986 onwards, against civilians who refused to leave their mountain villages. These villages proved inaccessible to Iraqi troops so chemical weapons were used to destroy them.

The international community must take note of the findings of the Special Iraqi Court and act whenever and wherever any middle-eastern government threatens their Kurdish populations with a repetition of these crimes. The Holocaust and the Armenian genocide have been condemned by some European parliaments and the crime of "Anfal" must be similarly condemned.

1 For more details see Nouri Talabany, The Crime of Genocide (in Arabic), Al Kaza, organ of the Union of Barristers in Iraq (Nikabet Al – Muhameen), Vol.3, 1970.

2) Al Mahkama al Ginaya al -Ulia), established by Law No (10), in 2005.

3 "The Forgotten Holocaust", the Independent, 28th August, 2007. Robert Fisk's special report on the Armenian genocide, with previously unpublished images.

4 Konrad Adenauer, German Christian Democrat Politician, Chancellor of West Germany 1949-1963.

5 The Conference was on (Practical Federalism in Iraq), held in Arbil on 10 – 15 July 2007. It was organised by both (International Alliance for Justice) and (No Peace without Justice) and attended by many experts in constitutional law from several federal states, e.g., Canada, the USA, India, Belgium, and Australia, plus representatives of many civil organisations in Iraq and Kurdistan.

6 In the Introduction to the 2nd edition of my book, "Attempts to Change the Ethnic-National Composition of the Kirkuk Region", London, 1999, in Arabic, I expressed these sentiments, hoping that the Iraqi government which would come to power at the end of the Ba'athist regime would end the policy of the Arabization of the Kirkuk region as a step to reconciliation, though this does not mean that the victims of that policy will forget.

Nouri Talabany, Professor of Law and Member of the Kurdish Academy, Independent MP in the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region.

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.

Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards voices support to Armenian Genocide Resolution

2008-01-26T07:34:00.000-05:00

26.01.2008
PanARMENIAN.Net

Former North Carolina Senator and Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards added his voice to the list of Presidential candidates calling for passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In his January 24th letter to the ANCA, Sen. Edwards stated that, "I support the Congressional resolution declaring the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 a genocide."

Edwards went on to note that, "we must also continue to strengthen our relationship with Turkey, an important democratic ally against the forces of tyranny in the region." Remarking on U.S.-Armenia relations, Edwards stated that, "As President, I will prioritize our special relationship with Armenia and the goal of a lasting peace to Nagorno Karabakh and the entire region."

As a Senator, John Edwards cosponsored successive Armenian Genocide Resolutions beginning in 2002. He also supported Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan due to its ongoing blockades of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. His advocacy on behalf of the family of 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who died after her insurance company denied funding for a liver transplant, has been warmly received by Armenian Americans around the country.

! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».

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Hillary Clinton Supports Adoption of Armenian Genocide Resolution; Pledges to Recognize Genocide as President

2008-01-24T16:18:00.000-05:00

January 24, 2008
ANCA

Hillary Clinton Supports Adoption of Armenian Genocide Resolution; Pledges to Recognize Genocide as President

“Our common morality and our nation’s credibility as a voice or human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress and the President of the United States.” -- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON, DC – Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, in a forceful statement shared today with the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), called for Congressional passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution and pledged that, as President, she will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

"Armenian Americans from across the United States welcome Hillary Clinton's strong support for the adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, and her pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide as President of the United States," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "Hillary Clinton's statement, which reflects her consistent track record of support in public office, speaks powerfully to our community's deeply held concerns regarding the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the expansion of the U.S.-Armenia relationship, and a fair and democratic resolution of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict."

As a Senator, Hillary Clinton has, since 2002, has cosponsored successive Armenian Genocide resolutions. She joined Senate colleagues in cosigning letters to President Bush in 2005 and 2006 urging him to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

In recent weeks, the ANCA has invited each of the candidates to share their views on Armenian Americans issues, and to comment on both the growing relationship between the U.S. and Armenian governments and the enduring bonds between the American and Armenian peoples. Questionnaires sent to the candidates have invited them to respond to a set of 19 questions, including those addressing: affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, U.S.-Armenia economic, political, and military relations, self-determination for Nagorno Karabagh, the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, and the genocide in Darfur. Presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) issued a statement earlier this week.

Armenian Americans, in key primary states and throughout the country, represent a motivated and highly networked constituency of more than one and a half million citizens. The ANCA mobilizes Armenian American voters through a network of over 50 chapters and a diverse array of affiliates, civic advocates, and supporters nationwide. ANCA mailings reach over a quarter of a million homes, and, with the addition of email outreach, action alerts reach well over 500,000 households. The ANCA website, which features election coverage from an Armenian American point of view, attracts over 100,000 unique visits a month. The ANCA also has broad reach to Armenian American voters via a sophisticated media operation of newspapers, regional cable shows, satellite TV, blogs, and internet news sites.

To learn more about the Hillary Clinton campaign, contact:
Hillary Clinton for President
4420 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
Tel: 703-469-2008
Website: www.hillaryclinton.com

As always, the ANCA welcomes feedback on its service to the Armenian American community. Please forward your thoughts and suggestions about the 2008 Presidential election by email to anca@anca.org.

#####

Statement of Senator Hillary Clinton on the U.S.-Armenia Relationship

Alone among the Presidential candidates, I have been a longstanding supporter of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. I have been a co-sponsor of the Resolution since 2002, and I support adoption of this legislation by both Houses of Congress.

I believe the horrible events perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians constitute a clear case of genocide. I have twice written to President Bush calling on him to refer to the Armenian Genocide in his annual commemorative statement and, as President, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide. Our common morality and our nation’s credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress and the President of the United States.

If the mass atrocities of the 20th Century have taught us anything it is that we must honestly look the facts of history in the face in order to learn their lessons, and ensure they will not happen again. It is not just about the past, but about our future. We must close the gap between words and deeds to prevent mass atrocities. That is why I am a supporter of the Responsibility to Protect. As President, I will work to build and enhance U.S. and international capacity to act early and effectively to prevent mass atrocities. The Bush administration’s words of condemnation have not been backed with leadership to stop the genocide in Darfur. I support a no-fly-zone over Darfur. I have championed strong international action to ensure that the government of Sudan can no longer act with impunity, or interfere with the international peacekeeping force, which is essential for the protection of the people of Darfur.

