Month: March 2007

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
March 9 2007

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan: We will not leave Azerbaijan alone

Friday , 09 March 2007

Turkish Prime Minister Recap Tayyip Erdogan interviewed by Azeri news
source APA:

– How do you evaluate the relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan?
What about the reality of the ‘one nation, two countries?’

Relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey are growing in all spheres on
the basis of deep-rooted and culture-pushed brotherhood. One of the
architects of these relations, the great leader Heydar Aliyev said
Azerbaijan and Turkey are one nation in two independent states. This
slogan came true. The world feels jealous of Azerbaijan and Turkey’s
sharing both the grief and the happiness.

The two countries are enjoying high-level political, economic,
military, cultural, commercial and other relations. The mutual
confidence and joint activities strengthened and consolidated our
relations and we created a healthy foundation for this cooperation.
We observe that Azerbaijan’s energy wealth, fast developing economy,
effective reforms in democracy and human rights elevate it to its
deserved summit. Implementation of Baku-Tbilissi-Ceyhan and
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum projects shoulder-to-shoulder with Brother
Azerbaijan and Neighbor Georgia will be followed by execution of
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad project. Azerbaijan is very determined
towards this issue.

Turkey have to date favored Azerbaijani people in sad and happy days
and will do its utmost afterwards.

– Armenia continues to occupy 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory.
Stipulating that Armenia should withdraw from Azerbaijan’s lands and
some one million of displaced Azeri people should return to their
native land, Turkey said it would have relations with Armenia after
that. Armenia’s giving up baseless ‘genocide’ and territory claim is
one of the stipulations Turkey made. If Armenia gives up the false
claims, can Turkey close eyes to occupation of Azerbaijan’s lands and
Karabakh conflict?

You know what stance Turkey has taken on Armenia’s aggression against
Nagorno Karabakh and 7 neighboring regions. Within its potential,
Turkey is giving all possible support for Azerbaijan in its fair
fight. Turkey supports termination of the occupation violating the
international laws. We will not leave Azerbaijan alone.

If Armenia gives up its current policy and takes a friendly stance,
it will take a significant step toward the normalization of the
relation. It seems to me, this move will lead to the settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and improve relations between
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

– There are cool relations between Turkey and the European Union? Is
it possible that the attempt to develop all-round relations with the
Turk republics becomes the priority? In this case, how real is it to
create Turk Common Market?

First of all, I would say the relations between Turkey and the
European Union are not alternative or rival to the ties between
Turkey and other Turkic states.

We enjoy historical, ethnic and cultural relations with Turkic
states, and Asian geography has always been one of the priorities in
Turkey’s foreign policy. Turkey was the first to recognize the
independence of Azerbaijan and Turkic states in Central Asia and has
done its best to backed strengthening of their independence,
sovereignty, territorial integrity, political-economic integration
into the international arena, as well as their political, economic
and military infrastructure.

Summit of Heads of Turkish speaking countries is the platform
bringing together the Turkish countries. The last summit held on
November 17, 2006 in Antalya was the indicator of the importance
Turkish speaking countries attach to the solidarity ad mutual
understanding.

Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines and
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars-Akhalkalaki railway project are building up
strategic bridge between Central Asia’s Turk Republics, Azerbaijan
and Turkey.

These countries that celebrate the 15th anniversary of their
independence have become the members of international community and
took their merit places in the world. Our cooperation covered all the
levels of our societies within these 15 years. I have no doubt that
all sides show political will to develop the relations on the basis
of respect, equality and common advantage.
APA

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
March 9 2007

US Department of State Armenia Human Rights Practices Report: Armenia
Occupies Azeri Territories

Friday , 09 March 2007

US Report says "Armenia continues to occupy the Azerbaijani territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories"

The report continues:

"Armenia continues to occupy the Azerbaijani territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories.
During the year incidents along the militarized line of contact
separating the sides again resulted in numerous casualties on both
sides. Reporting from unofficial sources indicates that approximately
20 persons were killed and 44 were wounded, including both military
and civilian casualties on both sides of the line of contact.

All parties to the Nagorno‑Karabakh conflict have laid
landmines along the 540‑mile border with Azerbaijan and along
the line of contact. During the year there were reports that a
landmine killed one civilian and unexploded ordnance killed another.

On September 5, unknown persons killed a senior tax official using a
bomb apparently planted under the seat of his government car. State
prosecutors opened an investigation and arrested two suspects, based
on the testimony of the official’s driver. One suspect was released
from prison on medical grounds. At year’s end the investigation was
ongoing."

The OSEC and the EU have also recently named Armenia ‘occupier’ in
Azeri territories.

Der Spiegel, Germany
March 9 2007

Virtual Mud Flung Between Greeks and Turks

A Turkish court this week temporarily shut off access to YouTube in
the country after a video insulted founding father Atatürk. Others
moved to defend the Turkish hero in cyber space.

Opponents of Turkish accession to the European Union like to cite the
country’s denial of freedom of speech, creeping nationalism and its
ongoing refusal to recognize Cyprus. This week, Turkey supplied
nay-sayers with ample fodder.

On Wednesday, the Istanbul First Criminal Peace court ordered that
access be blocked to the video-sharing Web site YouTube because it
was running a video it deemed offensive. The clip showed a statue of
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1891-1938), the founder and first president of
the modern Republic of Turkey, with an audio track saying, "I am the
father of gay Turks."

Insulting Atatürk is a crime punishable by prison in Turkey. Within
hours of the Wednesday ruling, Turk Telecom, owner of most Internet
access in Turkey, had banned access to YouTube. Turk Telecom claims
that it obliged voluntarily but refused to take a public stance on
the video’s content.

"We are not in the position of saying that what YouTube did was an
insult, that it was right or wrong," the head of Turk Telekom, Paul
Doany, told the state-run Anatolia news agency.

The ban, which lasted about a day, caused an outcry. On Thursday,
four college students submitted a petition to the Istanbul court,
claiming that blocking the internet violated their right to free
speech.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman declined to comment on the
ban, telling a news conference it was a court matter.

Press freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders condemned the ban.
"Blocking all access to a video-sharing site because of a few videos
that are considered offensive is a radical and inappropriate
measure," the group said. "We hope the Turkish courts will behave
with moderation, especially as regards presumed attacks on Turkish
identity."

Under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, the "denigration of
Turkishness" is a criminal act. Over 60 charges have been brought
under this article since it was introduced in 2005, the most
prominent being against writer and Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk for
public statements he made on the Armenian genocide. Under mounting
international pressure, the Turkish court dropped the charges against
Pamuk. In January, Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, who had
been prosecuted under Article 301, was assassinated by a Turkish
nationalist in Istanbul.

Turkey, which hopes to join the European Union, has been roundly
condemned for not doing enough to curb extreme nationalist sentiment
and to protect freedom of expression. Criticism of Article 301 from
the EU has moved the Turkish government to consider rewording the
article but there is no talk of its abolition. With general elections
coming up in November, it doesn’t want to risk the loss in popularity
that the gesture could entail.

The YouTube video caused a media sensation in Turkey. The
nationalist-leaning daily Hurriyet ran a front page story on
Wednesday, claiming that thousands of people had e-mailed YouTube to
protest the video. "YouTube got the message," was the headline.

NEWSLETTER
Sign up for Spiegel Online’s daily newsletter and get the best of Der
Spiegel’s and Spiegel Online’s international coverage in your In- Box
everyday.

According to the German daily Die Welt, the Turkish media avoided
use of the direct quote "I am the father of gay Turks," for fear of
the fury this might unleash.

Nonetheless, patriotic Turkish YouTube users felt compelled to take
action. Responding to allegations that the insulting video had been
posted by a Greek, the site was bombarded with anti-Greek postings in
Turkish — Die Welt counted 129 as of yesterday — to which Greek
users were all too happy to respond. The common denominator in the
ongoing virtual mudslinging has been the accusation of homosexuality.

But while Greek-Turkish relations were taking a beating in the
virtual world, things were going much better in the real world. Late
Thursday night, Greek Cypriots began demolishing a wall along the
boundary that splits the island’s capital of Nicosia and separates
the Greek population from the Turkish one.

Since a Turkish invasion in 1974, Cyprus been divided between Greeks
in the south, who form the internationally-recognized government, and
Turks in the north.

"Tonight, we demolished a checkpoint on our side," Cypriot President
Tassos Papadopoulos said from Brussels. "Now we will see whether
Turkey’s troops will withdraw so that the passage will be opened or
not."

Although the move was unannounced, Papadopoulos said it had been
planned for more than 15 days.

Earlier this year, Turkish Cypriots dismantled a footbridge in the
area, angering Greek Cypriots and frustrating plans for a new
crossing in the heart of the island capital. Construction of the
bridge in late 2005 had prompted Greek Cypriots to withdraw support
for plans to re-open Ledras Street as an avenue cutting across the
buffer zone that has separated the island since 1974.

"This is a first positive step as a sign of goodwill on behalf of our
side," government spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis said.

Radio Liberty, Czech rep.
March 9 2007

Hovannisian Says Not Responsible For Opposition Discord

By Irina Hovannisian

Former Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian on Friday denied any
responsibility for the failure by several Armenian opposition parties
to form an electoral alliance, insisting that he never sought to
become its top leader.

His Zharangutyun (Heritage) party looked set last month to team up
with three other opposition groups for the May 12 parliamentary
elections. Those included the Hanrapetutyun (Republic) party, the
National Democratic Union (AZhM), and the former ruling Armenian
Pan-National Movement (HHSh).

Talks between their eventually broke down for reasons that are still
not fully clear. Some of their participants privately blame
Hovannisian for the fiasco, saying that his uncompromising desire to
top the list of the would-be bloc’s list of candidates precluded an
agreement.

Hovannisian rejected the claims, saying that the pre-election deal,
which would have boosted opposition chances in the elections, fell
through because of the presidential ambitions of some of his
partners. `One or two of my partners have announced their
presidential aspirations, which I think is quite telling,’ said the
former U.S. citizen.

One of them, AZhM leader Vazgen Manukian, confirmed this week plans
to participate in next year’s Armenian presidential election despite
his party’s decision to boycott the May 12 vote. Manukian told RFE/RL
that during the talks he suggested that the would-be bloc have a
collective leadership and decide who should top its slate by a draw.

While admitting that he rejected the idea, Hovannisian claimed that
he was ready to cede the five top places on the opposition list to
the other parties. `We had no problem with the list or presidential
candidacies,’ he said. `The sequence [of parliamentary candidates]
was never important to us.’

The opposition talks were initiated by Hanrapetutyun’s outspoken
leader, Aram Sarkisian. They initially also involved the People’s
Party of Stepan Demirchian, President Robert Kocharian’s main
challenger in the last presidential election. The four parties
reportedly rejected Demirchian’s implicit demands to endorse his 2008
presidential bid.

MWC News, Canada
March 9 2007

Turk convicted of genocide denial

By Agencies

Perincek called the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in
1915 ‘an international lie’ [AFP]

A court in Switzerland has found Dogu Perincek, head of the Turkish
Workers’ Party, guilty of denying that mass killings of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks in 1915 amounted to genocide.

Perincek was given a 90-day suspended jail sentence and fined 3,000
Swiss francs ($2,461) on Friday in the first such conviction in the
country.

The 65-year-old politician, whose party has no seats in the Turkish
parliament, called the Armenian genocide "an international lie"
during a speech in the Swiss city of Lausanne in July 2005.

He was convicted under a 1995 law which bans denying, belittling or
justifying any genocide.

Perincek, who submitted 90kg of historical documents in his defence,
argued there had been no genocide against the Armenians, but that
there had been "reciprocal massacres".

Armenian deaths

Armenia says about 1.5 million Armenians died in the killings, while
Turkey says the deaths were the result of inter-ethnic fighting,
disease and famine in which both sides suffered.

"This decision that was taken by the tribunal … is a racist
decision, an imperialist decision. This decision is against our
country our history and our nation," Memet Bedri, vice-president of
the Turkish Workers’ Party, told Al Jazeera.

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

Tamar Hacoyan of Switzerland’s Armenian association, welcomed the
court’s verdict.

"We feel very relieved with this decision because this is the first
time, at a world level, that a court has decided that the Armenian
genocide is without doubt," she said.

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 the First World War as
genocide, despite fierce protests from Turkey.

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
March 9 2007

Turkish Prime Minister: Azerbaijan and Turkey can Settle Issues

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend A.Ismaylova / The Prime Minister of
Turkey, Rajab Teyyub Erdogan, stated at the first Forum of the
Azerbaijani-Turkish diasporas on 9 March in Baku that Azerbaijan and
Turkey are able to settle issues and problems facing them only
through close co-operation.

According to him, Azerbaijan land has been occupied by the Armenian
side, but sooner or later justice will triumph. Amongst the issues
and problems facing Turkey, the Prime Minister mentioned the
so-called Armenian genocide and the unfair isolation of the Turkish
community of Cyprus.

Erdogan highlighted the importance of unifying and strengthening the
efforts of Azerbaijani-Turkish diasporas. In addition, he highly
assessed the importance of realizing joint regional projects in
strengthening the independence of the two countries.

Unpleasantness for Azerbaijan is unpleasantness for Turkey and
happiness for Azerbaijan is happiness for Turkey, Erdogan said.

Regnum, Russia
March 9 2007

Oskanyan: Adoption of UN resolution on frozen conflicts will
deteriorate Karabakh conflict settlement

Countries interest in stability of the South Caucasus area and
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem will be negative about
possible UN adoption of the resolution on frozen conflicts in the
territory of GUAM member-countries (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and
Moldova) introduced by GUAM to the agenda of the UN 61st session. The
announcement was made by Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
at a news conference on March 9.

A REGNUM correspondent quotes him as saying that many countries
believe that adoption of the resolution can result in complications
in conflict settlement, as their resolution is discussed in various
institutions, particularly, the Nagorno Karabakh problem is discussed
in the frameworks of the OSCE Minsk Group. `GUAM member-countries say
that discussion of frozen conflicts is aimed at making UN
member-countries familiar with it. If the statements are true, why
should they pass a resolution, if they can have a discussion anyway,’
Vardan Oskanyan said. In this connection, the minister reminded that
he informed UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon what complications this
resolution can produce and what actions the Armenian side can take,
if the resolution is passed. The question of frozen conflicts in the
post-Soviet territory has not been discussed at the UN officially,
but it is discussed at backstage talks.

The Armenian minister also said that it is inadmissible to take all
the conflicts in the post-Soviet territory, as they have different
history and peculiarities, and ways of resolving one conflict cannot
become a precedent for the others.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Regnum, Russia
March 9 2007

Armenian foreign minister: Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku Project
produces negative political situation in the region

Position of teh official Yerevan on construction of the
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway bypassing Armenia remains the
same: the Armenian side opposes it, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan announced at a news conference on March 9.

A REGNUM correspondent quotes him as saying that from the economic
point of view the project will do no harm to Armenia, as the country
is suffering losses already because of closure of the
Armenian-Turkish border. `From the political point of view, the
project produces negative atmosphere in the region, particularly,
affects forming of favorable relations,’ the minister said.

Speaking on Kazakhstan’s possible participation in the project,
Vardan Oskanyan said that during the last year Armenian-Kazakh
meeting, the Kazakh side was not very optimistic about the project.
`Maybe, they have changed their attitude, but I know nothing about
it,’ said Vardan Oskanyan adding that the Armenian side would
continue opposing the project. At the same time, according to the
Armenian foreign minister, probably, participants of the project have
financial problems, if they would like to join Kazakhstan to it.

International Herald Tribune, France
March 9 2007

Swiss court finds Turkish politician guilty of racism for denying
Armenian genocide
The Associated PressPublished: March 9, 2007

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: A prominent Turkish politician was found
guilty Friday of breaching Swiss anti-racism laws by saying that the
early 20th century killing of Armenians could not be described as
genocide.

The Turkish foreign ministry reacted swiftly to the decision, saying
in a statement that it was saddened by the Swiss court’s decision to
punish Dogu Perincek, leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party, and to
ignore "his freedom of expression."

Perincek was ordered to pay a fine of 3,000 Swiss francs (US$2,450;
1,870) and was given a suspended penalty of 9,000 francs (US$7,360;
5,600).

Perincek was charged with breaking Swiss law by denying during a
visit to Switzerland in 2005 that the World War I-era killings of up
to 1.5 million Armenians amounted to genocide. He has since repeated
his claim, including at his trial earlier this week.

Perincek accused the judge of "racist hatred" toward Turkey and said
he would appeal the verdict to Switzerland’s supreme court.

If necessary, Perincek told Turkey’s government-run Anatolia news
agency, he would take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

In his closing statement, judge Pierre-Henri Winzap described the
defendant as an intelligent and cultivated person, but added that to
deny the Armenian genocide was an arrogant provocation because it was
an accepted historical fact.

Switzerland’s anti-racism legislation has previously been applied to
Holocaust denial.

The president of the Swiss-Armenian association welcomed the court’s
decision.

"This verdict is very important, as it sets a legal precedent in
Switzerland and also sends a signal internationally," Sarkis
Shahinian told reporters after the trial.

The case has caused diplomatic tension between the alpine republic
and Turkey, which insists Armenians were killed in civil unrest
during the tumultuous collapse of the Ottoman Empire and not in a
planned campaign of genocide.

In its response to the verdict the Turkish foreign ministry called
into question the legitimacy of the Swiss law, and said the case was
"inappropriate, baseless and debatable in every circumstance."

"It is not possible for the Turkish people to accept this decision,"
the statement from Ankara said.

It is a criminal offense in Turkey to use the word genocide to
describe the killings, and nationalists there have reacted angrily to
moves in several Western countries to recognize the events as
genocide.

TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
March 9 2007

French Ambassador Notes Rejection of Co-Residence possibility in
Azerbaijan and Armenia

Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend , corr A.Ismayilova / The French Ambassador
Bernard Fassier, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair, discussed in Yerevan
and Baku the issue of the repatriation of refugees to
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Ambassador noted that he had witnessed an interest from both
parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to continue talks.

Fassier stated to a news conference in Baku that the process will
take a while and some terms should be fulfilled in this respect.
Azerbaijan should organize representations of its administrative
bodies in the Armenian-occupied territory. He also urged for the
presence of peacekeepers in this territory for the security of
refugees.

The co-chair voiced his disappointment regarding the rejection of the
suggestion of co-residence in Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The Ambassador is to return to Yerevan and later to travel to Geneva
to hold meetings with other OSCE Minsk Group chairs on 13 March and
the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Armenia on 14 March.