Month: October 2006

French-Belgian Dexia Buys Turkish Denizbank
By Ibrahim Turkmen, Yahya Cark

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 19 2006

Thursday, October 19, 2006
zaman.com

Seventy-five percent of Denizbank’s shares were handed over to
European finance giant Dexia for $2.43 billion Wednesday after
necessary permissions had been granted.

Dexia, the new owner of Turkey’s sixth-largest private bank and a
French-Belgian partnered Finance Company, has become a major player
in the Turkey’s banking sector.

Dexia’s President of the Executive Board Axel Miller says that they
were very happy about the latest step they have taken.

Miller said they were working on long-term projects for Turkey,
and claimed that they had made the greatest purchase in Turkey in
recent years.

They had long aspired to enter into the Turkish market, which has
made great progress since the 2001 economic crisis.

"The progress made in economics and politics keeps surprising us,"
Miller remarked.

"Turkey is the fastest growing market and will shortly become a
value for Europe. Looking at projects undertaken here in the last
five years, you can say that leaders have now got the ability to
take consistent and conscious steps. There are also high quality
partnerships in the banking sector. The risk management is taken care
of very well. Equally important, this is not a unilateral action;
there is a fruitful exchange that assists both parties."

Miller said that the major reason behind the acquisition of Denizbank
was its impressive growth rate.

He emphasized the tremendous contributions of the previous owner,
the Zorlu Group, to this high performance, and noted that the bank
had entered the finance sector in 1997 in 81st place, only to rise
to sixth place, with the help of a carefully planned public offering,
in the course of these last nine years.

An organic growth constitutes the foundation of Dexia’s strategy
for Turkey.

The number of the Denizbank branches will reach 435 by 2009 according
to their plan.

What’s more, 3,000 people will have been employed. The new
acquisition’s financial contribution to Dexia in the field of public
and project funding will be 5 percent and it is envisioned that net
income will increase by 20 percent during the 2005-2009 period.

Dexia, a company of French and Belgian origin, stands out as one of
Europe’s greatest with active capital of ~@514 billion.

The bank operates in over 30 countries with 26,000 employees and
will have increased the number of its employees to 33,000 with the
Denizbank purchase.

"The good old days of Central and Eastern Europe are in the past now.

Our population is on a constant decrease, crippling any further
efforts to launch new big projects. So, we had to set sail for new
markets. With its population of 70 million, Turkey attracts all the
firms willing to enlarge," said Miller.

We’re Europeans, Not French or Belgians

Axell Miller noted that they were not a fickle company that breezed
in and out of a market and their projects were long-term ones.

"In five to seven years we will be able to increase our net income
by 13 to 17 percent. We believe that Denizbank will function as an
engine for our entire group."

"We’re neither a French nor Belgian company. We see ourselves as a
European company."

He also noted that their French partners owned a 13 percent stake.

Also touching on tensions between Turkey and France because of the
controversial Armenian genocide bill, Miller emphasized that history
could not be written with laws.

Dexia To Provide Financial Support To Municipalities

The bank will also focus on local administration funding through a
new process called "Municipality Banking."

Axell Miller said that in this field in Turkey was still untouched.

He believes that public funding in Turkey will make great headway,
and said that they were ready to provide support to the government,
local administrations and municipalities in any way possible.

Turkish Daily News
Oct 19 2006

Diplomacy Newsline
Thursday, October 19, 2006

Azerbaijan to counter Armenian diaspora:

ANK – TDN with AFP

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has announced a campaign to
counter the influence of the Armenian diaspora, a major backer of
ethnic-Armenian separatists in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Aliyev said his oil-rich ex-Soviet republic was opening embassies
and consulates in parts of the world where the Armenian diaspora was
especially influential.

"It’s no secret that California is a state with a large Armenian
population. We opened a consulate general [in Los Angeles] to be
there and to fight the Armenian lobby," Aliyev said on Tuesday in an
interview with Arabic network Al Jazeera. He said his country planned
to open an embassy in Argentina, where the Armenian lobby "is [at its]
strongest among Latin American nations."

