Author: Andres-Papazian

TURKEY, AZERBAIJAN DECRY SENATE VOTE

asbarez
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

ANKARA, BAKU–Official Turkey and Azerbaijan voiced condemnation over
Monday’s passage by the French Senate a bill that criminalizes the
denial of the Armenian Genocide.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at his party’s
congress Tuesday, said that Turkey regarded the French Senate’s Jan.

23 approval of a bill criminalizing the denial of Armenian genocide
claims as “null and void.”

Erdoðan said Turkey had previously warned France against the “mistake”
of passing the bill and added that the government hoped France would
make amends for the mistake.

The Turkish prime minister called on “right-minded” members of the
French Parliament and French intellectuals to oppose the bill and said
the approval of the law was outright racism and destroyed free speech.

It is up to citizens of France to judge French President Nicolas
Sarkozy and his associates, Erdogan said.

“Those who fall silent against such measures [such as the approval of
this law] will be turning a deaf ear to the footsteps of approaching
fascism in Europe,” Erdogan said.

Erdoðan said the Turkish government was waiting patiently for the
legal process in France to run its course before it would share its
plan of action against the law with the public.

Official Baku also chimed in by denouncing the French decision.

“The Republic of Azerbaijan deplores the law adopted by the French
Senate to criminalize the denial of the ‘Armenian genocide’ and
expresses strong protest over this,” the foreign ministry in Baku
said in a statement.

The move was “against the principles of democracy, human rights,
freedom of speech and expression”, the statement said.

From: A. Papazian

LIVING IN A GLASS HOUSE
MARKAR ESAYAN

Today’s Zaman
Jan 25 2012
Turkey

We have been trapped again by a vicious “Armenian” discussion after the
scandalous court decision on the Hrant Dink murder and the adoption
of the French genocide bill in the Senate. We, as Turkey, should be
proud of ourselves! We are discussing the freedoms of thought and
expression only with reference to a right to denial. And even in this,
we are not sincere. Of course, I am more talking about politics.

Unfortunately, Turkey is not making this fuss because the French bill
is detrimental to the freedoms of speech and thought to be enjoyed
and exercised by French citizens! We are trying to protect our right
to deny what happened in 1915. We are forgetting that we are talking
about a big tragedy we have been attempting to forget for 96 years. We
want to make sure everything will be as we desire.

For instance, we speak up and ask for proper measures to ensure the
Turks in Germany are not assimilated and that they become allowed to
learn their language, but the Kurds in our country are not able to
exercise their right to their native language. Historian Taner Akcam,
who had to leave Turkey, filed an application against Turkey with the
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) because he was unable to carry
out his studies in a safe and free environment after multiple lawsuits
were filed against him for his remarks and views on the 1915 incidents;
there is not a single person who has argued that the events of 1915
were genocide and has not stood trial for such remarks. Hrant Dink was
still tried under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) after he
was killed because of his remarks interpreted as an endorsement of 1915
events as genocide. In the same case, his son Arat Dink was prosecuted
because of his position as managing editor of the Agos newspaper.

In 2005, in reference to the Armenian conference held at Bilgi
University, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said, “They stabbed us in
the back.” After Dink was murdered, they amended this murderous
article because of the strong reaction. The new, amended version
required prior authorization by the justice minister before someone
could be prosecuted. Thank god the justice minister changed, and a
democrat and gentleman like Sadullah Ergin came into office. He did
not extend authorization for the majority of the motions in connection
with this article. Just look at the current outlook of the judiciary:
Prosecutors initiate prosecution into writings and statements that
should be considered an enjoyment of freedom of speech, and the
justice minister returns most of them; the situation is that critical.

Why do you not repeal this article then? There is no answer.

Let us come to Turkey’s reaction to France…

Turkey has been pursuing a pretty reactionary and insecure strategy.

