Author: Badalian Vardan

Hope is high for man who may become Turkey’s first Christian MP for 50 year

Thomas Seibert
Jun 10, 2011

ISTANBUL // A 47-year-old former refugee has a chance to become the
first Christian member of the Turkish parliament in half a century.

If he succeeds in parliamentary elections on Saturday, Erol Dora, an
attorney, could also go some way in adjusting the electoral status quo
in this mostly Muslim nation that critics say does not provide its
religious minorities with fair representation.

“There has not been a Christian MP since the 1960s,” Mr Dora said in
an interview from his campaign in the south-eastern city of Mardin
this week. “I don’t think that’s normal.”

Mr Dora is a Syriac Christian, an ancient community that numbers about
13,000 in Turkey and that still uses Aramaic, the language spoken by
Jesus.

The region around Mardin is the traditional home of Syriac Christians,
but many fled to Istanbul or western Europe when Turkey’s south-east
became a battleground between Kurdish rebels and the government in the
1980s.

If elected, Mr Dora has promised to speak for Syriac Christians in the
national assembly and “work for democracy as a Turkish citizen”.

Mr Dora is running as an independent backed by the Party for Peace and
Democracy, or BDP, Turkey’s main Kurdish party.

Political parties in Turkey must gain at least 10 per cent of the
national vote to enter parliament, but that clause does not apply to
independent candidates.

The BDP, which holds 5 to 6 per cent in the polls, hopes to send
deputies to Ankara by having them run as independents.

In Mardin, a region with an ethnic and religious mix of Turks, Kurds,
Arabs, Muslims, Christians and Yezidis, Mr Dora has a chance of being
among the five deputies the province will send to Ankara.

His life story resonates with voters in the region. Mr Dora was born
in a Syriac village that was evacuated by the military during the
fighting between rebels and soldiers in the 1990s.

The village’s inhabitants, like millions of other people in the region
of south-eastern Anatolia, lost their homes and became refugees in
their own country.

Mr Dora, who lives and works in Istanbul, said he would like to
rebuild his village once the fighting between rebels and the army was
over for good.

“We want this war to end,” he said.

Mr Dora claims his background is nothing special in this region known
for its ethno-religious diversity.

“We have been living together for millennia here. If people were
prejudiced against Christians, I would not have been able to run,” he
said.

His candidacy is seen by some as an extraordinary development for
Turkey, where national unity is prized above cultural diversity.

Christian and Jewish communities number about 150,000 people in a
country of roughly 74 million. The small voting base, however, is not
the only reason non-Muslim deputies have been rare.

Although it is a secular republic, the Turkish government has
traditionally regarded Christians and Jews with suspicion because of
alleged links to hostile foreign powers.

Nationalists view Islam as the force that binds the nation. Political
reforms inspired by Turkey’s bid to join the European Union have
improved the situation for non-Muslims in recent years, but those
improvements have yet to be translated into a larger minority presence
in government.

Sahin Alpay, a political scientist and newspaper columnist, said: “We
have had extremely few non-Muslims” in parliament. An election victory
for Mr Dora in Mardin, he said, “would be significant”.

The last Christian member of Turkish parliament was Berc Sadak Turan,
an Armenian politician in the 1960s.

Cefi Kamhi, a Jewish businessman who served as a deputy in Ankara in
the 1990s, was the last non-Muslim politician in parliament.

Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party, or CHP,
has a Jewish candidate, Mari Gormezano, on its ballot in Istanbul for
the upcoming election.

Yet Ms Gormezano’s low rank on the CHP list means it is unlikely she
will enter parliament.

Antoni Vilkosevski, a Catholic politician of Polish descent, is
running for the People’s Voice Party, or HAS, an offshoot of an
Islamist party.

Mr Vilkosevski has virtually no chance of entering parliament, as the
HAS party will stay well below 10 per cent, Adil Gur, head of the
polling firm A&G, told the Vatan daily this week.

Some observers say Turkey’s main political parties still have a long
way to go in opening up to religious diversity.

Reha Camuroglu, a deputy of the ruling Justice and Development Party,
or AKP, and a member of the Alevi ethnic minority, said his party had
turned its back on minorities.

Turkey has an estimated population of 15 million to 20 million Alevis,
followers of a branch of Shiite Islam who are sometimes viewed as
heretics by members of the country’s Sunni majority.

At the last election in 2007, the AKP fielded several Alevi candidates.

For Saturday’s election, however, the party reckoned that this
strategy was “no longer profitable”, Mr Camuroglu said. The party also
declined to let him run for re-election.

The CHP is fielding more than 40 Alevi candidates in viable positions,
according to news reports. Even so, Mr Camuroglu said the main
problems of religious minorities remain unsolved.

“It’s just tactics, just window dressing,” he said.

*.html

Ten tasks for Turkey’s new government
by Hugh Pope*

New cities, high-speed trains, suspension bridges, airports, tax
holidays, a `crazy’ grand canal parallel to the Bosporus waterway,
iPads for all — the campaign trail ahead of Turkey’s June 12
parliamentary elections is strewn with promises of great times coming.

Resolution of vexed questions in the domestic and foreign policy
sphere has been relegated to the list of things `to be done after the
election.’ These more mundane challenges will, however, resurface as
soon as the political class gets back to work.

So, based on the Crisis Group’s four years of reporting in Turkey —
and not counting the many challenges of the country’s booming economy,
or what its external partners should also do — here are 10
outstanding diplomatic and political tasks that we think should be
tackled with determination by the new Turkish government.

1. Relaunch Turkey’s EU accession process

The EU’s internal divisions and some European politicians’ hostility
to Turks joining the club have done much to harm the EU’s appeal in
Turkey. Indeed, the fact that Turkey’s EU membership negotiations in
progress since 2005 have virtually ground to a halt has barely been
mentioned in the election campaign. But Turkish (and European) leaders
should remember that if there is one single factor that makes Turkey
stand out in its troubled region, it is the country’s convergence with
Europe – arguably nearly two centuries old, but treaty-based for
nearly 50 years. EU standards are the locomotive of Turkish reform,
some four million people of Turkish origin live in Europe, half of
Turkey’s trade is with Europe, most tourists to Turkey come from
Europe, NATO is the cornerstone of Turkish defense and two-thirds of
Turkey’s foreign investment comes from EU states. Turkey and Europe
shared many of these fundamental interests for decades, and the two
sides stepped back from the brink with an attempt to restart the
process in 2009. Yet Turkey’s EU process is now hanging by a thread,
since there are almost no negotiating chapters left to open. Turkey
holds the key to unlocking EU blocks on at least eight of these
chapters (see Cyprus below). EU politicians’ talk of an alternative
`Privileged Partnership’ for Turkey seems empty, as the Crisis Group
has argued. But with Europe distracted by its internal struggles, the
idea is being pushed back on the agenda. The new Turkish government
must proactively find a way to allow lifeblood back into the
relationship.

2. Fix Cyprus

Ankara must refocus on the strategic goal it set itself in 2004:
removing the Cyprus problem from the international agenda through
achieving the reunification of the island. An easy first step is to
implement the Additional Protocol, namely, opening Turkey’s ports and
airports to Greek Cypriot traffic, a commitment Ankara formally signed
in 2005 as a condition for starting EU negotiations. The EU could have
helped by allowing direct, preferential trade to Turkish Cypriots – as
the Crisis Group pointed out here – but it did not, and Turkey’s best
interest is now to help itself. Implementing the Additional Protocol
has no direct link to any Turkish position on a Cyprus settlement and
serves a double purpose: freeing several blocked EU negotiating
chapters, and helping to normalize relations between the Turks of
Turkey and Greek Cypriots. As the Crisis Group argued in its 2011
paper Six Steps to a Settlement, and on our blog, a mutual absence of
trust between Ankara and Nicosia is the single biggest obstacle to
reunification of the island. The new government would also do well to
start a real, structured dialogue with Greek Cypriot officials to give
a new impetus to ongoing talks to solve the Cyprus problem. Failure to
achieve a compromise settlement will cause real damage, as set out in
our 2009 report Reunification or Partition.

3. Undertake broad, inclusive constitutional reform

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has promised a
reformist, inclusive new constitution. As the Crisis Group detailed in
its 2008 report on the Decisive Year Ahead, implementing AKP’s ideas
for a new constitution promised in the 2007 election campaign would go
far to reduce ethnic tensions and modernize the way Turkey is governed
(for instance, by removing ethnic attributes from Turkish citizenship,
making Turkish the official and not the only recognized language,
removing parliamentarians’ immunity). EU-oriented reforms over the
past decade have already changed about one third of the 1982
Constitution, drawn up under military rule. The AKP has promised a
whole new text. For it to stick, it must be the product of a genuine
consensus, including the Kurdish national movement, not a top-down
imposition. Changes must first reduce sources of domestic conflict,
before trying potentially divisive new ideas like moving to a new
presidential system. At a minimum, any marks of ethnic discrimination
should be removed and freedom of expression further anchored. The idea
of increased powers for local government, a main demand of many ethnic
Kurds, is now supported by some opposition parties including the
biggest Republican People’s Party (CHP).

4. Broaden and deepen reforms to solve the Kurdish problem

The AKP’s taboo-breaking ‘Democratic Opening’ to reach out to Turkey’s
approximately 15 percent Kurdish community, helped put a long-term
settlement of the Kurdish problem within reach and will be the subject
of a forthcoming Crisis Group report. As the strongest party to the
conflict, the new government must broaden and deepen this initiative,
offering permission to towns and villages to revert to their original
names, more local government and the right to bilingual education. The
AKP has scored genuine breakthroughs, prosecuting members of now
inactive death squads, granting respect to Kurdish culture and
embracing the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq (see the Crisis
Group’s 2008 analysis of Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds). Consequently, an
apparent majority of Turkish Kurds no longer profess an ambition for a
separate state in Turkey’s Southeast, nor support the use of force by
the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

5. Sustain Turkey’s engagement in the Middle East

The revolts in the Arab world set back Turkey’s hopes of rapid
progress to a more stable, prosperous neighborhood, evaluated by the
Crisis Group in its 2010 report Turkey and the Middle East: Ambitions
and Constraints. But Ankara should continue to work towards Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s `zero problem’ foreign policy goals: a
better-governed, more interdependent region with more efficient
borders, integrated infrastructure, visa-free travel and free trade.
Turkey is too unique to be a one-size-fits-all model, as we pointed
out here, but Ankara should continue to use its influence and
experience where it can to urge regional regimes towards more
representative government. It should also remember that it is the
charisma, investment and higher standards that have flowed from the EU
accession process that have helped Turkey rise above the troubles of
the Middle East and made the country such an object of regional
admiration.

6. Seek chances to normalize relations with Israel

A voyage planned by a new international flotilla to break the Israeli
blockade of Gaza at the end of June will pose an early test for the
new government. Turkish NGOs plan to participate in large numbers
amongst the approximately 10 ships from around the world. Ankara says
there is nothing it can do to stop them, but taking into account the
risk of a repeat of the Israeli killing of nine Turkish members of
last year’s flotilla, the potential for further damage to Turkey’s
relationship with the US, Egypt’s opening of its border with Gaza and
Israel’s partial lifting of its blockade, the government is showing no
more inclination than in 2010 to participate directly in the flotilla.
After the 2010 disaster, the Crisis Group detailed Turkey’s
miscalculations, and Israel’s rapid use of deadly force in Turkey’s
crises with Israel and Iran, and we analyzed a pertinent UN
investigation. Going forward, Turkey should seek chances to normalize
relations with Israel in the consciousness that its international
leverage is most effective when it has productive ties with all
parties in the region.

