Author: Emil Lazarian

CITIES AND NOBELS
Mehmet Kamis
Zaman, Turkey
Oct 16 2006
After reading the novel, “Veronika Decides to Die” by Paulo Coelho,
I went to Ljubljana [in Slovenia] just to see those places and take
pictures of the squares, streets, buildings and people in the city
mentioned in this novel. While reading Orhan Pamuk’s “Snow,” I really
wanted to go to Kars with my camera on a winter day.
For a long time now, I have been dreaming of taking pictures of Kars
after making the long train journey to this eastern Anatolian city. I
am still dreaming of it. I believe novels can go beyond city walls,
take them out of their cages and present them to other lands and
people of other lands. Therefore, novelists are big boons for cities.
There can be no bigger boon than a city chosen as a theme by a
world-renowned novelist. St. Petersburg became a world city with
“Crime and Punishment” and Paris opened its soul in “Les Miserables”
to Victor Hugo, who narrated it to the whole world.
Pamuk is definitely no regime opponent. On the contrary, he is a
member of a family from the very center of the regime. He has never
been in a position to oppose the regime all his life. He has neither
suffered economic difficulties nor has he had any problems with the
regime. In other words, he is one of those white Turks. Besides,
his family includes members from Ittihat Terakki (the Committee of
Union and Progress) that put Turkey in trouble over the Armenian issue.
Though Pamuk had serious problems within his family, he spent his
life at the best schools and places in Nisantasi; he never had the
opportunity to come face to face with the Armenian or Kurdish issue.
I do not know whether he encountered any problems in the eastern
city of Kars where he lived briefly while writing his novel “Snow”
but Pamuk, generally, has spent most in life in good places and under
very favorable conditions. Although I have not been able to read any
his novels from beginning to end, Pamuk is certainly a good novelist.
At least he has aroused my interest in wanting to go to Kars.
Let me just reiterate that Pamuk is a good novelist though he holds
no serious political attitudes for or against the regime, and I
also think his remarks on the Armenians and Kurds could labeled as
opportunistic. What needs to be discussed here is the hypocrisy of
the West. The West has almost made it a condition for a novelist or
intellectual from the East to belittle his/her own society’s values
in order for him/her to be rewarded. Doors are opened for those who
ridicule and belittle Eastern values or those who speak out on issues
which are the Achilles’ heel of the East. Pamuk’s remarks must be
regarded as words uttered with such purpose to appease the West. If
he truly believed in what he said about the Kurds and Armenians,
it would have befitted the intellectual honor. Awarding Pamuk the
the Nobel Prize in Literature right after the French freak accident,
can be considered a typical Western conspiracy.
Beyond all these discussions, it is very important that a Turkish
Turk has won a Nobel prize. This is a development that can draw the
whole world’s attention to Turkey, Istanbul and even Kars. I hope
Turkey makes good use of this golden opportunity. Who knows, maybe
Pamuk will narrate the experiences, wisdom and general spirit of
tolerance in these lands to the outside world. People who have given
their souls for these lands, for the sake of the regime and power,
do not always look at the world from the same viewpoint.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CONSTITUTIONS ARE NOT TO BE TOYED WITH
By E. Triantafylidou
Kathimerini, Greece
Oct 16 2006
The decision of the French parliament last week to pass a bill making
it a crime to deny that the 1915-1917 massacres of Armenians by the
Ottoman Turks constituted genocide caused tumult in Turkey.
Turkey’s secular army and the Islamic-leaning government were both
angry at France’s bill and responded with a threat that Paris risks
losing euros, dollars and Turkey’s vast market.
“The decision lies with the people,” Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul said after the Ankara Chamber of Commerce threatened to boycott
one French product every week, if the bill were adopted. Gul also
threatened French carmakers in Turkey with retaliatory measures and
warned that French companies would be excluded from plans to build
a nuclear plant.
