Month: March 2007

ATACAL CALLS ON ALL TURKS TO ATTEND PROTESTS AGAINST ALLEGATIONS OF SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Turkish Press
March 16 2007

NEW YORK – Ulker Aksu, chairperson of the Association of Turkish
American Contend with Armenian Lies (ATACAL), has called on all
Turkish people living in the United States to attend demonstrations
to be held in New York and Washington D.C. to protest the allegations
on so-called Armenian genocide.

Holding a news conference, Aksu said that the first one of protests
would take place in New York`s Times Square on April 21st, and the
second one in Washington D.C. on April 22nd.

"We also want to erect a monument in New Jersey out of respect to
Turkish diplomats who were slain by Armenian terrorists. We held talks
with Turkish Consul General in New York Mehmet Samsar," Ulker added.

Meanwhile, Hayati Tekin, mayor of Kutlukent town of the northern
Turkish city of Samsun from the delegation of Turkish mayors visiting
New York, said in his part, "Armenian allegations are nothing but
lies. They unfoundedly accuse the Ottomans which embraced all nations."

"The monument to be erected in New Jersey for the memory of Turkish
diplomats will cost about 300 thousand USD. We, as the Union of
Turkish Municipalities (TBB), will be pleased to pay it," Tekin added.

RICE AND GATES WARN U.S. CONGRESS ON ARMENIAN DRAFT

Turkish Press
March 16 2007

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned in joint identical letters
the leaders of the U.S House of Representatives regarding the draft
resolution on so-called Armenian genocide.

In the letters Rice and Gates said, "adoption of this draft will damage
the efforts to support reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia."

The joint identical letters, pointing to the difficulties which
the Armenian draft resolution would cause, were sent to House of
Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Rep. John Boehner, leader of
the House`s Republican minority; and Rep. Tom Lantos, the Democrat
who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

According to AP News Agency, Rice and Gates in the letter dated March
7th, said the United States is encouraging "our friends in Turkey to
re-examine their past with honesty and to reconcile with Armenia, as
well as security and stability in the broader Middle East and Europe."

Rice and Gates warned the members of the House of Representatives of
repercussions of such a vote, and reminded that Turkish army terminated
defense contracts under negotiation following passage of a resolution
in the French National Assembly last October.

The letter said, "passage of such a resolution could harm American
troops in the field, constrain our ability to supply our troops in
Iraq and Afghanistan and significantly damage our efforts to promote
reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey."

On the other hand, in an interview with The Associated Press the U.S.
Special Representative for Countering Terrorism general Joseph Ralston
said "this is an incredibly sensitive issue inside Turkey, and what
we are trying to encourage the Turks to have is meaningful reform of
their dealings with Armenia."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA AGREES TO PLAY AGAINST AZERBAIJAN IN NEUTRAL FIELD

Today, Azerbaijan
March 16 2007

Armenian Football Federation has given its consent to play in a neurtal
field against Azerbaijani squad in European championship qualifying.

The match scheduled for September 12 may take place either in Donetsk
or in Odessa, Ukraine, APA-Sport reports quoting Russian press outlet.

Ukrainian Football Federation (FFU) president Grigori Surkis has also
given his consent for the encounter to take place in the country. FFU
press service stated that the encounter may not be organized in Kiev
as the same that Ukrainian national squad will meet Italian team in
the frame of European championship qualifying.

UEFA will pass final decision on the place of Azerbaijan-Armenia
match at the meeting to be held on April 12 with the participation
of the AFFA and the FFA.

URL:

WRONG RESOLUTION ON TURKISH KILLINGS
By Kenneth Ballen

Baltimore Sun, MD
March 15 2007

Rarely does Congress exclusively hold the key to America’s foreign
relations with a critical ally. But now, with Turkey, the only
Muslim country allied with the United States in NATO, the future of
Turkish-American relations is solely in the hands of Congress.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged to bring before the House next
month a congressional resolution formally recognizing as organized
genocide the mass killings of Armenians from 1915 to 1923 in Turkey’s
predecessor state of the Ottoman Empire. Ms. Pelosi strongly supports
the resolution, and it now appears likely to be approved.

According to a new nationwide public opinion survey of Turkey recently
conducted by Terror Free Tomorrow, the nonprofit organization I lead,
congressional passage of this resolution would set back the cause
it purports to achieve, namely Turkey’s recognition of its past and
reconciliation with Armenia today.

The courageous Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was
assassinated for trying to promote reconciliation just two weeks
before our survey, believed that the key for Armenians was Turkish
public opinion, saying: "The winning of the empathy and compassion
of the Turkish population is far more important than the adoption of
Armenian resolutions in hundreds of parliaments elsewhere."

Our survey proves Mr. Dink right. Rather than win Turkish empathy,
the forthcoming resolution from Congress would harden public attitudes
in Turkey – and likely in Armenia as well.

Indeed, the feelings of the Turkish people on this issue run deep –
78 percent of Turks oppose the resolution, and three-quarters feel
that passage will worsen their opinion of the United States.

In our survey of 1,021 Turks 18 and older, only one-fifth of them
expressed a favorable opinion of the U.S. But even among those
Turks who now have a favorable opinion toward America, four-fifths
responded that their opinion would deteriorate if the resolution were
to pass. These attitudes could lead anti-American feelings in Turkey
to the abyss. Seventy-nine percent of Turks favor strong action by
the Turkish government if an Armenian resolution passes, including
suspension of diplomatic relations with the U.S. and boycotting
American products.

Critically, Turks surveyed feel so powerfully about this issue that
should the resolution pass, 83 percent would oppose Turkey assisting
the U.S. in neighboring Iraq.

The reasons for Turkish opinion have less to do with the issue of
recognizing the mass killings of Armenians as genocide than with
outside American political judgment of Turkish history. In fact,
three-quarters of all Turks would accept scholarship by independent
historians on what occurred between Turks and Armenians.

The problem for most Turks is that they do not consider the U.S.
Congress a neutral judge. Instead, Turks largely see the resolution
as driven by anti-Muslim feelings and American domestic politics.

At this moment, when opinion of the U.S. is at a nadir throughout
the Muslim world, Congress is poised to further alienate one of our
few democratic Muslim allies.

If the goal of the congressional resolution is to promote
reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia today, its proponents should
be aware that 73 percent of Turks think the resolution will have the
opposite effect.

Yes, the genocide of innocent Armenian civilians in the waning days
of the Ottoman Empire must be universally acknowledged – even if
condemning the mass killings as genocide provokes the ire of most
Turks. That fact must never be the issue.

But how can Congress best help our ally, Turkey, to acknowledge the
wrongs of its past while advancing reconciliation with Armenia in
the present?

The task should be the one Hrant Dink gave his life for: to help
promote a neutral, independent and credible mechanism that can further
reconciliation while recognizing past wrongs. That neutral forum
should include not only expert historians, legal scholars and political
leaders from Turkey and Armenia but also similar representatives from
other countries that have successfully confronted their histories,
such as Germany and South Africa.

The momentous issue of genocide demands no less than a response
designed to lead to true recognition and reconciliation.

Kenneth Ballen prosecuted international terrorists and served as
counsel to the House Iran-Contra Committee. He is president of Terror
Free Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization in Washington. His e-mail
is [email protected].

imoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.turkey15mar1 5,0,1173034.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

RICE, GATES OPPOSE PROPOSED RESOLUTION

Associated Press
NDTV.com, India
March 15 2007

The US secretaries of state and defence contend that the security of
the United States is at risk from a proposed legislation that would
declare up to 1.5 million Armenians victims of genocide on Turkish
soil almost a century ago.

In joint identical letters, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and
Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the resolution also could inflict
significant damage on US efforts to reconcile the long-standing
dispute between the West Asian neighbours.

The appeals went to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Rep John
Boehner, leader of the House’s Republican minority; and Rep Tom Lantos,
the Democrat who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

A Foreign Affairs subcommittee is holding a hearing on Thursday on
US-Turkish relations.

KNESSET OPTS NOT TO DISCUSS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AT PM’S REQUEST
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent

Ha’aretz, Israel
March 15 2007

The Knesset decided Wednesday to shelve a proposal for a parliamentary
discussion on the Armenian genocide, in compliance with Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert’s request.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had also asked for a removal of
MK Haim Oron’s (Meretz) proposal from the agenda of the Knesset
Education, Culture, and Sports Committee. She said the discussion
might destabilize diplomatic relations with Turkey, which denies
responsibility for the death of nearly 1 million Armenians during
World War I.

MK Oron said that before the vote, Livni called him twice to ask
him to withdraw the proposal. "This inquiry is something we owe the
Armenians, primarily at a time when we are struggling to preserve
the memory of our own people," said Oron.

He added that he had intended the discussion to lead to a resolution
by the Knesset acknowledging the genocide perpetrated against the
Armenians by the Turkish security forces.

Prominent members of the Armenian community in Israel observed the vote
from the Knesset visitors’ balcony and expressed their disappointment
with the decision.

Health Minister Yacov Ben-Yizri, speaking for Livni, said that "as
Jews and Israelis we are especially sensitive to the issue, but over
the years the subject has been transformed into a heated discussion
that the two parties must resolve in order to truly heal the wounds
of the past."

In his address, Ben Yizri did mention that the Armenians were "killed
en-masse during the last days of the Ottoman rule."

THE TURKISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO RESEARCH TASHNAK ARCHIVES
By Aslihan Aydin

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 15 2007

The Turkish Historical Society (TTK) reportedly wants to finance the
opening up of the Tashnak Archives in Boston to Turkish historians.

The president of the TTK, Professor Yusuf Halacoðlu, said that until
now his organization has been denied access to the Tashnak Archives
on the basis of claims that the documents "are not classified and
categorized." As for archives in Jerusalem and Armenia, Professor
Halacoðlu notes that no excuses have been provided in the barring
of Turkish historians from these resources. Refusing to accept the
excuse the Boston-based Tashnak Archives had proffered, Halacoðlu
has offered to finance the cataloguing of the archive with TTK funds.

The TTK has obtained access to documents pertaining to Ottoman
Armenians in the archives of a number of countries, including Russia,
Iran, Azerbaijan, France and England. Two central archives to which
the TTK has not been able to obtain access are the Tashnak Archives
in Boston, which contains pre-1923 documents concerning the Armenians,
and the Patriarchate Archives in Jerusalem.

These archives, he maintains, contain crucial documentation about the
Armenians. Halacoðlu also maintains that despite the fact that a few
well-known defenders of the Armenian genocide have been given access
to the Tashnak Archives, there has never been a Turkish historian or
researcher allowed to use this resource.

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ISRAELI PARLIAMENT REJECTS ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’ RESOLUTION

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 15 2007

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, declined yesterday to approve
a resolution recognizing Armenian claims of genocide at the hands of
the late Ottoman Empire, news reports said.

The resolution, submitted by lawmaker Haim Oron, drew anger from some
quarters in the Israeli government and was rejected by parliament,
the Anatolia news agency said.

"It is the duty of the Israeli parliament, as the representative of
the Jewish people, to express its opinion on the need to recognize
the Armenian genocide," Oron, who is from the opposition left-wing
Meretz Party, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. "It is
a debt we owe to the Armenian people and one we owe to ourselves."

The resolution urged the Israeli administration to mark April 24, the
day when Armenians claim the alleged genocide started, as "Armenian
genocide memorial day."

Oron said he has been under heavy pressure from Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert’s office as well as the Foreign Ministry to withdraw
his motion. "That [pressure] is something any MP must face," Oron
said. "Turkey has been exerting its pressure everywhere. This is their
right. But they can not set the agenda of the Israeli parliament."

Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said that Israel "did not intend to
place itself at the forefront of this issue, which is being handled
by the international community."

Israel has close diplomatic ties with Turkey — one of the few Muslim
countries with which it has relations — and has in the past steered
clear of the recognition issue.

Turkey categorically denies charges of genocide, saying that Armenians
and Turks were killed in mutual attacks when the Armenians, backed
by Russia, rose up against the Ottoman Empire. The parliaments of a
number of countries have endorsed resolutions recognizing the alleged
genocide, causing serious deterioration in ties with Turkey.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FOREIGN MINISTRY THE NEW BATTLEGROUND BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND ESTABLISHMENT
Lale Sariibrahimoglu

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 15 2007

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s refusal to sign a decree envisaging the
appointment of five deputy undersecretaries for the Foreign Ministry,
the first of its kind in the history of the republic as described by
the daily newspaper Hurriyet in its March 14 edition, has revealed an
ongoing battle at the Foreign Ministry between the political leadership
and the establishment. President Sezer, regarded as the mouthpiece
of the establishment that prefers to rule the nation independent
of the political leadership, has returned to parliament numerous
decrees envisaging the appointments of top bureaucrats. He has also
vetoed, sometimes rightly, various laws passed by the parliament —
all mainly on grounds that the Islam-based conservative Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) sought to seriously infringe on the
secular character of the nation through the appointments of top and
lower-level bureaucrats.

The problem with Sezer’s policy is the double standard that lies
behind his attitude. To start with, since the establishment of the
Turkish Republic by Ataturk 84 years ago, the Turkish bureaucracy has
always turned into a battlefield between the different ideologies,
from the left to the right, depending on what type of coalition or
single party governments then ruled the nation.

There has been no objective criteria applied to the appointment of
bureaucrats who have mostly fallen victim to the ill-defined policies
of the then ruling political leadership. Due to the absence of a
fully established rule of law in Turkey, sometimes bureaucrats not
affiliated with any party view can find themselves being linked to
a certain ideology through rumors instead of objective criteria that
should dictate their appointments.

It is also true that in Western democracies the winning party or the
parties setting up the government would choose to work with bureaucrats
they feel are close to their own ideologies. But in Turkey, we have
always witnessed a massive shakeup in public institutions from top
to bottom with every new government, resulting with the danger of
creating bureaucrats who could only keep their positions if they were
loyal to government policies they sometimes did not agree with.

Those who have been resisting AK Party appointments thus pursue a
double standard with the sometimes unnecessary fear that the Turkish
secular order would receive a serious blow with certain appointments.

Such resistance damages the credibility of the resistors because the
same voices criticizing AK Party appointment policies have remained
relatively indifferent when in the past governments close to their
ideologies made appointments that, for example, resulted in the
ministry of education and ministry of culture being staffed with
either ultranationalists or extreme conservatives — appointments
that contributed to ultranationalism in society sometimes turning
into violent nationalism. This was the case with the slaying of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in January this year.

President Sezer’s rejection of a decree envisaging the appointment of
five Foreign Ministry deputy undersecretaries is significant because it
reveals that the ongoing battle between the establishment the current
government over the appointment of top level bureaucrats has spread
to the foreign ministry, an institution regarded as the closest to
the status quo.

The current names appointed as deputy under-secretaries mark
a rejuvenation drive by the government at the ministry to create
a team of top diplomats who would be much more loyal to the ruling
government than the older diplomats who are part of the establishment,
says a senior Turkish diplomatic source.

But in my opinion this rejuvenation drive by the government is
positive in the sense that those top but young diplomats would act
in a more realistic manner toward world affairs. I myself know in
person a majority of the five deputy undersecretaries that Sezer
rejected by not signing the appointment decree. They are intelligent
and sophisticated enough to inject energy into the ministry which
has not done much in the past in taking initiatives to help the
government in its efforts to pursue a proactive stance in solving
Turkey’s chronic foreign policy problems.

As a long time journalist dealing with diplomacy and defense I
believe that the new deputy under-secretaries, who now must remain as
acting deputy under-secretaries in the absence of Sezer’s approval,
will contribute positively to the government’s efforts to settle the
country’s chronic foreign policy issues; issues that the status quo
preferred not to solve, thereby putting too heavy a burden on the
citizens of this country.

USA TO ADVOCATE REGULATION OF NAGORNI GARABAGH CONFLICT WITHIN THE FRAMES OF TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN

Ïðaâî Âûaîða, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
March 15 2007

The United States of America support just regulation of
Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorni Garabagh conflict within the frames
of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. AzerTaj informs that it was
declared by US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Ms. Ann Ders, during the
meeting with students held at "Khazar" university, March 12.

Having reminded about 4 resolutions on Nagorni Garabagh adopted by
UN Security Council, diplomat stressed that her country being one
of OSCE Minsk Group co-chair is making efforts to solve the problem
in question.

During the meeting dedicated to human rights, Ambassador, Ann Ders,
spoke about annual report of US Department of State underlining aspects
concerning Azerbaijan. Report of US Department of State stresses that
Azerbaijan is trustworthy defender of religious and ethnic tolerance.

Moreover, adopted laws to combat corruption in Azerbaijan,
"National action plan on protection of human rights in the Republic
of Azerbaijan" approved by the decree of the President, Ilham Aliyev,
successes achieved in prevention of human trafficking and work carried
out for improvement of legislation connected with process of entering
World Trade Organization were highly evaluated in the report.

Having expressed her confidence that the government of Azerbaijan
will continue democratic reforms, Ann Ders, said that Azerbaijan
is collaborating with OSCE, Council of Europe, NATO, west countries
including USA in this respect.

Attaching importance to simultaneous realization of economic and
political reforms, American diplomat said that development of democracy
is also connected with economic progress.

She also stressed that cooperation of USA and Azerbaijan in energy
sector will continue, adding that efficient use of oil incomes
will positively affect strengthening of independence of Azerbaijan,
improvement of welfare of population, economic development.

As for Iranian nuclear program, diplomat said that international
community, including USA, is not against peaceful nuclear program of
Iran. Diplomat said that Iran’s craving for having nuclear weapon is
a threat for the countries of the region.

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