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a territorial dispute
over the Nagorno-Karabakh ethnic-Armenian enclave since before the
breakup of the Soviet Union. Turkey severed diplomatic relations with
neighboring Armenia after Armenian troops occupied Nagorno-Karabakh,
and the border gate between Turkey and Armenia has been closed for
more than a decade. The influential Armenian diaspora, particularly in
the United States, has long been exerting efforts against Turkey via
its lobbying for Armenian genocide allegations to be internationally
recognized.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s new oil wealth gave it a chance to outweigh
ethnic-Armenians’ influence abroad. "What is attractive about
Armenia? Only the fact that it has a rich diaspora that influences the
policies of various countries," he said. "Azerbaijan is a country that
will supply Europe and world markets with energy resources. Imagine
Azerbaijan on one side of the scale and Armenia on the other."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish broadcasting watchdog recommends boycott of French media programs

Associated Press
Oct 19 2006

The Associated Press
Published: October 19, 2006

ISTANBUL, Turkey Turkey’s state broadcasting watchdog recommended
Wednesday that television stations not broadcast French media programs,
the latest backlash against a French law that would criminalize denial
that the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey was genocide.

Members of the broadcasting group said they had decided by an unanimous
vote that their recommendation would stay in place until France took
the law completely off its agenda.

French films, TV series and music account for about 10 percent of
the content on Turkish radio and television, according to figures
provided by the broadcasting watchdog. It was not immediately able
to say how much Turkish broadcasters pay annually for French content.

Saban Sevinc, a member of the watchdog’s board, said French films
were third in popularity in Turkey behind American and Turkish films.

"France is trying to raise its voice in the world film sector. (We)
hope this decision will make some noise, even if it’s small, in
the French film industry and art world and make them ask ‘What have
we done?’"

The genocide denial bill was approved by lawmakers in France’s lower
house last week, but still needs approval from the French Senate and
President Jacques Chirac to become law.

Turkey sees the bill as a hostile, anti-Turkish development,
and has warned that the lawmakers’ vote has already deeply harmed
Turkish-French relations.

Turkey’s main consumer group also organized a boycott of French goods,
saying it would publicize a French company each week and encourage
Turks to boycott it.

Turkey vehemently denies that it committed genocide against Armenians,
though many nations have classified the World War I-era killings
as such.

Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians died in mass
expulsions and fighting, but says the number of dead is exaggerated
and that most were killed in interethnic battling as the Ottoman
Empire collapsed.

Armenians and many nations say some 1.5 million Armenians were killed
in a genocidal campaign devised and executed by Turkish leaders.

The European Union and European media have criticized the French
bill, however, saying it is not in line with the principle of free
expression and is not helpful to encouraging dialogue with Turkey,
a hopeful EU candidate.

Total trade between Turkey and France last year stood at nearly
US$10 billion, with Turkey importing goods from France worth nearly
US$6 billion.

The Armenian issue is one of the most divisive and emotional in
Turkey. Those who classify the killings as genocide are often accused
of treason.

ISTANBUL, Turkey Turkey’s state broadcasting watchdog recommended
Wednesday that television stations not broadcast French media programs,
the latest backlash against a French law that would criminalize denial
that the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey was genocide.

Members of the broadcasting group said they had decided by an unanimous
vote that their recommendation would stay in place until France took
the law completely off its agenda.

French films, TV series and music account for about 10 percent of
the content on Turkish radio and television, according to figures
provided by the broadcasting watchdog. It was not immediately able
to say how much Turkish broadcasters pay annually for French content.

Saban Sevinc, a member of the watchdog’s board, said French films
were third in popularity in Turkey behind American and Turkish films.

"France is trying to raise its voice in the world film sector. (We)
hope this decision will make some noise, even if it’s small, in
the French film industry and art world and make them ask ‘What have
we done?’"

The genocide denial bill was approved by lawmakers in France’s lower
house last week, but still needs approval from the French Senate and
President Jacques Chirac to become law.

Turkey sees the bill as a hostile, anti-Turkish development,
and has warned that the lawmakers’ vote has already deeply harmed
Turkish-French relations.

Turkey’s main consumer group also organized a boycott of French goods,
saying it would publicize a French company each week and encourage
Turks to boycott it.

Turkey vehemently denies that it committed genocide against Armenians,
though many nations have classified the World War I-era killings
as such.

Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians died in mass
expulsions and fighting, but says the number of dead is exaggerated
and that most were killed in interethnic battling as the Ottoman
Empire collapsed.

Armenians and many nations say some 1.5 million Armenians were killed
in a genocidal campaign devised and executed by Turkish leaders.

The European Union and European media have criticized the French
bill, however, saying it is not in line with the principle of free
expression and is not helpful to encouraging dialogue with Turkey,
a hopeful EU candidate.

Total trade between Turkey and France last year stood at nearly
US$10 billion, with Turkey importing goods from France worth nearly
US$6 billion.

The Armenian issue is one of the most divisive and emotional in
Turkey. Those who classify the killings as genocide are often accused
of treason.

World Chess Federation (FIDE)

Oct 19 2006

CHESS : FIDE President Meets with Armenian President Robert Kocharian

His Excellency Kirsan Ilyumzhinov met with Republic of Armenia
President Robert Kocharian and thanked him for his support for chess
development and organization of high level tournaments in Armenia.

Kirsan congratulated him on the achievements of Armenian chess,
citing the recent record:

1. Levon Aronian won the World Cup;
2. The Armenian team won the Olympiad in Turin;
3. The Armenian Women’s team won the European Club Cup; and
4. Zaven Andreasian of Armenia has just won the World Juniors.

The FIDE President elaborated on the Chess in Schools project, citing
the positive experience following the introduction of chess in Kalmyk
schools. President Kocharian was impressed and tasked his Minister of
Education to introduce chess in schools in Armenia.

Kirsan reported on the result of the Kramnik-Topalov World
Championship Match and last month’s Presidential Board Meeting in
Elista.

Based on this experience in the Kramnik-Topalov Match, it was decided
to have anti-computer testing at next year’s World Junior and Girls
Championships, also in Yerevan.

The head of Kalmykia cordially invited President Kocharian to visit
Elista.

The Guardian, UK
Oct 19 2006

This is the moment for Europe to dismantle taboos, not erect them

Far from criminalising denial of the Armenian genocide, we should
decriminalise denial of the Holocaust

Timothy Garton Ash
Thursday October 19, 2006
The Guardian

What a magnificent blow for truth, justice and humanity the French
national assembly has struck. Last week it voted for a bill that
would make it a crime to deny that the Turks committed genocide
against the Armenians during the first world war. Bravo! Chapeau bas!
Vive la France! But let this be only a beginning in a brave new
chapter of European history. Let the British parliament now make it a
crime to deny that it was Russians who murdered Polish officers at
Katyn in 1940. Let the Turkish parliament make it a crime to deny
that France used torture against insurgents in Algeria.

Let the German parliament pass a bill making it a crime to deny the
existence of the Soviet gulag. Let the Irish parliament criminalise
denial of the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition. Let the Spanish
parliament mandate a minimum of 10 years’ imprisonment for anyone who
claims that the Serbs did not attempt genocide against Albanians in
Kosovo. And the European parliament should immediately pass into
European law a bill making it obligatory to describe as genocide the
American colonists’ treatment of Native Americans. The only pity is
that we, in the European Union, can’t impose the death sentence for
these heinous thought crimes. But perhaps, with time, we may change
that too.

Oh brave new Europe! It is entirely beyond me how anyone in their
right mind – apart, of course, from a French-Armenian lobbyist – can
regard this draft bill, which in any case will almost certainly be
voted down in the upper house of the French parliament, as a
progressive and enlightened step. What right has the parliament of
France to prescribe by law the correct historical terminology to
characterise what another nation did to a third nation 90 years ago?
If the French parliament passed a law making it a crime to deny the
complicity of Vichy France in the deportation to the death camps of
French Jews, I would still argue that this was a mistake, but I could
respect the self-critical moral impulse behind it.

This bill, by contrast, has no more moral or historical justification
than any of the other suggestions I have just made. Yes, there are
some half a million French citizens of Armenian origin – including
Charles Aznavour, who was once Varinag Aznavourian – and they have
been pressing for it. There are at least that number of British
citizens of Polish origin, so there would be precisely the same
justification for a British bill on Katyn. Step forward Mr Denis
MacShane, a British MP of Polish origin, to propose it – in a spirit
of satire, of course. Or how about British MPs of Pakistani and
Indian origin proposing rival bills on the history of Kashmir?

In a leading article last Friday, the Guardian averred that
"supporters of the law are doubtless motivated by a sincere desire to
redress a 90-year-old injustice". I wish that I could be so
confident. Currying favour with French-Armenian voters and putting
another obstacle in the way of Turkey joining the European Union
might be suggested as other motives; but speculation about motives is
a mug’s game.

It will be obvious to every intelligent reader that my argument has
nothing to do with questioning the suffering of the Armenians who
were massacred, expelled or felt impelled to flee in fear of their
lives during and after the first world war. Their fate at the hands
of the Turks was terrible and has been too little recalled in the
mainstream of European memory. Reputable historians and writers have
made a strong case that those events deserve the label of genocide,
as it has been defined since 1945. In fact, Orhan Pamuk – this year’s
winner of the Nobel prize for literature – and other Turkish writers
have been prosecuted under the notorious article 301 of the Turkish
penal code for daring to suggest exactly that. That is significantly
worse than the intended effects of the French bill. But two wrongs
don’t make a right.

No one can legislate historical truth. In so far as historical truth
can be established at all, it must be found by unfettered historical
research, with historians arguing over the evidence and the facts,
testing and disputing each other’s claims without fear of prosecution
or persecution.

In the tense ideological politics of our time, this proposed bill is
a step in exactly the wrong direction. How can we credibly criticise
Turkey, Egypt or other states for curbing free speech, through the
legislated protection of historical, national or religious
shibboleths, if we are doing ever more of it ourselves? This weekend
in Venice I once again heard a distinguished Muslim scholar rail
against our double standards. We ask them to accept insults to Muslim
taboos, he said, but would the Jews accept that someone should be
free to deny the Holocaust?

Far from creating new legally enforced taboos about history, national
identity and religion, we should be dismantling those that still
remain on our statute books. Those European countries that have them
should repeal not only their blasphemy laws but also their laws on
Holocaust denial. Otherwise the charge of double standards is
impossible to refute. What’s sauce for the goose must be sauce for
the gander.

I recently heard the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy going
through some impressive intellectual contortions to explain why he
opposed any laws restricting criticism of religion but supported
those on Holocaust denial. It was one thing, he argued, to question a
religious belief, quite another to deny a historical fact. But this
won’t wash. Historical facts are established precisely by their being
disputed and tested against the evidence. Without that process of
contention – up to and including the revisionist extreme of outright
denial – we would never discover which facts are truly hard.

Such consistency requires painful decisions. For example, I have
nothing but abhorrence for some of David Irving’s recorded views
about Nazi Germany’s attempted extermination of the Jews – but I am
quite certain that he should not be sitting in an Austrian prison as
a result of them. You may riposte that the falsehood of some of his
claims was actually established by a trial in a British court. Yes,
but that was not the British state prosecuting him for Holocaust
denial. It was Irving himself going to court to sue another historian
who suggested he was a Holocaust denier. He was trying to curb free
and fair historical debate; the British court defended it.

Today, if we want to defend free speech in our own countries and to
encourage it in places where it is currently denied, we should be
calling for David Irving to be released from his Austrian prison. The
Austrian law on Holocaust denial is far more historically
understandable and morally respectable than the proposed French one –
at least the Austrians are facing up to their own difficult past,
rather than pointing the finger at somebody else’s – but in the
larger European interest we should encourage the Austrians to repeal
it.

Only when we are prepared to allow our own most sacred cows to be
poked in the eye can we credibly demand that Islamists, Turks and
others do the same. This is a time not for erecting taboos but for
dismantling them. We must practice what we preach.

Vardan Oskanian to resign

Azer Press Agency
Oct 19 2006

[ 19 Oct. 2006 16:18 ]

Armenia Foreign minister Vardan Oskanian said that he will resign
before presidential elections in 2008, APA reports quoting Arminfo.

Vardan Oskanian said that it will be 10 years in 2008 that he occupies
this position and it will not be right to do it during the next five
years. The minister denied the information that he wants to nominate
to presidency and said he has not decided yet what he will do after
the resignation.

"I do not know what I will do. What I know exactly is that my children
and I want to see Armenia as a normal state," he said.

Oskanian said that he was engaged in external policy for many years
and now wants to talk about internal problems now.

"The elections come up and I see serious problems," the minister said.

Osdkanyan also said that it is important to lift the barrier between
the government and society. /APA/

Warm Ties with the Diaspora
By MEHMET KAMIS

10.19.2006 Thursday – ISTANBUL 20:51

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 19 2006

The Armenian issue constantly confronts Turkey. Everywhere in the
world – in France, America, Lebanon – when Turkey is mentioned, some
group appears hating Turkey and opposing them to the death. I have
written on this story of hate in previous articles.

More than in those subjected to deportation, this is a hate that has
formed in later generations. The migration of Armenians, an Eastern
Christian group, after World War II to Western countries played a big
role in the transformation of the resentment of the first generation
into the hatred of later generations.

Last year was the 90th anniversary of the deportation. 2015 will be the
100th anniversary. The Armenians, or, more accurately, those who want
to put pressure on Turkey, are trying to keep this issue on the agenda
as much as possible and are preparing for a finale ten years from now.

In World War II, which began in 1939 and ended in 1945, 35 million
people died. Twenty million remained crippled. Twelve million mothers
miscarried before holding their babies in their arms. Occupying France,
Germany attacked Russia and caused the death of hundreds of thousands
of people. A total of 35 million people from England, France, Italy
and Germany lost their lives in this war. Killing millions of each
other’s people just 60 years ago, these states are uniting under one
roof today by their own desire. But the events Turkey experienced with
the Armenians during World War I are constantly bearing down on it,
growing larger with each passing day.

This issue constantly confronts us in a different country.

There is only one action Turkey has taken against this situation.

That is to say as loudly as possible to anyone who begins speaking
about the alleged Armenian genocide that we didn’t’ butcher them,
they butchered us. Repeated more so in Turkey, these words don’t
reach the rest of the world. The whole world believes the claims of
the Armenians; their voice comes out a lot stronger than Turkey’s.

Turkey has no other approach or policy regarding this matter. When a
few authorities repeat these words that we didn’t kill them, Armenian
gangs killed Turks, the subject is closed for us.

For example, if we say that historians should handle this, it isn’t
going to resolve anything. The subject isn’t closed for the Armenians
and because it is useful for big states, it is constantly brought up
against us. This situation could have been acceptable before because
Turkey was a country squeezed between the Kapikule and Habur borders
where only the rulers were happy. But things have changed today. We
are finally living in a country integrated with the rest of the world.

