Author: Ekmekjian Janet

Economist, UK
Dec 30 2008

Turkey and the Kurds: Television diplomacy

Dec 30th 2008 | ANKARA AND DIYARBAKIR
The Economist print edition

Hopes that a new channel may herald fresh reforms

ROJIN is a feisty, beautiful Kurdish bard who belts out nationalist
ballads. As a result, private Kurdish television channels that showed
her were long penalised or even taken off the air. But now she will be
a regular on Turkey’s stultified TRT state television, which this week
launched a 24-hour Kurdish channel in the main Kurdish dialect,
Kurmanji.

A contradiction, yes. But it may just suggest that the Justice and
Development (AK) party is regaining the reformist zeal that made it
one of Turkey’s most popular and progressive governments. Kurdish
hardliners scoff that the new channel is a cynical sop to the
country’s 14m-odd Kurds before local elections in March. When Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, the AK prime minister, told an audience of Kurds in
Diyarbakir in 2005 that the state had made mistakes in its treatment
of the Kurds, his party won many a Kurdish heart (and vote). But it
has lost them since he succumbed to the army’s demands to deal with
Kurdish PKK rebels by force, not negotiation.

The army has been relentlessly pounding PKK guerrilla bases in
northern Iraq. The PKK’s civilian arm, the Democratic Society Party,
which has 20 elected parliamentarians, has been consistently snubbed
by the AK government. Court cases bordering on the ludicrous continue
against its members and against Kurdish-run municipalities that name
their streets after eminent Kurds. One child in a Kurdish family from
Germany was refused entry at the Turkish border recently because he
had a Kurdish name.

Even radical Kurds express hope that the new television channel,
however wimpish, may spell a new beginning. Indeed, they hope the AK
will renew the reform promises that helped it to win re-election, with
a bigger share of the vote, in July 2007. Mr Erdogan is expected to
make a statement during the televised launch. Kurdish dissidents are
due to host some of its shows. Whether it can compete with the PKK’s
hugely popular satellite channel, Roj, is another question.

Private Kurdish television channels in Turkey are allowed to broadcast
in their mother tongue for only four hours a week. Every show is
vetted and has to have Turkish subtitles, making live programmes
impossible. But the fact that Shivan Perwer, one of the most renowned
Kurdish nationalist singers, is considering appearing on TRT’s Channel
Six is being widely hailed as a breakthrough.

In another move, some 200 Turkish intellectuals have launched an
internet petition about the massacre of hundreds of thousands of
Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, saying that they
are sorry. The text of their apology does not use the term genocide,
favoured by Armenians. But at least 25,000 Turks, from many different
walks of life, have signed the petition, prompting calls of treason by
far-right nationalists. Mr Erdogan himself has called the petition `a
mistake’. The country’s president, Abdullah Gul, who has spearheaded
secret talks to normalise relations with Armenia, has been accused by
an opposition parliamentarian of having Armenian ancestry. He took her
to court, claiming his lineage was Turkish and Muslim to boot.

The petition’s signatories have also been assailed by many Armenians,
who dismiss it as a ploy to get Barack Obama, who has used the G-word
in the past, to drop it. Yet some are less recalcitrant. Khatchig
Mouradian, a writer in the Armenian diaspora, says that `without such
initiatives, traditional diplomacy resolves too little, late, and
risks looking like mere make-up on a deeply scarred face.’

RUSSIA CALLS ON AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA TO AVOID VIOLATION OF CEASEFIRE

Trend News Agency
Dec 25 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 25 /Trend News, R.Novruzov/ Russia calls on
Azerbaijan and Armenia to avoid violation of ceasefire.

Conflicting parties should resolve this type of situation, Russian
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasili Istratov told reporters on Dec. 25,
commenting on the murder of an Azerbaijani civilian in Hasangaya
village in Terter region by snipers of the Armenian Armed Forces. As a
result of an open fire by snipers armed forces of Armenia on December
23 at approximately 23:00 was killed by a citizen of Azerbaijan Afig
Mamedov, 1954 birth, which pass close to the cattle line of fire,
said a regional correspondent of Trend News.

Afig Mammadov, 54, was killed by Armenian Armed Forces’ snipers
on Dec. 23 at about 23.00. He was pusturing cattle nearby troops
contact line.

His body was found in the morning of Dec. 24.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan
and Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev signed a declaration at the end of
their meeting in Mein Dorf castle near Moscow on 2 November. In the
declaration, the parties undertake to observe ceasefire at the troops
contact line.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and Khojali, in
December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian Armed Forces occupied Shusha,
Khojali and Nagorno-Karabakh’s seven surrounding regions. In 1994,
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The countries keep on fruitless peace
negotiating. OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by USA, Russia, France is
engaged in peace settling of the conflict.

SOMEONE IS TRYING TO FOOL PEOPLE
NANO ARGHUTYAN

Lragir.am
15:39:52 – 25/12/2008

Recently the mass media have been the focus in Armenia. There were
several reasons – the parliament hearings on the bill on the language
and the letter of the Karabakh-based youth organizations urging to
replace the old map of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1988 from the weather
forecast maps.

Unfortunately, the debates on this issue did not touch upon the main
issues, at least judging by reports on the debates.

First the hearings. A few days ago the National Assembly held hearings
on the language of our TV channels. The speakers criticized the TV
channels which broadcast shows and films in bad Armenian translation,
propagate criminal romanticism, and so on. However, the issue of
the language was central, whereas the content of programs on air and
their consistency with the law was not discussed.

In the meantime, people go home in the evening and want to watch
TV. What are they offered? For instance, on December 24. The Public
Television reported the visit of Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan to the
orphanage Zatik. The visit itself was something regular, unlike
the speech Hovik Abrahamyan made … Addressing the orphan children
who were not there by their will, Hovik Abrahamyan said that upon
looking into their eyes he understood that children were happy there,
they felt good and comfortable. He also told the children that he
had found out the size of the annual budget of the orphanage and is
ready to boost it by 10 percent from his personal income. Afterwards
they showed children who said to wish they lived with their parents.

Then all the channels reported the opening of a supermarket in the
community of Kanaker-Zeitun, Yerevan. Nobody warned viewers that
they were going to watch a TV commercial, they showed a report about
a new grocery store in Yerevan. What is more, the first customers of
the grocery store thanked for the opportunity to buy food. As if the
people of the community had never been to a grocery store. Even the
head of the community spoke, who thanked the owners of the store,
as if they gave products for free. The first question that occurred
was who owns the supermarket which was shown in the evening news of
almost all the TV channels. In this report alone there were a number
of violations of the legislation but most importantly it was felt
that people watching TV are increasingly treated as idiots.

One more absurd report. The correspondent of Shant TV to Moscow told
on the phone about two fires in Moscow which also killed Armenians. The
host asked how many Armenians died. The correspondent said 5 Armenians
were killed in the first incident. How about the second, the host
asked? 5 people, said the correspondent. "Are they Armenians?" "No,
just tramps, most probably Russians." "Are you sure there are no
Armenians among them?" "Nooo."

In addition, none of the channels reported about the letter of the
Karabakh-based youth NGOs whom the Armenian experts joined, urging
the Armenian TV channels to remove from their weather forecasts the
maps with the former borders of Karabakh. The TV channels did not
replace the maps, and pretended as if there had been no letter.

And every day the Armenian viewers have to watch this, they have
no choice.

This happens in countries where the existence of a TV channel is not
determined by its rating, the confidence of the public but directly
depends on the political order of their owners. But even in those
countries there is the institution of the Public Television which
is sustained by the taxpayers and must be under the control of the
public. It is possible not to trust the other channels but the Public
Television must be free from politics.

However, everything in Armenia is upside down. The hosts of the news
program, reporting everyday news, may make comments, evaluations,
express emotions and even set forth accusations.