And, of course, this can barely be called a strategy. Acting as
if this is the end of the world and that bill will be implemented
in Turkey, the announcement of bold action plans, reactions by the
business world and NGOs and others are not something the civilized
world can understand. In so doing, Turkey assumes the responsibility
of a grave crime committed by the Committee of Union and Progress,
aka the Ergenekon of the time, during the period between 1915 and
1918. An approach of denial and outrage to 1915 and the argument that
our ancestors would not commit genocide will not resolve anything.

Can’t we just maintain this simple logic? If the official history —
for instance, the official narrative on the Dersim incidents, for
which the Prime Minister Erdogan offered an official apology — is
wrong, why would what we have been told about 1915 necessarily be true?

Who could we convince by reliance on such redundant discourses
and statements that our history is clean? Did anyone else from
other countries commit grave crimes in our history, including the
unsolved murders in the 1990s, coups and other massacres? Why are we
prosecuting former President and retired Gen. Kenan Evren then? Why
are we prosecuting the members of Ergenekon and the Sledgehammer
(Balyoz) case? Did we not have an agreement that we have a painful
past? Bodies are coming up everywhere we excavate. The prime minister
sobbed reading the letter by Anter Anter, son of Musa Anter; in what
country did what made him sad take place? Was Musa Anter murdered in
France? Why has Anter Anter not been allowed to pay a visit to his
father’s grave since 1969?

True, France has done something ridiculous that contradicts the
universal values of freedom of expression and thought. You should
express your reaction in a civilized and smart way, and retreat. Take a
look at what is happening; it is almost like we are going to declare
war on France. This is akin to throwing a stone at your neighbor’s
house when you live in a glass house. We should fortify our home
first…

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY AT A CROSSROADS
by Yusuf Kanli

Hurriyet Daily News
Jan 25 2012
Turkey

Why, despite all Turkish warnings of reprisals, did the Nicolas
Sarkozy administration go ahead and adopt the so-called “genocide
denial bill?” It was obvious that Turks would be enraged and recall
the Turkish ambassador to France, Tahsin Burcuoglu, “for some time.”

Perhaps Turkey’s tall, bold and absolute ruler “would no longer go
to France…”

What else? Whatever punitive action against commercial or industrial
cooperation between the two countries Turkey could take would
contradict either the Customs Union deal or the World Trade
Organization’s regulations on free trade.

Furthermore, past experiences have shown the international community
of nations that Turks are an emotional society with a rather shallow,
fish-like memory. Even though Turks might explode in anger over an
attitude adopted against them by a foreign country, within several
months – an average of about eight to 10 weeks – they tend to forget
everything and return to “business as usual.” Did the French forget
what happened after their 2001 adoption of the so-called genocide
recognition bill? Some demonstrators burned a Turkish-made Renault
car and tore apart some expensive French-made garments. The French
were not bothered at all. Some crazy Turks were burning or tearing
apart items they paid for; why should France care?

Indeed, within weeks the furor over the 2001 humiliation had become
history and relations returned to a “business as usual” format. The
Bastille Day reception was again marked in the splendid garden of
the French ambassadorial residence. Ministers, top civil servants,
academics, businessmen and the media joined their French hosts to
mark the day and taste Turkish wine with French cheese and delicacies.

That is why after the adoption of the criminalization of denials of
Armenian genocide claims on Jan. 23, an optimistic Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe appealed: “We need good relations with it [Turkey]
and we need to get through this phase […] We have very important
economic and trade ties. I hope the reality of the situation will
not be usurped by emotions.”

Now, can Ankara go ahead with its pre-vote challenge and cancel all
economic, political and military meetings, or encourage Turks to
boycott French products? Or will Turkey try to buy a few more days
until Sarkozy signs the resolution into law and continue to ponder what
“sanctions” it might employ against France? Will, as Burcuoglu said,
the resolution lead to a “total rupture” of relations between the
two countries? Can Ankara indeed downgrade diplomatic relations by
recalling the Turkish envoy from Paris and sending back the French
envoy from Ankara?

Whatever the eventual course of Turkish action, the French vote
has pulled Turkey an inch closer to making a final decision on its
European vocation. Should Turkey continue to demand a place in the
EU, despite being scorned so villainously through direct assaults,
as well as proxy wars such as the Armenian charges or the Cyprus issue?

Can Turkey stay on the EU road?

From: A. Papazian

AZERI OPPOSITION LEADER SLAMS FRANCE’S ARMENIAN “GENOCIDE” BILL

Yeni Musavat
Jan 24 2012
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani opposition leader Isa Qambar has slammed a bill by the
French Senate making it a crime to deny Armenian “genocide”. He said
“France made a very serious mistake” by approving the bill, which
will lead to “the loss of mutual trust between France, Turkey and
Azerbaijan”.

Musavat party leader blamed the Azerbaijani authorities for “showing
indifference towards the French bill”. He called on them to take
steps to eliminate France from the OSCE Minsk Group that mediates
Karabakh conflict settlement. He also called for an urgent meeting
by the Turkish-Azerbaijani Supreme Strategic Cooperation Council to
discuss the issue.

[translated from Azeri]

From: A. Papazian

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE US GOVERNMENT TO THE REPUBLICS OF FRANCE AND TURKEY

Hammer of Truth

Jan 25 2012

Dearest Frenchmen and Turks,

We here in Washington, DC would like to applaud the French parliament
for breaking new ground in the policing of people’s thoughts. If
President Sarkozy steps up and signs the legislation it will be a
crime to express doubt about the Ottoman Empire’s supposed Genocide
of Armenians. The French are making revolutionary progress in the
arena of thought crime! Bliss it is to be alive in this dawn, and to
be a young bureaucrat is very heaven!

Turkey is already accomplished in this arena. Article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code makes it a crime to insult the Turkish Nation. Now
that France has weighed in on Turkey’s history, the Turks may want
to return the favor. As the descendant of Protestants allow me to
propose that Turkey make it a crime to deny the Huguenot Genocide! The
Huguenots were French Protestants. France’s Catholic government exiled
and exterminated them in the 16th and 17th centuries.

There was all manner of religious cleansing. Huguenots were exiled,
sold into slavery, and massacred in great numbers. This century and
a half of persecution culminated in the Revocation of the Edict of
Nantes. The Edict of Nantes was a sensible piece of paper that said
that people could worship as they wished. Louis the XIVth revoked it
in 1685, making it illegal for a whole class of people to exist. Over
the next decade almost a million Huguenots were forced to leave
the country.

What’s that you say? This isn’t quite a genocide? Doesn’t matter.

That’s the beauty of what the French are doing. If you legislate
historical fact you can’t discuss it. We’re not interested in
historical truth here, just political gain. If we wanted truth,
Turkey could focus on the Vichy regime’s eager participation in the
Nazi holocaust, but that would be too close to rational. The truth
doesn’t need to be legislated.

Great job guys! Once we deal with this pesky 1st Amendment thing,
we’ll be doing the same!

Hugs, The Federal Government of the United States of America

Satire, Obviously

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA-BASED HERITAGE PARTY REP FORECASTS MAJOR CHANGES

Tert.am
26.01.12

Karine Hakobyan, Secretary of the Board, Heritage party, is sure
major changes should be expected soon.

Her forecast is based on the public’s activity rather than on that
of political forces.

“This regress has no further course to follow,” Hakobyan told
journalists Jan. 26. The public has been turned into a “viewer”
only to be ousted from the process, she added.

Hakobyan called on the Central Electoral Commission not to accept
applications for participation in the forthcoming parliamentary
elections by oligarchs or businessmen, given the Armenian president’s
statement.

“In his speech, the president stated his readiness to show political
will and hold as free and fair elections as have never been held
before,” Hakobyan said.

The Heritage party discussed the issue of nominating its candidates in
all the single-member constituencies before it discussed the proposal
for a switch-over to proportional representation.

The Heritage party has not yet discussed the issue of its ticket –
it is of secondary importance for the party. In any case, Hakobyan
sees herself on the Heritage party list.

She shares the opinion that the proposal for a switch-over to the
proportional representation system made by the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) and Heritage party was a “PR
move.” However, that move had an aim, she added.

“The public is not well informed of single-winner and proportional
representation voting. People want fair elections,” Hakobyan said.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN DEPUTY PARLIAMENT SPEAKER SENDS GRATITUDE LETTER TO FRENCH MP

NEWS.AM
January 26, 2012 | 16:24

YEREVAN-Armenian deputy parliament speaker Eduard Sharmazanov has sent
a gratitude letter to Valerie Boyer, French MP, author of the bill
criminalizing denial of genocides, including the Armenian Genocide.

In his letter the deputy speaker parliament thanked Boyer for the
adoption of the Genocide bill by the French Parliament and then the
Senate. He expressed hope that other democratic parliaments will
follow France’s lead.

From: A. Papazian

HERITAGE, ARF AND PROSPEROUS ARMENIA PARTIES APPLY FOR CONVENING PARLIAMENTARY HEARING

ARMENPRESS
14:52, 26 January, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, ARMENPRESS: Heritage, ARF and Prosperous Armenia
parties addressed a joint letter to Armenia’s NA chairman and head
of the State-Legal Affairs Standing Committee January 26 with the
request of convening parliamentary hearing to discuss the issue on
conducting elections with 100-percent proportional system.

Press service of the Heritage party told Armenpress that the letter
was signed by representatives of the three parties ~V Larisa Alaverdyan
from Heritage, Artyusha Shahbazyan from ARF and Aram Safaryan from PAP.

In the letter the representatives of the parties expressed hope that
the corresponding standing committee will ensure participation of
all the stakeholders.

From: A. Papazian

EUROVISION 2012: ARMENIA TO PERFORM IN THE SECOND SEMI-FINAL

armradio.am
26.01.2012 15:58

The Semi-Final Allocation Draw for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest
took place in Baku on January 25.

The 37 countries represented in the Semi-Finals were drawn from
six pots, based on voting patterns from the past years. Viewers can
only vote for the other countries that take part in that respective
Semi-Final.

Armenia will perform in the second semi-final together with Serbia,
the Netherlands, Portugal, FYR Macedonia, Belarus, Malta, Ukraine,
Bulgaria, Sweden, Georgia, Slovenia, Estonia, Turkey, Slovakia,
Croatia, Norway, Lithuania and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Six countries have already qualified for the Final of the Eurovision
Song Contest, being United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy
and the host country Azerbaijan.

A total of 26 countries will take part in the Final on the 26th of May,
then 10 from each Semi-Final will qualify for it.

To decide the starting order of the songs in each Semi-Final and the
Final, there will be another draw to be conducted at the Heads of
Delegation meeting in March.

From: A. Papazian

UK SUPPORTS OSCE MINSK GROUP’S ACTIVITIES – DAVID CAMERON

News.Az
Thu 26 January 2012 05:35 GMT | 5:35 Local Time

UK supports the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group, British Prime
Minister said Wednesday speaking at the PACE. David Cameron pointed
out that it is the Minsk Group that is engaged in the resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

‘We do not want a war to begin again. The OSCE Minsk Group is engaged
in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The UK supports
its activities. This means that we support the current process, which
can lead to resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. I think that
Azerbaijan also supports the peace process, to achieve this way of
resolving [the conflict],’ said Cameron, Trend reports.

Answering questions after a speech to members of the Assembly, David
Cameron also expressed his attitude to the decision of the French
Senate to criminalize denial of the ‘Armenian genocide’.

The Prime Minister said that the French Parliament is free to make a
decision, but noted that this decision could have a negative impact
on relations with Turkey:

‘Naturally, in the past, Armenian people survived the tragedy and we
should talk about it. But today we do not have to live in the past;
we must pay attention to today~Rs problems. I think today on contrary
the EU and Turkey should establish a closer relationship.

At a time when we are fighting against terror, on the background of
positive processes in the Middle East, we should think more about how
we can live together. Muslim Turkey is playing a important role. On
the contrary, it is necessary to ensure that Turkey could be admitted
to the EU. Relations between Turkey and UK are very strong and I~Rm
sure they will become even stronger.’, APA reports.

From: A. Papazian