Turkey should change its policy on this issue and create warm ties
with the Armenian Diaspora. In fact, civilians should be doing more
than the government. We should sit down and talk with them a little
about Fenerbahce football. Eating stuffed grapevine leaves together,
presenting gold jewelry at weddings, and occasionally speaking
Turkish. In short, it’s necessary to remember again that we are
societies that until yesterday did a lot of things together, ate the
same food, sang the same songs, and reacted similarly when insulted;
we shared the same emotions.

There are so many people in the Armenian Diaspora who have never met
a Turk in their whole life. Through face-to-face encounters, seeing
that Turks are different from the type of person they have created
in their minds could make a deep impression on them. Seeing that the
Turks they hate to death are not like the image they have in their
heads could turn their beliefs upside down.

Turkey can overcome this issue with more human-oriented policies.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 19 2006

The French Definition of ‘Genocide’
COMMENTARY
by Prof. Dr. Ali Al-Hail

No one, I suppose, would disagree with the French parliamentary
minority Socialist MPs’ definition of genocide as "the organized
killing of a people to end their collective existence."

However, these MP’s, whose parliament building overlooks the Seine
river, seem to have a short memory about the Seine river graveyard.

Thousands of Algerians were reported to have been thrown into the
river, and left to be drowned during the late 20th century (Ahmed
Bin Billa, al-Jazeera TV, 2004). Isn’t that ‘genocide,’ an "organized
killing of a people to end their collective existence?"

The minority Socialist MPs, whose country traditionally favors art,
literature, theatre and poetry, should remember that those who
live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Beginning with banning
the hijab (a woman’s head scarf) in public places and schools, to
satirizing the Prophet of mercy for all humanity, Mohammed (pbuh),
to more recently considering any denial of the Armenian ‘genocide’,
as a crime, the French National Assembly, who the Statue of Liberty
to the United States, appears to have lots of memory lapses.

Long before the notorious alleged Armenian ‘genocide’ took place in
Turkey in 1915, the brutal and barbaric colonization by the French
constituted numerous genocides against the Algerians, both inside
Algeria and in France itself, from 1832 to 1962, when the Algerians
eventually achieved their independence. About seven million Algerians
were killed during French colonization in Algeria while resisting
French occupation (President Ahmed Bin Billa, al-Jazeera TV, 2004).

Despite requests and appeals from the Algerian president, Butaflieqa
recently publicly asked France to apologize for its horrendous
‘genocides’ in Algeria. France has not yet responded.

Although many Turks, including influential thinkers and politicians,
will not deny that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed in
1915 during a relocation arrangement to other parts of the Ottoman
Empire, the issue of a ‘genocide’ was reported to have been conceived
as highly controversial. Some argue that those Armenians who died were
caught amid inter-communal warfare. Thus, it was not "the organized
killing of a people to end their collective existence."

In other words, it was not a ‘genocide.’ A few others in Turkey and
beyond, however, would argue that it was conscious, and as such it was
a ‘genocide.’ Despite worldwide contentious differentiation regarding
the event, Socialists in the French Assembly National, apparently
for election reasons, are determined to legalize their mind-set.

Many in France make the case that sheer politics are behind the
minority Socialists initiative. As such, there are no ethics, good
merits, or otherwise genuine concerns about the Armenian ‘genocide.’
The minority Socialists, by proposing such a bill in order to push
for a law criminalizing denial of an Armenian genocide, aim to gain
Armenian votes during next year’s presidential elections.

One presumes, as do many, that the minority Socialists also aim
to spread anti-Turkish sentiment in order to make it impossible
for Turkey, as a predominantly Muslim country, to join the European
Union. That Turkey already has an appointment from the European Union
for 2010 to negotiate its membership must be kept in mind.

Since there are more or less six million Arabs in France, mainly
from Algeria and other north African countries, this would be an
opportunistic moment for the Socialists in France to push for a
law that considers Israeli occupation forces killings in Gaza and
other Palestinian lands as ‘genocide.’ Approximately 750 Palestinian
civilians, including women and children, were killed by the Israeli
occupation forces since Jan. 25, since Hamas was voted into office
democratically. More than 3,000 civilians, including women and
children, have been either injured or maimed since then.

Additionally, nearly 4,000 civilians, again including women and
children, were arrested. If these killings are not genocide, what
can genocide be? Isn’t this an "organized killing of a people to end
their collective existence?"

Instead of crying over controversial history, without, of course,
endorsing genocides against any human race, genocides in Palestine
are clearly committed daily by Israeli occupation forces, which escape
controversy and global documentation by satellite cameras, including
French TV, the press and media. Had the French Socialists been sincere
about human suffering, they would have assuredly considered Israeli
‘genocides’ against Palestinians since as early as 1948 as real
‘genocides.’ In addition, this would certainly bring them at least
three million votes by Arab French.

Armenian, Jewish minorities ready to attend Qods Day rallies

IRNA, Iran
Oct 19 2006

Tehran, Oct 19, IRNA — The representative of the Armenian minority
in Isfahan province in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis)
here Thursday voiced readiness of all Iranian Armenians to attend the
Qods Day rallies scheduled for the last Friday (tomorrow) of the holy
fasting month of Ramadan.

Robert Beglarian told IRNA that Qods Day is a day to demonstrate
support of all religions for holy Qods.

Holy Qods belongs to all religions and, therefore, the Armenian
minority will participate in the Friday rallies to express its hatred
for the criminal Zionist regime, he added.

Members of the Armenian minority will express their support for the
oppressed Palestinians by participating in the rallies, Beglarian
reiterated.

In a related development, the Jewish community in a statement on
Wednesday called on all Jews to participate in the Qods Day rallies.

Officials of the community urged all Iranian Jews to support the
rights of the Palestinian nation to live in peace and to coexist with
members of other religious minorities.

The late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, set aside
the last Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan as Qods Day to
remind the world of the decades of Israeli oppression against the
innocent and defenseless Palestinian nation.

On this day, Muslims and non-Muslims in huge numbers all over the
world come out to renew their support for the Palestinians and their
resistance against the cruel and illegal Israeli occupation.

Turkish Parliament to List Europe’s Massacres
By Fatih Atik, Istanbul

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 19 2006

Thursday, October 19, 2006
zaman.com

The Turkish parliament took a new step in condemnation of the French
parliament’s acceptance of the bill criminalizing denial of an Armenian
genocide. It compiled a "shame list" of massacres committed by European
countries including France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The necessary study for the list was conducted by the parliament’s
justice sub-committee as part of its debates over a bill that would
recognize the Algerian genocide committed by France. The commission
is researching the massacres and tyrannies that countries that accept
the Armenian genocide have committed in the past.

The members of the commission listened to Turkish History Society
President Professor Yusuf Halacoglu and decided that announcing the
European list to the world would be more efficient than recognition
of an Algerian genocide.

In this context, the commission requested the Turkish History Society
and foreign affairs department carry out extensive studies into the
history of countries recognizing the so-called Armenian genocide.

The "shame list" is expected to be announced following the Ramadan
festival.

Deputy Mustafa Nuri Akbulut announced the parliament would publish
the list rather than recognizing an Algerian genocide. Akbulut also
asserted this study would enable the international community to better
see the objective attitude of the Turkish parliament and added human
rights, freedom of speech and the process that this method was subject
to would be discussed extensively in the document that will include
the shame list.

Justice and Development Party deputy Akbulut also said the document
would include a text that will explain the circumstances under which
Turkey decided to deport Armenians in 1915.

Akbulut noted that while Ottoman soldiers were deployed in the
Dardanelles and the Caucasus during World War I, Armenians committed
massacres in Anatolia and backstabbed Ottomans.

The Countries that Recognize the Alleged Armenian Genocide

France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Belgium,
Slovakia, Greece, Latvia and Greek Cyprus have taken decisions so
far about the so-called Armenian Genocide in different years, and
some have issued declarations and reports on the issue.