The president of the Council of Chambers of Commerce and Industry,
Nafi Gural, urged consumers to keep their cool. He warned that barring
French companies from economic projects will cost Turkey thousands
of jobs.
In view of the French presidential and parliamentary elections due
in the spring, critics say that deputies passed the bill with an eye
fixed on the strong Armenian minority living in their country. But
the issue is more complex than that. Germany’s presidency of the
European Union is expected to resurrect talks on the bloc’s moribund
constitutional treaty.
Constitutions are not something to toy with. For that reason, along
with its respect for the genocide of the Armenians, Europe should
take into account other obvious issues, such as the Cyprus problem.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH PARLIAMENT TO RESPOND TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL
By Habib Guler
Zaman, Turkey
Oct 16 2006
As Turkey’s protest campaign against France’s Armenian genocide denial
bill continues, the Turkish Grand National Assembly will convene on
Tuesday to condemn France.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will inform members of parliament
on the new French bill and its resulting developments, after which
MP’s will be free to express their views. A statement condemning
France for the bill is expected to be unanimously approved.
Turkish Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that reactions
against France must be well thought out, adding the parliamentary
assembly is due to handle the issue.
Parliament speaker Bulent Arinc commented on the bill, saying it
betrayed France’s basic values. Arinc assured Turkey’s response would
be resolute yet moderate.
Economic Boycott to Continue
Turkey’s Central bank has an estimated 17 billion New Turkish Liras
as part of France’s currency reserve. If Turkey withdraws this money
from the French Central Bank and private accounts, economists predict
that the French economy would suffer a great loss.
The Turkish government, which is preparing to take measures against
France, could use the Central Bank as its main trump card.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRANCE EASILY FORGOT VICHY HORROR
By Foreign News Desk
Zaman, Turkey
Oct 16 2006
Backlash against the French National Assembly’s approval of a bill
on Thursday, which makes it crime to deny that an Armenian genocide
occurred during World War I, continues.
In an opinion piece defending free speech in the British newspaper
The Observer, the author characterized the French National Assembly’s
passing of the Armenian bill as “wrong and bad,” and commented that
the French had so easily forgotten the horror of the Vichy regime.
The commentary spoke of author Carmen Callil, who wrote a book about
the agony the Jews suffered during the Vichy regime, and France’s
subsequent convenient amnesia.
Before attempting to pass genocide denial laws in an atmosphere
of censorship, the French should have to remember their previous
cooperation with the Nazi party in deporting Jews, the newspaper said.
The commentary added that the Armenian bill was also aimed to
“complicate” Turkey’s EU accession; a dreadful attitude for France
to assume while believing that their acts were “irreproachable”
during World War II.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY WARNED ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH BY EU
By Daniel Dombey and Fidelius Schmid in Luxembourg
Financial Times, UK
Oct 16 2006
Turkey was told on Monday by the European Union that it had to
safeguard freedom of expression in the country as a “matter of urgency”
amid diminishing expectations that Ankara’s stalled membership bid
can be revived.
Olli Rehn, EU enlargement commissioner, told Turkey’s delegation at
the last formal meeting between the two this year that it was not
good enough to merely wait for Turkish judges to rule on the issue
and that legislative action was needed.
On Monday’s meeting took place amid widespread expectations that
Ankara’s membership talks would reach a crisis point later this year
and could prove impossible to retrieve.
The European Commission’s hopes of convincing Turkey to carry out
reforms have been greatly complicated by France. Last week the French
National Assembly supported a bill that would make it a crime to deny
that there was a genocide of Armenians during the last years of the
Ottoman Empire. Turkey says no genocide occurred.
Abdullah Gul, Turkey’s foreign minister, on Mondayday said the
National Assembly vote had hit France’s prestige as a country that
allowed full freedom of expression, while adding that Turkey would
not repeat France’s mistakes.
But he failed to give a clear signal that Turkey would revise or
remove article 301 of its penal code, which forbids denigration of
the Turkish state. Instead, he merely said that “we are following
the implementation [of the article] closely and we will do what
is necessary”.
Brussels believes that Turkey’s reform process has slowed dramatically
and will issue a critical report next month. Its conclusions will
form the starting point for a debate between EU member states on
whether to declare a formal suspension of talks.
This is likely to be decided by heads of state and government later
in the year.
In effect the negotiations have already stopped, with Cyprus, which is
an EU member state but has no diplomatic relations with Ankara, vetoing
the opening and closing of any of the individual dossiers in the talks.
Cyprus makes clear it will not approve any such steps while Turkey
fails to meet an EU deadline to open its own ports and airports to
Cypriot vessels.
An attempt to break the deadlock by Finland, the current holder of
the EU presidency, has shown little sign of being accepted.
The proposal would see the EU taking charge of a port in the Turkish
Cypriot northern half of the island, to allow Turkish Cypriots to
trade with the rest of the EU, and return a nearby town to the Greek
Cypriot south.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GEORGE HORTON: AN AMERICAN WITNESS IN SMYRNA
By James L. Marketos
GREEK NEWS, New York
Oct 16 2006
Posted on Monday, October 16 @ 12:00:57 EDT by greek_news
Exactly eighty-four years ago yesterday (September 13, 1922), a
massive fire broke out in the Armenian quarter of Smyrna (modern-day
Izmir). Ever since, controversy has raged over who started the fire,
whether it was an intentional act of genocide, and how many people were
killed. Estimates range from one or two thousand to over 100,000. There
is no dispute, however, that this was the 20th centuryʼs first
holocaust.
In 1922, Smyrna was a large and important commercial port on the Asia
Minor coast. Its population was about 400,000. Roughly 43% were Turkish
Muslims, 45% were Greek and Armenian Christians, 6% were Jews, and 5%
were foreigners. The Greek and Armenian Christians had deep roots in
Smyrna going back countless generations. Many owned successful and
long-established businesses. Others were professionals, artisans,
or educators. They had a thriving cultural life.
The fire raged for four days. A strong breeze drove the flames away
from the Turkish quarter and toward the waterfront, and with it
the cityʼs horrified Greeks and Armenians. The fire eventually
consumed all of the city except the Turkish quarter.
By late afternoon of the 13th, the fire had pinned thousands of victims
on the harborside quay, where they had fled hoping to finds means of
escape. On the narrow quay they found themselves trapped between the
raging fire at their backs and the deep harbor in front.
There they were subjected to unspeakable atrocities while the
uncontrollable fire burned itself out. And over the following weeks
and months, more perished from starvation and exposure while waiting
to be evacuated.
Tragically, the entire scene was witnessed by representatives of
the Allied Powers. They had pledged themselves to neutrality at the
Paris Peace Conference following World War I, and so they watched from
warships anchored about 250 yards offshore. All vessels that had been
tied up along the quay (including the U.S. destroyer Litchfield) had
to move off due to the intense heat of the fire. The foreign crews
evacuated their respective nationals from any danger in Smyrna and
plucked from the sea as many victims as could swim out to the ships.
At night, the foreign vessels drowned out the terrible screams coming
from the quay with band music and tried to keep rapes and murders to
a minimum with occasional sweeps of their powerful searchlights.
Some Turkish apologists contend that resentful, demoralized retreating
Greek army troops started the fire. Others contend that Armenians,
some disguised as Turkish soldiers, started the fire. They also
question why Turks would want to burn such a rich city.
By contrast, the Greek and Armenian version of events is that regular
Turkish army soldiers started the fire by spreading and igniting
petroleum in houses and other locations, and that the numbers
that perished are at the higher end of the estimates. This version
also contends that Turkish nationalist troops rampaged through the
city before and during the fire, assaulting, looting, and killing
Christians. The Greek and Armenian case is persuasively supported by
the testimony of an American eyewitness:
George Horton.
Biographical Information Horton was a literary man. He was a scholar
of both Greek and Latin.
He translated Sappho. He wrote a guide for the interpretation of
Scripture. He wrote several novels and was a renowned journalist in
Chicago, a member of what was called the “Chicago Renaissance.”
He was also a professional diplomat who loved Greece. He became U.S.
Consul in Athens in 1893, where he actively promoted the revival of the
Olympic Games and inspired the U.S. teamʼs participation. He wrote
a lyrical visitorʼs guide to Athens and composed a reflective
description of a few monthsʼ stay in Argolis. And he married
Catherine Sacopoulo, a Greek American woman.
He served twice as U.S. Consul in Athens (1893-1898; 1905-1906). He
also served in Thessaloniki (1910-1911) and then in Smyrna up to the
U.S.ʼs break-off of diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire
(1911-1917) in World War I. He served again as consul in Smyrna
after the war (1919-1922) and remained in Smyrna until after the
fire began on September 13, 1922, spending the last hours before his
evacuation signing passes for those entitled to American protection
and transportation to Piraeus.
Today, George Horton is best remembered for his book about the events
leading up to and during the fire. The book was published in 1926,
and its title, The Blight of Asia, unabashedly refers to the abominable
behavior of the Turks. By the time of publication Horton had resigned
his diplomatic commission, and he wrote strictly in the capacity of
a private citizen, drawing on his own observations and those of the
people he quotes. In these remarks, I draw mostly on Hortonʼs
book, but also informative is the long cable he wrote to the State
Department from the Athens consulate two weeks after the fire.
Horton wanted his book to make four main points.
First, he wanted to illustrate that the catastrophic events in Smyrna
were merely “the closing act in a consistent program of exterminating
Christianity throughout the length and breadth of the old Byzantine
Empire.”
Second, he wanted to establish that the Smyrna fire was started by
regular Turkish army troops with, as he put it “fixed purpose, with
system, and with painstaking minute details.”
Third, he wanted to emphasize that the Allied Powers shamefully
elevated their selfish political and economic interests over the
plight of the beleaguered Christian populations of Asia Minor, thereby
allowing the Smyrna catastrophe to unfold without any effective
resistance and, as he said, “without even a word of protest by any
civilized government.” And fourth, he wanted to illustrate that pious
western Christians were deluded in thinking they were making missionary
headway in the Muslim world. I will address only the first two points.
Historical Background To understand these two points, we first need to
review briefly the key events in Asia Minor in the period leading up to
1922. In World War I, the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany. Horton,
you will recall, was at his consular post in Smyrna during the war
until 1917.
After the war, the victorious Allies gathered at Versailles to
formulate peace terms. Among the Peace Commissionʼs thorniest
tasks was partitioning the defeated Ottoman Empire.
Greece entered the war late, but sided with the eventually victorious
Allies. At the Peace Conference, Greeceʼs prime minister,
Eleutherios Venizelos, lobbied hard for the annexation to Greece of
Eastern Thrace, Constantinople, and a large territory along the Asia
Minor coast. In all of these areas there were large populations of
indigenous Greek Christians engaged mostly in commerce and agriculture.
In May 1919, the Supreme Council of the Paris Peace Commission
endorsed the Greek armyʼs landing at Smyrna and the establishment
of a Greek administrative zone. From Smyrna, the Greek army pushed
eastward into Anatolia, the Turkish heartland, successfully expanding
the Greek zone; and Greeceʼs claims not only to this zone but
also to Eastern Thrace were ratified by the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres,
which the Great Powers imposed on the humbled Ottoman Empire.
There remained, however, the problem of a rising Turkish nationalist
movement in Anatolia led by a charismatic former Ottoman army officer,
Mustafa Kemal, whose military strength the Great Powers and Greece
dangerously underestimated. The result was the rout of Greeceʼs
over-stretched, war-weary army by Kemal near Afyonkarahisar on August
30, after which Kemalʼs nationalist troops began a relentless
advance toward Smyrna. Before them they drove the remnants of the
Greek army and hordes of frightened Christian farmers and villagers.
According to Horton, news of the Kemalist advances began reaching
Smyrna soon after the Greek defeat and produced immediate panic among
the Christian population. Their panic was completely understandable,
he said, as he had predicted in a consular dispatch that if the
Greek Army retreated in Asia Minor it would be followed by the entire
Christian population. His prediction was based on his nearly thirty
years of consular service and, as he put it, on “some things which
all men who have had long residence in this country absolutely know.”
First, the city filled with refugees from the interior, mostly
small farmers, who were lodged in the churches, schools, and other
public institutions. Many got away in the first days on steamers and
sailboats. “Then,” says Horton, the defeated, dusty, ragged Greeks
soldiers began to arrive, looking straight ahead, like men walking
in their sleep. . . .
In a never-ending stream they poured through the town toward the
point on the coast to which the Greek fleet had withdrawn. Silently
as ghosts they went, looking neither to the right nor the left. From
time to time some soldier, his strength entirely spent, collapsed on
the sidewalk or by a door.
Then they learned that the Turkish army was moving on the city. The
Turkish cavalry units arrived on the morning of September 9, filing
along the quay toward their barracks at the Konak (the Turkish
administrative headquarters building) at the other end of the city.
In the evening of the same day, the looting and killing began in the
Armenian quarter. The following morning, Americans began to report
seeing corpses lying in the streets in the interior of the city.
Horton himself saw Turkish civilians armed with shotguns watching
the windows of Christian houses ready to shoot at any head that
might appear.
The shooting continued in the Christian quarters the night of September
10. Throngs of frightened people were begging to be let into various
American institutions. After the Armenian quarter had been thoroughly
sacked for nearly four days, the fire erupted in the Armenian quarter.
**** A lecture by James L. Marketos at the AHI Noon Forum, on September
14, 2006
To be continued
php?name=News&file=article&sid=5594
–Bou ndary_(ID_wiHhiUstPzP2J68a2RHEKg)–

FRENCH AMBASSADOR: “TURKISH-FRENCH RELATIONS WILL BE HURT BY PASSAGE OF THE ARMENIAN BILL”
Turkish Press
Oct 16 2006
Appearing on television yesterday, France’s Ambassador to Ankara
Paul Poudade commented on the French Parliament’s passage of the
Armenian bill, saying that French-Turkish relation could be hurt by
the decision. Poudade pointed out that the bill was passed by the
lower house of Parliament, but had not yet become a law. “Accepting
the so-called Armenian genocide claims is not a precondition for
Turkey’s European Union membership bid,” said Poudade, adding that
dialogue between the sides on the issue should be should be improved.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI AND TURKISH DIASPORA IN CZECH PROTEST DECISION OF FRENCH PARLIAMENT
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Oct 16 2006
Representatives of the Azerbaijani and Turkish Diaspora in the Czech
Republic held a rally of protest before the embassy of France in
Prague, against the French Parliament’s bill establishing punishment
for rejection of the “Armenian genocide”.
During 15 minutes, the protesters have stood before the Embassy with
posters in their hands exposing falsification of historical events
in Czech language.
Chairman of the Azer-Czech Society Elshan Nazarov has presented
to the Embassy employees a book, “The Armenian Terror”, in French,
Armenian and Turkish, and a CD, demanded form the democratic France
to refrain form its pro-Armenian position.
Since February 2007, the Azer-Czech Society is going to hold numerous
actions on the Khojali tragedy.

HUSEYNOV: I TOLD EDWARD O’HARA THAT THERE WAS NOT ARMENIAN CROSSES IN NAKHCHIVAN
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 16 2006
“The delegation organized by COE General Secretary Terry Davis is more
reliable, because it includes different experts from different fields.
They will investigate cultural heritage of Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Armenia,” Rafael Huseynov, the member of Azerbaijani delegation to
COE told journalists, APA reports. He said the experts are expected
to visit the region soon. Huseynov also mentioned that Terry
Devis mission’s visit to Azerbaijan before South Caucasus cultural
co-rapporteur Edward O’Hara interests Azerbaijan. “The mission can
arrive at more objective truth. Their decision can impact on the
decision of the co- rapporteur. Terry Devis was expected to visit
the region in October, but the visit was postponed because of more
than enough composition of the delegation members.
Huseynov said O’Hara planned to visit Azerbaijan together with the
mission organized by Terry Devis. The visit was postponed, because
Armenian Parliament appealed to PACE.
“They stated in their report that Azerbaijanis razed Armenian crosses
in Nakhchivan. I am the member of the same commission. I told him
that there were Alban monuments, but not Armenian ones. I also said
that they have razed Azerbaijan monuments and still continue to. I
convinced him to visit not only Azerbaijan, but also Armenia and
Nagorno Garabagh. Now he plans to visit Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Georgia,” he said.
Huseynov said O’Hara plans to visit the region at the end of the year,
but the visit in the spring of the next year is not excluded too.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY CALMS RESPONSE TO VOTE
By Andrew Borowiec
Washington Times, DC
Oct 15 2006
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Despite threats of retaliatory action and national
anger, Turkey appears to be stepping back from a prolonged clash with
France over a French parliamentary bill on the 90-year-old Armenian
massacres.
“The focus is on limiting the damage” after the French National
Assembly voted on Thursday to make any denial of the Ottoman mass
killings of Armenians a punishable offense, according to one diplomatic
report.
France’s leading politicians, including President Jacques Chirac
and his rivals, are on record in favor of keeping Turkey out of the
European Union unless it admits the massacres as genocide.
However, the French political class generally has remained lukewarm
following the decision by the lower house of Parliament, influenced
by the vocal Armenian lobby.
Only 106 of the 577 Assembly members voted for the proposed law,
with most others absent during the vote.
In his latest statement on the subject, Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said his government was studying retaliatory measures,
although the French Senate still would need to approve the National
Assembly’s action for it to become law.
“Turkey’s foreign trade volume with France is $10 billion, and
this is equal to 1.5 percent of France’s whole trade,” Mr. Erdogan
said. “We are going to make the proper calculations and then take
the necessary steps.”
A potential, though unofficial, act of retaliation occurred yesterday,
when a statue in Chaville, France, to commemorate the Armenian
massacres was reported stolen.
The bronze monument, installed in front of the train station in the
Paris suburb of Chaville in 2002, disappeared either Friday night or
yesterday morning, said authorities for the Haut-de-Seine region.
The police have not ruled out the possibility that the statue, which
weighs several hundred pounds, was stolen to be sold as scrap metal,
said Stephane Topalian, who serves on the board of the local chapter
of the Armenian church. However, Mr. Topalian stressed the timing
of the robbery, which followed the bill’s approval in France’s lower
house of Parliament.
The European Union, locked in difficult accession negotiations with
Turkey, opposes the French bill as provocative and fueling Turkish
nationalist anti-European sentiments. For their part, the nationalists
said they feel that Turkey has been slighted by the barrage of EU
demands to adjust its laws to European requirements.
Can Baydarol, a Turkish analyst, said the French vote was “proof of
the hostile attitude of France” to Turkey’s EU candidacy.
Last year, French voters rejected a proposed European Constitution,
in part because of fears that its adoption would facilitate Turkey’s
entry into the European Union.
The Armenian quest for international recognition of their national
tragedy received a significant boost when Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s best
known novelist and critic of its treatment of minorities, received
the 2006 Nobel Prize for literature — on the day of the French
Parliament’s vote.
A succession of Turkey’s republican governments systematically has
denied any policy targeting its Armenian population but admits that
several hundred thousand Armenians died of ethnic strife and hardship
during a “resettlement march” to Syria between 1915 and 1917.
Members of the Armenian diaspora, mainly descendents of those who
escaped the massacres and settled in other parts of the world, claim
that Ottoman troops killed up to 1.5 million of their compatriots.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress