Month: November 2009

‘CAGE ACTION PLAN’ PUT INTO OPERATION IN KURTULUS, ADALAR

Today’s Zaman
Nov 20 2009
Turkey

A devious plan by a group of members of the Naval Forces Command to
intimidate the country’s non-Muslim population by assassinating some
of their prominent figures, and in this way undermine the power of
the ruling party, had been put into operation, recent incidents in
Istanbul’s Kurtulus_ neighborhood and Adalar district suggest.

The plan was exposed at a police raid on the office of retired Maj.

Levent BektaÅ~_ as part of a probe launched after the discovery of
a large arms cache in the Poyrazköy district in April.

Called the "Cage Operation Action Plan," the desired result from
the intimidation of Turkey’s non-Muslims and the assassination of
prominent ones, was that an increase in internal and external pressure
on the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) would ensue, leading
to diminishing public support for the party.

A series of incidents that Kurtulus_ residents experienced in August
suggest that the plan was put into operation by "dark powers." The
neighborhood is home to dozens of non-Muslim families.

On Aug. 7, 2009, some non-Muslim residents of the neighborhood found
colored stickers on the doors of their buildings, which sparked
increased fear among the residents. Police launched an investigation
into the stickers, but failed to find out who was responsible. The
stickers disappeared "mysteriously" at night the very same day,
leaving unanswered questions behind as to who took them away.

Ahmet Gunel, the mukhtar or neighborhood head, said the stickers aimed
at fomenting unease and fear among the neighborhood’s non-Muslims.

Selami MelemÅ~_e, a lawyer who is also a resident of KurtuluÅ~_,
said the "sticker campaign" had achieved its objective. "The stickers
managed to provoke fear among our residents. I do not think those
stickers were placed on doors in KurtuluÅ~_ ‘just by coincidence.’ Some
circles did it on purpose," MelemÅ~_e added.

The action plan has sent shockwaves across Ä°stanbul’s Adalar district,
which is home to hundreds of non-Muslim families. Raffi Hermon Araks,
the chief adviser to the mayor of Adalar in charge of cultural and
arts affairs, said some non-Muslims in the district had receive
threats to their lives for the past few months. "We experienced such
incidents in Heybeliada, Kınalıada and Buyukada. We thought these
were separate incidents, but when we saw the Cage plan, we understood
that they were all part of a detailed plot," Araks remarked.

A non-Muslim resident of the district, who wanted to remain anonymous,
said he had been told several times by people he did not know to
leave the country. "They told me the places I belong to. ‘You do
not belong to this place. Muslims will send you away. The order has
changed,’ they told me. I was very afraid. My neighbors and relatives
experienced similar incidents. We do not wish to experience another
Sept. 6-7 trauma," he added.

The Sept. 6-7, 1955 events started after a newspaper headline said
Ataturk’s home in Greece had been bombed by Greek militants. In
revenge, Turkish nationalists attacked the houses and business places
of non-Muslims, destroying 5,300 businesses and houses owned by Greeks,
Armenians and Jews.

Etyen Mahcupyan, editor-in-chief of the Agos weekly, said the names
of the country’s minorities, Alevis and Kurds will be mentioned in
many other action plans unless Turkey embraces a stronger democracy.

According to Mahcupyan, the Cage Operation Action Plan is a strong
indication of a war between "good Turks" and "bad Turks." "What I
mean is, there is a difference and quarrel between those who have a
statist and totalitarian mindset and those who are pro-freedom and
democrat," he said and added that such action plans have a single
aim: to destroy the AK Party. "To attain this target, non-Muslims
get killed; clashes are sparked between Sunnis and Alevis; Turks and
Kurds are made to fight; and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] is
lent support," he remarked. Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer representing the
family of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated
in 2007 by a young man strongly influenced by ultranationalism,
said the Turkish military sees some of the country’s citizens as an
"enemy" and produces plans against them.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MAMMA LI TURCHI!

Hurriyet Daily News
Nov 19 2009
Turkey

Every fresh piece of scientific evidence in the shape of "Turkey by
the numbers" verifies what anyone with an IQ higher than my cat’s
should empirically know: You can push for better laws for European
Union accession, but the social engineering in favor of conservatism
is swiftly making the Turks unqualified for the club they wish to join.

We already knew that two-thirds of Turks believed EU membership would
never happen; and only one-third thought they shared common values
with the West. We knew that 50 to 70 percent of Turks refused to have
Christian, Jewish, American or atheist neighbors, depending on the
chosen "other." We also knew that 78 percent of younger Turks wished
to live abroad (and we know that in this phrase "abroad" does not
mean Saudi Arabia, Iran or Pakistan).

More recently, we learned that 54 percent of Turks either tolerated
torture or thought torture must be absolutely legal. And most
recently we have learned from research by two professors from Sabancı
University, under the framework of the International Social Survey
Program, that:

1. There has been a significant increase since 1999 in the number of
people who identify themselves as religious.

2. Of the 43 countries surveyed, Turkey, Poland, the Philippines and
the United States are among the most religious.

3. Although 89 percent of Turks say they tolerate non-Muslim faiths,
only 13 percent had positive views of Christians, 10 percent for Jews
and 7 percent for non-believers.

4. Almost half of them say they would either absolutely or most likely
not accept political candidates from different religions.

5. Only 13 percent say they would respect laws contradicting religious
(Muslim) teachings.

It’s a pity the pollsters did not ask the Turks about anti-Semitism.

The results would have read something like this: Survey X found that
only 2 percent of Turks have anti-Semitic sentiment, although it
revealed that 92 percent of Turks say they hate Jews. We don’t hate
Jews unless they are Jews!

But is self-contradiction not a traditional Turkish pastime? Did Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan not say that he viewed Middle Eastern
disputes with a Muslim’s approach? Did he not say that he viewed the
plight of Palestinians as a prime minister and as a Muslim? And has
he not often accused the EU of being a "Christian club"? It’s up to
you to see the merit in the Turkish proverb "Balık baÅ~_tan kokar"
(the fish smells from the head).

Can we really blame the Europeans who would not like to sit in the
same club with 35-50 million Turks who would refuse to have Christian,
Jewish and atheist neighbors? With 35 million Turks who would not
accept political candidates from non-Muslim religions? Or with 38
million Turks who think torture is fine? Or with 60 million Turks who
say they would not respect laws if they contracted Islamic teachings?

Or with 46 million Turks who think they don’t share common values with
the West? Or with 60 million Turks who don’t have positive views of
Christians or 63 million Turks with a negative opinion of Jews? Is
this really what Europe is about?

We all wholeheartedly support the EU’s cliché prescriptions like
democratic control of the military, curbing the military’s role
in politics, better cultural and political rights for the Kurds,
better religious rights for non-Muslim minorities and good neighborly
relations with Armenia. But Turkey looks like an unpredictable student
trying to memorize textbook sections to please his teachers and get
passing marks in final exams but at the same time metamorphosing into
a bully who terrorizes most its classmates. And he gets generous pats
on the shoulders because he really tries hard to memorize textbook
sections.

Saudi Arabia is not a democracy merely because its military has no
role in politics, nor is either of Egypt or Jordan a democracy because
they treat their non-Muslim minorities well. And Iran certainly would
not qualify to join the EU because it has good relations with most
of its neighbors.

No doubt, meeting the cliché requirements is fine; that is being —
hopefully — done. But the heart of the matter is missed: the social
engineering that makes the Turks increasingly conservative both
ethnically and religiously.

You can always pass new laws for the better. You can amend laws for
the better too. But you cannot easily "make or amend" nations so that
they fit well into established civilizations.

CHP SHOULD SUPPORT DTP’S DERSIM SUGGESTION

Hurriyet Daily News
Nov 19 2009
Turkey

The CHP will have to pass an important test changing back Tunceli’s
name to its former name Dersim.

Here is a great opportunity for Onur Oymen to repair what he broke
and get back votes he lost to the AKP.

Opposing DTP’s legislation proposal would mean shooting himself in
the foot.

Rejecting DTP’s proposal would add insults to injury and mean an
immense loss of prestige.

A change made in 1935 has deep meaning for the inhabitants of Tunceli.