7. Seize any opportunity to normalize relations with Armenia

Two ground-breaking protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia in
2009 on normalizing relations, explained in our Opening Minds, Opening
Borders, have floundered on a Turkish condition that Armenia first
withdraw from at least some Azerbaijani territory occupied around
Nagorno-Karabakh (see our blog here). Since then, a growing number of
armed incidents, soaring military budgets and belligerent rhetoric
threatens to trigger new conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as
the Crisis Group recently warned in Preventing War. Disappointment in
the failed protocols increases intransigence in Armenia, while better
Turkish-Armenia relations could support conflict resolution. The new
Turkish government should seize on any breakthrough to find ways to
implement the protocols on re-opening the Armenian border and
establishing diplomatic relations.

8. Finesse the Aegean Sea dispute

The new government can take bold steps to resolve Turkey’s 40-year-old
territorial disputes with neighboring Greece over the Aegean Sea.
Ankara and Athens have done much to consolidate normalization since
1999, as the Crisis Group detailed in 2007 in The Way Ahead. Official
talks on the Aegean since 2002 now seem tantalizingly close to
agreement. In private, both sides agree that the time has come to
settle the dispute, especially since it is more psychological and
political than real. As will be laid out in a forthcoming Crisis Group
briefing, the new government can help by preparing the rhetorical
ground for compromise, along with similar steps by Greece’s
leadership, which has an urgent interest in reducing defense spending.
Turkey is far more powerful militarily and can help by eliminating
Turkish military flights over inhabited Greek islands and
demonstrating that theoretical Aegean disputes can be talked about
rather than fought over.

9. Seek long-term domestic improvements, prioritizing the judiciary,
the education system, women’s rights and freedom of expression

In the first two terms in office, the AKP government, building on the
work of its predecessors, registered remarkable progress. Torture
almost disappeared from Turkish jails, single-party government brought
more policy consistency and better municipalities have brightened the
face of most Turkish cities. Looking forward, four more areas of
domestic governance still need attention. Firstly, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rightly made reform of Turkey’s judiciary a
major goal, and judicial publications are filled with articles by
judges, prosecutors and lawyers about how to make the system work
better. Secondly, UN indexes show Turkey’s education system lagging
behind Iran, Algeria and Tunisia and in need of a well-planned
overhaul. Thirdly, Turkey must address its shocking neglect of women’s
rights – in 2010, it ranked 126th of 131 countries in the World
Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report – and plug the legal, educational
and policing gaps that result in 42 percent of women in the country
experiencing physical and sexual abuse (according to the first
comprehensive report on the issue by Hacettepe University in 2009).
Fourthly, laws and regulations and judicial mindsets must be changed
across the board to prevent ethnic groups, journalists or critics of
the government from being jailed or prosecuted for the simple
expression of peaceful opinions.

10. Continue to widen democratic participation

The democratic legitimacy of Turkey’s elections make it the stand-out
country in the region – ballot-stuffing, intimidation and violence are
remarkably rare. Now it is time to raise the democratic level of the
system itself, as set out in the Crisis Group’s The Decisive Year
Ahead. Political parties need to move to a system that is more
bottom-up and less top-down, to end the scandalously low participation
of women in politics and to encourage more young people to join
parties and work their way up them. The 10 percent threshold for a
party to win election to Parliament is by far the highest among the 47
member states of the Council of Europe (double that of the next
country, Germany’s 5 percent threshold) and should be lowered.
Finally, parliamentary regulations need to be reformed to allow more
efficient legislation drafting and to win greater public trust in the
assembly’s workings.

*Hugh Pope is Director of International Crisis Group’s Turkey/Cyprus
project and author of three books on Turkey, the Turkic World and the
Middle East. This article was first published on the International
Crisis Group Website, , on June 10.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Watch our latest videos on YouTube here:

THE SUNDAY SCHOOLS DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMENIAN CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA
SPONSORS THE “DZIADZAN”
CHILDREN’S THEATRE GROUP

On June 1 2011, on the occasion of the International Day of the Child, His
Holiness Aram I received in his office the children of the theater group
“Dziadzan” (Rainbow), led by their director Harout Harboyan and accompanied
by Rev Ghevont Pentezian, Director of the Sunday Schools Department.

Catholicos Aram I congratulated the children for their performance in the
musical “The Rights of the Armenian Child”. As a sign of his appreciation
for their contribution to the 2011 Year of the Armenian Child, he announced
that the theatrical group will now be sponsored by the Sunday Schools
Department of the Catholicosate.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
jurisdiction and the Christian Education activities in both the
Catholicosate and the dioceses, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

EXPERT: MAJOR INCREASE IN SUICIDE RATE OBSERVED IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 9, 2011 – 15:27 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Major increase in suicide rate among youth and the
elderly was observed in Armenia, a psychologist stated.

At a news conference in Yerevan, Karine Nalchajyan explained youth
suicide by feeling of loneliness. “Suicides among the elderly are
conditioned by believing they’re a burden to their families. Severe
social and economic situation is one of the most common reasons,”
she said.

Ms. Nalchajyan advised media against providing details of suicides
avoid traumatizing vulnerable individuals.

KARABAKH DID NOT BELIEVE CO-CHAIRS

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 16:09:51 – 09/06/2011

Apparently, Karabakh has rejected the document proposed by the
mediators. Judging by the press release of the NKR office of president,
during the meeting with the co-chairs Bako Sahakyan talked about the
withdrawal of snipers and stated that the talks in which Karabakh
does not participate will not lead anywhere.

The co-chairs did not say anything. During the briefing in Stepanakert,
the American co-chair only said he informed Bako Sahakyan about the
meetings of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with
the U.S. Secretary, and the Russian co-chair told about the efforts
of Russia and Sergey Lavrov. Each party wanted to underline that
they hold the key to the settlement, at least there will not be a
one-sided settlement.

In the meantime, the NATO- Russia negotiations on joint missile
defense ended in Brussels without any results. The clash between
the West and Russia over building a missile defense system and the
Nabucco gas pipeline continues. In this context, they will hardly
reach agreement on Karabakh.

What awaits the sides in case the talks in Kazan fail? The presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan will take a deep breath and get down
to the elections. Meanwhile, the mediators may gain the right to
“deciding steps”.

At first, the French co-chair may be replaced by a representative
of the EU. The second step could be deployment of mobile military
troops in the region in response to a border skirmish. The United
States may use the opportunity to occupy a couple of miles on the
border of Karabakh and Iran, while Russia may deploy in Russia.

Certainly, this course of developments seems hardly possible
considering that the only airport which is able to receive these
troops is under reconstruction. In the beginning of the month it
became known that a certain commission has found the runways of the
airport in Stepanakert not wide enough, and they will be reconstructed
by this autumn.

JAVAKHETI PETITION TO THE CATHOLICOS

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:04:55 – 09/06/2011

On the eve of the visit to Javakheti of All-Armenian Catholicos Garegin
II, the Armenian population of Javakheti issued a public petition to
Garegin II. The authors of the petition call upon the Catholicos to
raise the issue on the unlawful arrest and trial of Vahagn Chakhalyan,
a national, public and political figure, a devotee of the values of
the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, political prisoner, during
his meetings with the Patriarch and top officials of Georgia.

The petition is signed by more than 1200 Armenians living in Georgia.

AGHDAM IS MY HOMELAND
ARMEN GRIGORYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:36:01 – 09/06/2011

Passions are heating up in Armenia and Artsakh over the upcoming
Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting in Kazan. Recent events made clear the
readiness of the Armenian side to concessions and deployment of
peacekeepers in Aghdam and Fizuli. By the way, some sources say that
the foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan has met with NKR President Bako
Sahakyan and Ara Haruytunyan and discussed the peacekeepers’ issue.

They said they prefer the status quo.

The story of the deployment of peacekeepers is as old as the hills.

Serzh Sargsyan with his thesis “Aghdam is not our homeland” has done a
lot of work in this relation. Later, in his interview with the Russian
Radio Echo Moskvi, the President elaborated on this idea saying that
Armenia had established control over several regions of Azerbaijan
for security reasons.

These statements caused the indignation of the society. A number
of underground groups started working out strategies for such
developments. I have recently talked to a group of Armenians in the
United Stated who said to be indignant over this process and shared
with me their ideas on possible actions they would take if an attempt
to return a single territory is made.

A possible compromise in Kazan would act as a bomb for the Armenian
society. The rules of this game will change both in Artsakh and
Armenia, and some other way out can threaten to the actors of the
concession process. The question whether Serzh Sargsyan and Levon
Ter-Petrosyan might share the destiny of Yitzhak Rabin has been
asked recently. This question can be answered only after possible
concessions in Kazan.

As to the President’s thesis “Aghdam is not our homeland”, it cannot
apply to everyone since Aghdam is my homeland and its protection from
Azerbaijan and from peacekeepers is my personal duty.

BURGLARS ENTER STORE OWNED BY ARMENIAN-AMERICAN SHOPKEEPER THROUGH ROOF

epress.am
06.09.2011 14:47

Police are investigating a brazen burglary Sunday at a grocery store,
which burglars entered by cutting a hole in the roof, reports Glendale
News-Press.

The burglary was reported about 7:58 a.m. after Grand Central Market
store owner discovered his business on the 1200 block of North Central
Avenue had been ransacked and about $5,000 was stolen, according to
Glendale Police Department reports.

“It’s cowardly,” store owner Arbi Faroukhians said of the theft,
which took place late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Thieves cut a hole into the building’s roof and entered the storage
room and bathroom, according to police reports. Police said a hand
saw could have been used to cut the hole.

The portion of the roof was peeled back to allow enough room for an
average-sized person to slide through and into the store, which was
ransacked. Thousands of dollars in cash also was stolen, Sgt. Tom
Lorenz said.

Faroukhians said he noticed debris from the roof was scattered on
the floor, and he also found a knife that didn’t belong to him or
store employees.

Video surveillance footage showed debris falling from the ceiling,
but the burglars were not seen, according to police reports.

Police found two shoe prints on a ladder outside the building that
led up to the roof.

Thieves covered the rooftop hole with a swamp cooler, which police
said was removed from another business.

Faroukhians said the store had never been burglarized.

RA PRIME MINISTER MET HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER VICTOR ORBAN IN VIENNA

Noyan Tapan

09.06.2011

(Noyan Tapan – 09.06.2011) RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan who is
in Vienna for participating in the meeting of World Economic Forum
on Europe and Central Asia, met the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor
Orban on June 8.

During the meeting Tigran Sargsyan presented the economic state in
Armenia and the process of reforms. In his turn, Victor Orban touched
upon Hungarian economics and the state existed there. The meeting
proceeded in warm atmosphere, the heads of the governments expressed
thought on economic reforms. The Prime Ministers invited each other
to visit their countries.

As the department of information and public relations of RA Government
inform, Vistor Orban is also the vice-president of National Party
of Europe. During the meeting they also spoke about the cooperation
with NPE.

ACTIVATION OF SECTS EXPLAINED BY ONCOMING ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA?

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 9, 2011 – 09:14 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Intensification of religious structures’ activities
is caused by Armenian government’s decision to introduce amendments
to laws on religious structures, according to the head of the centre
for aid and rehabilitation to the victims of destructive cults.

As Alexander Amaryan told a PanAREMENIAN.Net reporter, “to secure aid
from foreign organisations, sectarians insinuate being pressured in
Armenia. Since no structure in Armenia is authorised to pressure the
sects, the pressure is being imitated.”

Besides, the expert explained activation of religious sects by the
oncoming parliamentary and presidential elections in Armenia. As he
noted, through their actions the sectarians attempt to offer themselves
as a 300000-member electorate to party leaders.