Author: Emil Lazarian

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 11 2006
Richard Giragosian: Democrats may prioritize issues other than the
Armenian Genocide
11.11.2006 12:11
Marlena Hovsepyan
“Radiolur”
`US elections can give new quality to Armenian-American relations, as
well as to the US policy in the region and Iraq,’ famous
American-Armenian political analyst Richard Giragosian said in an
interview with `Radiolur.’ The most important for Armenia is that
Democrats having pro-Armenian position comprise majority.
`The Party which is more close to Armenians has become more powerful,
Democrats are prevailing in the Congress, and now the competition
should launch with Bush, the Republican Party and the White House,
the expert said.
According to his prediction, after the elections the Democrats,
particularly the Armenian Issue supporter, will get more active.
After these elections Armenians have the opportunity to reinforce the
Armenian-American relations: `This is one more window for the
Armenian Genocide recognition.’
According to the analyst, Turkish-American relations are surviving
the worst period because of the war in Iraq and the Kurdish issue.
For the first time in US history military relations are worse than
the political ones.
New House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is known for her pro-Armenian
position. Can we anticipate that the newly elected Senate might
recognize the Armenian Genocide? `Speaker Pelosi’s past is really
associated with the Armenian Genocide recognition, she is really
famous for her pro-Armenian position. But the US policy has more
important questions in the outlook – Iraq, Afghanistan, domestic
issues, economic questions, etc. `I’m afraid they will not attach
that much attention to Armenian issues, considering other challenges
more important,’ Richard Giragosian responded. Nevertheless, if the
Congress undertakes a pro-Armenian step and recognize the Armenian
Genocide, the White House can just veto the bill.
Is it possible that after the elections the Department of State will
decide to recall the newly appointed Ambassador to Armenia Richard
Hoagland? `The White House will continue backing Hoagland’s candidacy
not to yield to the victory of Democrats and the pressure of the
Armenian lobby,’ Richard Giragosyan says.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Calgary Herald (Alberta)
November 10, 2006 Friday
Final Edition
Ancestral ties of the Great War
by John Weissenberger and George Koch, For The Calgary Herald
When tomorrow we remember the sacrifice in Canada’s wars, the names
Vimy Ridge, Ypres and Passchendaele will be mentioned.
The slaughter of the now almost century-past Great War still evokes
emotion — the muddy trenches that served to fill fields with tight
rows of white headstones or grim ossuaries holding anonymous fallen.
Many Canadians have family ties to the young men who fought and died
there.
The family stories passed around in Canadian homes may not all have
to do with Flanders fields, however. For the conflict was the First
World War. If you lost an ancestor, it could well have happened in an
even more distant land.
If you’re of east Asian origin, you may have ancestors among the more
than one million British Indian troops who fought. These colonial
soldiers were sent to the Middle East, to Africa and to the Western
Front. More than 40,000 were killed, to Canada’s 57,000.
In contrast to the relentless, industrial-scale slaughter in Europe,
the exotic East Africa campaign fascinated audiences. The British
used thousands of Indian troops to chase the small but resourceful
German force, made up largely of locals. Fighting continued until the
Germans received belated word of the Armistice from an English
prisoner.
When the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) entered the war as a German
ally, it triggered almost four years of fighting ranging from the
Suez Canal to Britain’s conquest of Jerusalem. A similar campaign
took place in Mesopotamia — now Iraq. Canadians of Middle Eastern
origin may have had family fighting with or against the Turks.
The Turks suffered 250,000 killed in the war, while inflicting
massive casualties on others, including Armenians. A few years ago, a
Canadian filmmaker chronicled aspects of the Armenian genocide in the
film Ararat.
Numerous Canadians likely have ancestors among the almost 700,000
Italian dead of the Great War. This figure is 40,000 greater than
Britain’s losses, which ripped the guts out of a whole generation of
young men. Most of the Italians were slaughtered in 12 battles along
the Isonzo River, near today’s border with Slovenia.
Italy also saw some of the only alpine fighting in the war, with
barbed war strung along precipitous rock ridges and huge bunker
networks carved into glaciers. The Austrians once blasted away an
entire mountainside, collapsing it onto the Italian trenches.
Glaciers to this day disgorge detritus from the war, plus the
occasional body.
Michael Ignatieff’s grandfather was the Russian czar’s minister of
education, concerned about the fate of a different “nation.” The
Russian “steamroller” was meant to crush the Germans and
Austro-Hungarians but, after more than two years of war and almost
1.5 million men killed, the czar’s empire was sliding toward
revolution. Inadequate equipment, primitive logistics and clumsy
leadership sealed her fate.
One of our grandfathers, as an Austrian infantryman, tried his best
to speed the demise of Ignatieff the elder’s regime. His story
reflects the complexity of eastern Europe’s ethnic mix. Some members
of the multi-national Austro-Hungarian Empire were less than enthused
about getting killed for the Habsburg emperor. German-speaking
regiments were interspersed along the front to shore up their less
enthusiastic comrades.
During the Russian attack on Lutsk in Ukraine in 1916, the Czech
regiments on either side of grandfather W.’s position gladly threw
down their arms and crossed over. Instead of receiving a bayonet to
the midriff, grandpa W. spent 18 leisurely months in pleasant
captivity in the Caucasus, making his way home during Russia’s
revolution. Meanwhile, the Czechs were formed into a kind of foreign
legion and dragged into the Russian civil war. Scores of idealistic
Bohemians perished in the wastes of Siberia fighting Trotsky’s Red
Army.
If your family is Serb or Romanian, your relatives might have fought
“alongside” Canada in distant corners of the war. But if you’re
Polish or Ukrainian, they could as easily have been fighting with
Canada’s past enemy, or even on both sides of the conflict.
Nor did the Armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, truly stop the war.
Brutal ethnic cleansing of minority Greeks and Turks in each obverse
country occurred years later, ending only after a huge population
swap. There are probably Canadians whose ancestors were among them.
As we admire the newly restored Canadian memorial at Vimy, we are
reminded of those who paid with their lives in battles that helped
forge our nation. We should also remember those with nothing to mark
their final resting place — in the wilds of Africa, the wastes of
Iraq or the forests of Siberia.
John Weissenberger is a Calgary geologist. George Koch is a Calgary
writer. More of their writing can be read at the weblog: drjandmrk.com
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Business Times, Singapore
November 10, 2006 Friday
Odds stacked against Turkey joining EU
Shada Islam, Brussels Correspondent
IT’S crunch time for relations between Turkey and the European Union
(EU). Ankara opened membership talks with the EU last year but the
past few months have seen a rise in tension between the two sides
over an array of issues, including Turkey’s troubled relationship
with Cyprus.
The mood has soured. In the latest blow, the European Commission
threatened to recommend freezing entry talks unless Turkey opens its
ports and airports to EU member Cyprus by mid-December.
The outlook is not good. Tempers are fraying on both sides. Leading
EU officials have warned Ankara repeatedly in recent months to speed
up political reforms or face a ‘train crash’ which could fatally
derail the 12-month-old membership talks.
Turkish leaders, on their part, are accusing the Europeans of being
impatient, making excessive demands and constantly moving the goal
posts. Many have warned that the EU stance – with many politicians in
Europe openly opposing Turkish accession to the EU – is turning
ordinary Turks against EU entry.
The current difficulties centre on Ankara’s slow progress in
reforming its political structures. But many in Europe continue to
insist that Turkey as a Muslim nation – albeit with a secular
Constitution – has no place within a largely Christian club.
The suspicion that religion, rather than politics, is the key
obstacle to Ankara’s EU membership bid also persists in Turkey and
other countries in the Muslim world. Officials in Brussels insist,
however, that religion is not the issue. With Turkey under EU
pressure to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot vessels,
Ankara argues that the EU must first agree to end the economic
isolation of the poor, northern Turkish part of the divided island of
Cyprus.
After months of sterile argument, Finland as the current EU
president, has started work on a plan under which the EU would end
its current economic boycott of Turkish Cypriots in exchange for a
commitment by Turkey to allow Greek Cypriot vessels to access its
harbours. The Finnish initiative has won praise from Turkish Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul but reaction from Greek Cypriot President
Tassos Papadopoulos has been less supportive.
A key problem for Turkey is that apart from Britain, it has few
friends in Europe. Most other countries, including heavyweights
France and Germany, remain lukewarm on Turkey’s EU entry, with many
politicians in both countries saying Ankara should be offered a
‘special relationship’ instead of membership. Spotlighting increasing
French hostility towards Turkish accession, the French Parliament
last month passed a law declaring that anyone who denies that the
mass murder of Armenians in eastern Turkey in 1915-1917 was genocide
will face a year in prison.
EU commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn has cautioned European
politicians against talking tough on Turkey’s membership.
‘This weakens our credibility and the strength of the reforms in
Turkey, and through this we shoot ourselves in the foot,’ Mr Rehn
said recently. ‘It is much better to be fair but firm. Fair in
keeping our word and commitments in terms of Turkey’s membership
goal, but meantime firmly demanding reforms and fulfilment of the
membership criteria,’ he said.
Few are listening, however. As a result, Turkey-EU relations face an
uncertain future. The speculation in Brussels is that faced with the
commission’s damning assessment of Ankara’s failure to meet many of
the EU’s requirements, the bloc’s governments will decide to suspend
current accession negotiations. While Islam’s role in curbing EU
enthusiasm for Turkey cannot be ruled out, it is also true that most
EU governments are suffering from a bad case of ‘enlargement
fatigue’.
>From January next year, Romania and Bulgaria will be full-fledged EU
members. Negotiations are also under way with Croatia while Macedonia
has been acknowledged as a future member. Further down the road, all
western Balkan states are waiting to join – and the queue may one day
also include Ukraine and Georgia. New applicants therefore face tough
tests ahead. With the mood definitely not expansion-friendly, EU
policymakers are cautioning that more members will only be allowed
into the bloc if the EU can ‘absorb’ newcomers without undergoing
financial and institutional strain.
Turkey’s only hope is that at least some thoughtful EU leaders
attending an EU summit in December will argue that a decision to
suspend Ankara’s accession talks will send a grim message to
reformists in Turkey.
To make an even more compelling case, they must also argue that a
freeze in EU relations with Turkey will further strain Europe’s
already difficult ties with other Islamic countries.
And signal worldwide that the EU is closed to membership of Muslim
nations.r
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Radikal, Turkey
Nov 7 2006
Translated from Turkish {KMP}

`Before challenging check it’
Murat Belge
When our Prime Minister speaks, he speaks tough. He sounds very self-
confident. This might be ok. But there is a concept called
philosophical doubt which implies that strong declarations need to be
avoided.
Upon being challenged by an Armenian journalist last week, our
Premier boasted saying, `I am challenging…’. What is the challenge?
The current `archives question’. Prime Minister Erdogan said, ‘We
have made our state archives public; you Armenians should also make
yours public. All archives around the world should be accessible to
judge whether the Genocide happened or not.’
As long as I know the Armenians do not reject this. They are also
asking, `Is the Genocide issue so much unknown that we will be able
to discover it now?’
Anyhow, it is not important what the Armenians are saying. It is much
more important and meaningful what we say.
More than a year ago (17 August, 2005), in Turkey, Mr. Nihat Sahin,
the Assistant Director of The Land Registry Office sent a letter to
the National Security Counsel. In this letter, he asked for advice
regarding the question of all property-registration books, whether or
not these documents should be sent to the administration of the State
Archives. At the time, there was an ongoing program called TABIS to
update and digitalize the old registry of real property.
The Brigadier General of the National Security Counsel, Mr. Tayyar
Elmas, replied to this with a letter. We learn from the daily
Hurriyet that he is the chief of the Department of Mobilisation and
War Planning. He wrote in his letter:’ The contents of the
above-mentioned registry books dated from the Ottoman era are liable
to ethnic and political manipulations (like the unfounded genocide,
the Ottoman Foundation, property claims, etc.).For the sake of
national interests, it is undesirable that those documents, partially
or completely, be multiplied, or delivered to centers where archival
work and research are done. Hence, it is more desirable that those
books stay in the Land Registry Offices with limited access’.
