Month: October 2006

The Age, Australia
Oct 14 2006

A wake-up call better late than never
October 13, 2006

NOBEL literature laureate Orhan Pamuk said he was honoured to win,
even though his initial reaction was confusion about the late-night
call.

"It’s such a great honour, such a great pleasure," Pamuk told
journalists at Columbia University, New York, where he studied in the
1980s.

"I’m very happy about the prize."

The boyish Turkish author, now a fellow at Columbia, said the award
was a cause for celebration not just for him, but his country and
culture.

"I think that this is first of all an honour bestowed upon the
Turkish language, Turkish culture, Turkey and also recognition of my
labours," he said.

The decision to award the prize to a writer and campaigner who is an
advocate of Turkey’s European ambitions, and a harsh critic of
authoritarian trends in his country, comes as a boon to freedom of
expression and to Turkey’s beleaguered literary class.

But Pamuk, a hero to Istanbul liberals, is reviled by his country’s
nationalists, who see him as a traitor.

A 54-year-old native and chronicler of Istanbul who has devoted
himself to his writing for more than 30 years, Pamuk was in New York
when the 1.1 million ($A1.8 million) prize was announced in
Stockholm on Thursday.

Sporting a wide grin, the novelist was ebullient as he described how
he learned of the award. His first reaction? "Who is calling me in
the middle of the night? I have a new mobile, there’s something wrong
with my mobile."

Pamuk, who has courted controversy in Turkey by tackling such
subjects as the treatment of the Kurdish minority and the Ottoman
massacre of Armenians during World War I, declined to be drawn by
reporters’ questions.

"This is a time for celebration, for enjoying this, rather than
making political comments," he told journalists.

When pushed, he said: "This is a day for celebration, for being
positive.

"I have lots of critical energy deep in me but I’m not going to
express it today.

"I want to tell my readers, both in Turkey and all over the world,
that this prize will not change my working habits, my devotion to
this art."

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 14 2006

France no longer home of freedom: Gul

The Turkish Foreign Minister said that the vote of the French
parliament was shameful.

NTV-MSNBC
Güncelleme: 17:05 TSÝ 13 Ekim 2006 CumaANKARA – France will have to
live with the consequences of the French parliament’s decision to
approve a bill making it a criminal offence to deny allegations that
Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s Foreign
Minister said late Thursday.

Speaking at a joint press conference with visiting Afghani Foreign
Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta in Ankara, Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul said that France could no longer describe itself as the home of
freedoms. `France will live with this shame,’ Gul said. `I hope that
France will take a backward step from this dead end.’ Turkey will
take every step necessary to counter the impression created by the
passing of the legislation, he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 14 2006

Turkey slams passing of French genocide denial bill

The Armenian Patriarch warned that the new law will strengthen the
hands of far right nationalists in both France and Turkey.

NTV-MSNBC
Güncelleme: 17:05 TSÝ 13 Ekim 2006 CumaANKARA / ISTANBUL – The
passing of controversial legislation by the French parliament
outlawing the denial of allegations that the Ottoman Empire massacred
Armenians during the First World War has sparked an outpouring of
criticism across Turkey. The bill, approved by the lower house of the
French parliament on Thursday, foresees fines of 45,000 euros and up
to one year behind bars for those found guilty of denying the so
called genocide.

Deniz Baykal, chairman of the opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP), said it was impossible to mortgage history by making such
decisions. `This decision aims at preventing talks over historical
facts,’ he said. Mehmet Agar, the leader of the opposition True Path
Party (DYP), said that the decision was a violation of democracy,
human rights and freedom of expression. `It will lead to
irrecoverable damage in the bilateral relations between Turkey and
France,’ Agar said.

Another to criticise the decision of the French parliament was Mesrob
II, the Armenian Patriarch in Turkey, who said that the new
legislation will strengthen the hands of not only Turkish but also
Armenian extreme nationalist and racist groups. `The French, who have
put several obstacles before Turkey on its road to the EU, have given
a major blow to the very limited dialogue between Turkey and
Armenia,’ he said. `I think that this resolution, adopted by the
French parliament, is anti-democratic because it limits personal
freedom of expression.’

Turkey’s leading business lobby group, the Turkish Industrialists’
and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD), said that the vote of the
French parliament was a great mistake and was contrary to the
European Union’s philosophy and its standards of democracy. In a
statement issued late Thursday TUSIAD said that France had mortgaged
its foreign policy in order to gain the votes of the Armenians in
France. French politicians didn’t have the required authority and
expertise to make a judgement on the issue, the statement said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 14 2006

An Irony of Fate

Friday, October 13, 2006
zaman.com

This is an irony of fate. Orhan Pamuk, who was tried for saying
`30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in these lands,’
was awarded the Nobel literature prize on the same day the Armenian
genocide bill was passed by the French parliament.

These two points are being linked in every comment about the issue.
Pamuk, who gained a considerable number of enemies with his
statement, is bound to hear comments that if somebody curses Turkey
like he did, that person will also get a prize.

A big `Armenian shadow’ will be cast over this prize. In all
likelihood, Pamuk himself is not happy with such a coincidence,
either.

If all these things had not happened, such as Pamuk saying such big
words, the subsequent controversy and the Nobel prize being announced
right after the bill penalizing those who deny the purported Armenian
genocide, we would now be talking about Pamuk’s words, his literary
competence and about the doors this prize would open for Turkish
literature.

However, whether desired or not, his words will follow him like a
shadow and some will regard the Nobel prize as an award for Pamuk’s
words and behaviors that `offended’ Turkey and the Turkish people.

Aside from all these discussions, Orhan Pamuk is Turkey’s most
well-known novelist.

His `opposing’ attitude and `discourse’ certainly play a part in his
worldwide fame.

As a matter of fact, it is no longer an author’s works that make him
famous in today’s world, just as it is not only `literary competence’
that influences the Swedish Academy’s decision who receives the Nobel
prize.

All these will cause endless conflicts in both literary and political
circles.

However, the truth despite all is that Pamuk has been awarded the
Nobel Literature Prize in 2006. It is impossible to deny or ignore
this.

Political conflicts, even crucial social events, may be forgotten
with time but literature has an ability to resist time. Even though
the Nobel Prize always causes controversy and it is claimed to be
given for political reasons, it is the most respectable literature
prize in the world.

None of today’s conflicts will be remembered within a 100 years’ time
but Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish novelist’s name will remain in the list of
the Nobel literature prize.

If we leave all conflicts, praises and criticisms alone, Pamuk’s
Nobel Prize will increase his worldwide fame as well as the interest
in the Turkish literature. It can also be said that Pamuk will serve
as an impulsive force in Turkish literature’s project of opening up
to the outer world.

Ali Colak

———————————————- ———————————-

‘The Prize will not Change me and my Works’

Holding a press conference in New York yesterday, Pamuk stated the
prize was given not only to him but also to the Turkish language,
Turkish culture and Turkey and said he was very happy and proud of
this.

Reminding the reporters that this was the first time Turkey was
awarded a Nobel prize, Pamuk said `I am very happy, at least, for
this reason.’

Speaking at the library of Columbia University’s Center on Global
Thought where he teaches as a guest lecturer, Pamuk said he wrote The
Black Book in the small rooms of this university 22 years ago.

`I am happy to receive the news on the prize at the same university,’
Pamuk said, adding the award wouldn’t change him or his work.

Stating he found out the news upon a phone call at midnight, Pamuk
said, `The Swedish Academy of Sciences chairman called me. He said I
was awarded the prize and asked whether I would take it. I said I
would take it. Claims that I would decline it are baseless.’

