Month: March 2007

LIVE BROADCAST OF ARMENIA’S PM FUNERAL CEREMONY

Arka News Agency, Armenia
March 28 2007

YEREVAN, March 27. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Public TV will provide live
broadcast of the funeral ceremony of Armenia’s Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan. The RA Government’s Public Relation’s Department reported
that the decision was made during the session of the State Committee
in organizing the PM’s funeral.

According to the decision, on March 28 at 12.00 the farewell ceremony
with Margaryan will take place in the Academic theatre of opera
and ballet.

At 14.30 the coffin with the corpse will be taken out of the building
and at 14.50 the funeral procession will move to the pantheon after
Komitas, where at 15.00 Margaryan’s burial will take place.

Armenian Prime Minister, Chairman of the Republican Party Andranik
Margaryan died from heart attack at the age of 55.

According to the President’s decree, March 28 is declared a mourning
day for Armenia because Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan’s death.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES CONDOLENCES ON ARMENIAN PREMIER’S DEATH

Arka News Agency, Armenia
March 28 2007

YEREVAN, March 27. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan continues
receiving telegrams of condolences on the death of RA Premier Andranik
Margaryan.

The press service of the RA Foreign Office reports that condolences
were received from Chairman of the European Commission Jose Manuel
Barozzo, Premier of Sweden Frederic Reinfeldt, Premier of Finland
Matti Vanhanen, Greek President Karolos Papoulias, and Greek Premier
Kostas Karamanlis.

The RA President has also received condolences from the state
representative of the Armenian community in Cyprus at the Chamber
of Representatives Vardges Makhtesyan, Head of the Palestinian
administration Mahmud Abbas and OSCE Secretary General Nikolay
Bordyuzha.

Condolences have also been received from Prime Ministers of Belarus
and Lithuania Sergey Sidorsky and Zhedeminas Kerkilas, Turkish Premier
Recep Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Secertary
General of the EU Council Javier Solana, Greek Deputy Foreign Minister
Teodor Kassimis, representatives of the Armenian community in Spain
and foreign diplomats in Armenia.

The RA President issued a decree declaring March 28 a day of mourning
in Armenia.

DOZENS OF THOUSANDS COME TO MOURN PRIME MINISTER ANDRANIK MARGARYAN

Regnum, Russia
March 28 2007

A farewell ceremony started in Yerevan at noon to mourn Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan, who suddenly died of a heart attack
on Sunday. The ceremony is taking place at the National Opera and
Ballet Theater. High-ranking governmental officials, political
elite and public figures are taking part in the ceremony, as well
as delegations from several countries, particularly, from Russia,
Canada, Georgia, Greece, CIS countries, Turkey and others. Dozens of
thousands of Armenian citizens and visitors have come to attend the
funeral of Andranik Margaryan/

At 02:30 p.m. local time, the body will be carried out from the Opera
and the procession will move to Komitas Pantheon, where the funeral
ceremony will be held.

The prime minister died on March 25. According to medical examiners,
Andranik Margaryan died of a sudden cardiac arrest caused by heart
coronary vessels blood supply disturbance.

RUSSIA TO ACCEPT ANY DECISION ON KARABAKH SETTLEMENT – FEDERATION COUNCIL SPEAKER

ITAR-TASS, Russia
March 28 2007

BAKU, March 28 (Itar-Tass) – Russia and Azerbaijan have strategic,
confidential and partnership relations, Federation Council Speaker
Sergei Mironov told, when the parliamentary delegation began its
visit to Azerbaijan.

"Trustful personal relations between the Russian and Azerbaijani
presidents are a pledge of continuity in the two countries’ policies
after 2008," he said.

"On Tuesday during his visit to Moscow Azerbaijani President Ilkham
Aliyev had a good and open talk with Vladimir Putin. All issues have
been discussed and mutual understanding found," he said.

"We are parliamentarians and our task is the formation of a legal
field that consolidates agreements at the high level," Mironov said.

In reply to journalists’ question whether the problem of Nagorny
Karabakh will be on the agenda of the Federation Council delegation’s
visit, Mironov said "it would be wrong to be in Baku and not to touch
on this problem, this open wound."

He pointed out that "only Baku and Yerevan have the way out of this
problem." Russia "will accept any decision the two countries will
reach. If they wish, Russia will provide assistance guarantees."

FRANCE AND TURKEY NEGOTIATE FLYING RIGHTS
Barcýn Yinanc

Turkish Daily News, Turkey
March 28 2007

Turkey has cancelled the bloc authorization over flying rights it
gave to France after the French National Assembly endorsed a law
criminalizing denial of Armenians claims of genocide, diplomatic
sources told the Turkish Daily News. Until last December France
used to get a yearlong bloc authorization for its military aircraft
flying over Turkish territory. However, following the decision of
the French National Assembly last October, Turkey did not extend the
authorization for the year 2007. The decision is part of the Turkish
military’s policy on suspending relations in the military field.

The Turkish army was one of the institutions showing the strongest
reaction to France. Relations with France in the military field were
suspended immediately after the decision on October 2006 and French
firms were blacklisted. Both France and Turkey are members of the
NATO military alliance and Turkey is a market for French made weapons.

French military aircraft use Turkish airspace, especially for its
contribution in the NATO operation in Afghanistan. Approximately 700
French soldiers are deployed in Kabul where the French military shares
the rotating command of the multinational forces with Turkish military.

Hence, French military aircraft flying to Afghanistan over Turkish
airspace are affected most by the decision on not extending the bloc
authorization. "The decision makes the French military’s life more
difficult," said a diplomatic source familiar with the issue. With
the bloc authorization, it suffices for the aircraft to notify
its intention of using the airspace; without it, the aircraft
has to wait for the permission of the Turkish side to use the
airspace. "This obviously makes the French military quiet nervous;
since they prefer to plan everything in advance," said an official,
emphasizing that the authorization to use the airspace comes at
the last minute and that this procedure creates complications,
especially during emergencies. However, with one or two exceptions,
the necessary authorization was given on each request. Diplomatic
sources told the TDN that talks are underway to solve the problem;
with Paris apparently making the point that a NATO operation is being
harmed by Turkey’s stance.

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POLITICIZING THE ARMENIAN TRAGEDY
By Abdullah Gul

Washington Times, DC
March 28 2007

Today, as the United States and its allies confront critical challenges
around the world, there is perhaps no nation more at the forefront
of our collective efforts than Turkey. Our strategic partnership
spans a wide range of global challenges, from helping secure Iraq
and Afghanistan to preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, promoting energy security and fighting terrorism in our
region and beyond.

This relationship also has an important bearing on regional and
global stability. Yet, such strategic cooperation is jeopardized by
a single interest group that solely pursues its own political agenda
over national interests. Once again, Armenian lobbying organizations
are determined to politicize the past — and impose their view of
history — without any regard to the overriding and lasting interests
of the United States or Armenia.

The historical period in question centers on 1915, when immense mutual
suffering occurred amid the atrocities of World War I.

Countless individual stories have been passed from generation to
generation among Turks, Armenians and others who then made up the
Ottoman Empire. But the complex political history and dynamics of
that tumultuous period are yet to be fully grasped. Each life lost is
one too many, whether it is Armenian or Turk. It is truly regrettable
that there is no mention today of Turkish or Muslim lives lost during
the same period.

With regard to the Armenian allegation describing the tragedy that
befell them as genocide, the question, from the point of view of
international law, is whether the Ottoman government systematically
pursued a calculated act of state policy for their destruction in
whole or in part. The answer to this question can only be established
by scholars who have the ability to evaluate the period objectively,
working with the full range of available primary sources. Hence Turkey
made a proposal to Armenia in 2005 to establish a joint commission
of historians to find out once and for all what really happened,
and how it took place.

Turkey has no difficulties in facing its past. All Turkish archives,
including the military archives of the period, are open to the entire
international academic community. However, important Armenian archives
are not.

We eagerly await a positive response from Armenia, agreeing to
establish this joint commission and declaring its readiness to accept
its conclusions. We are also prepared to work together with other
parties to conduct this research. I hereby extend an invitation to
any third country, including the United States, to contribute to
this commission by appointing scholars who will earnestly work to
shed light on this tragedy and open ways for us to come together. The
establishment of such a commission will also help shape an atmosphere
conducive to the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.

A recent resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
makes mention of the events of 1915 as "genocide."

Its passage will be tantamount to legislating a skewed version of
history, which will be totally unjust and thus deeply offensive to
the Turkish people who have expressed their readiness to seek out
the truth.

Following the repulsive murder of the Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, Turkey invited officials of the Armenian government and
representatives from the Armenian diaspora to share the genuine grief
of the Turkish people. These guests witnessed the enormous reaction
of our citizens, who poured by thousands into the streets. Yet,
as we today consider ways to create a much-improved atmosphere with
our neighbor, the Armenian government appears to be propagating the
fallacious idea that Turks are missing a chance to recognize their
genocide claims.

As Mr. Dink himself said in a published interview shortly before
his tragic death, "What I want from the Armenian Diaspora is not to
make any demands about accepting the genocide, neither from Turkey,
from the parliament nor any other governments."

Today, there are 70,000 Armenian citizens working in Turkey.

There are direct flights between Istanbul and Yerevan. Turkish and
Armenian organizations are in direct contact with each other, from
NGOs to business-people to local authorities. We are determined
to save future generations from the hegemony of bitter rhetoric
and outright hostility. Yet we are faced with a noncompromising,
unmitigated assault not over a political, but over a politicized one.

Self-examination is an inseparable part of any process of
comprehension. In this regard, Turkey has been doing its share of
soul-searching. It is high time for Armenians to do the same.

As a politician, I fully understand the pressures imposed by narrow
interest groups. However, there is also the imperative to rise above
such pressures and see the national and international repercussions
of one’s choices. After all, the decisions we make return back to us
in this globalized world, where the interests of nations — especially
neighbors — are intertwined.

Abdullah Gul is the deputy prime minister and foreign minister
of Turkey.

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REFUTATION OF THE ARMENIAN RESOLUTION ARTICLE BY ARTICLE-2
By Prof. Dr. Kemal CÝcek*

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 28 2007

(Article 4) The post-World War I Turkish Government indicted the top
leaders involved in the "organization and execution" of the Armenian
Genocide and in the "massacre and destruction of the Armenians."

Last year, Turkish-Americans staged demonstrations in front of the
United Nations to protest the French bill that banned denying the
so-called Armenian genocide.

The third article of the resolution asserts that the Ottoman Empire
tried those responsible for massacres and thereby implicitly accepted
criminal responsibility during the court-martials. Justin McCarthy,
a leading American expert on the Ottoman history, describes those
courts as "kangaroo courts" and recalls that they were established by
a corrupt administration which was eager for retribution. The British
High Commissioner S.A.G. Calthorphe wrote to London on Aug. 1, 1919,
that the "trials were proving to be a farce and injurious to our own
prestige and to that of the Turkish government" (FO 371/4174/118377).

According to Dr. Ferudun Ata, the author of a book titled "Deportation
Courts in Occupied Ýstanbul," the Ottoman government of the time had
established the court-martials to better its conditions in the Paris
Peace Conference and also to take revenge against the regime of the
"Young Turks."

The interrogations in the courts-martial were not duly conducted,
many witnesses were faked and only testified against the defendants.

For example, a certain Artolos, a shoemaker, who testified against
Maj. Tevfik during the trials in Yozgat, was brought to Ýstanbul and
was paid to speak against the defendant. According to Dr. Ata, he
later appeared before the court in another trial as a Muslim convert.

Dr. Ata’s book reveals many false witnesses like this. Those who spoke
in favor of the suspects were not brought to court. The chairmen of
the courts never charged those false witnesses, although they were
sometimes revealed in court. Dr. Ata also found that some false
witnesses, before bearing testimony at the court, had been trained
and instructed in the "Armenian-Greek Branch" established at the
offices of the British High Commissioner. What is most important
to note about the decisions of these courts is that the Court of
Appeal declared the verdicts null and void. Unfortunately, among
such cases was the verdict of Nusret Bey, who had been executed upon
his death sentence. Such facts about the nature of the post war
courts-martial become more meaningful when we read that the then
US high commissioner, Lewis Heck, reported on April 4, 1919 that
"many here regard executions as necessary concessions to Entente
rather than as punishment justly meted out to criminals," and that
"it is popularly believed that many of them are made from motives of
personal vengeance or at the instigation of the Entente authorities,
especially the British." (NARA 867.00/868; M 353, roll 7, fr. 448).

Lastly we should remember that England also arrested 144 outstanding
politicians of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) for crimes
against Armenians and took them to Malta for trial, but later released
all of the detainees without charge.

(Article 5) In a series of courts-martial, officials of the Young
Turks regime were tried and convicted, as charged, for organizing
and executing massacres against the Armenian people.

Besides the findings of Dr. Feridun Ata, historians like Justin
McCarthy and Gunter Lewy stated that post war courts-martial were a
travesty of justice, the findings of these courts were unreliable,
interrogations were not legal, the right of defense for the arrested
was denied and the presiding officer, when questioning the defendants,
often acted more like a prosecutor than like an impartial judge. As
Lewy stated, "The legal procedures of Ottoman military courts,
including those operating in 1919-20, suffered from serious
shortcomings when compared to Western standards of due process of
law." The court did not listen to any testimony during judgment and
the decisions were made by relying solely on false witnesses without
considering the answers of the defense.

(Article 6) The chief organizers of the Armenian Genocide, Minister
of War Enver, Minister of the Interior Talaat and Minister of the
Navy Jemal were all condemned to death for their crimes; however,
the verdicts of the courts were not enforced.

The courts-martial operating in the occupied Istanbul tried Enver,
Talat and Cemal and convicted them to capital punishment in absentia.

Yet, they were not found guilty of "organizing and performing massacres
against Armenians," as stated in the resolution, but they were found
guilty of political crimes for dragging the country into a terrible
war. The fact that the verdicts of the courts were not enforced has
nothing to do with ignorance or being indifferent to the suffering of
Armenians, but that the guilty parties had fled the country after the
war. Anyhow, the untold verity about these people is that they were
assassinated by a secret Armenian organization called "Nemesis" in the
countries where they sought refuge. Sadly, the Nemesis organization
also killed some statesmen like Sait Halim Pasha, Bahaeddin Takir and
Cemal Azmi without judgment although the courts found them innocent.

(Article 7) The Armenian Genocide and these domestic judicial failures
are documented with overwhelming evidence in the national archives of
Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, the United States,
the Vatican and many other countries, and this vast body of evidence
attests to the same facts, the same events, and the same consequences.

This is also untrue. I have personally dug out the documents preserved
at the US National Archives and Research Foundation and found no
concrete evidence in the documents that can be qualified for use in
court. The documents in the archive contain reports by the consul
and the testimony of the missionaries who were biased toward the
Muslims and the Turks and reported information that they had not
witnessed, but rather heard through secondary sources. It can safely
be claimed that an overwhelming amount of these documents and reports
are based on hearsay. There are also large amount of documents, or
rather statements, from the Patriarchate and Taþnaksutyun political
propaganda offices. As a matter of fact, documents and reports from
the United States consuls had been examined by the officials "for
any mention of forty-five Malta detainees accused of outrages against
Armenians and other Christians" and found no information that could
"be employed in a court of law." Thus, one cannot help thinking that
this might be the reason why the proposal of the Turkish government
to set up an international committee of historians have so far been
refused by the Republic of Armenia.

TO BE CONTINUED

*Head of Black Sea Technical University, Faculty of Arts & Sciences;
Turkish Historical Association, Armenian Desk

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BELGIAN TEXTBOOK INSULTS TURKEY’S FOUNDER ATATURK
Vedat DenÝzlÝ Brussels

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 28 2007

Following the broadcast of videos with explicit content about Ataturk
by a Greek youth on the famous Internet site youtube.com, Belgium
has engaged in similar infamy by listing Ataturk among the important
homosexual and bisexual personalities of history.

A book by the minister of education of the province of Valon in Belgium
and distributed to all schools in the province claims that Ataturk was
one of history’s important and famous homosexual or bisexual figures

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was included on a list of "Famous homosexuals
and bisexuals in history" on the 105th page of the 144-page book
titled, "Fight Against Homophobia." The small book, prepared at the
instructions of Valon Education Minister Marie Arena and distributed
to all students in primary and secondary education, emphasizes that
homosexuality is not actually a negative thing and that there were
many famous and important homosexual or bisexual people in history.

Today’s Zaman’s efforts to reach Marie Arena proved fruitless. It
is unknown what source this information was based on, though it will
certainly spark harsh reactions in Turkey. A leading paper in Belgium,
De Standaard, covered the issue and in a related report wrote that
Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, was included on the list and
noted that it was yet unknown whether the Turkish Embassy in Belgium
was aware of the incident.

Belgium is one of the few countries in the world that grants its
citizens the right to same-sex marriages and child adoption by
homosexual couples. It is stated that the distribution of the book was
aimed at "enlightening the future of the young generation in Belgium"
and informing them correctly by giving information on the history
of homosexuality and the general sociocultural perception in regard
to homosexuality. The book also touches on the equality of women and
discusses the viewpoints of other societies regarding homosexuality,
with an aim to prevent the younger generation from harboring negative
opinions on homosexuality.

Among famous homosexuals in history, according to the book, are
Alexander the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, and Goethe. Other interesting
names on the list are some spiritual leaders of the Catholic world
such as Pope Benoit IX and Pope Jules III.

Turkey currently has some other problems with Belgium, such as allowing
the escapte of Fehriye Erdal, the murderer of Ozdemir Sabancý,
brother of late famous businessman Sakýp Sabancý. Belgium is also
a country where members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) and the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C)
freely walk the streets. Belgium is also trying to punish the denial
of the so-called Armenian genocide.

Meanwhile a Belgian court found a security company guilty of
discrimination after it refused to employ Turkish national Murat
Calýþkan on the basis of his being a foreigner. The court accused the
company of "apparent racism" and ruled that it should pay compensation
to Calýþkan. He said he would use the compensation money in the fight
against racism and donate it to immigration centers.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PERINCEK: TRIAL WAS NOT A FAIR ONE
Yusuf Unal Ýstanbul

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 28 2007

The leader of Turkey’s Workers’ Party (ÝP) Doðu Perincek, who has
become the first person in history tried and sentenced for expressing
the opinion that there was no "Armenian genocide," said Switzerland,
where his court trial took place, had been chosen by other powers
acting behind the scenes and argued that his trial in Lausanne was
not a fair one.

The fact that Switzerland, with its positive image in Turkey as a
peaceful and democratic country, took the lead in punishing views
differing with those of the Armenians on history came as a surprise to
many in Turkey. Why is such a country which has nothing to do with the
Armenian issue and has no serious diplomatic problem with Turkey on the
frontline of the debates, asked observers. Perincek, who has already
appealed the conviction to an upper court in Switzerland, told Today’s
Zaman that even some intellectual circles in Switzerland admitted that
this "dirty job" was thrown onto their country’s shoulders. "My court
case has ignited extensive debates within the framework of freedom of
expression. People should be free to make their own judgments about
historical facts," he said.

Perincek also claimed that his trial in Lausanne was not a fair one.

The translation provided during the court process was far from
sufficient according him. "Only the questions and my answers were
translated, apart from that all other conversation between the judges
and prosecutors were in French and I could not follow a word of it.

Besides, I brought so many documents to the court; books, reports
and some of them were official writings of some Armenian statesmen as
well. I do not think the judge has even bothered to read the summary
report of those documents. Obviously the decision was already made
when the trial began."

Meanwhile, Swiss Judge Pierre-Henri Winzap told the court that Perincek
was an arrogant instigator and racist who had intentionally denied the
"genocide," which Swiss public opinion considered as an established
historic fact. Perincek said he felt utmost sorrow for that calumny,
"I am the last person in the world who can be called racist."

Perincek says he does not care that his name went down in history as
the first person sentenced for rejecting the "Armenian genocide." He
says, "What it is more important to me is that my nation was humiliated
with this unjust conviction from the Swiss court."

Perincek, given a suspended penalty of 9,000 Swiss francs and ordered
to pay 1,000 francs to an Armenian association, said: "the Worker’s
Party has enough to pay such amount but we received a lot of phone
calls from all over Turkey for support. Many people and institutions
are volunteering to pay that money. This is very uplifting for us."

Dogu Perincek and his party will join with some other civil initiatives
and will be marching in Paris on April 14 to draw the attention to the
French and American governments’ attempts at passing Armenian genocide
bills backed by the intensive lobbying of the Armenian Diaspora.

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VAN PREPARED AS RESTORED AKHTAMAR CHURCH TO RE-OPEN

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 28 2007

Akhtamar Church, restored in a project headed by the Turkish Ministry
of Culture and Tourism, will be officially re-opened to the public
as a museum at a ceremony tomorrow.

Akhtamar’s restoration was ordered by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan when it became evident that the church, first built between
915 and 921, would otherwise face collapse.

The church, which is located on Akhtamar Island on Lake Van, will
host domestic and international authorities and representatives
at its opening. In the meantime the Van police authority has taken
considerable precautions against any possible action or provocation
that might occur during the high-profile ceremony.

The Armenian church was built between 915 and 921 during the time of
the Vaspurakan dynasty on the orders of King Gagil I and is considered
an important example of Armenian architecture. The church’s restoration
was ordered by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan when it became
evident that the church would otherwise face collapse. The restoration
process began on March 24, 2006, and finished in November of last
year. The church will, according to the ministry, remain as an official
monument museum. Many see it as a cultural response of sorts to the
so-called Armenian genocide resolution being voted on in the US Senate.

Members of the Armenian religious community, representatives from
the Armenian diaspora and many foreign envoys number among the 277
people invited by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to attend the
re-opening of the church. So far 170 journalists have been accredited
to attend and cover the opening for various domestic and international
newspapers and media sources. As for preparations in Van itself,
serious security precautions have already been put into place for the
flow of visitors expected later this week. Gendarmes will be guarding
the road into the city from the Van Airport, while police forces will
take responsibility for security on Akhtamar Island itself.

Local organizations have voiced their support for the historical
message inherent in the re-opening of the Akhtamar Church, with Van
Industry and Trade Chamber head Zahir Kandasoglu commenting that the
city had to uphold its cultural and historical treasures rather than
deny them.

Speaking against possible acts of provocation that are a source of
worry for officials in connection with the church’s re-opening, Feridun
Irak of Van’s Trade Stock Exchange said, "There will be no advantage
in anyone’s creating tension. Our religion is one of tolerance. There
may be some factions who have no confidence in themselves that wish
to create paranoid provocations and protests, but the people of Van
will give no support to these factions. Our people believe in their
own religion and country, and in doing so understand that we need to
support and stand behind the treasures of all the cultures that we
share histories with."

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