CITIZENS OF ARMENIA WILL HAVE TWO PASSPORTS

Panorama.am
15:43 23/12/2008

Norayr Muradkhanyan, the head of passports and visa department of the
Police Station of Armenia, announced in a press conference that he is
satisfied with the results of the reforms made in their department. He
said that their communication with the citizens is improved, and they
try to solve the obstacles to help people.

According to him information boards are pasted in every passport
department on the procedures of each activity.

According to Muradkhanyan, since January 1, 2010 ID cards and metrics
will be in usage. "But those passports we have now will be valid till
their expire date," he said. ID cards will be used in our country
and metrics abroad.

ARMENIA AND IRAN REACH PRELIMINARY AGREEMENT ON BRINGING TRADE REGIMES BETWEEN EACH OTHER INTO LINE WITH WTO REQUIREMENTS

NOYAN TAPAN

Dec 23, 2008
YEREVAN

During the recent sitting of the Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental
commission, the sides reached an agreement to bring the trade regimes
between each other into line with requirements of the World Trade
Organization (WTO). The co-chair of the commission, Armenian minister
of energy and natural resources Armen Movsisian announced this at
the December 22 press conference.

He said that the differences in the trade regimes of the two countries
were examined at the sitting. A. Movsisian reminded that Armenia
is a member of WTO and its legislation and norms on trade relations
are in line with WTO requirements. "We put this problem before our
partners and we have come to an agreement that the regimes should
be brought into line with these requirements," he said, adding that
"Iran also has a goal of joining the WTO and it should pass the whole
process of becoming a member".

To recap, a country that expressed a willingness to join WTO must
reach agreements on trade regimes with those countries – WTO members,
with which it has trade relations.

19.12.2008 7 Kommentare

Hätte der türkische Regierungschef doch den Mund gehalten…

Erdogan begeht eklatante Dummheit

KOMMENTAR VON JÜRGEN GOTTSCHLICH

Zuerst einmal die gute Nachricht. Nach jahrelangen Debatten um das
Schicksal der Armenier im ausgehenden Osmanischen Reich hat jetzt eine
zivilgesellschaftliche Initiative das Heft des Handelns in die Hand
genommen. Von staatlicher Seite wurde jahrzehntelang jegliches
Schuldeingeständnis oder auch nur ein Bedauern über hunderttausende tote
Armenier abgewehrt. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt die Internetkampagne "Ich
bitte um Entschuldigung" einen kaum zu überschätzenden Durchbruch dar –
nicht nur, was das Tabu um den Genozid an den Armeniern angeht, sondern für
die demokratische Kultur des Landes insgesamt.

Allen bisherigen Einschüchterungsversuchen durch Staat, Justiz und
militant-faschistischen Untergrundstrukturen zum Trotz, haben in den
letzten Tagen fast 15.000 Bürger der Türkei ihren armenischen Mitmenschen
ihr persönliches Bedauern für die Tragödie von 1915 ausgedrückt: nicht
anonym, sondern mit vollem Namen und für jeden identifizierbar. Damit ist
die Diskussion, ob es einen Völkermord gegeben hat oder nicht, nicht mehr
zu stoppen – auch, wenn die nationalistische Rechte jetzt wieder "Verrat"
und "Ausverkauf" schreit. Das war zu erwarten und hört sich mehr denn je
wie ein Rückzug auf Raten an. Was nicht unbedingt zu erwarten war, das ist
die harsche und ungemein platte Reaktion von Regierungschef Tayyip
Erdogan. Hätte er doch bloß den Mund gehalten oder wie Staatspräsident
Abdullah Gül darauf verwiesen, dass die türkische Gesellschaft sich eben
mittlerweile jede offene Debatte leisten kann! Dann hätte die
Unterschriftenaktion auch eine positive Wirkung im Verhältnis zum
armenischen Nachbarstaat entfalten können.

Erdogan aber bekräftigte noch einmal ohne Not eine Position, die eine
Verständigung mit Jeriwan nur erschweren kann. Es habe keine Verbrechen
gegeben, folglich gebe es auch nichts zu entschuldigen, polterte er. Das
wirkt fast wie eine bewusste Sabotage an der Politik einer vorsichtigen
Aussöhnung, die Präsident Gül mit seiner Reise nach Armenien vor zwei
Monaten begonnen hat. Das ist eine eklatante Dummheit. JÜRGEN GOTTSCHLICH

tar/artikel/1/erdogan-begeht-eklatante-dummheit&am p;src=PR

Jürgen Gottschlich ist taz-Korrespondent in Istanbul. Er ist einer der
Mitbegründer dieser Zeitung, später war er Inlandsredakteur und in den
Neunzigerjahren Chefredakteur. Er schreibt regelmäßig für die Debattenseite
der taz.

Panorama.am

15:11 20/12/2008

FILM ABOUT ARAKS BY ARMENIAN AND TURKISH EXPERTS

A film about `Araks’ river will be produced by Armenian and Turkish
film producers, said the President of `Armenian marketing association’
NGO Aram Navasardyan. According to him the association implements
various projects with Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. `Our Turkish
colleagues offered to produce a film about Araks River in the frames
of our cooperation,’ he said.

Nargiz Osturq, a member of film producing group who was also present
at the press conference said that the film will contribute to the
business and cultural cooperation of the two countries. He said that
Turkish media and society are inspired by the film idea.

The director of the film Gevorg Nazaryan told that the script was
written ensemble with the Turkish colleagues. He said that the heroes
of the film are a girl and a boy and the story of two neighbor
countries.

Source: Panorama.am

MORE THAN 11,000 TURKS APOLOGISE FOR ARMENIAN DEATHS

Agence France Presse
December 17, 2008 Wednesday

More than 11,000 Turks have signed an Internet petition that apologises
to Armenians for massacres that took place in 1915, in an unprecedented
move that has sparked fierce criticism.

The petition — drafted by a group of university professors and
coinciding with a time of warming relations between arch-foes
Ankara and Yerevan — relates to events nearly a century ago in the
then-Ottoman Empire.

The text of the petition states that signatories regret "that we
remain indifferent to the Great Catastrophe that Ottoman Armenians
endured… and that we deny," and offers apologies.

University professor Cengiz Aktar, a founder of the campaign for
signatures launched on the Internet Tuesday and which has been endorsed
by intellectuals and artists, hailed the effort a success.

He said he sensed that there were "many people" in Turkey who shared
his opinion of what happened. "I was right," he said.

Armenia and Turkey offer starkly different accounts of those events,
and the dispute has been a major obstacle in relations between the
two countries.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died between 1915
and 1917 in orchestrated killings during the final years of the
Ottoman Empire.

But Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that between 300,000
and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife.

Significantly, the petition does not use the word "genocide" —
a move that in Turkey could possibly lead to legal proceedings.

It has nethertheless drawn the ire of politicians, diplomats and even
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government is trying to
normalise relations with Yerevan.

"I don’t accept this campaign, I will not support it and I will not
take part in it," Erdogan told reporters in remarks cited by Anatolia
news agency.

More than 20 countries, including Belgium, Canada, Poland and
Switzerland, have officially recognised the killings as genocide.

But many others, including Britain and the United States, refuse to
use the term to describe the events, mindful of relations with Turkey.

PRESS-SECRETARY OF PEOPLE’S PARTY OF ARMENIA ON DECISION OF PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE: THIS TIME THE AUTHORITIES HAVE FAILED TO ESCAPE AS THEY COMMITTED TOO MANY CRIMES AND VIOLATIONS

ArmInfo
2008-12-18 19:45:00

ArmInfo. "This time the authorities have failed to escape as they
committed too many crimes and violations",- Press-secretary and
member of Board of the oppositional People’s Party of Armenia (PPA)
Ruzan Khachatryan said to ArmInfo correspondent when commenting upon
Dec 17 decision of PACE Monitoring Committee.

According to her, the harsh and unambiguous decision of the Monitoring
Committee was a bit unexpected as the issue of depriving the Armenian
delegation of its voting rights in PACE has been risen for several
times, including the period of the previous presidential election in
2003, however, the matter didn’t reach rendering of a decision. "By
the way, the matter concerns only the decision of the Monitoring
Committee, and it is for PACE itself to say the last word during the
winter session late in coming January",- Khachatryan said.

She added it is hard to say what bound steps the Armenian authorities
will take as the Monitoring Committee’s position is more than
unequivocal.

"Furthermore, even declaration of amnesty and release of the political
prisoners will not solve the problem of ensuring human rights and
functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia. The authorities have
proved that even if they make concessions, they will do this only under
harsh international pressure. The latter, however, cannot change the
essence of the regime. The latest example is non-provision of a hall
for the opposition supporters’ conference",- Khachatryan concluded.

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
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PRESS RELEASE

December 17, 2008
Contact: Michael A Zachariades
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434

"AN IRREVERSIBLE TREND HAS COMMENCED IN TURKEY"

Turkish Intellectuals Apologize for the "Great Catastrophe"

Washington, DC- "An irreversible trend has commenced in Turkey," said
Bryan Ardouny, Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) Executive
Director. "Over 12,000 people in Turkey want history to be recorded
truthfully, having already signed the internet-based petition
apologizing for what they call the ‘Great Catastrophe’ that befell the
Armenians of Ottoman Turkey in 1915. This public apology is a first
step in that direction and will inevitably lead to Turkey coming to
grips with its genocidal past."

This movement arose in response to the January 2007 assassination of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, a strong advocate of
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, who publicly spoke in Turkey of the
"Great Catastrophe" that Ottoman Armenians suffered in 1915, as the
Armenian Genocide. Dink was prosecuted under Article 301 of Turkey’s
Penal Code for "insulting Turkishness" by raising the issue.

As a first step on the path toward affirmation of the Armenian
Genocide, these intellectuals have asked the public in Turkey to sign
a petition stating, "My conscience does not accept the insensitivity
showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman
Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for
my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian
brothers and sisters. I apologize to them."

News accounts report that Turkish President Abdullah Gul has not
opposed the campaign, while Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has stated that he will not join the group of Turkish
intellectuals who issued the apology, adding "if there is a crime,
then those who committed it can offer an apology. My nation, my
country has no such issue."

However, momentum is building and support continues to increase
dramatically. Within a few hours of the apology’s release, over 2,500
people added their signatures and made encouraging comments. Cengiz
Aktar, professor at Istanbul’s Bahçeºehir University said that it is
"our aim to empathize with the grief of our Armenian brothers,"
calling on all Turks to "think and talk openly about how, and why, the
Armenian people disappeared from a land they inhabited for 4,000
years."

This process was encouraged in 2003 by the International Center for
Transitional Justice (ICTJ), which concluded that "the Events [of
1915], viewed collectively, can thus be said to include all of the
elements of the crime of genocide as defined in the Convention, and
legal scholars as well as historians, politicians, journalists and
other people would be justified in continuing to so describe them."

Noting the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice
President-elect Joseph Biden next month and Obama’s statement from
October which read, "Joe Biden and I believe that the Armenian
Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view,
but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body
of historical evidence," Ardouny said, "They are both on record as
supporting Turkey’s reconciliation with its past, and affirmation of
the Armenian Genocide. Coupled with Obama’s recent selection of
Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, the Obama-Biden
Administration has an opportunity to clearly affirm the Armenian
Genocide and, at the same time, help Turkey reverse its policy of
denial. It will also send a message that the U.S. will no longer
shelter Turkey from criticism if it continues to persecute leading
intellectuals by invoking Article 301 of its Penal Code."

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public
understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a
501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

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