Emrah Ulker, New York

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
Oct 14 2006

EUROPE’S PATRONIZING ATTITUDE TOWARD TURKS CAN PUSH ANKARA CLOSER TO MOSCOW

By Igor Torbakov

Friday, October 13, 2006

Turkey’s prospects of becoming a full-blown member of the European
Union are again seriously endangered — this time by a fierce row
with France over the `Armenian genocide’ bill. According to analysts,
the West’s continuous snubbing of the Turks could result in Ankara’s
moving strategically closer to Moscow.

On October 12, France’s National Assembly approved a bill making it a
crime to deny that the mass slaughter of Armenians in the final years
of the Ottoman Empire was genocide. The Socialist-backed legislation,
which gained support from right-wing assembly members, stipulates
that anyone denying that genocide took place will be jailed for up to
five years. (France recognized the killings of Armenians as genocide
in 2001, but that bill did not provide for any criminal penalties for
denying genocide.)

The Turkish government adamantly denies any accusations of genocide,
insisting that hundreds of thousands of Turks and Armenians died in
civil strife that was merely a part of the larger World War I
conflict.

The French vote caused a wave of indignation in Turkey with thousands
of protesters marching in Istanbul and the country’s parliamentary
speaker calling the vote a `shameful decision.’ There have been calls
across the country to retaliate by starting a boycott of French
goods.

Although both the French Foreign Ministry and the European Commission
distanced themselves from the bill and called it `unhelpful,’ most
Turks believe they are purposefully discriminated against by the
Europeans, who do not want to see Turkey in the EU and thus put
ever-new hurdles on Ankara’s European path. The French vote came two
weeks after the European Parliament issued a report calling on Turkey
to acknowledge the Armenian killings as `genocide.’ Last week, French
President Jacques Chirac suggested, while visiting Yerevan, that
recognition of `genocide’ against the Armenians should be a
precondition of EU entry. And the leading French presidential
hopeful, Nicolas Sarkozy, a long-time opponent of Turkish entry into
Europe, raised the stakes further by saying that even if Ankara
admitted genocide, that change should not guarantee it EU entry.

The mishandling of the `Turkish question’ could prove too costly for
Europe’s strategic interests, a number of the Western and Turkish
analysts warn.

First, the rebuffs of Ankara’s European ambitions undermine support
for the pro-EU forces in Turkey’s domestic politics, as a growing
number of the country’s policymakers and experts begin to doubt
Europe’s intention to negotiate Turkey’s accession seriously. Some
Turkish observers note that with the growing frictions between the
West and the Muslim world, the Turkish political discourse has come
to be dominated by Islamic considerations. As a result, more Turks
tend to view their country and the world around it exclusively
through a religious prism — a trend that leads to the perceived
dichotomy between Turkey and the West. According to recent opinion
polls, almost half of the Turks think that Turkey does not belong in
the EU because it is predominantly Muslim. At the same time, an
increasing number of Turks appear to feel stronger affinity with
other Muslim peoples in the Middle East — a development that results
in public demands to establish closer ties with neighboring countries
such as Syria and Iran. The rise of the ruling Islamist-leaning
Justice and Development Party, which rests on resurgent Islam, and
the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which is severely condemned by the Turkish
public, `created strong feelings of solidarity between Turkey and its
Muslim neighbors,’ a recent policy paper suggests.

Second, Europe cannot take Ankara’s loyalty for granted because
Turkey has strategic alternatives. One such alternative, notes Denis
MacShane, Britain’s former Europe minister, in a Financial Times
commentary, is that `it can create a Black Sea alliance with Vladimir
Putin’s increasingly authoritarian Russia.’

Many Turkish analysts consider the Kremlin’s more assertive policy in
the Middle East as a positive development rather than as a potential
threat. Ankara sees Moscow, which seeks to take a more independent
line in the region and is keen to dispel the image of being
Washington’s junior partner, as a useful counterbalance to what the
Turks perceive as dangerously destabilizing U.S. policies. Both
Russian and Turkish experts note the affinity of Ankara’s and
Moscow’s positions regarding Middle East issues. `In the final
analysis, Turkey’s views are different from the West and closer to
Russia,’ one influential Turkish analyst argues.

Similarly, both Ankara and Moscow share a pronounced bias in favor of
preserving the status quo in the Black Sea and Caucasus region. The
U.S. and EU policies of `spreading democracy’ make both Turkey and
Russia jittery. Their outlooks on the West’s democratic proselytizing
are almost identical: reform and change should come as a result of
the countries’ internal dynamics; no external influence should be
allowed.

(Turkish Daily News, New Anatolian, October 13; RFE/RL, October 12;
Financial Times, October 11)

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TREND Info, Azerbaijan
Oct 13 2006

Presidential Administration`s Department`s Chief: Steps Taken by
France`s Parliament May Have an Influence on International Relations

Source: Trend
Author: A. Ismayilova

13.10.2006

Such a country like France, where democratic and human rights
principles are highly developed, should be very careful in discussing
such a sensitive issue, Novruz Mammadov, Chief of External Affairs
Department of the Azerbaijan President`s Office exclusively told
Trend today commenting the law envisaging a punishment for a denial
of the Armenian Genocide, which was adopted by the French National
Assembly yesterday.

Mr. Mammadov thinks that such actions may have a negative influence
on international relations. He is sorry that a group of MPs of the
French National Assembly have been caught by an effect of the
inventory `Armenian Genocide’, had not counted its steps.

Mr. Mammadov is sure that adopting of such a law is contrary to
principles of the freedom of person existing in France. `Just imagine
that in the country with the population of 60 m., all the citizens
will suddenly be punished for expressing their opinions relating the
events happened 100 years ago. How you can explain it?’ , he told.

The Head of the Presidential Administration’s External Affairs
Department told that first of all it is necessary to find out the
exact opinion relating these events, study archives, and only then
express their position. `At present, the advantage of political
factor is evident. And the Armenian influence on these processes is
direct’, he told.

`The French Parliament has already acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide. Why should they have raised this issue again? Politicians
cannot give an exact estimation to historic events. Moreover, some
French figures, specialists, and international historians have many
times stated that this issue was invented, and given the adequate
sources’. Taking the decision when the clarity has not moved for all
that may trigger negative tendencies in international relations, as
well as affect the constructivity of the current negotiations on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. Soon they will realize that the
step they took was wrong’, he thinks.

He also considers that amid the happening, France, as a Co-Chair of
OSCE Minsk Group will have to do its best in order that its neutral
position and sincerity was out of the question.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 13 2006

Genocide bill betrays France’s own values: Arinc

There is no evidence to suggest that the Ottoman Empire carried out a
systematic genocide of Armenians, a leading Turkish historian said
Friday.

Güncelleme: 16:34 TSÝ 13 Ekim 2006 CumaANKARA – By making the denial
of the alleged massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a criminal
offence, France has betrayed its on principles, the speaker of the
Turkish parliament said Friday.

Saying that it was a great disgrace for the French parliament to have
passed such legislation, parliamentary speaker Bulent Arinc said that
the Turkish parliament would probably approve a resolution formally
condemning the decision.

On Thursday, the lower house of the French parliament approved
legislation that foresees fines of 45,000 euros and up to one year in
prison for those convicted of denying that the so-called Armenian
genocide took place.

`This is a big shame for France, and it has betrayed its own values
if any,’ Arinc said `It made this decision, violating all its
principles.’

Another to criticise the vote was Doctor Yusuf Halacoglu, the
chairman of the Turkish History Society. Speaking at a meeting of
representatives of Turkish non-government organisations to discuss
the new French legislation, Halacoglu said there was no indication or
document proving that Turks committed genocide.

In order to prove such allegations, there must be an open intention
to annihilate in a genocide, he said. However what had been
experienced by the Armenians during the Ottoman era was a relocation,
Halacoglu said.

`Not only the Ottoman documents but also the reports of the US
consuls indicated that these people were paid some allowances during
relocation,’ he said. `You won’t allocate appropriations to people
whom you want to annihilate. So it is impossible to define as a
genocide legally what the Armenians had experienced during World War
One.’

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 13 2006

Turkey considering retaliatory measures against France: PM
Erdogan did no specify any steps Turkey might take against France.

Güncelleme: 16:34 TSÝ 13 Ekim 2006 CumaANKARA – Turkey was looking
into measures to retaliate against the French parliament’s decision
to approve legislation making it a criminal offence to deny the
alleged massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during the First
World War.

Highlighting the fact that Turkey and France had trade worth $10
billion, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that, `We
are going to make proper calculations and then take necessary steps.’

It has been suggested that Turkey will freeze French companies out of
bidding on state tenders worth billions of dollars and various
Turkish groups have called for a boycott of French products.

Under the new law, which still has to be passed by the French Senate
and ratified by the President Jacques Chirac, persons convicted of
denying that the so-called Armenian genocide took place face fines of
45,000 euros and up to one year in prison.

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 13 2006

Turkish PM’s office condemns French genocide denial law

The passing of the law was a narrow minded act that trampled
fundamental values, the statement said.

Güncelleme: 16:34 TSÝ 13 Ekim 2006 CumaANKARA – The decision of the
French parliament to approve a bill that outlaws denying that the
Ottoman Empire carried out a massacre of its Armenian during the
First World War was regrettable and a historical inconsistency, a
statement issued by the office of the Turkish Prime Minister said
late Thursday.

The statement, released by the Prime Ministry press centre, said that
the decision was shameful when considered in the light of scientific
facts and freedom of thought and expression.

`We regret and condemn adoption of the resolution that makes denial
of baseless Armenian genocide allegations a crime by the French
parliament,’ the statement said.

On Thursday, the French parliament voted to adopt a bill that would
imposed a 45,000 euro fine and a prison term of up to one year on any
person found guilty of denying that the so-called Armenian genocide
took place.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s press office said that the
legislation had been motivated by political interests and not those
of historical accuracy.

`Narrow-minded politicians, who have made France live with this
shame, should think about what will happen from now on,’ the
statement said. `The French parliament has contradicted its own
allegations regarding French history, and trampled the fundamental
values it is defending. Even though this parliament decision is not
enough for legalisation of the resolution, this is a grave and
historic mistake. There is a big reaction against this resolution in
France, and history will naturally try those who close their eyes to
these reactions and insist on this wrong step. Unfortunately, it
won’t be possible to control all the results of this irresponsible
attitude of some French politicians.’

The statement said that Turkey could neither accept nor tolerate such
an unjust decision. `Our public, including our Armenian citizens with
whom we are living together for centuries, are upset,’ it said. `Mr.
Prime Minister is calling on our public, politicians and business
circles to behave with common sense when showing necessary reactions
to this decision.’

Hurriyet, Turkey
Oct 13 2006

Pamuk: This Nobel goes to all of Turkey, the Turks, and Turkish
language
Friday , 13 October 2006

Speaking at a press conference in New York City yesterday, where he
is currently a visiting professor at Columbia University, Orhan Pamuk
told reporters that the Nobel Prize for Literature was not only given
to him, but to all of Turkey, Turkish culture, and the language of
Turkish. Said Pamuk, "Today I would just like to celebrate this good
news. There is nothing else I wish to talk about or comment on."

Pamuk said that he had learned in the morning of the news via a phone
call from the Swedish Academy. He explained "The head of the Swedish
Royal Academy called me and asked whether I would accept the prize. I
said I would."

Pamuk told reporters that he hoped the awarding of the Nobel to his
work would raise the profile of Turkish literature and culture in the
world at large, adding "I think that this award will cause the world
to re-examine Turkish culture as a culture of peace, and as a mixture
of East and West cultures. My books are proof that in fact Turkey is
a part of both the East and the West."

Pamuk declined to answer any questions on Turkey’s controversial
penal code, nor on his previous statements regarding the Armenian
genocide and cultural clashes.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress