Author: Andres-Papazian

IRAQ CHURCH HORROR SPEEDS CHRISTIAN EXODUS

United Press International UPI

Nov 1 2010
BAGHDAD

The slaughter of dozens of Iraqi Christians held hostage in a Baghdad
church seized by Islamist insurgents will accelerate the exodus of
a Christian community that is one of the most ancient in the world.

The flight of Iraq’s dwindling Christian minority began several years
ago when they became the target of Islamist militants like al-Qaida.

Hundreds were killed or driven from their ancestral lands.

The seizure of the Our Lady of Deliverance church in Baghdad, one of
the city’s main Roman Catholic places of worship, Sunday evening marked
a sharp escalation in the campaign to drive out Iraq’s Christians,
caught between majority Shiite and minority Sunni Muslims.

Some 120 people were taken hostage during Sunday services. On Monday,
Iraqi anti-terrorist forces stormed the church, one of six bombed in
August 2004.

Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, the deputy interior minister, said at
least 52 people, including a priest, were killed in the final shootout.

It wasn’t clear whether the captives were killed by militants but
Christian member of parliament Younadem Kana said, “What we know is
that most of them were killed when the security forces started to
storm the church.”

A statement posted on a militant Web site late Sunday, allegedly by
the Islamic State in Iraq, claimed responsibility for seizing the
church, which it called “the dirty den of idolatry.” ISI is linked
to al-Qaida in Iraq.

Iraq’s Christian communities — the Assyrians and Chaldeans, along
with smaller numbers of Armenians and others — have practiced their
faith since the days of Jesus Christ.

The Assyrian Church of the East, for instance, was established in A.D.

33 by St. Thomas. The Assyrian Apostolic Church was founded a year
later and can trace its origins to St. Peter.

Times were tough under the tyrannical Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, but
even in 1987 a census listed 1.4 million Christians in Iraq. Today, an
estimated 700,000 remain, mainly on the Nineveh Plain north of Baghdad.

As many as 600,000, and probably more, have fled since the insurgency
erupted following the March 2003 U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam.

But the trickle became a flood after Islamist extremists began
systematically car-bombing churches in August 2004 and accusing
Christians of collaborating with the Americans.

But Iraq’s Christians aren’t the only ones on the run. Across the
Middle East, and indeed in the wider Muslim world as far east as
Indonesia, Christians are in retreat and often under fire.

In the West Bank town of Bethlehem, reputed to be Jesus’ birthplace,
Christians once comprised 85 percent of the population. They’re now
20 percent.

Land belonging to Arab Christians, along with other Palestinians,
is seized by Israel in the name of security, then handed over to
Jewish settlers.

Britain’s liberal Guardian newspaper reported Thursday that the
emigration of Christians from the Middle East “has accelerated in
the last 15 years to the point where there is a real prospect of
Christians disappearing from some parts of the cradle of Christianity.”

In Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Jordan and the Arab states in North African
Christian communities are fighting for survival.

In Lebanon, where Maronite Catholics were deemed the majority when
the French left in 1943 and which was the only Arab nation to have
a Christian head of state, Christians are leaving in droves as the
Iranian-backed Shiites of Hezbollah grow in power and run a virtual
state within a state.

Christians lived in what is now called the Arab world before Islam
took root in the seventh century. They have survived massacres and
persecution over the centuries.

But the demise of secular movements in the region and the growing
influence of political Islam, as evidenced in its most violent form
by al-Qaida, is driving out the last remnants.

“The last prominent Christians — Tariq Aziz, a Chaldean and Saddam’s
foreign minister for many years, and Hanan Ashrawi, Yasser Arafat’s
education minister — have vanished from the political stage in the
Middle East,” Der Spiegel recently noted.

Last week, Iraq’s supreme court sentenced Aziz, Saddam’s PR man who
sought to justify his murderous excesses, to be hanged for “his role
in the elimination of Islamic parties,” the majority Shiites.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN WILL PRODUCE SPORTING GUNS

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 1, 2010 – 16:37 AMT 12:37 GMT

Azerbaijan will produce sporting guns, Minister of Defence Industry
Yaver Jamalov stated.

Jamalov said sporting gun has been one of the most demanded guns in
Azerbaijan and it has been imported currently.

Jamalov said the Ministry of Defense Industry was producing 16-mm
caliber cartridges for these guns, which get up after suspension
of 16-mm cartridge import from Russia. It is expected to go down in
value as it is started to be produced in Azerbaijan, APA reported.