I value my friendship with our nation’s vibrant Armenian-American community. This is in keeping with my dedication to the causes of the Armenian-American community over many years. I was privileged as First Lady to speak at the first-ever White House gathering in 1994 for leaders from Armenia and the Armenian-American community to celebrate the historic occasion of Armenia’s reborn independence. I said at the time that America will stand with you as you realize what the great Armenian poet, Puzant Granian, called the Armenian’s dream “to be left in peace in his mountains, to build, to dream, to create.”

I will, as President, work to expand and improve U.S.-Armenia relations in addressing the common issues facing our two nations: increasing trade, fostering closer economic ties, fighting terrorism, strengthening democratic institutions, pursuing our military partnership and deepening cooperation with NATO, and cooperating on regional concerns, among them a fair and democratic resolution of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict. As President, I will expand U.S. assistance programs to Armenia and to the people of Nagorno-Karabagh.

I look forward, as President, to continuing to work with the Armenian-American community on the many domestic and international challenges we face together, and to build on the strong foundations of shared values that have long brought together the American and Armenian peoples.

Turkey should improve freedom of speech

2008-01-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

24.01.2008
PanARMENIAN.Net

"If Turkey ever wants to be part of Europe, it has to improve its record concerning freedom of religion and expression,” said leader of the Dutch Christian Democratic faction, Pieter van Geel. The Dutch Christian Democrats support Turkish membership of the European Union in principle.

In 2006 the Dutch parliament adopted a law recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Presently, the majority of parliamentarians call on the Turkish government to repeal article 301 which restricts freedom of speech.

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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.

Erdogan advises Obama to outgrow amateur talk

2008-01-24T15:25:00.000-05:00

1/23/2008
Turkish Press, MI

If I were Erdogan I wouldn't say “A day may come when you will have to choose between 70 million Turkey and two million Armenia. One has to think carefully before uttering such words. I suggest that he outgrow the amateur period of his political career,”. Let me ask you Erdogan how much does the 70 million Turkey contribute to the USA economy compared to the one million Armenian Americans? I let you have the pleasure to answer this question.

ANKARA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan dubbed Barack Obama, one of the Democratic frontrunners in the U.S. presidential elections who promised to recognize the killing of Armenians in 1915 as “genocide,” an amateur of politics without explicitly mentioning his name.

“Presidential elections campaigns continue in the United States. Some politicians` discourse demonstrates that they do not have an adequate knowledge of their country`s policies,” said Erdogan in his Justice and Development Party (AKP) meeting yesterday. He noted that Turkey nurtured good relations and a strategic partnership with the United States. “Everybody knows that adoption of such a resolution would cause irreparable damage to Turkish-American relations,” Erdogan said. Ankara-Washington relations cannot be subdued by lobbies, slander and petty internal political calculations, Erdogan said. “A day may come when you will have to choose between 70 million Turkey and two million Armenia. One has to think carefully before uttering such words. I suggest that he outgrow the amateur period of his political career,” he said.

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.

U.S. Congressmen honored the memory of Hrant Dink

2008-01-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

24.01.2008
PanARMENIAN.Net

The Armenian Assembly of America commends Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Caucus Member Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) for calling on Turkey to honor the memory of journalist and human rights activist Hrant Dink by repealing Article 301 of the Turkish penal code.

In separate remarks on the House floor yesterday, both lawmakers commemorated the first anniversary of Dink’s assassination on an Istanbul street in broad daylight on January 19, 2007. Before his murder, Dink was awaiting trial for allegedly violating Article 301 which outlaws "insulting Turkishness," for his writings on the Armenian Genocide.

Pallone noted that Turkey continues to persecute and incarcerate people for exercising their universal right of freedom of speech.

"Turkey uses intimidation to deny its citizens their right to freedom of expression," Pallone stated. "It lobbies for its so-called rightful role in the international community and a place in the European Union. Yet it does not live up to democratic principles and standards."

"We appreciate the efforts of Congressmen Pallone and Royce in bringing this important issue to the forefront of Congress," said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. "It is vital that America demonstrates its commitment to human rights, and fundamental freedoms to the rest of the world."

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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.

Another prosecution against Agos journalists

2008-01-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

24 January 2008
Reporters without borders (press release), France

Reporters Without Borders condemns the charges that have been brought against the owner of the Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, Serkis Seropyan, and its new editor, Aris Nalci, because of a 9 November editorial criticising the one-year suspended prison sentences passed the previous month on Seropyan, former editor Arat Dink, and two other journalists, Aydin Engin and Karin Karakashli.

According to a press report on 16 January, Seropyan and Nalci were summoned by an Istanbul prosecutor and ordered to pay a fine of 23,500 euros because of the editorial. When they refused, the prosecutor said they would be tried for “attempted obstruction of justice” under article 288 of the criminal code, which carries a maximum penalty of four a half years in prison. Reporters Without Borders regards this prosecution as yet another case of improper use of the press law.

The one-year suspended sentence was imposed on the four journalists for reprinting an interview that Dink’s father, then Agos editor Hrant Dink, gave to Reuters in 2006 in which he said the massacres of Armenians from 1915 to 1917 constituted genocide. Hrant Dink was murdered in January 2007.

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.

Sour taste of Sudanese visit

2008-01-24T09:54:00.000-05:00

Thursday, January 24, 2008
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

If Turkey were repentant on the Armenian genocide it would have recognized the Darfur genocide instead of courting the Sudan's perpetrator of the genocide.

Sudanese President Omar Hasan al-Bashir's visit to Turkey has shocked international relations experts who openly condemn Ankara's top level contacts with a leader held responsible for humanitarian atrocities in his own country.

“One would think Turkey's leaders would be a little more careful before laying down the red carpet for the likes of President Omar al Bashir of Sudan,” said former United States ambassador to Ankara, Morton Abromowitz. The international community considers Bashir as an illegitimate dictator presiding over a pariah state guilty of crimes against humanity, he said.

“He is a seemingly strange bedfellow for Turkey's AKP [Justice and Development Party] trying to prove to many domestic and Western observers of its balanced, well-calibrated foreign policy, and its attachment to international norms,” Abromowitz said.

Last year, defying Turkish state policy of avoiding contacts with Bashir, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Sudanese capital Khartoum and said that “Muslims would commit such murders.”

Bashir is considered to have given a free hand to the Janjaweed, the Arab militia that commits mass killings and systematic violence against Darfur's population to quell the rebellion launched in 2003 by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), representing non-Muslim tribal Africans, and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a movement of African Muslims to claim equal rights.

A peace deal was signed in 2006 between the government and rebel factions in the Darfur region, only to incite divisions between dissident groups and exacerbate violence. In June 2006, three rebel groups including the JEM and part of the SLM/A joined forces to form the National Redemption Front (NRF), which opposes the May 2006 peace agreement. At least 200,000 people have lost their life and 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes as aresult of violence in the region.

Government policy alienates experts

The AKP's attempts to form contacts with the al -Bashir government had been blocked by intense resistance from Foreign Ministry officials who asked President Abdullah Gül, at the time foreign minister, to ignore the Sudanese leader's requests to visit Turkey.

But they failed to stop Erdoğan from visiting Darfur in March 2006 to participate in a meeting of the Arab League, where he said that no assimilation or genocide was committed in Darfur.

International relations expert Soli Özel dubbed the visit as “foreign policy fantasies of the government” and lamented the decision to welcome Bashir in Ankara.

“The government claims to be able to speak about everything with everyone. This is nonsense and is a shame to Turkey,” said Özel.

Abromowitz pointed to Turkey's endeavor to persuade the international community that there was no Armenian ''genocide'' in 1915 and noted that Bashir's visit will reduce the persuasiveness of Turkey's thesis.

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.

Is A Long Overdue Controversy Finally Settled: Aram Andonian's Infamous Naim Bey's Real Identity Is Now Considered Revealed

2008-01-24T09:27:00.000-05:00

Friday, January 18, 2008
BY PROF. GARABET K MOUMDJIAN

Armenian Genocide historian Dr. Hilmar Kaiser has set himself as an authority of the Armenian Genocide during the past decade. The bulk of his research is conducted in primary archival material. As of 2005, Kaiser is meticulously conducting research at the Directorate of Ottoman Archives in Istanbul (This interviewer also has been conducting research there since 2005), Turkey, which is now open to historians worldwide, after a 10 year hiatus. When he emailed me regarding his findings about the identity of the infamous Naim Bey, I was more than compelled to conduct this interview with him. Naim Bey was the source of the telegrams that presented proof of the intentional genocidal policies of the Young Turk government and especially that of Talaat Pasha, then Minister of Interior of the Ottoman Empire. Andonian, a journalist and himself a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, published his famous "Naim Bey's Memoirs"1 in 1920. Since the 1980's The Turkish side has devoted much time and effort to undermine the authenticity of Naim Bey's telegrams. Moreover, Turkish scholars have gone as far as to proclaim that Naim Bey himself is nothing more than a fictitious character and perhaps a figment of Andonian's imagination.

Garabet Moumdjian:Let' s start with the quintessential question: Who
was Naim Bey?
Hilmar Kaiser: According to Aram Andonian, Naim Bey was an Ottoman official who had been involved in the Armenian deportations from Aleppo to Der Zor. After the war, he supplied confidential information and a series of documents and renditions of documents to Aram Andonian. The information and the materials were later published by Andonian together with a part of his own memoirs in 1920.

G.M.: And who was Aram Andonian?
H.K.: Aram Andonian was a well-known journalist in Constantinople. On April 24, 1915, he was arrested together with other Armenian intellectuals, politicians, clergy, businessmen, and Armenians who had been taken due to a confusion of names. Luckily for Andonian, he belonged to the group that was detained at Tchankiri. This group had better chances of survival than those at Ayash, who were almost all killed. Andonian escaped from deportation and spent time in hiding in Aleppo. He was one of the first Armenians to secure evidence on the genocide. His papers are kept at the Nubarian library in Paris and are of supreme importance for research on the Armenian Genocide.

G.M.: Why is the identity of Naim Bey so important?
H.K.: Evidently it is critical to identify all officials that were involved in the Armenian Genocide, particularly those who were responsible for the execution of the deportations. This holds truer for Naim Bey as he was Aram Andonian's informant and the data provided by him stands today at the core of an important debate.

G.M.: What is this debate about?
H.K.: For decades, Naim's information and the documents he supplied were seen as the principle proof for the Armenian Genocide. In 1983, Turkish authors published a book doubting the veracity of the documents and Naim Bey's existence.2

G.M.: What were their arguments?
H.K.: The two authors brought forward a number of technical aspects. For instance, they claimed that Talaat's signature on the documents were fake. And, indeed, the signatures were not Talaat's. But this fact was misunderstood by many. After all, the materials carrying Talaat's "signature" were supposedly telegrams received by officials in Aleppo. They were not faxes or letters, so it was impossible to have Talaat's original signature on the papers. The authors also compared the style of central authority documents with the work of provincial scribes.

G.M.: Was all criticism answered?
H.K.: Not really. The two authors rightly pointed out that we do not have access to any of the originals. They were either lost or misplaced. This fact severely limits the value of the material for historians. I, for my own part, use Aram Andonian's own memoirs in my work but do not engage the documents. The Turkish authors also claimed that Naim Bey never existed as they had not found a personnel file for him.

G.M.: Did you find Naim Bey's file?
H.K.: No. The two Turkish authors seem to have thought that Naim must have been an official of the central authorities. But recent research in the Ottoman archives showed that many, if not most, of the Ottoman officials working around Aleppo and along the Euphrates had been locally hired, even as part-timers, and they were temporary employed for the deportation work. I did not find a personnel file. We have hardly any evidence from the Ottoman provincial authorities at all. In other words, we depend on incidents were local evidence made its way into the files of the central authorities. In the case of Naim we were lucky that such a case exists.

G.M.: Then, who was Naim Bey?
H.K.: Naim Bey was a relatively young man in 1916. He was 25 or 26 years old, born in Silifke. In 1916, he worked in Meskene as a deportation official responsible for the dispatch of Armenians to Der Zor. At the time a scandal erupted. Some Armenians had succeeded in bribing officials and managed to escape with the latter's help to Aleppo or avoid further deportation towards Der Zor. The authorities in Aleppo got wind of the affair and ordered an inquiry. Naim Bey managed to keep out of trouble but we know from Aram Andonian that he had taken bribes as well.

G.M.: What is the importance of this discovery?
H.K.: The new Ottoman documentation confirms the information Andonian gave to a surprising high degree. This adds considerably to Andonian's credibility even though we still have no originals of the materials supplied by Naim Bey. Moreover, the new evidence confirms that the deportation officials were locally hired. Equally important is to show that the Turkish writers' information is flawed and their research is not the last word on the topic. With the identification of Naim Bey an important stone missing from the mosaic has been uncovered and must be put back in place.

G.M.: Do you expect to find the original documents any time soon?
H.K.: The identification of Naim happened some 25 years after the publication of the Turkish book. This alone shows you how slow progress is. However, it happened 17 years after the start in the Ottoman archives and only three years after the archives became available again, following a 10 year interruption. You, Mr. Moumdjian, have been at the archives and have conducted research there. You know how time consuming the process is. We are able to get only 25documents per day after ordering them a day in advance. It's a tedious process that has to be done anyways.

G.M.: Are you hopeful to find the documents in the future?
H.K.: Today, the Andonian material is not as important for historians as it had been decades ago. The documentation obtained from the Ottoman and other archives has replaced Andonian's publication in current debates. Certainly, Andonian's material could be a 'smoking gun' if proven to be true. But that is not the focus of or a few documents. The crime was highly complex and we need to process large volumes of evidence from a variety of sources. This takes time and is a slow process given the lack of available funding. The identification of Naim Bey is an important step in the right direction but it won't be the last important new finding. It strongly underlines the importance of Ottoman documentation and work in Turkish archives.

G.M.: Lastly, since you identified Naim Bey, can we at least know his real name? Did Aram Andonian use a pseudonym in order to keep his real identity a secret?
H.K.: Garabet, I know why you ask that question? I will elucidate Naim Bey's identity issue through a special lecture with document presentation on my next visit to the Los Angeles area. But for now let me answer by this: It gets even better than you think. Andonian's Naim Bey's name is NAIM BEY.

Turkish nationalists plotted to kill Nobel winner

2008-01-23T16:56:00.000-05:00

23 January 2008
Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
(AFP)

ISTANBUL - Police believe Nobel laureate novelist Orhan Pamuk and Kurdish politicians were on the hit list of an ultranationalist group whose alleged members were detained this week, newspapers reported Wednesday.

Thirty-three people, including retired soldiers, journalists, nationalist lawyers and underworld figures, are being interrogated in Istanbul, prosecutors said in a statement.

They were detained Tuesday as part of a probe into the discovery of hand grenades and bomb detonators in a house in Istanbul in June, the statement said, without giving other details.

Police believe the suspects were planning to assassinate Pamuk, who won the 2006 Nobel literature prize, prominent journalist Fehmi Koru and Kurdish politicians Leyla Zana, Osman Baydemir and Ahmet Turk, the daily Milliyet reported.

Police are also investigating whether the suspects were involved in several politically motivated attacks that shocked Turkey over the past two years, the daily Sabah said.

They include the murders of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Italian Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and a senior judge killed by a gunman who stormed into the country’s top administrative court, the daily said.

Officials said the suspects include Kemal Kerincsiz, a lawyer notorious for initiating legal action against Pamuk, Dink and other intellectuals for disputing the official line on the World War I Ottoman era massacres of Armenians.

Turkey fiercely rejects Armenian claims, backed by several Western countries, that the killings were genocide.

Another prominent detainee is retired general Veli Kucuk, who has been accused of organising extra-judicial killings of Kurds in the 1990s.

The suspects also include a retired colonel, a newspaper columnist, the spokeswoman of the Turkish Orthodox Church and two prominent underworld figures.

Sabah termed the detentions a blow against the ‘deep state’-a term used here to describe members of the security forces acting outside the law to preserve what they consider Turkey’s best interests, often employing the services of the underworld.

Dink’s family claims that the journalist’s self-confessed teenage assassin was incited by people who remain at large and enjoy the protection of some members of the security forces.

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.

British press responsible for false claims about PKK bases in Karabakh

2008-01-22T12:38:00.000-05:00

22.01.2008
PanARMENIAN.Net

Allegations that Nagorno Karabakh had hosted outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) camps are sheer nonsense, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakossian said in an interview with the Cumhuriyet daily. “These false claims appeared in the British press four years ago. Places referred to as camps are in fact Kurdish and Yezidi villages in the region,” he said.

In December 2007 Azerbaijan announced that Kurdish rebels are trained in camps deployed in Nagorno Karabakh.

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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.

Armenia Keeps Up Double-Digit Growth

2008-01-22T11:11:00.000-05:00

Monday 21, January 2008
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia

By Emil Danielyan

Armenia’s economy grew at a double-digit rate in 2007 for the sixth consecutive year on the back of its booming construction and services sectors, according to government data made public on Monday.

Macroeconomic figures released by the National Statistical Service (NSS) show Gross Domestic Product increasing by 13.8 percent to 3.14 trillion drams ($10.2 billion). The resulting inflationary pressures on the economy pushed up consumer prices by an average of 6.6 percent, well above a 4 percent target set by the government and the Central Bank.

As was the case in the previous few years, robust growth was primarily driven by burgeoning construction and services. The two sectors expanded by approximately 20 percent and together accounted for over 38 percent of GDP.

Industry, which generated another 23 percent of GDP, remained the most sluggish sector of the Armenian economy. Its aggregate output was up by only 2.6 percent not least because of a further sharp decline in the country’s diamond-cutting industry, the official statistics show.

The NSS also reported more than 20 percent gains in household incomes and the average wage which now stands at about 77,000 drams ($250) per month. This will be held up by the government as a further indication of rising living standards and declining poverty. The government says the proportion of Armenian living below the poverty line has fallen from about 50 percent to below 27 percent since the start of double-digit growth in 2002.

Opposition politicians and other government critics question the credibility of these figures, saying that the official poverty line is set too low and does not take into account the increased cost of life in Armenia. They also say economic growth is slower than is claimed by the authorities.

The past year also saw Armenia’s trade deficit reach a new high of just over $2 billion as a result of an almost 50 percent jump in imports. Armenian exports rose at a far more modest rate of 23.7 percent to $1.22 billion. Large-scale remittances from Armenians working abroad remain the main source of financing the huge imbalance.

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.

500,000 Californians to register to vote

2008-01-22T10:58:00.000-05:00

Jan 21, 2008
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
By Patricia Farrell Aidem, Staff Writer

I am encouraged by the determination of the Armenian Americans to bring their issues forward still more forcefully in this campaign. Justice is a strong motivator and patience will be rewarded.

[...]
Last week, the Armenian National Committee's West San Fernando Valley chapter announced a "massive voter registration campaign" aimed at doubling the number of registered Armenian-American voters from Granada Hills to Thousand Oaks. A drive was held Sunday in the West Valley.
[...]

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.

Turkish Minister Urges Probe Into Police Role In Dink’s Murder

2008-01-21T16:37:00.000-05:00

Monday 21, January 2008
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Source: AFP

Turkey's justice minister has called for a "serious" probe into claims that security forces were involved in the murder last year of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

"Certain members of the security forces are said to be linked to this murder," Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said in an interview published Monday in the daily Sabah. "Every allegation must be considered a tip-off and seriously investigated," he said.

Thousands marked the first anniversary of Dink's assassination on Saturday with protestors accusing the authorities of ignoring the alleged protection the suspected gunman and his associates received from the police.

"If what they (the police) did was a crime, they must be definitely punished," the minister said.

Dink's murder prompted fresh calls for the elimination of the "deep state" -- a term used to describe security forces acting outside the law to preserve what they consider Turkey's best interests. Lawyers for Dink's family say the police withheld and destroyed evidence to cover up the murder, including footage from a bank security camera in downtown Istanbul near where Dink was gunned down on January 19, 2007.

The charge sheet says police received intelligence as early as 2006 of a plot to kill Dink organized in the northern city of Trabzon, home of self-confessed gunman Ogun Samast, 17, and most of his 18 alleged accomplices currently on trial. A taped telephone conversation between a policeman and a suspect shortly after the killing suggests the officer knew of the plot in advance. The tape, leaked to the media last year, includes degrading comments about Dink.

Dink, 52, campaigned for reconciliation between Turks and Armenians, but nationalists hated him for insisting the World War I massacres of Armenians under Ottoman rule was an act of genocide -- a label Ankara fiercely rejects. Only four members of the security forces have been indicted in connection with the murder, but face minor charges unrelated to the killing itself.

Sahin also said a draft proposal to amend the controversial Article 301 of the Turkish penal code under which Dink was given a suspended six-month jail sentence for "denigrating Turkishness" would be submitted to parliament in the coming days. The law has been criticized as a threat to freedom of speech in Turkey, which is engaged in membership talks with the European Union.

Police said that around 8,000 people had gathered Saturday outside the central Istanbul offices of the bilingual Turkish Armenian weekly set up by Dink in 1996. With black and red banners carrying messages such as "We are all Armenians", those present included members of his family, personal friends, journalists, human rights campaigners and also ordinary members of the public.

"I am here because we have lost one of Turkey's most beautiful souls," said 47-year-old shopkeeper Mehmet Calik. "He was killed because he was Armenian but also because he spoke the language of truth. We are here to carry on his struggle."

Turkish newspapers on Saturday were unanimous in calling for the authorities to "shed all possible light" on the assassination. "A year after his death, scandals and dozens of questions remain unanswered," the daily Milliyet said on its front page, noting that "justice hasn't moved forward an inch" in shedding light on the affair.

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.

ARMENIA BEATS TURKEY 13:1

2008-01-21T16:34:00.000-05:00

18 January, 2008
A1+

After a clear-cut victory over the Republic of South Africa, the Armenian under-20 hockey team beat Turkey 13:1 within the framework of the World Hockey Championship.

During the first match Armenia already enjoyed a privilege over its contender. The team had scored four goals.

Abraham Palezian, Petros Jamkochian and Smbat Deterdarian stood out among the Armenian hockey players scoring three goals each.

It is due to mention that our team won over Turkey during a 2007 tournament as well.

Presently, Armenia and Australia top the fixture list.

Armenia will compete with New Zealand on January 20.

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.

BARACK OBAMA CALLS FOR PASSAGE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

2008-01-21T11:28:00.000-05:00

"America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President."
-- Barack Obama, Democratic Presidential Candidate

WASHINGTON, DC – Presidential candidate Barack Obama shared with the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) a strongly worded statement today calling for Congressional passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 & S.Res.106), and pledging that, as president, he will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

In his statement, the Presidential hopeful reaffirmed his support for a strong “U.S.-Armenian relationship that advances our common security and strengthens Armenian democracy.” He also pledged to “promote Armenian security by seeking an end to the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, and by working for a lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict that is agreeable to all parties, and based upon America’s founding commitment to the principles of democracy and self determination.”

“Armenian American voters welcome Senator Obama’s powerful call for real change in how our government addresses the core moral and foreign policy issues that hold such great meaning for our community,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “After decades of White House complicity in Turkey’s efforts to block American recognition of the Armenian Genocide, most recently in the form of President Bush’s personal efforts this past October to delay the Armenian Genocide Resolution, the time has clearly come for a President who will personally lead – not obstruct – the commemoration of this crime against all humanity.”

As a Senator, Barack Obama has spoken in support of U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide and cosigned a letter urging President Bush to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide. He has forcefully called for the adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, but has yet to formally cosponsor this legislation. While visiting Azerbaijan in August 2005, Senator Obama was asked by reporters why he cosigned the letter to President Bush. Obama defended his decision by stating the genocide was a historical fact. The Illinois Senator publicly criticized the firing of former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, who was dismissed for speaking truthfully about the Armenian Genocide.

In recent weeks, the ANCA has invited each of the candidates to share their views on Armenian Americans issues, and to comment on both the growing relationship between the U.S. and Armenian governments and the enduring bonds between the American and Armenian peoples. Questionnaires sent to the candidates have invited them to respond to a set of 19 questions, including those addressing: affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, U.S.-Armenia economic, political, and military relations, self-determination for Nagorno Karabagh, the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, and the genocide in Darfur.

Armenian Americans, in key primary states and throughout the country, represent a motivated and highly networked constituency of more than one and a half million citizens. The ANCA mobilizes Armenian American voters through a network of over 50 chapters and a diverse array of affiliates, civic advocates, and supporters nationwide. ANCA mailings reach over a quarter of a million homes, and, through the internet, updates and action alerts reach well over 100,000 households. The ANCA website, which features election coverage from an Armenian American point of view, attracts over 100,000 unique visits a month. The ANCA also has broad reach to Armenian American voters via a sophisticated media operation of newspapers, regional cable shows, satellite TV, blogs, and internet news sites.

To learn more about the Obama campaign, contact:

Obama for America
P.O. Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680
Tel: (866) 675-2008
Website: http://www.barackobama.com/

Sen. Obama’s statement on U.S.-Armenia relations is available on the official campaign website at: http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/19/barack_obama_on_the_importance.php

Turkish Ultranationalists Try to Silence Prominent Canadians

2008-01-21T11:21:00.000-05:00

Armenian National Committee of Canada
January 18, 2008
Comité National Arménien du Canada
E-mail/courriel:national.office@anc-canada.com
www.anccanada.org
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Turkish Ultranationalists Try to Silence Prominent Canadians

Toronto—The Turkish Government’s propaganda machine tried to intimidate and silence many prominent Canadians who had come forth to make deputations during the monthly meeting of the Toronto District School Board's (TDSB) program and services committee.

During the Jan. 16 meeting the TDSB committee provided an opportunity to two Turkish representatives (Ozay Mehmet of the Council of Turkish Canadians, and Lale Eskicioglu) and four Canadians (Prof. Frank Chalk, director of the Montréal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies; David Warner, former Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly; Leo Adler, prominent criminal lawyer and human rights advocate; and Hon. Jim Karygiannis, MP) to present their points of view on the board’s Grad 11 'Genocide: Historical and Contemporary Implications' curriculum.

The Turkish representatives protested the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the curriculum. The prominent Canadians’ group praised the TDSB for its moral fortitude, vision, and commitment to develop such a timely curriculum and asked for the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the curriculum.

Mr. Warner read a letter signed by prominent Canadians from all walks of life, urging the TDSB to “stand firm by its decision and not to be swayed by politically-motivated pressure groups.” Among the signatories were Stephen Lewis, Gerald Caplan, Jack Layton, Bob Rae, Joy Kogawa, Amir Hassanpour, Jacques Kornberg.

During the presentations of Chalk, Warner, Adler and Karygiannis, ultranationalist Turks hackled the speakers and tried to stop them from speaking. Several times committee chair, trustee Chris Bolton, was forced to call for order and ask the Turkish representatives not to disrupt the meeting.

After the meeting, members of the Turkish group approached some of the pro-Genocide inclusion speakers and taunted them with abuse and profanities. The scene was reminiscent of the trials of many righteous Turkish individuals who in recent years have challenged the Turkish Government on its denial of the Armenian Genocide and have been silenced under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code.

At the meeting, Aris Babikian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, tabled a petition in support of the curriculum. The petition carried 2,643 signatures. Among the signatories were many teachers from the TDSB system.

For the past two years the TDSB has been developing 'Genocide: Historical and Contemporary Implications' curriculum for Grade 11 students. The course comprises of three genocide case studies: the Armenian Genocide; the Holocaust; the Rwandan Genocide, in addition to other cases of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

The course has been approved by the Ontario Minister of Education. An overwhelming majority of principals, teachers and program directors have commended the TDSB for this timely project. They have also indicated that they are eager to teach the program.

In the last two months the Turkish denial machine has launched a vicious campaign of falsehood, misrepresentation, unsubstantiated accusations, innuendo and revisionist historical discourse to persuade the TDSB to remove the Armenian Genocide from the curriculum.

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The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.

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In Memory of Hrant Dink at the First Anniversary of his murder

2008-01-21T11:00:00.000-05:00

By VARTAN OSKANIAN
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia

I can confess that I have lived two deep and unforgettable shocks during my years in this office -- once in 1999 when the stability of Armenia was threatened by gunmen and the second time last year when I received the call that Hrant Dink had been assassinated. Both were attacks not on men, but on ideas and values.

Hrant’s murder was an assault at democratic state-building – of the Turkish state. His murderers took aim at his vision of a Turkey that allowed free speech, that tolerated open discourse, and that embraced its minority citizens, like himself.

We miss Hrant. He would come to Armenia a couple of times a year. In September 2006, when he spoke at the third Armenia Diaspora Conference, his message was that as members of the European family, Turkey and Armenia would have normal relations, because even the unwilling in Turkey would be induced to find a way to dialogue. That was music to our ears, echoing as it did our own wishes.

He also addressed the “International Conference on the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide” we held in Yerevan in April, 2005. Everyone respected his ardent, reasoned plea for dialogue, for distinguishing between today’s Turkish Republic and the perpetrators of atrocities nearly 100 years ago. He recounted passionately how he had explained to Turkish authorities that Armenians are looking for their roots – the same roots which the Ottoman Empire slashed when it attempted to completely eradicate a people and tear it away from its home, its culture and its traditions.

Each time he came to Yerevan, we would find a few minutes to talk. It was important that I hear from him about the mood in Turkey. Hrant was the right person to ask, because he was not just an Armenian living in Turkey. He was proud of both his identities – Turkish and Armenian – and was insulted and angered that while trying to reconcile them he was accused of ‘insulting Turkishness’.

When he was first charged under Article 301 for ‘insulting Turkishness’, I asked whether it would help if I wrote a letter or spoke publicly. He responded confidently. “My thanks and gratitude, but right now, I’m all I need. So help me God, I’m going to take my struggle and my rights all the way to the end.”

Later, he wondered how “On the one hand, they call for dialogue with Armenia and Armenians, on the other hand they want to condemn or neutralize their own citizen who is working for dialogue.”

Hrant Dink was candid and courageous, but not naïve. Still, he could not have predicted this kind of ‘neutralization’. His honest and brave voice was silenced. Worse, some saw in this assassination a clear message that the danger they face lies deeper than a mere judicial conviction.

This message is just one of the dividends that this killing offered those who contributed to the fanatical nationalist environment which colors Turkish politics in and out of Turkey. The brutality, the impunity, the violence of Hrant’s murder serves several political ends. First, it makes Turkey less interesting for Europe, which is exactly what some in the Turkish establishment want. Second, it scares away Armenians and other minorities in Turkey, from pursuing their civil and human rights. Third, it scares those bold Turks who are beginning to explore these complicated, sensitive subjects in earnest.

In Armenia, we have insisted for more than a decade, that although we are the victims of historical injustice, and although we are on the other side of a border that Turkey has kept closed, we are prepared at any time for dialogue with our neighbor on any subject, so long as there are normal relations between us, so long as this last closed border in Europe is opened, so long as someone on the other side wants to talk. We are ready.

A year ago, we were moved by the outpouring of fundamental, human grief at all levels of Turkish society, especially by those who have been scared by the demonstration of such violence on the part of an adolescent, and seen it for what it is -- the continuation of hatred and enmity into the next generation.

Hrant Dink’s family, his colleagues at and around Agos, his friends in Armenia and in Turkey, will find some comfort knowing that today and tomorrow, Hrant will be remembered – by Armenians, who share his vision of understanding and harmony among peoples, and by Turks, who share his dream of living in peace with neighbors and with history.

Valley issues get parties' attention GOP candidates clash more on immigration, emissions, genocide.

2008-01-20T16:22:00.000-05:00

Jan 18, 2008
Fresno Bee, CA
By Michael Doyle / Bee Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- The surviving presidential contenders from both parties are competing more furiously than ever, but beneath their surface discord they often find common ground on issues important to the San Joaquin Valley.

Even as their competition escalates, Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards agree the United States should formally recognize the Armenian genocide.

The Democrats also uniformly back California's bid to impose stiffer greenhouse gas regulations. And they each support an agricultural guest-worker proposal called AgJOBS that could offer legal status to 1.5 million illegal immigrant farmworkers.

Republican candidates clash more on those issues, mirroring in some ways their sharp policy divisions at the national level.

On issues such as immigration, for example, the law-and-order advocates who emphasize stricter border controls can clash loudly with the self-styled compassionate conservatives who stress a blend of security and social integration.

For candidates from both parties, the Valley can offer a treasure trove of primary voters on Feb. 5.

The candidates are enticing those votes through a combination of policy positions and personal appeals. Six of the major candidates have visited Fresno and the southern San Joaquin Valley since last year, and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich is expected to visit Fresno on Sunday.

"We'll be seeing more of them," predicted Mike Lynch, a Modesto-based Democratic political consultant. "They've got to come through here."

The Democrats favor the same phrases on some Valley issues, with Edwards and Clinton both saying an agricultural guest-worker program will let farmworkers "come out of the shadows."

While legislatively dormant at present, the agricultural guest-worker proposal remains politically volatile. It's an issue that can tip voters one way or another in regions like the San Joaquin Valley, home to many illegal immigrants and the farmers who employ them.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who visited the Valley early last year, is the only Republican candidate to formally endorse the agricultural guest-worker program, although former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani sounds sympathetic. McCain's position draws fire from his fellow conservatives, who denounce it as amnesty.

"McCain championed a bill to let every illegal immigrant stay in America permanently," former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney charged in a recently aired TV commercial in New Hampshire.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee piled on, declaring that he "opposed the amnesty President Bush and Sen. McCain tried to ram through Congress" last year.

The word "amnesty" is politically toxic, and supporters of the comprehensive immigration and agricultural guest-worker proposals speak of "earned legalization," whereby illegal immigrants must pay fines and meet strict criteria.

Words likewise anchor the debate over an Armenian genocide resolution, which revolves around how to characterize the deaths of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. Armenian-Americans and many historians consider the widespread slaughter a genocide.

The issue is dear to the hearts of many Armenian-Americans, more than 50,000 of whom are estimated to live in the San Joaquin Valley.

California's bid to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles draws support from Democrats. While some Republicans, including Romney, argue that a consistent national emission standard is best, Democrats are united behind California's efforts, which are now the subject of a federal lawsuit.

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.

More Than Ten Thousand Gathered in Memory of Hrant Dink

2008-01-20T09:08:00.000-05:00

19-01-2008
Bıa news centre
By Erol ÖNDEROGLU

On the first anniversary of the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, more than ten thousand people gathered in front of the Agos newspaper office, the place where he was shot.

On 19th January 2007, Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, was shot dead in front of his office in Sisli, Istanbul. The country was shocked by pictures of his prostrate body on the pavement, covered by newspapers, with just the worn soles of his shoes visible. A voice of dialogue and democracy had been silenced.

Hrant Dink’s funeral turned into a reaction against racism and nationalism, as tens of thousands of people gathered in a silent procession which accompanied Hrant Dink’s body from his newspaper office to the church where he was laid to rest.

Last year a call to "question the darkness"

The most moving part of the procession was a speech by Hrant Dink’s widow, Rakel Dink. She spoke out against the increasing nationalism in the country. Referring to the young age of the suspected triggerman, she said: “Whatever may be the age of the murderers, 17 or 27, I know that they were born as babies. Without questioning the darkness that has created murderers, my brothers and sisters, there is no way forward.”

People carried placards reading “We are all Hrant, we are all Armenian”, a sign of solidarity, and also a protest at the fact that Hrant Dink was murdered for his identity. There was later a nationalist backlash against the slogan, with people deliberately misunderstanding the sentiment behind the expression of empathy.

No justice yet

In the year since the murder, the Dink family has had to discover that it is difficult to “question the darkness.” Although the official murder suspects are on trial, it seems clear that those really responsible are will not be prosecuted. The Trabzon Gendarmerie and the Istanbul Police are accused of gross negligence, as they knew of murder plans long before the attack happened. Evidence has been withheld and permission to investigate security officers has been refused.

"If he had lived, he would be in prison now"

Thus today’s gathering was as much a commemoration of Hrant Dink as a protest against the continuing darkness. More than ten thousand people gathered in the street of the Agos newspaper office, the place where Hrant Dink was shot.

The site of his murder was covered with a picture of Hrant Dink, candles and flowers. People shouted slogans such as “Long live the brotherhood of peoples” and “The murderer state will be made accountable.” Foreign press was in strong attendance.

Like last year, widow Rakel Dink addressed the crowd. Referring to Hrant Dink’s sentence under the controversial Article 301, she said: “They say, ‘who has gone to prison [under Article 301]?’ I say, if they had let my violin [her term of endearment for her husband] live, he would be in prison now, because if they had let him live, he would be in his third month in prison now.”

"You are here for justice"

She said that Hrant Dink’s blood had not become quiet: “The sound of blood can only be silenced with justice. And this is what you are here for today, for justice.”

Saying that “the pain has made us relatives,” Rakel Dink reminded the crowd of the many sickening indicators of approval of the murder: the gendarmerie officers arresting suspected triggerman O.S., who put a flag in his hand and took souvenir photographs of themselves with the suspect, football fans who reacted to the slogan at the funeral procession by shouting in stadiums, ‘We are all Ogün’ [referring to one of the murder suspects], the intelligence officer Muhittin Zenit who spoke to Erhan Tuncel , police informant and murder suspect, shortly after the murder and evidently knew of the murder plan.

Rakel Dink asked: “What has my country’s justice system done about the gendarmerie who knew everything up to the brand of the gun that was used in the murder, about the [nationalist organisations] who planned the murder? What has my country’s justice system done about the assistant governor and his so-called friends who tried to put my husband in his place?”

Writer and peace activist Arundhati Roy attended the commemoration at Rakel Dink’s side, also standing at the window of the Agos newspaper office.

"Hrant needs our courage"

Journalist Oral Calislar also spoke to the crowd. He said, “Hrant’s murder was planned by a group…We have realised that they decided long before to kill him…The newspapers made him into a target…at the court hearings [for his trial under Article 301] they tried to lynch him.”
“We now know those who are putting guns into the hands of children…We know those who led and encouraged. It needs courage to make the murderers and organisations within the state accountable. Hrant needs our courage.”

The gathering was joined by Joost Lagendijk, co-chair of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, Turkish academics, politicians and activists of the left, writers and journalists. (EÖ/TK/AG)

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.

Turkey commemorates Armenian journalist's slaying

2008-01-19T17:32:00.000-05:00

19 Jan. 2008
The Canadian Press

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Thousands of people gathered Saturday to mark the killing of a Turkish Armenian journalist one year ago, placing red carnations on the spot where he was gunned down in daylight and demanding justice in the case.

Wearing black and holding placards reading "For Hrant. For Justice," the protesters paid tribute to Hrant Dink, a Turkish citizen of Armenian origins who angered many by calling the century-old killings of Armenians a genocide. Turkey insists the killings resulted from civil war and unrest in the last days of the First World War.

On Jan. 19, 2007, Dink was gunned down outside his office, allegedly by a hardline nationalist teenager.

The killing brought international condemnation and sparked a debate about freedom of speech in Turkey, where massive crowds took to the streets, chanting: "We are all Armenians, we are all Hrants."

Saturday's crowd repeated the same slogan, before standing for a moment in silence in front of the Agos newspaper office, where Dink had been chief editor. Holding placards written in Turkish, Armenian and English, the mourners then attended a commemoration ceremony at Agos, where a huge photograph of Dink covered part of the newspaper building.

"We are here today because we want justice," his wife, Rakel Dink, said in an address to the mourners, many of whom had pinned pictures of the slain journalist to their chests.

She vowed to press further for justice, saying the judiciary had not followed up on evidence suggesting officials may have been involved in the plot to kill her husband.

Dink had sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia, but several years before his death he was prosecuted under Turkish law for describing the early 20th-century mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

"Despite all the past grievances among Turks and Armenians, he never expressed hatred," said Mevlut Yilmaz at the ceremony Saturday. "He was thinking about the future, not the past."

Turkey's top politicians, including the prime minister, have vowed a thorough investigation. An Istanbul court is looking into allegations of official negligence or even collusion, but lawyers for Dink's family have said the investigation is flawed.

The murder trial, which started last year, is taking place behind closed doors because the alleged gunman is a minor. A total of 19 suspects are on trial, and the next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11.

Dink was prosecuted for his Armenian genocide comments under an article of Turkey's penal code, which bans insults to Turkish identity. Despite appeals by the European Union, the law remains unchanged.

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.

Park will honor two heroes Rosa Parks and WWII soldier

2008-01-19T17:21:00.000-05:00

Sat, Jan. 19, 2008
Sun Herald
By KAT BERGERON

GULFPORT --The mystery of World War II hero Harold A. Bezazian is solved in time for Martin Luther King Day celebrations that include the dedication of a Rosa Parks bench. Bezazian's name is on two 8-foot pillars at 30th Street Park, where the bench will be unveiled Monday.

Bezazian is not black, but a half-century ago his father created the park and two others in less-privileged areas, because he understood discrimination firsthand. With time, the neighborhood forgot the meaning of the Bezazian name, and the odd pillars now stand alone, without fencing.

Bezazian, a first lieutenant, died in March 1945 rescuing his 6th Infantry Division men behind enemy lines in Luzon. The Chicago native who'd received a Bronze Star for bravery died in enemy fire, but his rescue strategy worked.

Identical bronze plaques on the pillars simply state his name, birth and death dates and declare, "In honor of a hero."

Kristal Daniel, who organized the 1 p.m. MLK Day event at the park, saw the pillars but knew no more than what the plaques told her. As a member of AmeriCorps' Gulf Coast Conservation Corps, she felt the sparsely furnished park needed a bench.

"We thought dedicating a bench to Rosa Parks for her refusal to give up a seat and what that meant to the civil rights movement would add meaning to the King observance," said Daniels. "Now, we'll also mention Bezazian."

The Sun Herald contacted Bezazian's family in Chicago to learn why the lieutenant's father, John Bezazian, built parks for underprivileged and minority Gulfport children. The story begins in 1895 when the father immigrated from Armenia.

"Because of his swarthy skin, poor English and accent, my grandfather had a very difficult time his first years in America," said Paulette Bezazian.

He overcame immigrant obstacles and gained wealth from real estate and selling rugs. He had three children.

Harold, the youngest, who was born in 1911, went to good schools (Oberlin College and Columbia University) and pursued a short story-writing career. He was awarded a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship for Europe, suitable for a man remembered by his family as a free spirit who loved children and didn't care much about material things.

The South Mississippi connection enters when he worked on his father's 520-acre tung oil farm, as an experience to make him a better writer. His father bought the farm near Gulfport as an investment in a subtropical region favored as a winter escape for Chicago's rich.

Unmarried and in his early 30s, Bezazian enlisted after Pearl Harbor. After his war death, the father financed philanthropic projects in his son's memory, including the Harold A. Bezazian Branch of the Chicago Public Library and the three Gulfport parks.

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.