Month: December 2008

CHELIK: "EVERYBODY KNOWS WHOM THE INITIATORS OF ARMENIAN APOLOGY CAMPAIGN SERVE"

Azeri Press Agency
Dec 19 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Ulkar Gasimova – APA. "I do not accept the internet
campaign launched in Turkey for apologizing to Armenians for the
so-called Armenian genocide," famous Turkish singer Chelik told APA
exclusively. He underlined that it was obvious whose interests the
campaign served.

"Those who ignored the actions against Turks in Bosnia, Turkmens in
Iraq, occupation of Nagorno Karabakh by Armenia are now collecting
signatures. When something happens in favor of Turkish people, a group
of people who call themselves "intellectuals" begin to compete in order
to harm the people. These people back the Armenian apology campaign,"
he said.

Chelik said Turkish Armed Forces had openly expressed its position
on this issue.

"I watched it on TV. If I am not mistaken the government also
objected to the campaign. I also support the position of my Army
and government. This competition will have a final. Patriots will be
waiting in the finish," he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MP CLAIMING ABDULLAH GUL’S MOTHER IS ARMENIAN THREATENED

Azeri Press Agency
Dec 19 2008
Azerbaijan

Ankara – APA. "I do not judge, humiliate president in connection with
his ethnic origin, on the contrary I express my respect. I criticize
president for not seeing or ignoring the dangers of Turkey and not
taking necessary measures," member of Republican People’s Party (CHP),
MP Janan Aritman told journalists in the parliament, APA reports. She
said that new strategy of Armenia and Armenian Diaspora is to make
Turkish people to admit the Armenian genocide. Aritman also touched
on assessment of her statement as disgrace in media and political
circles. She said those who say it do not know the meaning of the
word disgrace.

The parliamentarian said she received many calls and e-mails from
people.

"People say "we support you, you are the voice of the nation". My
assistants and I do not find time to answer the calls and e-mails,"
she said.

Janan Aritman also said she was threatened.

"I have never been afraid of anyone. I do not pay attention to these
threats. I am happy to be the lawyer of the nation. I will continue
it," she said.

FAMILY MEMBERS OF TURKISH PRESIDENT GOING TO SUE MP FROM OPPOSITION

Azeri Press Agency
Dec 19 2008
Azerbaijan

Ankara – APA. Family members of Turkish President Abdullah Gul are
going to sue member of Republican People’s Party (CHP), MP Janan
Aritman, who claims that the president’s mother was of Armenian
origin. APA reports quoting Turkish news agencies that president’s
brother living in Kayseri Majid Gul said Aritman’s words made them
angry.

"It is a groundless claim. Our relatives living in Ankara will take
necessary legal measures on behalf of the Gul and Satoglu families,"
he said.

PARENT OF AZERBAIJANI ARMY’S CAPTIVE SOLDIER REGARDS REPORTS ON HIS SON’S UNWILLINGNESS TO RETURN TO COUNTRY AS SABOTAGE

Trend News Agency
Dec 19 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Barda, Dec. 19 /TrendNews, S.Jaliloglu/ Armenian media’s
reports on Azerbaijani Army’s captive soldier’s unwillingness to
return to the country, are lie, Rahman Hasanov, the soldier’s father,
told TrendNews on Dec. 19.

According to Armenian media, Hasanov does not want to return to
the country.

Armenian military men captivated Rafig Hasanov, 19, a soldier of the
military unit N of the Defense Ministry, on troops contact line under
unknown condition on Oct. 8 in 2008.

Hasanov’s family wrote the next letter to him and submitted it to a
representative of the International Red Cross Committee (IRCC).

The State Commission on captives, missing and hostage citizens is
taking relevant measures to release Hasanov from captivity.

Hasanov said that reports on his son’s unwillingness to return to
motherland are Armenians’ next sabotage.

"If my son expressed such an opinion, he said it under pressure,"
Hasanov said. The father said that Hasanov wrote a letter to them
and wanted to return the country.

TURKEY: ARMY REJECTS PUSH FOR ARMENIAN APOLOGY

Adnkronos International Italia
Dec 19 2008
Italy

Istanbul, 19 Dec. (AKI) – The Turkish army on Friday rejected a
recent call by intellectuals and civil rights activists for a public
apology to Armenians for the massacre committed during the Ottoman
Empire in 1915. "We don’t think this is right. It is wrong and will
create harmful consequences," Brigadier General Metin Gurak said in
a report cited by the daily, Hurriyet.

Around 200 Turkish academics, writers and journalists have launched
a website issuing an apology to the Armenians regarding the 1915
incidents and called for supporters to endorse their campaign. The
online apology does not use the word genocide, but recognises that
Armenians suffered a "great catastrophe".

The move has generated fierce debate in Turkey even though the
country has made a proposal to establish an independent commission
to investigate the claims.

On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan (Photo)
attacked the online apology for the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman
forces during World War I, warning that it could threaten recent
efforts to restore long-severed ties with Armenia.

"We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise,"
he said. "It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble,
disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken."

Turkey’s opposition parties, Republican People’s Party (CHP) and
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), have also harshly criticised the
campaign.

Campaign organisers have claimed more than 11,100 people have endorsed
the apology, after it was launched online.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said everyone had the right to their
opinions freely in a democratic society.

"The president’s view is that the fact that the issue is discussed
freely in academic and public circles is proof of the presence of
democratic discussion in Turkey," Thursday’s statement from Gul’s
office said.

The Armenian government estimates up to 1.5 million Armenians died
under the Ottoman empire and the figure is backed by many historians.

TURKEY DOES NOT HAVE A PAST TO BE ASHAMED OF: SPEAKER OF TURKISH PARLIAMENT

Trend News Agency
Dec 19 2008
Azerbaijan

Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Koksal Toptan sharply criticized
those who have launched apology campaign, Cihan news agency reported.

"Those who apologize accuse Turkey of an event that did happen in
past and they apologize for this guilt," Toptan 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, Turkish 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.

Toptan recalled that over 40 Turkish diplomats were killed by Armenians
in 1980s. "Who will apologize for their murder?, he asked.

Toptan said Turkey does not have past to be ashamed of and added that
they are ready to introduce all historical documents on this issue.

TURKISH ARMY AGAINST ARMENIAN APOLOGY

United Press International
Dec 19 2008

ANKARA, Turkey, Dec. 19 (UPI) — An Internet campaign aimed at offering
a public apology to Armenian residents was not an appropriate move,
the Turkish army said Friday.

Turkish Brigadier General Metin Gurak said at a briefing Friday that
the online movement coordinated by nearly 200 academics, journalists
and writers in Turkey was ill-advised and could have significant
consequences, Hurriyet reported.

"We don’t think this is right. It is wrong and will create harmful
consequences," the army official said.

The apology movement had been based on an Armenian claim that up
to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in 1915 during a civil war in
eastern Anatolia.

Turkish officials have denied such figures, claiming the clash
resulted in the deaths of 300,000 Armenians and nearly as many
Turkish nationals.

Republican People’s Party deputy Canan Aritman has also lashed out
at the campaign’s organizers, calling them traitors to their country,
Today’s Zaman reported.

"The false scientists signing it should apologize to Turkey,"
Aritman said.

SERJ TANKIAN: ONE MAN ARMY
by Andre Mihsin

ChartAttack
tures/64300/serj-tankian-one-man-army
Dec 19 2008
Canada

System Of A Down’s frontman has gone solo and not even he knows when
his band’s getting back together

Serj Tankian, the dynamic frontman of System Of A Down, has just
released his Elect The Dead debut solo effort. During the second day
of a short but busy promotional tour, Tankian found time to relax
with Chart in the intimate confines of Toronto’s Opium Room to lay
back and shoot the shit.

Chart: When you were planning this solo record, did you ever try
singing in another language?

Serj Tankian: I sang a song with a band called Les Rita Mitsouko from
Paris. I sang the English version, but I also sang backgrounds on the
French version. There’s one song I play in Armenian on acoustic guitar,
but generally don’t sing it out. My mom just loves that. Otherwise,
I don’t think so.

I think it would be interesting if you wrote an Armenian song and
performed it in your own unique style.

I’ve heard that from other Armenians. It’s cool if I write Armenian
songs and the six million other Armenians might understand them, but if
I write it in another language I can communicate it to the whole world.

People listen to black metal sung in Norwegian even if they don’t
understand it.

Even when they sing it in English you’re not going to understand with
black metal. [laughs]

You’re right. You have a song on the record called "Praise The Lord
And Pass The Ammunition." It seems that religion and warfare always
get mixed up together.

I know exactly what you mean. Religion is never the reason for
war, but it’s what motivates the masses to do things that they
wouldn’t normally. Religion is used as a tool for war, even with
genocide. The Armenian genocide they always say was a religious
thing with the Christian minority, and the holocaust Jews were the
minority in Germany. When you really think about it, it wasn’t about
religion. Most genocides have very strong economic undercurrents
usually at a time where the government is suffering from another
giant setback, or currency is low and they’re able to take these
riches from these minorities. It’s kind of like gaining this huge
revenue stream. Of course, the people are not going to go to war for
that purpose, to give money to the government.

So they fight for God.

Yeah.

Your grandfather passed away a couple of months back. How did all
the things that he went through influence you?

Him and my grandmother were both genocide survivors and they always
told me the story of what happened in their lives and families
and why I was never able to complete my family tree because of
the genocide. They didn’t necessarily politically motivate me, but
personally motivated me to find out more, and it made me more active.

Years ago I had this organization called the Genocide Project, and
I interviewed survivors of genocides and holocaust. We came by and
set up audio cassettes in an interview format and it was a six- or
seven-hour session and I held my own video camera. I literally held it
in my hand for six hours and taped and kept and made DVD copies and
gave them to all my uncles. I haven’t even watched them since then,
to be honest. Maybe I should.

Other bands have taken breaks from each other to work on separate
projects with not nearly as many break-up rumours as the ones
surrounding System Of A Down. Why do you have to always remind people
you’re just on hiatus?

People make their own stories, I guess. We decided to take an
indefinite hiatus, which means we have not decided what we are going to
do with each other in the future. We’ve been a band for 11 years. We
put out five records. People think we should be a brand like Pepsi
and should be putting out stuff every year, but we’re not. We’re not
a corporation, we’re a group of artists and friends. When we want
to say something with each other and to the world, then we will. And
when we don’t have anything to say through each other to the world,
then we won’t. It’s as simple as that. We don’t want it to be a brand
that is completely used all the time to generate us money and other
people money. That would be abusive.

To me, we needed time to prioritize other things in our life. The band
was a priority for 11 years and everything else was secondary. We
needed time to prioritize our own projects, our own lives, and then
come together and see if there is room to do stuff in the future or
not. Nothing is decided. We’re all friends and the door’s always open
and the possibility is always there.

This feature article is from the November 2007 issue of Chart
Magazine. You can purchase the issue in the Chart Shop.

ARMENIAN EX-FOREIGN MINISTER ON TRIAL OVER DEADLY UNREST

Agence France Presse
Dec 19 2008

YEREVAN (AFP) — Seven top opposition supporters, including a former
foreign minister, went on trial in Armenia Friday on charges of seeking
to overthrow the government in unrest this year that left 10 dead.

Cries from supporters of "We are with you!" greeted the defendants
as they entered a courtroom in the capital Yerevan where they face
charges of seeking to "usurp state power" when they organised mass
protests in February and March.

Former foreign minister Alexander Arzumanian, three members of
parliament and three other government critics each face up to 15
years in prison if convicted.

Outside the courtroom, dozens of protesters chanted "Free political
prisoners!" and held pictures of the seven accused.

Before pleas could even be entered, lawyers for the defendants issued
a series of petitions to the court, including one for the judge to
recuse himself. The proceedings were initially suspended so the judge
could consider the motions and then later adjourned until December 23.

Speaking to the court, Arzumanian condemned it for bringing the case
to trial.

"You dare to accuse us! Me and my friends are the founders of this
state. I signed dozens of international agreements in the name of the
republic of Armenia. You should not have accepted this case," he said.

The charges stem from street battles that broke out when riot police
moved in to disperse thousands of supporters of former Armenian
president Levon Ter-Petrosian rallying to denounce President Serzh
Sarkisian’s victory in a February election.

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 and his supporters denounced the result
as rigged.

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

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

In an interview with Russian newspaper Kommersant published Friday,
Ter-Petrosian said the charges against his supporters were "crudely
forged" and that the trial was a form of "political punishment."

"The authorities are doing everything they can to shift responsibility
to the opposition for their own crimes, namely the usurpation of state
authority through the falsification of elections and the execution
of peaceful protesters," he said.

The trial will be closely watched abroad as a sign of whether Armenia
is meeting its democratic commitments.

Human rights and democracy watchdog the Council of Europe has already
raised concerns about "seemingly artificial or politically motivated
charges" against opposition supporters.

A committee of its parliamentary assembly recommended suspending
the voting rights of Armenia’s delegation, saying there are "strong
indications" that many prosecutions in connection with the unrest
"have been politically motivated."

The assembly is to vote on the recommendation at the end of next month.

Dozens were arrested following the violence and 52 have already
been tried and received prison sentences ranging from six months to
nine years.

Armenia — a mountainous country of about three million people
wedged between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey — has seen
repeated political violence and post-election protests since gaining
independence with the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

APOLOGY FOR GENOCIDE CONDEMNED BY NATIONALISTS

WELT ONLINE
257/Apology-for-genocide-condemned-by-nationalists .html
Dec 19 2008
Germany

An online initiative spearheaded by leftist intellectuals to apologize
for the mass slaying of ethnic Armenians by the Turkish state in
World War One was the subject of a terse debate in Turkey Friday,
drawing heavy criticism from Turkey’s foreign minister Ali Babacan
as well as prime minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish generals.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Friday a controversy
over an apology by Turkish intellectuals for the mass killings of
Armenians in World War One could hurt efforts to improve diplomatic
ties with Armenia.

His comments came on the same day Turkey’s powerful generals said
they opposed the Internet initiative, which has also drawn criticism
from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and nationalists.

"This is a sensitive issue for Turkey. There is a negotiation process
going on (with Armenia)… This kind of debate is of no use to anyone
especially at a time talks continue and it may harm the negotiation
process," Babacan was quoted by Anatolian news agency as saying.

On Wednesday, Erdogan said the campaign, which has tested one of
Turkey’s most sensitive taboos, had no other benefit than "stirring
up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have
been taken".

President Abdullah Gul has hailed the initiative as proof of Turkey’s
democratic health. He became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia
in September as Turkey sought to end almost 100 year of animosity.

Turkish and Armenian officials have expressed hopes of restoring full
diplomatic relations soon.

Turks, including Nobel prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk, have been
prosecuted in the European Union candidate country for affirming that
the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 amounted to genocide.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians were killed during the waning
years of the Ottoman Empire, but rejects Armenian assertions, backed
by Western historians, it was genocide, saying that Muslim Turks also
died in inter-ethnic conflicts.

The apology, which avoids the word genocide and uses instead the
term great catastrophe, has reignited a debate that challenges one
of the ideological foundations of modern Turkey. It comes at a time
of heightened nationalism in Turkey.

Organisers have said the initiative, posted on the Internet
() along with a non-binding petition to gather
signatures, was meant to allow Turks to offer a personal apology and
to end an official silence. It has been signed by 200 intellectuals.