From: A. Papazian

Human Rights Watch calls on Turkish authorities to amend the laws that have resulted in the arbitrary and punitive application of terrorism charges against demonstrators

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 1, 2010 – 21:01 AMT 17:01 GMT

Human Rights Watch unequivocally condemns the October 31, 2010 suicide
bomb attack in Istanbul. It is essential that Turkey’s response targets
the perpetrators, not legitimate dissenters, Human Rights Watch said. A
Human Rights Watch report released documents the use of anti-terror
laws to prosecute hundreds of Kurdish demonstrators as though they were
armed militants, violating free expression, association, and assembly.

The 75-page report, “Protesting as a Terrorist Offense: The Arbitrary
Use of Terrorism Laws to Prosecute and Incarcerate Demonstrators in
Turkey,” is based on a review of 50 cases. It describes 26 cases of
individuals prosecuted for terrorism even though they had nothing
to do with violence such as the October 31 attack, but simply for
taking part in protests deemed by the government to be sympathetic
to the outlawed armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Hundreds of
Kurdish demonstrators are currently in prison pending the outcome of
their trials or appeals against convictions. Others are serving long
sentences that have been upheld by Turkey’s top court of appeal.

“When it comes to the Kurdish question, the courts in Turkey are all
too quick to label political opposition as terrorism,” said Emma
Sinclair-Webb, Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch and author
of the report. “When you close off the space for free speech and
association, it has the counterproductive effect of making armed
opposition more attractive.”

Over the past three years, courts have relied on broadly drafted
terrorism laws introduced as provisions of the 2005 Turkish Penal
Code, plus case law, to prosecute demonstrators. The courts have ruled
that merely being present at a demonstration that the PKK encouraged
people to attend amounts to acting under PKK orders. Demonstrators
have been punished severely for acts of terrorism even if their
offence was making a victory sign, clapping, shouting a PKK slogan,
throwing a stone, or burning a tire.

The report calls on the Turkish authorities to amend the laws that
have resulted in the arbitrary and punitive application of terrorism
charges against demonstrators, to suspend ongoing prosecutions
against demonstrators under these laws, and to review the cases of
those already convicted, Human Rights Watch official website reported.

From: A. Papazian

15 INSTANCES OF CEASEFIRE VIOLATION BY AZERBAIJANI ARMED FORCES REPORTED OVER DAY

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 1, 2010 – 19:47 AMT 15:47 GMT

15 instances of ceasefire violation at the line of contact between
the NKR and Azerbaijani armed forces were reported on the night of
November 1 and during the daytime.

Azerbaijan fired 150 shots at NKR positions, aiming fire in the
direction of Hadrut, Martuni, Askeran and Martakert.

The fire was stopped due to retaliatory measures taken by the Karabakh
armed forces, the NKR Defense Ministry press service reported.

From: A. Papazian

Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran, West Azarbayjan Provincial TV,
TOP IRANIAN PROVINCIAL OFFICIAL UPBEAT ON TIES WITH TURKEY

Orumiyeh
Oct 28 2010
Iran

Governor-General of Iran’s West Azarbayjan Province Jalalzadeh has
welcomed decisions to further improve economic and cultural ties
between Iran and Turkey’s border regions, provincial state-run TV
reported on 28 October.

Speaking live at the “Special report” programme broadcast by the West
Azarbayjan TV, Jalalzadeh said that 28 documents on cooperation were
signed in a session in Orumiyeh. The documents are aimed at developing
ties between Iran’s West Azarbayjan and Turkey’s Agri, Kars, Van,
Hakkari and Igdir provinces, he added. “Most important of them were
documents on the establishment of direct flights between Orumiyeh and
Van, the upgrading of the Sero customs checkpoint and the completion of
the Khoy-Razi road,” the governor general said. He noted that the two
sides also agreed to hold conferences on the investment opportunities
and establish a joint company.

Jalalzadeh stressed that the province shares 968 km of the common
borders with Turkey, the Azerbaijani Republic and Armenia. Referring
to the will of the Iranian and Turkish leaders to bolster mutual
relations, he noted that the two sides are working on the establishment
of the second free trade zone.

Jalalzadeh said that such agreements are signs of the failure
of the Western Iranphobia policies to isolate Tehran. He went on
to say that traders attending the session in Orumiyeh would act as
Iran’s ambassadors encouraging more investments in our country. “While
visiting Tehran, the Egyptian foreign minister [Ahmad Ali Abu-al-Ghayt]
told our foreign minister Mr Mottaki that Iran does not need for
political activities to propagate itself. It is enough to arrange tours
along Tehran for foreign officials to show how beautiful capital you
have,” Jalalzadeh highlighted.

He added that thanks to the sanctions, Iran was able to save petrol
consumption and reach self-sufficiency in fuel. The governor-general
described frequent visits to neighbouring countries as ways of boosting
economic ties and breaching sanctions. In this regard, he said that
next week, he would visit Armenia and then will host the head of the
parliament of Azerbaijan’s Naxcivan Autonomic Republic, as well as
conferences with Turkish investors to be organized in Iran and Turkey.

[translated from Persian]

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY SET TO TAKE OVER CHAIRMANSHIP OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE – FOREIGN MINISTER

Anadolu Agency
Oct 31 2010
Turkey

Shanghai, 31 October: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said
that Turkey would play an active role during its six-month chairmanship
of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Davutoglu told reporters while flying to Shanghai as part of his
official visit to China, “Turkey’s taking over the chairmanship of COE
Committee of Ministers is a very important and historical development.

It displays the level reached by Turkey in its democratization
process. Turkey also holds the presidency of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe. These are the highest positions
held by Turkey simultaneously in the European system created after
the Vienna Congress in 1815.”

“I held phone conversations with the foreign ministers of Croatia
and Serbia overnight to contribute to the political process in
Bosnia-Hercegovina,” he said.

Referring to Turkey-Greece relations, Davutoglu said, “we resumed
exploratory talks between Turkey and Greece following last year’s
meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime
Minister George Papandreou and my visit to Greece earlier this year.

The exploratory talks will be held in an atmosphere of good-will and
compromise. We want the Aegean Sea to turn into a sea of friendship.”

Asked about claims that the United States used the issue of so-called
Armenian genocide as a trump, Davutoglu said, “it is definitely out of
question. Friendly and allied countries do not use any issues as trump
against us. It is against the understanding of the Alliance. There
have been productive and fruitful relations between Turkey and the
United States.”

From: A. Papazian

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY WELCOMES AGREEMENTS BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA

Anadolu Agency
Oct 31 2010
Turkey

Ankara, 31 October: Turkey welcomed agreement between Azerbaijan and
Armenia on several issues during a meeting hosted by President Dmitry
Medvedev of Russia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday [31
October], “we welcome that Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders agreed
on several humanitarian issues during a summit hosted by Russian
President Medvedev.

“Turkey hopes that the Astrakhan Summit will make positive
contributions to the solution process by adding momentum to the
efforts to resolve the Upper Karabakh dispute. We also wish that steps
to be taken on humanitarian issues will be supported with concrete
initiatives. Turkey is determined to fully support initiatives that
will serve creation of a ground for compromise between the parties,”
the Ministry added.

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Serzh Sargsyan of
Armenia met in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan on October 27
at a meeting hosted by Russian President Medvedev to discuss ways to
resolve the dispute over Upper-Karabakh. During the talks, the leaders
agreed to exchange prisoners of war and victims’ bodies. Russia,
together with the United States and France, has been leading
international efforts to resolve the dispute.

From: A. Papazian

DON’T TAKE TURKEY FOR GRANTED ANYMORE
By Trudy Rubin

St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
October 31, 2010 Sunday

ISTANBUL — All during the Cold War, Turkey was the NATO country the
United States took for granted, a secular Muslim state that straddled
Europe and Asia and defended a long border with the Soviet Union.

Then communism collapsed, and Washington thought it had a new role for
Turkey: With the election of an Islamic-oriented government in 2002,
it could become the model of moderate Muslim democracy. But after
several days in Ankara and Istanbul, I saw that this country is no
longer ready to play a role designed by others.

Welcome to the new Turkey, which is changing so rapidly that smart
people here tell me they don’t know where their country is headed —
abroad or at home.

When it comes to Turkey’s foreign policy, the debate over whether
Turkey has shifted its axis from West to East misses the point, says
veteran journalist Sami Kohen. He says the message from Ankara is:
“Forget the staunch supporter of NATO, the loyal ally, we’re no longer
in the Cold War. Turkey is getting strong and can build its own axis.

Don’t take Turkey for granted anymore.”

Indeed, Ibrahim Kalin, foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, told me that “Turkey no longer feels it necessary
to define itself in oppositional way, linked to one country at the
expense of another. People see no contradiction between membership
in the European Union and increasing trade with Russia, the Middle
East and Central Asia.

“Our economic interests compel us to have better relations with all
our neighbors,” he said.

No question Turkey’s efforts to expand its foreign trade and attract
new sources of foreign investment are part of what drives its
new interest in its Arab neighbors — and Iran. Turkey is booming
economically while Western Europe sags; its once-backward heartland
boasts 15 so-called Anatolian “tigers,” or growing industrial cities.

Turkey’s dynamic construction sector — which has rebuilt northern Iraq
and is a force all over the region — had high hopes of getting huge
contracts in Iran, and Erdogan has called for increasing trade with
Tehran fivefold. That has proved far more difficult than expected,
and Iran has so far been skittish about letting the Turks in.

But Turkey’s aspirations for developing its own foreign policy axis
go far beyond economic expansion.

Does Erdogan, who has traveled extensively to Muslim countries in
the Middle East and Asia, and receives adulation from Arab publics,
harbor dreams of becoming the pre-eminent Sunni Muslim political
leader? He vehemently denied that to me in an interview, saying,
“I have an identity as the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey.”

Kalin describes Erdogan’s role as “the most powerful leader in
Turkey in a long time who has become a regional leader — by virtue
of geography, not to score points with the Arab street. Every major
issue in the region affects stability of the region, and therefore
we pay attention.”

The unspoken premise is that the one-time guarantor of Mideast regional
stability — the United States — is fading from the picture.

“Obama is still popular here,” Kalin said, “though most Turks think he
can’t deliver.” What he didn’t say, but I heard everywhere, was that
Turks think Obama has used up his political capital and his Mideast
peace policy is a failure. Turks of every political persuasion are
also scornful of the mess made in Iraq by the Bush administration.

So given the American fade, Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davotoglu,
has concluded that the United States is but one pole of many, and
Ankara will pursue better relations with China, Russia, Iran and its
Arab neighbors.

And Davotoglu has famously scripted a foreign policy aimed at having
zero enemies on Turkey’s borders. Ankara has vastly improved its
relations with Iraqi Kurds, and its ties with Syria, with whom
it nearly went to war a decade ago. But the Erdogan government’s
efforts to reconcile with Armenia tanked, as did efforts to broker
talks between Israel and Syria, which came apart when Israel invaded
Gaza in 2009.

After a week in this fascinating country, the question that lingers
is whether the Erdogan government can juggle its multiple ambitions,
maintaining links with the West and NATO while showing its independence
of both and occasionally spitting in their eyes.

No one can be certain where Ankara’s foreign policy is headed, perhaps
not even the Erdogan government, just as it’s hard to predict the
outcome of the deepening secular-religious split in the country. All
one can say with certainty is that this is a country to be watched.

Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the
Philadelphia Inquirer, P.O. Box 8263, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101. Her
e-mail address is [email protected] .

From: A. Papazian

STRONG TURKEY PARTY LEADER EITHER LIAR OR CRIMINAL, EXPERT SAYS

news.am
Nov 1 2010
Armenia

Leader of Strong Turkey party Tuna Beklevic who claimed that he had
crossed the Armenian-Turkish border is either a liar or criminal who
just crossed a state border, Turkish studies expert Ruben Melkonyan
told the journalists today.

“Even if Strong Turkey members crossed the border they were in neutral
territory, thus they needed permission of the authorities. Citizens
cannot just easily cross the state border and appear in neutral
territory,” he noted. According to the expert, it once again
proves that this action was a “cheap propaganda” by Turkish
authorities. That is why the Turkish side has not officially responded
to this action so far.

As NEWS.am reported earlier, Turkish media spread information that
Tuna Beklevic with his party fellows crossed the Armenia-Turkey
border along the River Akhuryan and entered Armenia. However, later
Deputy Chief of Border Service, Russian Federal Security Service,
Colonel Andrey Guzeyev refuted the reports.

From: A. Papazian

BAKO SAHAKYAN RECEIVES MEMBER OF THE “HAY DAT” COMMISSION IN GREECE KHACHIK KHACHATURYAN AND HEADMASTER OF THE HADZIKIRIAKIO BOARDING SCHOOL IN ATHENS EVI KALIMNIOU

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
STEPANAKERT

November 1 President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan received
member of the “Hay Dat” commission in Greece Khachik Khachaturyan
and headmaster of the Hadzikiriakio boarding school in Athens Evi
Kalimniou.

Central Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh Republic
President told Armenpress that Bako Sahakyan rated high the efforts of
the guests directed to organizing the pastime of children of Artsakh
perished freedom-fighters in Greece hoping that this significant
philanthropic undertaking would have its continuation also in future.

Artsakh Republic minister of culture and youth affairs Narine
Aghabalyan and minister of education and science Vladik Khachatryan
partook at the meeting.

From: A. Papazian