Renaming it with its former name Dersim would create great relaxation
whereby the message given is very important.

This would mean that the Turkish Republic would show the courage to
confront its past mistakes which would leave deeper traces than any
other political decision.

The AKP seems to have noticed this. The prime minister’s style of
answering questions asked in Rome was a sign of him supporting the
DTP legislation proposal regarding the Kurdish Initiative.

Let’s see how the CHP will proceed.

Does Baku postpone Turkish-Armenian protocol?

The protocol between Turkey and Armenia regarding the opening of
borders has not been forgotten but seems to be frozen for the time
being.

The key for the protocol passing Parliament is in Aliyev’s pocket.

When Baku and Yerevan come to a consensus in respect to an end to the
Armenian occupation of seven regions and Aliyev is pleased as to give
green light, and then Parliament will approve the protocol.

But now the question is as to whether the Azerbaijani really wants
a solution or not.

Many have doubts in this respect. It is being questioned whether the
Azerbaijani in the first place want a "reasonable" solution for the
retreat of the Armenians from the seven regions rather than a final
solution to Karabakh.

Until last year Azerbaijani authorities from behind closed doors in
Baku answered this question always the same way:

"… Why should we hurry? We are getting richer by the day. And as
we become richer our power increases. But the Armenians become weaker.

And especially if the border to Turkey remains closed they will be
even weaker. That is why we are not in a hurry. We will wait. They
will fall down like a ripe apple from a tree."

This attitude lasted until August 2008 when Russia placed troops in
Georgia. This also scared the Azerbaijanis. This proved that Russia
has set weight on the region and would not hesitate to interfere
if necessary.

In other words, the reality that Armenian’s prime ally Russia would
"not let the Armenians fall into the lap of the Azerbaijani when ripe
like an apple" is what obviously scared Baku.

These days we don’t really know from which direction the winds blow.

The Azerbaijani on one side show they look for a solution but on the
other side they seem not to hesitate to speak the last word. Steps
not taken increase these doubts.

Within this frame, since there is no result obtained in these seven
regions, the protocol between Turkey and Armenia can’t come before
Parliament. If the Azerbaijanis continue with their attitude from
before 2008 we will have to wait for many years.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE MONITORING TO GO ON TILL BAKU MEETS ALL COMMITMENTS

news.az
Nov 20 2009
Azerbaijan

The head of parliament’s administration, Safa Mirzayev, has commented
on Azerbaijan’s progress in meeting its commitments to the Council
of Europe.

"Monitoring will be conducted until Azerbaijan completely fulfils
its commitments to the Council of Europe," Mirzayev said on Friday.

"There are two main laws among the commitments still to be met –
a draft law on alternative military service and ratification of the
European charter on ethnic minority languages. The first draft law
cannot be adopted while the state of war continues. There were some
financial problems with the second issue. After ratification of this
charter, the government has to assign substantial resources to the
opening of schools, TV channels and the publication of books for
ethnic minorities. The situation was fine until last year and we
thought that the problems would be solved soon. But the financial
crisis has delayed the issue. Probably there will not be a problem on
this issue. There are still some commitments on the courts system too.

These will be tackled gradually. This is not a contest to see who
will finish first. Everything has to be done at the right time. The
country and its population should not suffer from these issues."

Speaking about the statement by the Council of Europe secretary
general expressing concern at the deteantion of sentencing of two
youth activists, Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade, Mirzayev said that
these problems occur periodically. "When the details are learned,
it becomes clear that this is only a criminal matter. Criminals have
to be punished everywhere. We know about that statement and are now
working on it. We will inform the Council of Europe co-rapporteurs
about the essence of the incident."

Speaking about proposals to establish parliamentary committees on
Karabakh and European integration, Mirzayev said that just one of
them could be established as a committee. "We need to establish an
institution on European integration. It is not necessary to establish
it in the form of a committee. According to the regulations, an MP can
be a member of one committee only and we need to form a new committee
from members of other committees, which will damage the work of other
committees. According to the domestic regulations, we can establish a
commission and members of different committees could join that. This
is a question not about legislation, but about political direction. I
think we don’t need a committee on Karabakh. We are not working on
legislation about Karabakh yet, while the main duty of a committee is
to make laws. If it is a matter of discussion of the Karabakh problem,
then this issue is discussed in all the committees."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KUWAIT STATE UNIVERSITY WELCOMES ARMENIAN STUDENTS

Aysor
Nov 20 2009
Armenia

The two-day long ‘Education: improvement under cooperation’ Forum aimed
at expanding partnership relations in field of education with involving
of all interested organisations and groups was held today in Yerevan.

Armenia’s Minister of Education and Science, Armen Ashotyan, said
that there are some key matters. "First of all we must provide
qualified education and managements in every field: from pre-school
to ministerial level. This will provide with higher development,"
said Mr. Ashotyan.

Another chief objective is cooperation with international sponsor
organisations. "These organisations have a great potential, as not
only financial support is necessary."

"To improve the educational policy is certainly necessary, and here
some preconditions appear: training and cultural bridges. Numerous
Armenian students get education abroad; thousand other foreign
students come here to Armenia to get education. All this make clear
that educational field provides world recognition," said minister.

Minister also announced that Armenian students will receive grant for
studying at Arabic, and in particular, at Kuwaiti universities. For
example, Armenian students can learn Islamic Studies in Kuwait State
University.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA "MUST WITHDRAW" FROM OCCUPIED AREAS BEFORE TURKISH BORDER OPENS

news.az
Nov 20 2009
Azerbaijan

Vladimir Socor Steps to normalize Armenian-Turkish relations should
be taken only after Armenia has withdrawn from at least five of the
seven occupied Azerbaijani districts, regional expert Vladimir Socor
said on Friday.

"Moreover, these two processes should develop at an equal pace and
be synchronized in definite stages," Socor told a Baku conference on
security in the Caucasus.

"If the Armenian-Turkish border opens before troops are withdrawn
from the occupied land, this will bring the Karabakh settlement to
a standstill," Socor said.

Socor, who is senior fellow on the Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia
programme, said: "It would be possible to attain a positive dynamic
in the Karabakh conflict settlement provided that the issue of
normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations and the opening of borders
between the countries develops on a par with the withdrawal of Armenian
troops from Azerbaijani land."

The Azerbaijani presidential Centre for Strategic Studies is
holding the conference "Obstacles to security in the South Caucasus:
realities and prospects of regional cooperation" jointly with Britain’s
International Institute for Strategic Studies.

SAINT GEVORG CHURCH COLLAPSED BECAUSE OF INDIFFERENCE

Aysor
Nov 20 2009
Armenia

"The collapse of the Saint Gevorg of Mughni, Church in Tbilisi is
the result of the indifference of the Georgian government", – the
historian, expert of the Armenian architecture Samvel Karapetyan
thinks.

Today he said that one year ago he has been in Tbilisi and has seen
the hopless state of the church.

"Until 1989, the church served as a museum of folk art, after
removing of which around 20 years the church ahs been left careless
and unprotected. The walls were cracked and there was the danger of
collapsing. It was possible to keep it at least with the columns.

S. Karapetyan mentioned that there can’t be even a word about
mechanical damaging or blowing it out.

17.5% ECONOMIC DECLINE IN ARMENIA IN JAN-OCT, 2009

news.am
Nov 20 2009
Armenia

15:17 / 11/20/2009A 17.5% economic decline (2,466,298bn AMD) was
registered in Armenia this January-October, the RA Statistical
Service told NEWS.am. The biggest decline, 18.5%, was registered
this January-July, 18.4% this January-August and 18.3% this
January-September. The present figure is 17.5%.

It is noteworthy that a generally smaller annual decline in GDP was
registered in Armenia. On the other hand, a 5% decline in GDP was
registered on a month-to-month basis.

GDP growth of nearly 5% was registered this September as compared
with this August.

A 51.6% decline was registered in the construction sector this
January-October, an 11.4% decline in the industrial sector, a 1.5%
decline in the services sector and a 0.8% decline in the agricultural
sector.

A 19.1% decline in the construction sector was registered this October
as compared with this September despite an increase of more than 25%
on construction this September. Armenia’s foreign trade turnover
registered a 31% decrease – down to 3,220m USD. Imports exceeded
exports 4.7 times, with an unfavorable trade balance exceeding U.S.

$2bn.

Many economists accounts for the lower economic decline by the fact
that the crisis was palpable as far back as last October (which is the
reason for a relatively favorable picture), rather than by positive
tendencies in the Armenian economy.

AMBASSADOR OF SWEDEN IN RA NA STANDING COMMITTEE

National Assembly of RA
Nov 20 2009
Armenia

On November 20 the Chairperson on NA Standing Committee on European
Integration Ms. Naira Zohrabyan received the Ambassador of the Kingdom
of Sweden to the Republic of Armenia Mr. Hans Gunab Aden. Ambassador
of Armenia to Sweden Mr. Ara Ayvazian attended the meeting.

Welcoming the guest in the parliament Ms. Zohrabyan highlighted
the relations with Sweden, as the most important country of the
European Union, which was also one of the initiators of the Eastern
Partnership format, and further cooperation. Touching upon the EU
Eastern Partnership, Ms. Zohrabyan reaffirmed the willingness of
Armenia in the implementation of the predetermined platforms in that
format. As a practical means of cooperation and European integration
Ms. Zohrabyan noted that the establishment of the parliamentary
cooperation between the two countries, saying that in the National
Assembly of the Republic of Armenia the Armenian-Swedish Friendship
Group already functioned. The Committee Chairperson also said that
during her visit in Sweden an agreement was reached in the Riksdagen
of Sweden to set up a parliamentary friendship group. In the future
in RA NA a number of deputies of Riksdagen of Sweden will be hosted.

During the meeting issues connected with EU association, free trade
agreements, as well as easing the provision of entrance visas to EU
countries were discussed. The sides also discussed regional problems
and issues concerning the future strengthening of Armenia’s democracy.

Touching upon the problem of the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish
relations, Committee Chairperson Ms. Naira Zohrabyan once again
stressed that Armenia was interested in the establishment of
normal relations with Turkey, which could not be in the account of
our national ruling interests. Regarding the settlement of the NK
problem, the Committee Chairperson reaffirmed that the independence of
Artsakh had no alternative and sooner or later it should be accepted
by everybody.

TOP US SENATOR BACKS ‘GENOCIDE’ RESOLUTION

Hurriyet Daily News
Nov 20 2009
Turkey

U.S. Senator Harry Reid has agreed to co-sponsor a Senate resolution
calling on the United States to formally recognize World War I-era
killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as "genocide."

The development was welcomed by U.S. Armenian groups.

"The Armenian Assembly of America [or AAA] welcomed news that Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, has agreed to
cosponsor S. Res. 316, the Armenian genocide resolution," the AAA
said in a written statement late Thursday.

"With his leadership role in the U.S. Senate as majority leader, Sen.

Reid’s addition to the resolution greatly strengthens the growing
list of cosponsors," said Hirair Hovnanian, chairman of the AAA board
of trustees.

The Senate resolution was introduced in October by Democratic Sen.

Robert Menendez and his Republican colleague John Ensign. In a
letter sent to the secretary of state in late October, Reid voiced
his "Nevada constituents’ concerns" over a historic reconciliation
agreement signed between Turkey and Armenia.

Ankara-Yerevan deal

The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed a set of agreements
Oct. 10 under which Ankara and Yerevan would set up normal diplomatic
relations and reopen their land border. The deal, if ratified by the
parliaments of Turkey and Armenia, would effectively end decades of
hostile relations.

But U.S. Armenians are solely focusing on the objective of winning
formal U.S. recognition of the Armenian killings as "genocide."

In addition to the Senate bill, a similar resolution on "genocide
recognition" has been pending in the House of Representatives,
Congress’ lower chamber, since February.

That resolution now has the support of 148 lawmakers out of the 435
House members, the AAA said separately Thursday.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration staunchly supports the
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation deal. Analysts suggest that as long
as that deal progresses, genocide-recognition resolutions in the
House and the Senate have little chance of being endorsed.