Month: February 2012

TURKEY’S ERDOGAN PRAISES MOVE TO SCRAP GENOCIDE LAW

EuroNews
Jan 31 2012

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has welcomed a move to
overturn a French law that makes it illegal to deny the mass killings
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

A group of senators have asked France’s constitutional court to quash
the legislation, which sparked anger in Turkey.

“I hope the constitutional council will do what is necessary,” said
Erdogan, while Turkish President Abdullah Gul added that he was “not
expecting the French from the very beginning to let their country be
overshadowed” by the law.

France already officially recognises the killings as a genocide. The
new law would go further by punishing anyone who denies this with up
to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000).

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their ancestors died in 1915 and
1916 at the hands of Turkey’s former Ottoman Empire.

Turkey disputes the figure, arguing that 500,000 died, and denies
this was genocide.

It says the deaths were due to fighting and starvation during World
War I.

SUPPORTERS OF ERGUN KIRLIKOVALI, IDIOT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE-DENIER, THREATEN TO PROTEST OUTSIDE WEEKLY OFFICES!
By Gustavo Arellano

OC Weekly

Feb 1 2012
CA

You can write all sorts of damning things against individuals, yet
it’s the most innocuous words that hurt. I’ll never forget last year,
when I got a call from none other than Mark Weber, the head of the
Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review, all upset that
I called him a “cockroach” in a post. I talked him down by pointing
out that, like those insects, his kind had to hide from the public,
a point he didn’t dispute but then blamed on the Jews–kidding.

(About the Jews part, at least. I think)

Something must be in the water that denialists drink, because now
the genocide deniers all bent out of shape are supporters of Ergun
Kirlikovali, current president of the Assembly of Turkish American
Associations and the idiot who insists the Armenian genocide never
happened.

Any sane person would agree anyone who willfully denies the Armenian
genocide is an idiot–but it’s that simple insight that has me in
hot water with Kirlikovali’s fans.

Last Thursday, our receptionist told me that someone called threatening
to occupy the Weekly’s offices unless I met with them–something
about me insulting their leader. It finally dawned on me that they
were referring to this post, where I noted Kirlikovali was an idiot,
mostly for having the ATAA whine that genocides should only be deemed
as such by historians…then claiming France committed genocide
against Algerians.

Yesterday, Taylor found the angry message–roll the tape!

CLICK HERE FOR THE HILARITY!

Yes, angry man: Kirlikovali is an idiot. If you think the Armenian
genocide didn’t happen, then you’re an idiot, too. So is anyone who
denies it. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

Feel free to protest outside our offices–just make sure to bring the
raki and iskender kabob, as you might as well make yourself useful
for something.

From: A. Papazian

EU REFORMS MADE TURKEY PROSPEROUS: MINISTER
By Francesca Astorri

Peninsula On-line

Feb 1 2012
Qatar

Doha: Egemen Bagis, the Turkish Minister for the EU Affairs and Chief
Negotiator, explained the latest developments of Turkey’s relationship
with the European Union and its wider implications in a conference
organised yesterday by the Brookings Doha Center.

“Today Turkey is democratic, wealthy and transparent thanks to EU
reforms,” said Bagis. “The process to get the EU membership is more
important than the end result,” he added.

Turkey-EU is a 52 year relation, but when analysing Turkey’s possible
EU membership the obstacles seem to be too many and too difficult
to overcome. Nearly 80 million Muslims: the problem is not that they
are Muslims because the European Union is not a Christian club, but
a political union, but the problem is that they are 80 million and
that they will have a huge weight in the European Parliament .

The border with Iraq: European countries will never want to expose
themselves to the possible immigration problems related to the
proximity, nor to the threats that come from the instable and violent
situation in Iraq. The furthest, the better.

Turkey is also responsible of the last wall existing in Europe: the
one dividing Cyprus. This issue has to be solved if Turkey wants its
membership to be approved.

The non-recognition of the responsibility of the Armenian genocide:
France has recently enforced a law that makes illegal to deny the
occurrence of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Turks.

“What happened in 1915 can’t be classified as genocide as far as
I’m concerned, but I was not around in 1915,” said Bagis when asked
Turkey’s position on the issue.

“I’m a politician, my job is to determine the future, not the past,”
he added, leaving the crowd perplexed as the events are well documented
while Aljazeera did a touching documentary on the Armenian genocide.

Europe had to deal with one of the most shameful genocides in the
world’s history, but no European country has ever tried to deny its
responsibility: the perpetrators were processed and condemned by the
Nuremberg’s court with which the continent established the justice
necessary to expiate its guilt. Genocide is not acceptable in Europe
and the fact that the Turkish government is still denying it makes
the EU membership impossible for Turkey.

There are some elements on the Turkish side that make its membership
still appealing to the EU: Turkey is a fast growing economy, has
a young population and energetic resources. Three things that the
European countries need desperately right now, but apparently not
desperately enough to convince them to overcome the issues that we
have just analysed against the Turkish membership.

Concluding, Bagis attributed the name “Europa” to a Turkish origin,
when all Europeans know that “Europa” was one of the lovers of Zeus,
a god of the ancient Greek mythology, as also the Ambassador of
Greece to Qatar, Helen-Elsa Zorbala, who attended the conference
told The Peninsula. You need to know the history of the continent,
before pretending to be part of it.

TURKEY WELCOMES APPEAL OF FRENCH “GENOCIDE” BILL

EastDay.com

Feb 1 2012
China

ANKARA, Jan. 31 — Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday welcomed an
appeal of a French bill that incriminates anyone who denies Armenia’s
take on the incidents of 1915 to the Constitutional Council for
annulment.

“We welcome this most honorable initiative. We will now wait for the
Constitutional Council’s ruling, which we believe would fit with the
France’s rooted tradition of democracy and of rule of law,” said the
Foreign Ministry in a press release.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Ambassador Tahsin Burcuoglu to France on Tuesday
said he expected the French Constitutional Council to annul the
legislation that makes it a crime to deny that the incidents occurred
in 1915 during the Ottoman era were a “genocide. ”

“We have received the result we want. We thank everyone who extended
support. Turkish-French relations could not survive such a law. And
we expect a positive ruling from the council,” Burcuoglu was quoted
as saying by the semi-official Anatolia news agency.

In France, even if a bill has been approved by the Senate, it can
still be appealed to the Constitutional Court if a large number of
lawmakers file for it.

The French Senate voted last Monday 127 to 86 in favor of the bill
after hours of debate. The bill, yet to be signed by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy, was passed in the French National Assembly, the
lower house of parliament, on Dec. 22 last year.

Armenians claim that more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed
in a systematic genocide during the World War I, but the Turkish
government insists that the Armenians were victims of widespread
chaos and governmental breakdown as the Ottoman Empire collapsed
before modern Turkey was created in 1923.

The two countries signed protocols to normalize relations last
October but the protocols needed to be ratified by the two countries’
parliaments before taking effect. Turkish authorities have warned
that the row over the “genocide” claims could hamper the normalization
process.

FRENCH LAWMAKERS WANT TOP COURT TO QUASH LAW THAT MAKES DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ILLEGAL

Globe and Mail

Jan 31 2012
Canada

French lawmakers appealed to their country’s highest court on Tuesday
to overturn a law that makes it illegal to deny that the mass killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago was genocide.

The move raises the possibility that the law, which sparked an angry
reaction in Turkey and equally passionate support from the Armenian
Diaspora around the world, will be dismissed as unconstitutional.

The legislation, which received final parliamentary approval on Jan.

23 and was sent to President Nicolas Sarkozy for ratification,
prompted Ankara to cancel all economic, political and military meetings
with Paris.

But many of those who supported the bill appeared to have second
thoughts. More than 130 French lawmakers from across the political
divide in both the National Assembly and the Senate who had originally
voted against the bill, appealed to the Constitutional Council for
a ruling.

The court has one month to make its decision.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who branded the
legislation “discriminatory and racist,” thanked the lawmakers who
opposed it.

“On behalf of my country, I am declaring our heartfelt gratitude to
the senators and deputies who gave their signatures,” he said. “I
believe they have done what needed to be done.”

The lawmakers argued in their appeal that the event was still the
subject of historical contention, and therefore the legislation
infringed on the freedoms of historians, analysts and others to debate
it, ultimately violating the right to free speech.

They insisted their move did not aim to deny “the suffering of our
compatriots of Armenian origin and of all Armenians across the world.”

Last week, Mr. Erdogan said Turkey was in a “period of patience”
as it considered what measures to take if the bill became law.

France is Turkey’s fifth biggest export market and sixth biggest
supplier of imports of goods and services, and bilateral trade was
$13.5-billion in the first 10 months of last year.

“French companies in Turkey … wanted the Constitutional Council to
be involved because it’s the best solution to calm the Turks,” said
Dorothee Schmid, head of the Turkish program at the French Foreign
Relations Institute in Paris.

“The Turkish government accused the French government of being
racist and discriminatory,” she added, “yet this matter stems from
the inability of the Turks to handle the genocide case. Now there is
a discussion on it.”

As a member of NATO and the World Trade Organisation, Turkey may be
limited in its response by its international obligations. However,
media reports have speculated about possible measures that it might
take against France.

These included recalling the Turkish ambassador in Paris and expelling
the French ambassador in Ankara, thus reducing diplomatic ties to
chargee d’affaires level, and closing Turkish airspace and waters to
French military aircraft and vessels.

Some in mostly Muslim Turkey accuse President Sarkozy of trying to win
the votes of the estimated 500,000 ethnic Armenians living in France
in the two-round presidential vote on April 22 and May 6. France’s
Socialist Party, which has a majority in the upper house, and Mr.

Sarkozy’s UMP party, which put forward the bill, supported the
legislation.

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says about
1.5-million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern
Turkey during the First World War in a deliberate policy of genocide
ordered by the Ottoman government.

The Ottoman empire was dissolved after the end of the war, but
successive Turkish governments and many Turks feel the charge of
genocide is a direct insult to their nation They say the deaths
occurred during a military conflict, and that there was heavy loss
of life on both sides during fighting in the area.

FRENCH COURT TO REVIEW GENOCIDE BILL
By SCOTT SAYARE

New York Times

Feb 1 2012

PARIS – France’s Constitutional Council said Tuesday that it would rule
on the constitutionality of criminalizing the denial of a genocide
of Armenians during World War I, after receiving appeals signed by
dozens of lawmakers from across the political spectrum.

The legislation has been approved by both houses of Parliament but
has not yet been signed into law by President Nicolas Sarkozy. It
has been assailed by the Turkish government, which insists that the
deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians a century ago in what
was then the Ottoman Empire did not constitute genocide, a stance
that runs counter to historians’ conclusions and world opinion.

Turkey suspended military cooperation, bilateral political agreements
and economic contracts with France after the bill passed the lower
house in December. The French Senate approved it last week. Mr.

Sarkozy indicated that he would sign it.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed Turkey’s
gratitude to the French legislators who appealed to the court, saying
that to nullify the legislation would bring France into line with
“reality” and its own “values,” the semiofficial Anatolian News
Agency reported.

In their letters of appeal to the council, 77 senators and 65 members
of the National Assembly said that the law might infringe on freedom
of speech and argued that it was not the legislature’s place to write
history. The law provides for fines of up to $59,000 and jail terms
of up to one year.

The Constitutional Council is legally bound to rule within one month.

Mr. Sarkozy is barred from signing the legislation into law before
the ruling is issued.

Historians widely believe that about 1.5 million Armenians were
systematically killed by Ottoman Turkish troops beginning in 1915. The
Turkish government maintains that no more than 500,000 Armenians
died as the Ottoman Empire crumbled during the war, and that many
were victims of starvation and exposure rather than targeted violence.

Sebnem Arsu contributed reporting from Istanbul.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN EVICTIONS TARNISH EUROVISION GLITZ

Emirates 24/7

Feb 1 2012
UAE

In the shadow of an enormous Azerbaijani flag, a landmark concert hall
is rising from the Caspian Sea shoreline as the oil-rich ex-Soviet
state prepares to host the Eurovision song contest in May.

But a human rights dispute has marred Azerbaijan’s preparations for
the pop extravaganza as homes are demolished as part of an urban
regeneration project which includes the ultramodern ‘Crystal Hall’
where Eurovision will be staged.

Pensioner Minara Iskenderova lives with her daughter and son in the
last apartment block to remain standing near the construction site
in Baku’s National Flag Square.

Many of her neighbours have already moved out, leaving the block with
its impressive sea views looking half-abandoned and on the verge of
dereliction, with many doors and windows ripped out.

“I’m taking what is happening very painfully. Since this process
started, my blood pressure has risen and I’ve started to get ill,”
Iskenderova said.

“I cannot get used to the thought that we will have to move away
from here.”

Natalia Alibekova, another pensioner still holding out against eviction
from the condemned block, said she expected to be thrown out any day
now when the demolition crew moves in.

“I will have memories of my home whenever Eurovision takes place,”
she said.

Rights activists allege that several hundred families have been evicted
from the area so far under pressure from the Baku city authorities
to accept what they claim is inadequate compensation that will not
buy similar apartments in the centre of the capital.

“The pressure comes from various sides,” said Zohrab Ismailov of the
Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy campaign group,
claiming that the authorities sometimes cut off gas, electricity and
water to intimidate people into leaving.

The Baku mayor’s press office said it could not comment on the issue,
but officials have said that the compensation offered is fair.

Baku erupted into an all-night street party after singers Ell and
Nikki won Eurovision in Duesseldorf in May 2011, giving Azerbaijan
the right to host the contest this year.

Oil money has fueled construction boom

Often cringe-worthy but always watchable, Eurovision is a cherished
institution, with 43 nations — including some from outside Europe —
competing, then whittled down to 20 for the grand televised final.

The administration led by strongman President Ilham Aliyev sees
Eurovision 2012 as a chance to boost the international profile of a
country until now mainly known as an energy exporter on the fringe
of Europe that went through war and political turmoil after the
Soviet collapse.

“This event will positively affect Azerbaijan’s overall image,”
Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev told local media.

The authorities have rejected allegations of property rights abuses
and official intimidation, saying that the redevelopment of National
Flag Square is not connected to Eurovision but part of a citywide
urban renewal scheme.

“Reconstruction works in Baku, and particularly in this area, are
related to the upgrade of Baku’s infrastructure, roads and other
transportation projects,” Ali Hasanov, a senior official at the
presidential administration, told journalists.

“Certain groups are intentionally politicising unrelated issues and
trying to link them to the Eurovision song contest,” he said.

Flush with oil money, Baku has undergone a construction boom in recent
years, with hundreds of new buildings transforming the skyline of the
capital, while the once shabby downtown area has been turned into a
upmarket shopping haven.

Campaigners estimate that thousands may have lost homes during the
gentrification drive which also led to the controversial demolition
last year of the offices of local rights advocates who were campaigning
on behalf of those evicted.

“Since 2008, the Azerbaijani government has undertaken a sweeping
campaign of urban renewal which has involved illegally expropriating
apartments, forcibly evicting people — sometimes without any warning
— and demolishing their homes,” said Giorgi Gogia, a researcher for
Human Rights Watch.

Campaigners hope that while Eurovision increases interest in
Azerbaijan, it will also focus attention on alleged violations of
democratic rights and freedom of expression.

“Azerbaijan is determined to boost its international image by holding
mega events like Eurovision, but what it doesn’t understand is that
this will put the government’s human rights record under a glaring
spotlight,” Gogia said.

A bloody local conflict could also be spotlighted because Azerbaijan’s
bitter enemy Armenia has agreed to compete in Baku after the
authorities promised to ensure participants’ safety.

Anger still simmers over the Armenian seizure of the disputed Nagorny
Karabakh region during a war in the 1990s.

50% OF TOURISTS IN GEORGIA FROM TURKEY AND ARMENIA 2,820,185 FOREIGN TOURISTS VISITED GEORGIA IN 2011
Written by Tako Khelaia

The Financial
Jan 30 2012
Georgia

The FINANCIAL — The number of foreign visitors in Georgia increased
by 39% in 2011 compared to the previous year.

According to the Georgian National Tourism Agency 2,820,185 foreign
tourists visited Georgia in total last year. The overall flow of
tourists increased by 788,468 foreigners in 2011.

“The majority of foreign tourists that visited Georgia were from
Turkey. In 2011 738,136 Turkish tourists came to Georgia, a 38% growth
in comparison to 2010 when 535,593 people visited Georgia from Turkey.

The second biggest group of foreign tourists in Georgia belongs to
Azerbaijan. In 2010 497,969 visitors came to Georgia from Azerbaijan
and in 2011 – 714,427, a growth of 43% in accordance with last year,”
GNTA notes.

“In 2010 547,510 Armenians visited Georgia. In 2011 the number of
Armenian tourists in Georgia reached 699,391, showing 28% growth
in comparison with the year before. Among the list of the top ten
foreign countries’ visitors to Georgia, Russia holds 4th place. In
2010 170,584 Russian tourists visited Georgia, compared to 278,501
tourists in 2011 showing 63% growth,” GNTA notes.

“60,193 tourists visited Georgia from Iran in 2011, compared to 21,313
in 2010. The number of Iranian tourists in Georgia increased by 182%.

58,966 Ukrainian tourists came to Georgia in 2011 while in 2010
the number was 47,596. Last year the number of Ukrainian tourists
increased by 24%. The number of tourists from Israel was 19,447
in 2010. In 2011 the number increased to 25,438, a 31% growth in
comparison with the last year,” GNTA says.

According to the Georgian National Tourism Agency 24,224 tourists from
the USA visited Georgia in 2011 while in 2010 their number was 20,081.

The number of tourists in Georgia from the USA increased by 21%
in 2011.

22,204 German tourists came to Georgia in 2011, while their number in
2010 reached 17,619. In 2011 the number of German tourists in Georgia
increased by 26%. The number of tourists from Kazakhstan was 8,411
in 2010 and in 2011 their number reached 18,565 – a 121% increase
in comparison with the previous year. 17,664 Greek tourists visited
Georgia in 2011 and in 2010 their number was 16,424. The increase of
the number of Greek students in 2011 reached 8%.

“Georgia was visited in 2011 by 12,613 tourists from Great Britain,
12,082 from Poland, 10,695 from France, 10,309 from Bulgaria, 6,883
from the Netherlands, 6,873 from Italy, 6,522 from China, 6,114 from
the Philippines and 5,344 from Belarus,” says GNTA.

According to GNTA the number of foreign visitors from Georgia’s
neighbour countries increased in 2011.

The number of travellers to Georgia significantly increased from such
high priority country markets as Iran with 182% growth, China – 139%,
Kazakhstan – 121% and Poland with a 70% increase.

The highest number of foreign travellers to Georgia were from CIS
countries with 63% growth, EU countries with 32% and Southern Asia
with 2% increase, There was record growth of tourists to Georgia
from the Southern Asia region with 138% increase, mostly determined
by the high number of Iranian travellers.”

Georgia was visited by 1,787,728 tourists from CIS countries in 2011,
906,632 from Europe, 66,076 from Southern Asia and 28,856 from the
USA. August was the month most saturated with foreign visitors.

355,924 tourists came to Georgia in August, 332,194 in July, 252,319
in October and 282,472 in December 2011. June 2011 saw a vast increase
in percentage rate with 49% growth of visitors.

As GNTA says, the highest number of tourists visited Georgia in the
3rd quarter of 2011 with 960,307 tourists and 41% growth in comparison
to the previous year.

“The 2nd quarter of 2011 was also exceptional with 48% growth. 754,547
tourists visited the country in the 4th quarter, and in comparison
with the last year it totalled 29% growth,” GNTA says.

“2,380,760 travellers visited Georgia by road transport, 42% more in
comparison with the year 2010. 335,989 travellers visited Georgia
by air transport and in accordance with the year 2010 the number
increased by 37%. 56,909 travellers visited Georgia by sea and 55,041
by railway,” GNTA says.

As one of the most visited regions of Georgia Adjara was visited by
1,319,513 tourists in 2011. There was a 35% increase in the number of
tourists visiting Adjara in comparison with the previous year’s index.

“From the total number of tourists in Adjara, 64% were Georgian and
36% foreign. Adjara had the biggest number of visitors in July with
353,576 and in August with 330,311 tourists. According to percent
growth, the February index was one of the most exceptional compared
to the previous year with a 144% increase of tourists,” GNTA notes.

FORMER ARMENIA PM WANTS INVESTMENT IN MILITARY

The Messengerm Georgia
Jan 31 2012

Former deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, Vaan Shirkhanyan, believes
that Azerbaijan’s attempt to enlarge its military will not create a
situation in which it has an advantage over Armenian forces. However,
he recommends that his country carry out an enhancement of their
combat facilities, including not only an increase in arms but also
training of soldiers and officers. Some Armenian analysts are claiming
that the military conflict between their country and Azerbaijan could
erupt again without intervention from larger states.

FRANCE PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN TURKEY’S ECONOMY

Trend
Jan 27 2012
Azerbaijan

Jan. 27–France plays an important role in the Turkish economy,
the minister of economy Zafer Caglayan told reporters, television
channel TRT Haber transmits on Friday.

“French companies employ a large number of Turkish citizens. These
companies make an important contribution to the economy,” Mr Caglayan
said.

The minister said that all the investments of French entrepreneurs
will be under the tutelage of Turkey. French entrepreneurs also oppose
the law on “Armenian genocide,” Mr Caglayan added.

He said: “As for the Turkish companies, they will choose themselves
whether or not to work with French companies.”

Turkish authorities have declared that they would take additional
sanctions against France after the adoption the law criminalising
the denial of “Armenian genocide” by the Senate of France.

After eight hours of discussion, the Senate (upper chamber of the
French parliament) voted for adoption of the law criminalising denial
of the so called “Armenian genocide”. Some 127 senators voted for,
while 86 against.

The Lower House of the French Parliament adopted a bill criminalising
the denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide” on Dec.22, 2011

The bill demands about a year’s imprisonment and a fine of 45,000
euros for denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

MPs from the French President’s Union for Popular Movement (UMP)
party which has the parliamentary majority, proposed the bill which
aims at criminalising denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide” to
the legislative committee of the National Assembly in early December.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of the
Turkey — Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against
the Armenians living in Anadolu, and achieved recognition of the
“Armenian Genocide” by the parliaments of several countries.