Every body knows that in the state archives mentioned by Mr. Erdogan
the possibility to discover something new is very small. There is no
smoking gun since there have been no official written orders. Nobody
does this. No one has discovered any written order by Hitler to
exterminate the Jews either. But undoubtedly, it is impossible in a
state mechanism that a deed in this magnitude has not been registered
somewhere in the archives. Back to Talat (Interior Minister), Enver
(War Minister) Bahaettin Sakir (Chief of Special Organisation) and
others; after their defeat, they escaped the country on board a
German U- boat. It is well-known that they took a load of top secret
archival documents with them.
The land Registry books will not unveil such a `kill order’ but they
will prove who the owners at the time were and when and in which
circumstances did changes in ownership occur. We know that it is
forbidden to search in the old land registry books. This means a lot.
Thus, we advise the Prime Minister to be more careful when he raises
his voice. For his sake, he shouldn’t use the word `challenge.’
The original in Turkish
no3718
Meydan okumadan meydanı okumak
Murat Belge
07/11/2006 (2826 kişi okudu)
Başbakanımız konuştu mu sert konuşuyor.
Kendine güvenle dolu bir tavır ve ses tonuyla konuşuyor.
Bu, herhalde iyi bir şeydir, gene de, ‘felsefi şüphe
payı’ diye bir şey var! Çok kesin edalardan kaçınmakta
yarar var sanki.
Geçen gün Başbakanımıza karşı bir ‘Ermeni
harektı’ olmuş gene. O da, “Bakın, buradan meydan
okuyorum” demiş. Neyin meydan okuması? Bir süredir devam
eden ‘arşiv’ konusu. Başbakan, “Biz açtık, siz de
açın” diyor; “Herkes serbestçe çalışsın,
olmu&amp ;#351; mu, olmamış mı, ortaya çıksın.”
Bildi&#28 7;im kadar Ermeniler de buna ‘Açmayız’ diye cevap
vermiyorlar. “Şimdiye kadar bu olay bilinmiyordu da şimdi
mi ne olduğunu öğreneceğiz?” diyorlar.
Neyse, onların ne dediği o kadar da önemli değil
bence. Bizim ne dediğimiz ve burada ne olduğu çok daha
anlamlı.
Burada, bir yılı aşkın bir zaman önce,
Tapu-Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü’nden Genel Müdür
Yardımcıs&#3 05; Nihat Şahin, Milli Güvenlik Kurulu’na
bir yazı göndermiş (17 Ağustos 2005’te) ve Tapu Tahrir
Defterleri’nin Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü’ne
devredil mesi konusunda mütalaa istemiş. Bir süreden beri,
‘TARBİS’ denilen bir proje yürütülüyor ve tapu
kayıtlarına otomasyon teknolojisi getirilmeye
çalışı lıyor. Bu da çerçevede olan bir şey.
MGK’dan tuğgeneral Tayyar Elmas gelen yazıyı
cevaplandır& #305;yor. Tuğgeneral Elmas’ın ‘Milli
Güvenlik Kurulu Seferberlik ve Savaş Hazırlıkları
Planlama Daire Başkanı’ olduğunu Hürriyet’te bu
yakınlarda yayımlanan haberden öğreniyoruz. Cevap
şöyle:
“Osmanlı devleti dönemine ait söz konusu defterlerin
içerdiği bilgilerin etnik ve siyasi (asılsız
soykır&#30 5;m, Osmanlı Vakıfları mülkiyet
iddiaları ve benzeri) istismara malzeme olabileceği ve
ülkemizin içinde bulunduğu koşullar dikkate
alındığ&#30 5;nda, kısmen ya da tamamen
çoğaltılarak dağıtılmamalar&#305 ;nın,
genel arşiv çalışması yapılan merkezlere
devredilmemelerinin, dolayısıyla bulundukları Tapu ve
Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü’nde muhafaza edilmelerinin ve
kullanılmasının ülke menfaatleri açısından
sın& #305;rlı tutulmasının uygun olacağı
değerlendirilme ktedir.”
Erdoğan’ın ‘meydan okuyarak’ ‘Biz açıyoruz, siz de
açın’ dediği devlet arşivlerinde Kıyım’la
ilgili yepyeni belgelerin çıkma ihtimalinin son derece
düşük olduğunu herkes biliyor. ‘Ele verme’ mahiyetinde
yazılar, talimatlar, zaten hiçbir zaman resmen gönderilmedi,
gönderilmez de. Söyleye söyleye dilimizde tüy bitti, ama Hitler’in
‘Yahudileri öldürün’ dediği bir belge ele geçmemiştir.
Şüphesiz, sonuçta koca bir devletin işleyişi içinde
böyle bir olayın arşive hiç yansımaması mümkün
değildir. Gelgelelim, Talt, Enver, Bahattin Şakir vb.
savaş sonunda Alman denizaltısıyla ülkeyi terk ederken
yanlarında çuvalla arşiv belgesi götürdükleri de o zamandan
beri bilinir.
Tapuda da ‘ölüm emri’ çıkmaz. Ama bir gayrimenkulün kime ait
olduğu, ne zaman bu sahiplik durumunda değişiklik
olduğu, mülkiyetin nasıl ve hangi koşullarda el
değiştirdiği çıkar.
Tapu dairelerinde araştırmaya izin verilmediğini,
bazan bu yüzden dramatik denebilecek olaylar olduğunu zaman
zaman haber alıyorduk, işitiyorduk. Bu haberden
öğrendiğimiz gelişmeler son derece anlamlı.
Dolayısıyla Başbakan da bu gibi konularda
konuşurken, sesini o bildiğimiz tona yükseltmese, hele hele
‘Meydan okuyorum’ gibi cümleler sarf etmese, herkesten önce kendisi
için sonuçların daha hayırlı olacağını
dü&# 351;ünüyorum.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The St. Petersburg Times
The $2-trillion CitiBlunder
CitiMortgage processed Carl Varadian’s payment, then wrote him to say he was
$18 short of the $853.15 owed on his house. Too bad it overlooked its own
$2-trillion mistake.
By HELEN HUNTLEY
Published November 11, 2006
Carl Varadian made a mistake when he sent in his mortgage payment. But his
$18 error was small potatoes compared with the mistake CitiMortgage made
when it wrote him back:
“We have received and applied your check in the amount of
$2,001,004,113,835.15,” the company’s cash processing department informed
him. That’s 2-trillion 1-billion 4-million dollars. And some change.
The company said the Bradenton retiree and his wife, Ida, still owed $18 on
their $853.15 monthly payment. Send it in, CitiMortgage said.
Varadian, who worked in government and taught college government classes
back in Michigan, decided to have a little fun with CitiMortgage. He wrote
back:
“Please deduct the $18 from my check and return the balance to me,” he
wrote. “I may buy CitiMortgage in its entirety with the proceeds.”
Actually, he could buy all the outstanding stock in parent Citigroup Inc.,
which has a current market value of “only” $249-billion.
CitiMortgage officials responded to the St. Petersburg Times’ inquiry with a
little humor of their own:
“We would like to apologize to Mr. Varadian, our potential future boss, for
this error,” spokesman Mark Rodgers said. “In all seriousness, however, we
want information going to our customers to be 100 percent correct, and we
will make sure to understand why this happened and correct it for the
future.”
Sadly, his account has not been credited with $2-trillion.
Varadian, 76, figures he must have transposed a couple of numbers on one of
his checks, writing $835 instead of $853. But the big numbers in
CitiMortgage’s letter were a shock.
“I couldn’t believe it when I got the letter,” he said. “I had to set it
aside so I could calm down a little bit.” But he added, “If they want $18,
I’ll give it to them.”
The company’s letter suggested that Varadian consider automatic payments,
allowing CitiMortgage to draft its monthly payment from his bank account.
Varadian said no thanks.
“I don’t know if you can trust them,” he said. “But if they were adding to
my account I wouldn’t mind.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Nov 11 2006
POLAND UPHOLDS AZERBAIJAN’S INTEGRATION TO EURO-ATLANTIC STRUCTURES
[November 11, 2006, 11:14:29]
On November 10, the deputy minister of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan
Khalaf Khalafov received the delegation led by Speaker of the Senate
of Poland Bogdan Borusevich, the press-service of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said.
In meeting, Mr. Khalafov noted that between Azerbaijan and Poland
there are traditionally friendly relations and this country assists
Azerbaijan for integration in European and Euro-Atlantic structures.
The Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister noted importance of strengthening
of partnership in sphere of policy of the European Neighborhood and
power safety.
In turn, head of the Senate of Poland has noted successes of
Azerbaijan for last years and has stated that his country acts as the
supporter of expansion of the European Union and NATO. As he said,
Poland is interested in close cooperation of Azerbaijan with the
above-stated structures.
The Polish guest noted that the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh
conflict should be solved in the frame of territorial integrity and
inviolability of borders.
In meeting, also discussed were questions on cooperation in combat
against international terrorism, international and regional
situation, and other issues mutual interest.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net
Turkey Fulfilled One of EU Conditions
10.11.2006 14:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish parliament adopted a
law, which broadens property rights of the non-Muslim
communities of the country. Thus, Ankara has fulfilled
one of the EU conditions on national minorities rights
protection. The new law to be signed by the President
will allow the Greek, Armenian and Jew communities to
claim for the property expropriated by the Turkish
government in 1974, reports Mediamax.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenpress
AZERI ANALYST CALLS FOR SETTING CENTER TO DEFINE
BAKU’S AMERICAN POLICY

BAKU, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS: In an interview to
Azerbaijani Trend news agency Vafa Guluzade, a former
advisor to the late Azerbaijani president Heydar
Aliyev on foreign policy issues, said diplomats in
Baku should establish a special center to deal with
and define the policy that Azerbaijan must assume in
its relations with Washington after Democrats won
elections to Congress and Senate.
He said Azerbaijan must be represented by such
people who will be able to talk to Nancy Pelosi, a new
speaker of the Congress is known as a longtime
supporter of Armenian-American issues.
Guluzade recalled that once the official Baku used
to enjoy good relations with the White House when it
was controlled by Democrats that was reflected in
signing the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and some other oil
project’s.
“I have tried many times to explain that no
Armenian state exists in fact. What is called the
Republic of Armenia is just part of Russia which is
keen to make Azerbaijan its colony and Moscow is using
Armenians as a means to attain its objective,”
Guluzade claimed in his interview.
Guluzade said though Nancy Pelosi is tending to
defend the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh the U.S.
administration did not recognize the Armenian
genocide. He said relations of Baku and Washington
will be firm.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Aljazeera.net, Qatar
Nov 10 2006
Turkish complexities confound EU
By Jody Sabral
The European Commission’s annual report on Turkey’s progress towards
EU membership, released earlier this week, has criticised Ankara’s
pace of reforms, but has not brought to light new challenges since
accession talks began in October 2005.
This is the view of Ali Yurttagul, a member of the European
parliament and expert on asylum and immigration to Turkey.
“In 2004, the EU’s report on Turkey, which wasn’t really a progress
report in the same sense, was very positive. The main message of this
new report is the slowdown in pace of implementation, a stagnation if
you will,” Yurttagul said.
The 2006 report said that the Turkish Grand National Assembly adopted
148 laws of a total 429 draft bills submitted since October 2005.
Ibrahim Gunel, a columnist at the Turkish daily Radikal, believes the
EU has very high expectations of Ankara, but does not really
comprehend its complexities.
He explains that Turkey’s majority Muslim composition and its secular
democracy make it a unique country.
The report also described the prosecutions and convictions for the
expression of non-violent opinion as “a cause for serious concern”.
“We are open to concrete proposals that will make clear the line
between the crimes stipulated under article 301 and the right to
criticism”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Turkish prime minister

The case of Hrant Dink, a journalist who has openly written about
Armenian identity, is one example from a list of hundreds of writers,
publishers, academics, journalists and human rights activists who
have been prosecuted under article 301 of the new penal code.
Charged with insulting Turkish identity for writing a series of
articles on the Armenian genocide, the article allowed a court to
hand Dink down a six-month suspended prison sentence on October 7.
The Turkish government has always rejected Armenian demands that the
loss of two million lives under the Ottoman empire can be described
as genocide.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, has since said that
the government might consider amending article 301.
“We are open to concrete proposals that will make clear the line
between the crimes stipulated under article 301 and the right to
criticism,” he said in a speech to the public.
Erdogan gave no indication as to when article 301 would be taken up
in parliament, only that the “opposition” was behind the move.
He did indicate, however, that it would take time as “a change in
mentality [among the judiciary] is needed to do that because it’s the
job of people to implement laws. It’s a process that takes time”.
In response to this new approach to freedom of speech in Turkey,
Yurttagul said: “The commission has noted that Ankara is willing to
modify article 301, and it is appreciated, but it wants to see
concrete steps. We don’t know in which direction it will be modified
yet.”
The report, while crediting Turkey for reform in the area of
civil-military relations, also said that overall “limited progress”
had been made in aligning civil-military relations with EU practices.
To understand Turkey’s relationship with the military is to
understand the very foundations of the modern republic. Turkey is a
99.8% per cent Muslim country, but operates as a secular state with
religion kept strictly out of politics.
“Erdogan has hit a wall on Cyprus, he cannot make more concessions.
After voting ‘yes’ to the Annan plan, there is nowhere to go. Europe
has to give Turkey something in return”
Hasan Unal, a scholar at Bilkent University, Ankara

This foundation was first laid in 1923 when the republic was
established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a military man with democratic
principles.
Turkish women were given the right to vote two years before their
British counterparts in 1926 under Ataturk’s governance.
The military is therefore seen as a beacon of democracy and
secularism, which safeguards the republic from becoming a theocracy
like Iran. Any attack on the military is, unsurprisingly, seen as an
attack on these principles.
Hasan Unal, a scholar at Bilkent University in Ankara, said: “EU
countries don’t understand how important the military is in Turkey.
The republic was set up by it. The military is the most modern and
progressive part of the Turkish regime.”
Many Turks are concerned that if the military were to lose more
power, particularly to the Islamist-leaning ruling Justice and
Development party (AKP), the secular lifestyle they enjoy could be
under threat.
These concerns were highlighted when the education ministry took over
four years ago from the ministry of religious affairs the
responsibility of overseeing all religious textbooks for elementary
and high schools nationwide.
Stuck on Cyprus
But the most contentious issue may lie outside Turkey’s borders.
The 2006 report issued earlier also set a deadline for Turkey to open
its ports to Greek Cypriot ships and flights by mid-December or face
consequences.
Most Turks are tired of hearing about the Cyprus issue as they
believe that it is just a sticking point that the EU uses to
frustrate Turkey’s struggle to be accepted.
This is especially true since Turkish Cypriots voted “yes” in 2004 to
a plan by Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, to bring
about reunification to the divided island.
Greek Cypriots, by contrast, voted “no”.
In response, the Turkish government said that “the Cyprus question is
a political question and is not an obligation in the context of our
accession process”.
Erdogan dismissed the possible collapse of the talks because of the
Cyprus impasse, but acknowledged that some “chapters” might be held
back.
Analysts believe that it might be a stumbling block, but that Erdogan
has no cards left to play on the issue.
“Erdogan has hit a wall on Cyprus, he cannot make more concessions.
After voting ‘yes’ to the Annan plan, there is nowhere to go. Europe
has to give Turkey something in return,” Unal said.
However, Gunel disagrees on this point. He believes the Cyprus issue
could be solved by a change of leadership.
“Turkey accepted the Annan plan, but the Greek Cypriot president
Tassos Papadopulous rejected it. If Papadopulous was to fall from
power, the problem could be solved.”
Gunel said the stalemate had become more entrenched after the EU
failed to keep its promise to end the economic isolation of northern
Cyprus.
“According to the Nice Convention [one of the founding principles of
the EU], Cyprus should not even really be a member of the EU as it
quite clearly states if a country has a border problem it can not be
accepted as an EU member,” he said.
The southern part of the island, which is governed by Greece, joined
the EU in May 2004.
For now, Turks will have to wait for the outcome of the December
talks in which 25 European leaders will discuss their EU path before
anything more can be said about accession.
Friday 10 November 2006, 14:08 Makka Time, 11:08 GMT
0A3-409A-84FB-9CB7CA71F4C2.htm

Café Babel, France
Nov 10 2006
Turkey and France in conflict over Armenia
In France, denying the Armenian genocide could lead up to one year in
prison and a 45.000 fine
The recent award of the Nobel Literature Prize to Orhan Pamuk, and
the new law passed by the French national assembly making denial of
the Armenian genocide a crime, have brought this historical event
back into the limelight. The Turkish government is still recovering
from the shock. Their talk of imposing economic sanctions on French
companies does seem very European. They also warned that political
relations with Paris threaten to deteriorate if `hostilities do not
cease’.
In Turkey, acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide is a crime that
can lead to prison sentences, severe economic penalties, and
ostracism from Turkish society. In a recent interview, a journalist
from Turkish Daily News said that `many intellectuals and
communicators are still afraid to speak openly about these matters in
Turkey’. Some journalists and writers have been prosecuted, whilst
extreme right-wing groups have attacked, and even killed, a number of
journalists, lawyers and activists dedicated to freedom of expression
and to the promotion of human rights in Turkey. Many violent attacks
have never been investigated and violent groups enjoy relative
impunity thanks to their links with security forces.
European values
There is much talk about Turkey’s `European-ness’ and need to adapt
to the pace set by Brussels for its accession to the European Union.
If only the government in Ankara had the moral conscience post-war
Germany had, they would recognise facts which have been documented
and acknowledged by historians. Just as it is a crime to deny the
Holocaust in many countries, playing down or denying the Armenian
Genocide is an absolute absurdity in our world today.
It is estimated that between 1915 and 1921 around 2 million Armenians
died at the hands of the Turkish security forces and army. The
Armenians, like the Jews after them, were accused by the Turks of
being in league with those who wanted to see Turkey destroyed. They
were accused of being “Russian agents” and paid for this with their
lives.
European leaders need to be more courageous and emphatic when
defending Europe’s democratic values in Ankara, because it is these
principles which are at the heart of the European project. Without
values or moral principles to ensure the defence of democracy, there
is not, and neither can there be, a unified Europe. The economic
advantages which the enormous Turkish market presents for Europe
should not be the only factor determining their attitude towards
Turkey.
To deny the Armenian Genocide, a tragedy recorded by many Europeans
such as the philosopher Antonio Gramsci or the historian Arnold
Toynbee, would be a return to the `radical evil’ postulated by
another European thinker, Hannah Arendt, in her early writings. This
“forgetting” is the result of a reflexive, voluntary and entirely
purposeful attempt to erase all traces of the truth.
Overview: EU stances on Turkey
With the EU progress reports on Turkey coming out this week, the
country is in the spotlight. Where do the EU members stand on its
membership bid?
Roughly there are three groups. Those who are in favour of Turkish
entry, those who are against and those who are stuck in the middle.
The United Kingdom and Finland are two countries in favour of Turkish
membership. The Finnish Presidency has for months been engaging in
´sauna diplomacy´, trying to find a solution to the problem of
Cyprus, that is to say the opening of Turkish ports and harbours to
Cypriot ships and planes. In December the Council is expected to say
whether or not Turkey has made sufficient progress on this issue, but
Commission President Barroso has stated he expects trouble ahead.
France and Germany are against. In Germany, the coalition government
is split, with the SPD in favour of membership and the CDU in favour
of a ´privileged partnership´ with Turkey, stopping short of full
membership. In France, elections are upcoming. The likely candidate
for the right, Nicolas Sarkozy, is against Turkish membership As for
the left, it is still unclear, but it was the Socialist party which
introduced a bill making it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered
genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks after the first world war.
France will have a referendum on Turkish membership before
negotiations are concluded.
Others, mostly the new member states, seem undecided. Poland, while
inclined to listen to Pope Benedict´s claim that Turkey is perhaps
not culturally a part of Europe , is demanding fair treatment of
candidate states, Turkey among them.
Pim de Kuijer – Amsterdam
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress