Month: March 2007

TURKISH LEADER GUILTY OF GENOCIDE DENIAL

The News – International, Pakistan
March 10 2007

GENEVA: A Swiss court on Friday found a Turkish leader guilty of
denying the Armenian genocide, the first time Switzerland’s anti-racism
law has been applied to the World War I slaughter.

Turkish Workers’ Party leader Dogu Perincek received a suspended jail
sentence of 90 days or an equivalent fine from the Lausanne court as
well as a fine of 3,000 Swiss francs (1,900 euros).

Perincek had described the Armenian genocide under the Ottoman Empire
as an "international lie" at a Turkish rally in the Swiss city in 2005.

The Turkish government also fiercely rejects the genocide label and
the issue has sparked diplomatic tensions with Switzerland in the past.

Judge Pierre-Henri Winzap called Perincek an "arrogant provocateur"
in his ruling at the end of a week-long trial, adding that he had
"racist and nationalist motives".

Lausanne was also the site of the international conference and treaty
signed in 1923 which sealed the break-up of the Ottoman Empire and
the birth of the modern Turkish state.

Winzap said the Armenian genocide was "a proven historical fact
according to Swiss public opinion" and the fact that it was not listed
as a genocide by an international court did not rule out its reality.

He also ruled that Perincek made two speeches in May 2005 in the full
knowledge that he would be breaking the law.

Charges against Perincek were pressed under Swiss anti-racism law,
which includes an offence of denial of genocide or crimes against
humanity, following a complaint by a Swiss-Armenian group.

The verdict marks the first time that the 1995 law was applied to
the massacre of Armenians, said Doris Angst of Switzerland’s official
anti-racism watchdog.

"The commission welcomes the fact that the issue has been clarified
in a certain way with this ruling," the secretary of the Federal
Commission Against Racism told AFP.

Perincek said afterwards that he would appeal the verdict of
Lausanne’s magistrates court. "I will appeal this decision. I still
have confidence in Swiss justice. We will take it to the end to the
European Court of Human Rights if necessary," he told the Anatolian
news agency.

"This decision reflects in a concrete manner the Swiss judge’s hatred
for Turkey and the Turkish nation," he added.

In 2001, a court in the capital Bern acquitted 12 Turks facing
similar charges.

However, two years later the Swiss lower house of parliament formally
recognised the massacre of Armenians during World War I as genocide,
despite fierce protests from Turkey.

Perincek argued in court that he had not committed an offence with
his statements during the rally, insisting there had been no genocide
in 1915.

Swiss anti-racism law was not applicable in the Armenian case while
it was fully justified for the Holocaust in World War II, claimed
the Turkey-based militant.

TWO TURKS FINED FOR INSULTING, THREATENING ARMENIAN PATRIARCH

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 10 2007

A Turkish court fined two men for insulting and threatening Patriarch
Mesrob II, the spiritual leader of the Turkey’s small Armenian
community yesterday.

Gokmen Akman was given a fine of YTL 1,287 ($910 dollars) on charges
of both insulting and threatening the patriarch, while Hasan Ezer
was sentenced to pay YTL 77 Turkish ($55) for just insulting Mesrob
II, the Anatolia news agency reported. According to the indictment,
the two men sent e-mails to the patriarch in October 2004 which read
"We will finish you off" and "We will drive you crazy."

Turkey’s 80,000-strong Armenian community, which lives mainly in
Ýstanbul, generally keeps a low profile for fear of becoming a
target for ultra-nationalists in light of the alleged World War I
massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire. Armenians describe the
1915-1918 massacres as genocide, a label that the Republic of Turkey
— the Ottoman Empire’s successor — fiercely rejects. In January,
ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, criticized for his views on
the alleged Armenian massacres, was shot dead outside his office in
a murder which prosecutors believe was the work of ultra-nationalists.

Since then, anxiety has engulfed the Armenian community, and in
recent interviews Mesrob II has said that his office had been
receiving threats.

–Boundary_(ID_Q4fVkQR2cP82MWrdlf+JcA)–

ARMENIA REJECTS U.S. MISSILE PLAN

PRESS TV, Iran
March 9 2007

Amidst rumors of U.S. interest to deploy a missile defense system
in Armenia, Armenian deputy foreign minister Arman Kirakosyan has
announced that he will not welcome the plan in his country.

"I would like to make an official statement that we have not received
any inquiries or proposals on that score from the U.S. or NATO
commanders," Kirakosyan said.

However, on 1st March, a senior Pentagon official announced interest
in approaching ex-Soviet republics like Georgia and Azerbaijan on
U.S.’s missile plan, with Armenia now added to the list.

Both Georgia and Azerbaijan have stated they are not aware of any
such plans nor have they been approached by the United States.

Russia is vehemently against any deployment of a U.S. missile defense
system, especially in any ex-Soviet states, stating that it will
jeopardize national security in the region.

Washington claims the system will counter any possible missile
threat from countries such as North Korea and Iran while Russian army
officials who do not believe them, advise the United States to look
at the maps to see how far Iran and Korea are to Europe.

Armenian presidential spokesman says opposition used airtime for poll
campaign

Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
10 Mar 07, p3

Armenian presidential spokesman Viktor Sogomonyan has said that there
are not serious problems with freedom of speech in the country. In an
interview with the Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkharh Sogomonyan
denied media reports which allege that opposition was not given
airtime ahead of the parliamentary election. He said that monitoring
funded by the Council of Europe showed that opposition members were
given airtime, and if need be they could provide recording of those TV
programmes as a proof. The presidential spokesman also said that the
authorities were not to blame for internal disagreements within the
opposition. The following is an excerpt from Sogomonyan’s interview
with the newspaper on 10 March; subheadings inserted editorially:
Various politicians and certain international organizations
occasionally say that in Armenia the opposition is deprived of an
opportunity to express its views from television and radical leaders
are not given airtime on private TV companies.
The office of the presidential spokesperson has been monitoring this
sphere since 1 April 2006. The results of the monitoring were posted
at the website of the Foreign Ministry.
[Viktor Sogomonyan] We watched private TV broadcasts to keep a record
of which politicians appeared on TV and how many times they
participated in this or that political broadcast. We then asked these
companies to give us video of the mentioned broadcasts and compared it
with our data. We mainly watched such TV companies as Kentron, Shant,
Yerkir Media, etc. that actively broadcast political programmes and
added other companies, which also occasionally broadcast political
programmes, to their list.
Those who speak about the suppression of freedom of speech in Armenia
can look at the results of the monitoring. We are ready to give them
video copies if they do not believe. Our monitoring mainly focused on
opposition leaders and opposition MPs.
Monitoring shows opposition given airtime
[Correspondent] Did representatives of the authorities or the
pro-government politicians use the private TV air more than others?
[Sogomonyan] To be honest, we did not count. The point is that the
results of the monitoring absolutely refute the "rumours" that the
opposition is denied airtime in the private TV companies since all the
TV channels are controlled by the presidential
administration. Incidentally, the Caucasus Mass Media Institute also
held this kind of monitoring using the grant from the Council of
Europe and registered almost the same results. That is to say, it saw
that a fairly wide spectrum of pluralism is provided in Armenia.
Let me note that we did not watch news bulletins which also regularly
covered various episodes of the activity of the opposition leaders
and political forces – news conferences, debates, round tables,
etc. In that case a "contradictory" question could arise: Have you
seen foreign private TV companies broadcast news conferences of all
opposition members? I watched TV programmes of various foreign
companies but did not see broadcasts of this kind.
Certainly, I do not pretend to say that our private TV companies are
freer than foreign TV companies are. It is clear that there are
standards here too and they are mainly connected with journalists’
professionalism. Anyway, it is obvious that there are not serious
problems connected with freedom of speech in Armenia. I should say
that we held this monitoring just to have a common view. And we think
that the results of the monitoring should be made public so that
people know the situation.
"Black PR" against authorities
[Correspondent] As I know, the results of the monitoring of Radio
Liberty’s broadcasts were also presented. Is the information balanced
in this case too? [Sogomonyan] Yes, we monitored Radio Liberty too,
and its top leadership as well as the US Embassy are aware of the
results. Here the situation is absolutely different – the opposition
emphasized "privilege" in the news broadcasting of Radio Liberty. We
also noticed that there was an open black PR against the authorities
and pro-power parties here.
I should say that it is difficult to find any positive programme in
the Armenian service of Radio Liberty which tells about any positive
event taking place in Armenia. No comment.
[Correspondent] Your opponents say that there is freedom of speech in
Armenia but only within the "mentioned" limits and not for everybody.
[Sogomonyan] If this or that politician is not seen on TV, it is TV
companies not you or me who should be asked about why they do not
invite this politician but invite that one. I can only assume that
perhaps these people are of no interest to the public. We do not
assess or comment on this, we just recorded what happened.
Authorities not to blame for opposition’s internal problems
[Correspondent] The opposition leaders say that with your help the
presidential administration is negotiating with false oppositionists
and it played an active role in the fact the opposition failed to
unite. What can you say about this?
[Sogomonyan] I am afraid that in this case as well they are trying to
blame the authorities for problems and disagreements within the
opposition. I prefer not to comment on this. Let them settle their
relations. It is not the first time that this accusation is voiced
against the authorities, and I do not think that it will be the last
one. There is the political development which the authorities treat
very calmly. As for the process of this development and its
peculiarities, it is society but not the authorities or the opposition
who will determine it.
[Passage omitted: the results of the monitoring are presented]

Armenian opposition movement stages another election rally

Arminfo
9 Mar 07

Yerevan, 9 March: Leaders of the Alternative public movement and the
Impeachment bloc intend to continue rallies in central Yerevan until
the number of their participants reaches at least 50,000.

"I am happy that I am not alone on this square. The power of skinheads
forces to make Armenians feel alone in their homeland. We will stand
on this square until all people who consider themselves worthy
citizens and feel responsibility for the future of the country will
leave their armchairs and join us," the editor of Haykakan Zhamanak
newspaper and one of the leaders of the Impeachment bloc has said from
the rostrum of Alternative’s rally.

He said that he had made a mistake by not interfering when 150,000
people went to opposition rallies in 2003 but some opposition leaders
went to drink tea. "It was necessary to say then ‘go wherever you
like, we will take over the rostrum ourselves’," [Haykakan Zhamanak
editor Nikol] Pashinyan said.

Vahagn Khachatryan, former mayor of Yerevan when the Armenian
Pan-National Movement was in power, said that Armenian authorities
will not manage to infringe the freedom of speech in the country. "We
realize that the management and employees of TV channels do not act on
their will. The regime dictates to them . There is no need to conduct
any monitoring of the media. Taking into account air time given to the
Republican Party of Armenia, the Prosperous Armenia Party and the
People’s Party, the forthcoming parliamentary election can be declared
rigged," Khachatryan said.

[Passage omitted: other speakers]

About 500 participants attended today’s rally of the Alternative
movement which was the third of the kind. This is more than twice less
than the number of participants in the previous rally.

Mehr News Agency, Iran
March 11 2007

Farhat composed tenth symphony to repay his debt to war martyrs

TEHRAN, March 11 (MNA) — Iranian musician Shahin Farhat said on Sunday that
he composed his tenth symphony, entitled Martyrs, as a way to repay part of
his debt to the martyrs of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

`The work is the best of the 11 symphonies I have composed over my career,’
he told the Persian service of IRNA.

The Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization (IIDO)
recently released a CD of a performance of the 41-minute symphony by the
Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Sirenco.

The symphony had originally been scheduled to be recorded by the Armenian
Philharmonic Orchestra with Iranian conductor Loris Tjeknavorian.

Farhat recently completed the Muhammad (S) Symphony and previously composed
the Iran, Iranian Lady, Damavand, and Persian Gulf symphonies.

Al-Arab online, UK
March 11 2007

Military’s media `Black List’ prompts probe

A revelation by a Turkish magazine of the existence of a list that
classified journalists on the basis of their perceived attitude towards
Turkey’s powerful military establishment has prompted a judicial inquiry as
well as widespread outrage in the country’s media.

The 17-page report listing journalists depending on their alleged
‘pro-military’ or ‘anti-military’ bias was published on Thursday by the
magazine Nokta.

The Turkish military has not denied the existence of the document and has
launched a judicial probe to discover who leaked the ‘black list’ to the
magazine.

The document, dated November 2006, was prepared by the Office of the Chief
of General Staff Public and Press Relations Bureau and is entitled ‘A
reassessment of accredited press and media organs’.

Journalists and media organisations that want to follow the activities of
the Office of the Chief of General Staff need to be accredited by the
office.

The document lists all the country’s mainstream national broadcast and print
media outlets and journalists, categorising them according to their comments
and reports on the Turkish military.

It also includes comments and recommendations on whether the media
accreditation handed out to individuals should be granted, denied or
revoked.

"The report is a shame for our democracy. It is a new obstacle for freedom
of expression and freedom of press," the main body representing journalists
in the country, the Turkish Journalists Association, said in its response.

Umur Talu, a veteran columnist for the daily Sabah and a renowned critic of
the influence of the military in Turkey asked Friday why he is described as
"treacherous" on the list.

"Is it ‘normal’ for a 21-year-old junior officer to commit suicide in his
military unit because he was being humiliated? No, then why should I be
described as ‘treacherous’ for having reported on it," Talu asked in his
column.

Other famous journalists and columnists that appear on the list in the
‘anti-military’ category include Murat Belge, Mehmet Ali Birand and Can
Dundar. Murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and his weekly Agos
are not included in the document.

Another prominent journalist, Mehmet Altan from the Star daily, said that
while he was scandalised by the existence of the list "there is at least a
group of high-ranking military officials who think that this report is a
serious mistake and that’s why they’ve leaked it."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other government officials have not
commented on the report.

Media outlets with more radical positions, such as the socialist and
Islamist newspapers and television stations are not given accreditation to
follow the Office of the Chief of General Staff and hence do not are already
not accredited to military’s media events and are not included in the ‘black
list.’

TURKEY ASKS ISRAELI BUSINESSMEN FOR HELP IN COUNTERACTING TO ADOPTION
OF ARMENIAN RESOLUTION IN CONGRESS

ANKARA, MARCH 7, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Turkish State Minister
of Trade Kursad Tuzmen asked Israeli businessmen for help in the issue
of hampering adoption of the resolution on recognition of Armenian
Genocide in U.S. Congress. "Now we expect your support in this
issue," the Turkish Minister declared at the seminar under the title
"Turkish-Israeli Economic and Trade Cooperation."

According to the New Anatolian Turkish newspaper, Tuzmen said that
relations between his country and Israel come not only from early
past. "Turkey is the country, which after U.S. receives the greatest
number of Israeli tourists," he declared.

To recap, trade circulation between the two countries amounted to 2.1
bln USD in 2006.

Prime Minister of Turkey, having occupied part of Cyprus talks profusely
about territorial integrity

Arminfo
2007-03-10 14:05:00

"Turkish Azeri brotherhood is eternal and indissoluble!" – Turkish
Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again made the peculiar statement at
the Baku 1st Forum of Azeri and Turkish Diaspora World Organizations.

Then the Premier made another "fresh" statement – "Turkey and
Azerbaijan are states of one nation." Having talked enough about
fraternal ties of Turkish and Azeri nations and the role of Turks in
the world civilization, Erdogan passed over to accusations towards
Armenia. As it came out, the "lasting occupation of Azeri lands,
banishment of a million of people from their homeland, the presence of
refugees and migrants – is a bleeding wound of Turks."

"Last year, Armenians held the so called ‘referendum’. Has the world
recognize it? It hasn’t. Why? Because it was a figment, a wrong and
false step that couldn’t be accepted," Erdogan went on without being
confused about the inconsistencies of his arguments like – "it can’t
be because it can never be".

Alike statements hit Armenia’s efforts for recognition of Armenian
Genocide. "No one will recognize it. Turkey and Turks will never
acknowledge this!" declared Erdogan.

The Turkish Prime Minister was troubled by "the violation of
fundamental principles of the international law – the principles of
the countries’ territorial integrity and inadmissibility of forced
change of the borders". To remind, this statement belongs to the Prime
Minister of a country which has occupied a part of Cyprus. Apparently,
he considers that the principles of the international law aim to
protect only the interests of his own country and Azerbaijan. Erdogan
went further. He stated that Turkey opened its historical archives,
applied to Armenia and third countries to open the archives too. First
and foremost, it is not the affair of politicians, Erdogan said. Let
historians, political scientists, archaeologists, and lawyers examine
this issue. If there is any unfairness, Turkey will do all the things
needed, the Turkish Prime Minister stated. Is it also for historians
to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide?

Armenian foreign minister details talks in USA

Azg, Yerevan
10 Mar 07, p3

Excerpt from report by Aghavni Harutyunyan in Armenian newspaper Azg
published on 10 March headlined "Iran was not specifically discussed
with Condoleezza Rice" and subheaded "Oskanyan will remain minister as
long as Kocharyan wants"
After briefing on the recent visits to and from Armenia, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said [at his news conference in Yerevan] he will
soon travel to Switzerland with three key goals: to make a speech at the [UN]
human rights committee, meet Swiss authorities and meet Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay a
visit to Armenia in the first week of April.
[Passage omitted: criticism of US human rights report on Armenia –
covered] At the meeting of the council [as published, presumably UN
human rights committee], Oskanyan will present the developments
regarding the human rights developments in Armenia, our issues, the
improvement of the legislation, including human rights issues in
connection with Nagornyy Karabakh, the issue of the Armenian monuments
in [Azerbaijani exclave of] Naxcivan, the issue of [Turkish journalist
of Armenian descent] Hrant Dink’s murder and so on.
Incidentally, a UNESCO delegation will soon visit the region and
Naxcivan. No specific dates are mentioned, but they [the delegation
members] will pay a visit and express their opinion about the
destruction of the khachkars [Armenian cross stones] and other
Armenian monuments.
Speaking about the "frozen conflicts" resolution proposed by the GUAM
(Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) countries [at the UN],
Oskanyan said that the common approach of the powers interested in our
region and Karabakh issue is not positive with regard to that
resolution.
"Everybody finds that resolution is unnecessary and may cause
additional complications in the Karabakh issue. I tried to explain its
negative consequences to the UN secretary general [in New York], and
Armenia’s possible stance if the resolution is adopted. The main
approach is that if the GUAM countries wish to present those conflicts
to a greater audience – the UN member states – a discussion without a
resolution would be the best way to do it, because today, the
processes around these conflicts are going on in other formats, and it
makes no sense for the UN to adopt a resolution on a conflict that is
under the OSCE format in our particular case, especially that the
conflicts differ in terms of their essence, history and reality," he
said.
Recently, the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border was discussed at
his [Oskanyan’s] meeting with US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice. The
USA is sincere in its efforts to open the border, according to
Oskanyan, and the USA will continue working in that direction. The
Nagornyy Karabakh issue was not discussed in details with Rice because
OSCE Minsk Group US co-chair Matthew Bryza was also present at the
meeting.
Following his meeting with Rice, Oskanyan discussed Karabakh with
Bryza in more details, speaking about his forthcoming meeting with
Mammadyarov in Geneva. Since [OSCE Minsk Group] French co-chair
Bernard Fassier is also holding discussions on the same topic in the
region these days, it makes Oskanyan think that "preparatory work is
done for the Geneva meeting". Oskanyan said that if Azerbaijan "does
not cause problems, there are reasons to believe that the meeting will
have positive outcome." In addition, the co-chairs want the presidents
meet as soon as possible following the [Armenian] parliamentary
election [on 12 May].
Replying to a question from Azg whether he had discussed Iran with the
US state secretary, Oskanyan said he had discussed regional issues but
not Iran specifically. [Passage omitted: Azerbaijan’s statements on
Karabakh talks do not reflect reality of talks – covered]
Regarding Oskanyan’s future in politics: he is not in any of the party
lists of candidates [for parliament]. It makes no sense to be included
in a party list if you have no intention to work in parliament. "There
was no such an intention, and what’s more, there was no such
proposal. As long as the republic’s president wants me to work until
the end of his term, I will continue to work. And only time will show
what I will do after the election."