Month: December 2008

TURKISH PREMIER COMMENTS ON CAMPAIGN APOLOGIZING TO ARMENIANS ON 1915 INCIDENTS

Today’s Zaman
Dec 17 2008
Turkey

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that he did not
accept or support the campaign recently launched by a group of Turkish
intellectuals and academicians aiming to apologize to Armenians for
the incidents of 1915.

"They might have committed such a crime themselves, as they
are apologizing now. Republic of Turkey does not have such a
concern. One can apologize if there is a crime necessitating such
an apology. Neither my country, nor my nation has such concerns,"
Erdogan said, replying to questions following his meeting with
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov in Istanbul.

Erdogan said that it was unacceptable to support such a campaign just
because it was launched by intellectuals. "I personally do not accept,
support or participate in this campaign," he said.

Erdogan also said that he could not understand the approach of the
intellectuals, adding that such kind of initiatives could only create
chaos and destroy peace. "I find it unreasonable to apologize when
there is no reason," he said.

Erdogan commented on an Iraqi reporter’s throwing his shoes at the
U.S. President George W. Bush as well.

Noting that he did not approve such an attitude, Erdogan said,
"Expression and thought are the greatest powers of a journalist. I
wish that journalist could have pushed Bush with those qualities".

Briefing reporters on his meeting with the Bulgarian president,
Erdogan said they had quite fruitful talks during which they mainly
discussed economic and commercial matters.

PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT MEETS INTERESTS OF ALL SIDES, CLAUDIO BISOGNIERO

BSANNA NEWS
Dec 17 2008
Ukraine

BAKU, 17 December. (AzerTAj). A peaceful resolution of
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict meets interests of
all parties, NATO Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bisogniero told
journalists after his meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov.

NATO supports process of negotiations within the OSCE Minsk Group,
he said.

Deputy Secretary General said NATO attaches great importance to
relationship with Azerbaijan and is keen to boost it.

Bisogniero said the Alliance welcomes achievements Azerbaijan has
gained in various spheres, including defense sector and is ready to
further support the reforms being carried out in the country.

He also praised Azerbaijan`s active participation in NATO`s
peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan.

TURKEY DID NOT COMMIT ANY CRIME AGAINST ARMENIANS: TURKISH PM

Trend News Agency
Dec 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized a campaign of
apology to the Armenians launched by the Turkish academics, writers
and journalists recently, Turkey’s Time Turk news agency reported.

"I can not understand those who launched this campaign. I can not
understand this logic," Erdogan said.

Around 200 Turkish academics, writers and journalists launched
a website issuing an apology to the Armenians regarding the 1915
incidents and calling for people to sign on in support. Over 5,000
people have registered on the website, Turkush media reported.

Armenia and Armenian lobby worldwide state that in 1915 the Ottoman
Empire, Turkey’s predecessor, committed genocide against Armenians
living in Anatolia. Armenians striving to make their statements
recognized worldwide have strengthened their propaganda of the
so-called genocide in several countries and have achieved recognition
of the "Armenian genocide" at several Parliaments.

Turkish Prime Minister said this campaign will only create
confusion. ""I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not
commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologize," Erdogan said.

TURKEY’S LEADING OPPOSITION PARTY CONDEMNS PARDON CAMPAIGN FOR ARMENIA

Trend News Agency
Dec 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 17/TrendNews, B.Hasanov/ Turkish leading
opposition party condemns the pardon campaign for Armenia.

"Not Turks but Armenians should ask pardon for the atrocity they
committed in Turkey and Azerbaijan," MP Mehmet Shandir, deputy chairman
of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (NMP), told TrendNews in a
telephone conversation from Ankara on Dec. 17.

A Turkish website, created several days ago, states that the Ottoman
Empire committed crimes against Armenians in 1915, and conducts a
pardon campaign for Armenia. A total of 5,000 people have passed
registration on the website and have asked pardon from Armenians,
says Turkish media.

Armenia and Armenian lobby worldwide state that in 1915 the Ottoman
Empire, Turkey’s predecessor, committed genocide against Armenians
living in Anatolia. Armenians striving to make their statements
recognized worldwide have strengthened their propaganda of the
so-called genocide in several countries and have achieved recognition
of the "Armenian genocide" at several Parliaments.

Shandir says there is no reason for the Turkish nation to
beg pardon. "From whose behalf and for what reason do they ask
pardon?" he asked, adding that those asking pardon make treason and
are psychologically diseased. "Not Turks but those who betrayed the
Ottoman Empire, those who committed the Khojali genocide, and those
who shut their eyes to these atrocities should beg pardon from all
Turks," he said.

‘WE APOLOGIZE’ SLOGAN TO BE REPLACED BY ‘WE WAIT FOR APOLOGIZE’ IN TURKEY

Trend News Agency
Dec 17 2008
Azerbaijan

The ‘We apologize’ campaign (before Armenians) was replaced by
‘We wait for apologize’ slogan in Turkey, the Turkish Haber 7 news
agency reported.

Several days ago a website was opened in Turkey. It says bout crimes
committed by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians. The ‘We apologize’
campaign is active in the website. Since a total of 5,000 people
apologized.

The anti campaign ‘We wait for apologize’ for crimes that Armenians
committed against Turks were also placed in the other website.

TURKISH PM SAYS HE WON’T APOLOGIZE TO ARMENIANS

International Herald Tribune
Dec 17 2008
France

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey’s prime minister on Wednesday said he will
not join a group of Turkish intellectuals who issued an apology on
the Internet for the World War I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey.

"If there is a crime, then those who committed it can offer an
apology. My nation, my country has no such issue," Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said. "I personally do not support this campaign."

The Turkish prime minister’s reaction, echoed by nationalists and even
members of opposition parties, was a setback for the intellectuals’
hopes to nurture reconciliation by shattering a taboo against
acknowledging Turkish culpability for the deaths.

Several Turkish diplomats and lawmakers have condemned the apology
and hundreds of Turks joined groups that popped up on Facebook with
titles such as "I am not apologizing."

Erdogan said the apology issued Monday threatens to damage improved
relations and is not binding.

"This initiative jeopardizes Turkey’s Armenia policy because it could
trigger public pressure and polarization within Turkey," Erdal Safak,
a columnist for daily Sabah newspaper, wrote in Wednesday editions.

Turkey has opened an air corridor to the landlocked country and
renovated a historic Armenian church. The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday
said Turkey’s archives were open to researchers studying a chapter
of history that has poisoned relations between the two countries.

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul visited Armenia in September to watch
a World Cup qualifying match as a goodwill gesture.

Despite diplomatic overtures, the two countries have failed to
establish a commission of historians to examine Turkish and Armenian
archives and to share their findings with the public.

Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations because of
the dispute over the killings of Armenians during World War I,
which Armenians claim was genocide. Their shared border has been
closed since 1993, when Turkey protested Armenia’s occupation of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey backs Azerbaijan’s claims to the disputed
region, which has a high number of ethnic Armenian residents but is
located within Azerbaijan’s borders.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by
genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey,
however, denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying that the
toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil
war and unrest.

ARMENIAN EX-FOREIGN MIN, 6 OTHERS FACES TRIAL OVER UNREST

EasyBourse.com
Dec 17 2008
France

YEREVAN, Armenia (AFP)–Seven top Armenian opposition supporters,
including an ex-foreign minister, will go on trial Friday on charges
of seeking to overthrow the government in unrest this year that left
10 dead.

Prosecutors allege former foreign minister Alexander Arzumanian, three
members of parliament and two other government critics were seeking to
"usurp state power" when they organized mass protests in February.

Thousands of supporters of former Armenian president Levon
Ter-Petrosian rallied for 11 days to denounce President Serzh
Sarkisian’s victory in elections, before street battles broke out
with riot police.

Two police officers and eight civilians were killed in the clashes
and dozens more were injured, many from gunshot wounds. Ter-Petrosian
had finished second in the vote.

Critics allege the prosecution is politically motivated and aimed at
stamping out opposition to Sarkisian in the ex-Soviet republic.

Arzumanian, Armenia’s foreign minister from 1996 to 1998, was
Ter-Petrosian’s election campaign manager.

The chief investigator in the case, Vahan Harutunian, said the evidence
against the accused was extensive and prosecutors had interviewed
more than 500 witnesses.

"There is ample evidence to support the case, otherwise it would not
have been sent to court," he said. "Even if they are politicians,
they committed a crime, there is evidence of that and they are legally
responsible. Everyone is equal before the law."

But lawyer Hovik Arsenian, who represents Arzumanian and two other
defendants, said the evidence against his clients was weak and he
had no hope of getting an objective hearing.

"This is an imitation of a court case," he said. "All of the so-called
evidence in this case in fact proves the opposite – the innocence
of my clients…it is obvious that this case has nothing to do with
criminal justice."

The defendants each face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

More than 140 people were arrested following the violence and 52 have
already been tried and received prison sentences of varying lengths.

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER CRITICIZES APOLOGIZERS TO ARMENIANS

Azeri Press Agency
Dec 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Ankara-APA. Turkish Prime Minister Receb Tayib Erdogan reacted to
the Internet campaign started by a group of scientists, writers,
journalists and representatives of the non-governmental organizations
to apologize to Armenians for 1915 events in Ottoman Empire.

Erdogan said his government had tried to normalize relations with
Armenia since coming to power: "We allowed avia cargo transport to
Armenia and restored Armenian church in Akdamar, Van province. Our
president visited Yerevan to watch Armenia-Turkey match. However I do
not join and do not support the campaign started on Internet. I did
not commit a crime that to apologize for it. I do not understand the
people, who started this campaign and I think they are wrong. The
good will approach is one thing and apologizing for not committed
crime is another".

Turkish President Abdullah Gul called the campaign an appearance of
opinion pluralism in the society.

TURKISH PM SAYS APOLOGY CAMPAIGN TO ARMENIANS UNACCEPTABLE

Hurriyet
Dec 17 2008
Turkey

It is unacceptable to affirm support to the recent internet campaign
launched to issue a public apology to Armenians, Turkish Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry said
the issue is highly sensitive for them.

Around 200 Turkish academics, writers and journalists launched
a website issuing an apology to the Armenians regarding the 1915
incidents and calling for people to sign on in support.

The efforts of the intellectuals drew fierce reaction in Turkey.

"I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a
crime, therefore we do not need to apologize," Erdogan said, adding
the issue is still being discussed by historians.

He said such initiatives only reverse the positive steps taken
by Turkey.

Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915.Turkey
rejects the claims saying that 300,000 Armenians, along with at least
as many Turks, died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians took
up arms, backed by Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.

Turkey has opened an air corridor to the land-locked country and
renovated a historic Armenian church, while opening its archives to
researchers to study incidents.

The issue remains unsolved as Armenia drags its feet on accepting
Turkey’s proposal to form an independent commission to investigate
the claims.

A spokesman from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the issue is
highly sensitive for the ministry, reminding that many bureaucrats
were victimized by Armenian terror organizations in the past.

Burak Ozugergin said the ministry does not support reacting to this
move and that it did not urge the retired diplomats and ambassadors,
who said Monday the campaign is "unfair, wrong and unfavorable for
the national interests", to respond.

Ozugergin said Turkey’s stance on the 1915 incidents was well known
by everybody, adding people should be able to comfortably discuss
all issues in Turkey.

"However our foreign policy is not so flimsy as to shift as a result
of daily debates. We will continue to act on principles," he said.

ARMENIA GENOCIDE

EuropeNews
17486
Dec 17 2008
Denmark

The eviction and slaughter of over a million Armenians in Anatolia
began in 1915. There’s little doubt Turkey was behind this massive
ethnic cleansing. Yet the Turkish government denies the historical
facts.

Almost a century later, any mention of the genocide is still taboo. A
law designed to protect ‘Turkishness’ is used to sue those who
challenge the official version. Nobel Prize winning author Orhan
Pamuk was sent to prison for speaking out about his country’s guilt.

More tragically, Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was recently murdered
for his efforts to bridge the divide between both people. The father
of his alleged killer claims that his son was only led astray "because
he loves his country and his nation."

Tens of thousands protested against nationalist violence after Dink’s
murder, but ultra-nationalism is still rife. Turkish MPs consider
any hints to the genocide ‘insulting’ and authorities turn a blind
eye to nationalist excesses.

The argument over the Armenian genocide stretches beyond Turkey’s
borders. As the country is a key ally in the Middle East, the US has
avoided taking a clear stance on the subject.

For the Armenian Foreign Minister, "the sense of tragedy is being
exacerbated with every passing day Turkey continues to deny." Although
it has caused enough sorrow, this festering hatred keeps claiming
lives.