Author: Emil Lazarian

`BASTARD’ PITS TURKEY AGAINST ITSELF
AP , ISTANBUL
Taipai Times, Taiwan
Sept 10 2006
Europe’s governing body is watching which way Turkish courts will
jump as author Elif Shafak is prosecuted for insulting her nation
For best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak, this month promises to
be one of joy and tribulation.
Nine months pregnant, the University of Arizona literature professor
is set to give birth to her first child. Another important date looms:
the start of her trial on charges of “insulting Turkishness” in her
novel that deals with the waning years of the Ottoman Empire.
In a quiet cafe in the backstreets of Istanbul’s historic Beyoglu
district, where Turks, Armenians and Jews once lived in harmony,
Shafak reflected on the peculiarities of a case in which it is nothing
she said herself that is being put on trial, but words she gave to
a fictitious Armenian character.
“I think my case is very bizarre, because for the first time they
are trying fictional characters,” said Shafak, a striking woman with
unruly locks of blond hair.
If convicted Shafak, who divides her time between Tucson, Arizona,
and Istanbul, could face three years in prison. Turkey has refused
her request to delay the Sept. 21 trial because of her pregnancy.
The case will be closely watched by the EU, which has repeatedly
insisted that Turkey abolish laws that limit freedom of expression if
it is to fulfill its dream of joining the elite club of nations —
which sees itself both as an economic bloc and a beacon of liberal,
democratic values.
Shafak said the law on insulting Turkishness “has been used as a
weapon to silence many people. … My case is perhaps just another
step in this long chain.”
That chain includes Turkey’s best known novelist Orhan Pamuk — a
perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature — and dozens
of other writers and intellectuals forced to defend themselves against
charges of “insulting Turkishness.”
Shafak says he has received hate mail from nationalists calling her a
“pawn of the enemies of Turkey.”
Although most of the cases have been dropped for technical reasons —
such as the case involving Pamuk — and no one has ended up in prison,
the trials have raised serious questions about whether Turkey is
ready to embrace European values.
To Shafak, the trials, brought forward by a coalition of
ultranationalist lawyers, are an attempt to resist EU-inspired changes
toward a more democratic and pluralistic Turkey that some see as
a threat to the powerful central state, which has strong ties to
the military.
Yet Shafak sees reason for hope: The surge in nationalism, she
says, is a clear sign that Turkey is truly undergoing a momentous
transformation.
“This ultranationalist movement is taking place not because nothing
is changing in Turkey, but just the opposite, because things are
changing,” Shafak said. “The bigger the transformation, the bigger
their panic.”
Shafak’s novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, touches upon the massacres
of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, telling
the tale of a Turkish and an American-Armenian family whose lives
become intertwined.
The book also deals with other taboos — domestic violence and
incestuous rape — which are rarely discussed in this conservative,
predominantly Muslim country.
But it was fictional Armenian-American characters in the book who sent
Shafak to court. In one passage, a character is deeply concerned about
the prospect of his niece being brought up by a Turkish stepfather.
“What will that innocent lamb tell her friends when she grows up?”
the man asks. “[That] I am the grandchild of genocide survivors who
lost all their relatives to the hands of Turkish butchers in 1915,
but I myself have been brainwashed to deny the genocide because I
was raised by some Turk named Mustapha!”
Later, a radical Armenian-American blogger who goes by the name of
Lady Peacock/Siramark writes: “Do you think [the Turks] are going
to say: Oh yeah, we are sorry we massacred and deported you guys,
and then contentedly denied it all.”
Turkey insists that the mass evacuation and deaths of up to 1.5
million Armenians during World War I was not a planned genocide.
Labeling it as such can be considered a criminal offense.
The book has sold 60,000 copies since it was published — considered
a big hit in Turkey, where readership is low.
The daughter of a female diplomat who raised Shafak alone — her
father left when she was young — the novelist said that she first
became aware of the Armenian issue after Armenian militants killed
dozens of Turkish diplomats across the 1970s and 1980s.
“My very first acquaintance with the word `Armenian’ was so negative,
it just meant someone who wanted to kill my mother,” Shafak said. “I
then started to ask questions, `why so much hatred against Turkish
diplomats? What is behind this?'”
She does not take sides on the genocide debate, but criticizes Turkey
for what she calls a “collective amnesia” of the atrocities.
“Turks and Armenians are not speaking the same language,” she
explained. “For the Turks all the past is gone, erased from our
memories. That’s the way we Westernized: by being future-oriented…
The grandchildren of the 1915 survivors tend to be very, very
past-oriented.”
The English version of The Bastard of Istanbul is to be published
next year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“ZHAMANAK YEREVAN” NEWSPAPER’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SENTENCED TO 4 YEARS’ IMPRISONMENT
Noyan Tapan
Sept 08 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. The first instance court of
Kentron and Nork-Marash Yerevan communities presided over by judge
Mnatsakan Martirosian, by the September 8 verdict sentenced “Zhamanak
Yerevan” newspaper’s editor-in-chief Arman Babajanian to 4 years’
imprisonment. The court considered completely proved the accusation
brought to him, evasion of military service through forging documents
and considered him innocent on the accusation of misappropriation
of documents. To recap, the defendant pleaded guilty only on the
first accusation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ADVOCATES HAVE RIGHT TO DEFEND EVEN DEVILS
Story By Peter Mwaura | Fair Play
Daily Nation , Kenya
Sept 8 2006
One of the issues that arose during the Kiruki Commission of Inquiry
into the Armenian brothers’ saga was how far an advocate can go to
defend a person widely perceived to be a criminal. Lawyer Gibson Kamau
Kuria was particularly emphatic that it was his professional duty to
defend even “the devil” (when it appeared to some people like he was
defending the Armenians).
Dr Kuria was grappling with an age-old question that seems to confuse
the public: Should lawyers defend bad people? The question has been
contagious, now and in the past. Recently six MPs in western Kenya
warned lawyers not to represent suspects charged with the brutal
murder of six people in Nyamira District.
The Kenyatta and Moi regimes went even further: they blacklisted
lawyers who defended “dissidents” or politically incorrect individuals
or causes and denied them parastatal work, which was a lucrative
source of income for most lawyers.
English peasant revolt
The idea that a lawyer who defends an unpopular person is himself bad
is widespread and historical. The 1997 movie, “The Devil’s Advocate”,
popularises this “dark side” of law and the notion that lawyers are
purveyors of evil rather than good. Shakespeare summed up this in his
famous line in King Henry VI, Part 2, when the leader of an English
peasant revolt suggested: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all
the lawyers.”
The reason people hate lawyers who defend unpopular individuals or
causes is that people tend to think that right is on their side and
wrong on the other side. They tend to think that when a person is
accused of a crime he is immediately guilty. They do not respect the
presumption of innocence.
Such attitudes show that the public does not understand the role of
lawyers. When lawyers defend bad people the public thinks of them as
“devil’s advocates.” Lawyers, truly, are devil’s advocates but they
do not work for the devil. Their job is to zealously guard the legal
rights and interests of their clients.
A devil’s advocate is, in fact, a defence lawyer who takes nothing
for granted and asks tough questions, even unpopular ones, like the
ones lawyers Gibson Kamau Kuria and Jane Ondieki were asking in the
Kiruki Commission. The term “devil’s advocate” is in fact borrowed
from the Catholic Church, which appoints an official as the “devil’s
advocate” to present arguments against the canonisation of a candidate
for sainthood.
Without lawyers playing the devil’s advocate the integrity of our
judicial system would collapse. Devil’s advocates are needed because
courts assume, and rightly so, that there are two sides to every
question. They also presuppose that all parties ought to receive a
fair hearing and it is the job of lawyers to articulate the relevant
legal principles. Then judges, who are supposed to be disinterested,
can fairly decide on the merits of the case.
A lawyer does not defend the crime committed by his client. He defends
his legal rights. A lawyer cannot, because of his professional code
of conduct and ethics, refuse to represent a client because he is
“bad” any more than a doctor can refuse to treat a patient because
he has syphilis. A lawyer should not be adjudged guilty or bad simply
because of his association with his client.
A lawyer’s professional obligation is to zealously protect and pursue
his client’s legitimate interests within the bounds of the law, even
at the expense of incurring public unpopularity or judicial disfavor.
Lawyers owe their clients complete devotion. A lawyer is supposed to
do everything that is legal to defend his client, and a good lawyer
does everything he knows to cast doubt on the prosecution case. He
does so not because he condones crime but because the law assumes a
person is innocent until proven guilty.
Principles of equality
This duty of lawyers is internationally recognised. The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the principles of equality
before the law, the presumption of innocence, and the right to a fair
hearing. The United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers,
formulated in September 1990 and incumbent on all member states,
also requires lawyers to protect the interests of their clients “in
every appropriate way.” Rule 18 of the Basic Principles requires that
lawyers “shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’
causes as a result of discharging their functions.”
Dr Kuria was absolutely right when he said that he will defend the
devil – not that his client was one – at all costs. If that were not
the case, we can all forget about a fair judicial system.

UKRAINE IS READY TO SEND PEACEKEEPERS TO NAGORNY KARABAKH
UNIAN , Ukraine
Sept 8 2006
Addressing students and professors of Slavic University of Baku on
Friday, Victor Yushchenko said Ukraine was ready to send peacekeepers
to Azerbaijan to help settle the lasting conflict in Nagorny Karabakh,
according to the President’s press-office.
Ukraine believes it is necessary to recognize the territorial integrity
of the Republic of Azerbaijan and to withdraw troops from the occupied
territory, he said.
“The use of force and pressure yields no results and dead-ends the
conflict,” he opined.
The Head of State also said he believed it was important to let
refugees return to their homeland and later decide the status of the
Karabakh autonomy at a national referendum.
He said peacekeeping effort in the region could help stabilize the
situation, adding Ukraine was ready to participate under the aegis
of OSCE or the UN Security Council.
“I told Ilham Aliyev at our meetings Ukraine was ready to offer
peacekeepers to resolve the conflict,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN EDITOR JAILED FOR 4 YEARS
By Hovannes Shoghikian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 8 2006
The young editor of an Armenian newspaper critical of the government
was found guilty of illegally avoiding military service and sentenced
to four years in prison by a Yerevan court on Friday.
The court backed prosecutors’ claim that Arman Babajanian of
“Zhamanak Yerevan” used fake documents to win exemption from the
two-year compulsory duty in 2002. But the presiding judge, Mnatsakan
Martirosian, dismissed as “unfounded” a separate accusation that
Babajanian stole the documents from an Armenian couple based in
California.
Still, the jail sentence is only six months shorter than the one
demanded by the prosecutors. It is also quite harsh for individuals
convicted of draft evasion in Armenia. They usually get between two
and three years in jail. Babajanian’s defense counsel is therefore
likely to appeal against the verdict.
The 30-year-old editor looked resigned to going to prison as he
delivered his final court remarks two hours before the announcement
of the ruling. “Whether I will be in jail or at large, my homeland
Armenia will remain my dearest place,” he said. “It looks as though
I have to lose liberty in order to win back my right to again live
in the homeland. If this is so, I will pay the price and duly accept
any prison sentence set by the court.”
Babajanian added that he resorted to fraud after failing to extend
the deferment of his military service and study in a U.S. university.
He claimed that military authorities repeatedly rejected medical
documents testifying to his poor health.
Under Armenian law, virtually all young men aged between 18 and 27
must serve in the armed forces for two years. Those who are admitted
to state universities before coming of age have to be drafted after
finishing their studies.
Babajanian used to study in an Armenian religious seminary and had
his service deferred until 2001 before moving to the United States in
1998. He was arrested in June just weeks after returning to Armenia
and starting to publish the newspaper in Armenia. In a subsequent
statement released from his prison cell, he accused the authorities
of trying to muzzle an “independent and incorruptible media outlet
supporting the removal of the illegal regime and the establishment
of a legitimate government in Armenia.”
The “Zhamanak Yerevan” staff say Babajanian would not have been
prosecuted had his paper supported the government, a claim dismissed
by the prosecutors.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN TO HOST GUAM MEETING TO ESTABLISH PEACEKEEPERS
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 8 2006
GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) meeting for
establishing peacekeeping forces of the alliance will be held in
Azerbaijan.
The issue is being discussed at the level of deputy chief of General
Staffs of the member states, Ivan Androsenko, Ukrainian Defense
Ministry International Military Cooperation Department chief told
the APA exclusively.
“Measures are being implemented in establishing joint peacekeepers
of GUAM member countries after the Tbilisi meeting at the level of
deputy chief of General Staffs. Prior to that meeting, we had met in
Kyiv in June. The deputies chief of General Staffs are working out the
scheme of establishing peacekeeping contingent,” Mr.Androsenko, said.
He said they are considering the UN and OSCE proposals on the matter,
and the results will be sent to them. Now the yare discussing issues
on management and structure of the peacekeepers.
“The peacekeeping forces will operate under the auspices of the UN
and OSCE,” he said.
Androsenko also said GUAM peacekeepers might be dislocated in Nagorno
Garabagh only after the UN and OSCE decisions.
He also said there is a high level bilateral military cooperation
between Azerbaijan and Ukraine. Defense Ministers of the two countries
had a fruitful meeting in Baku May this year.
“This meeting gave impetus to the development of military and military
political spheres between out countries. It opened a new door for
military-political dialogue,” he said.
He also added that two countries are discussing the cooperation on
personnel training and other issues.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OIC INFORMATION AND PRESS MINISTERS TO GATHER IN JIDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Sept 8 2006
DELEGATION OF AZERBAIJAN WILL ATTEND THE EVENT
The Sixth Conference of the information and press ministers of the
Organization of Islamic Conference is due in the city of Jiddah of
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 9 September. The delegation headed by the
head of socio-political department of Administration of the President
of Azerbaijan Republic Ali Hasanov will take part at the event.
On action, discussed are expected the questions, concerning wider use
of opportunities of press and telechannels for cultural and information
exchange among the OIC member states, events of the international
value, and also ways of more effective and coordinated realization
of propagation of peace and the humanism peculiar to Islamic religion.
At the Conference, the Azerbaijan delegation will make a number of
practical offers to provide forming of common information policy of
these countries, improvement of information exchange among mass media
with the purpose of increase in the world of authority of people of
the Islamic countries, maintenance of operative and unbiased coverage
of occurring events, bringing up to world community of the truthful
information on the facts of aggression, pressure and threat against
the Islamic countries.
The delegation of Azerbaijan is going to call ministers of the
information and press of the Organization of Islamic Conference to
support Azerbaijan in the cause of coverage and bringing up to world
community of the realities connected with the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
At the conference to last until 14 September, the conferees will
adopt a joint Declaration and communique on necessary questions.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“ECHO”: OFFICIAL BAKU DOESN’T BELIEVE THAT ANKARA WILL OPEN FRONTIERS WITH ARMENIA
Ïðaâî Âûaîða, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
Sept 8 2006
Despite of all difficulties, Turkey won’t open frontiers with Armenia
neither it recognizes false genocide. Milli Mejlis deputy representing
ruling party and member of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, Aydin
Mirzazade, informed “Echo”. Otherwise, as deputy holds, Turkey would
deny its history, roots and primarily its national dignity. At the
same time, accordingly to Armenian mass media, EU draft report on
Turkey, discussed and adopted September 4 on the part of commission
on foreign relations of European Parliament, urges Ankara to open
frontiers with Armenia.
Following Armenian mass media document says that Turkey should take
all necessary measures to establish diplomatic and good-neighbor
relations with Armenia without precondition, including frontiers
opening accordingly to resolutions of European Parliament of 1987-2005.
A casual remark on recognition of genocide of Armenian in 1915 is made
in the draft report – governments of Armenia and Turkey are urged to
“continue the process of reconciliation for adoption of mutually
beneficial proposal”.
As deputy, Aydin Mirzazade, points out the issue on opening of
frontiers with Armenia is political but not juridical. Deputy reminds
that in the course of whole period of its existence EU presented
no demand to any future member-state. “Now issues, which have to be
dealt by historians and scholars, are focused on”, deputy holds.
Armenian diaspora plays its role in this connection, deputy believes.
“However, sooner or later Europeans will have to review their
positions as it is impossible to imagine Europe without Turkey,
being its integral part”, deputy insists.
“Within last 14-15 years Turkey has been steadfastly showing its
brotherhood with Azerbaijan. Ankara severed diplomatic relations
with Yerevan for the first time after Khodjali genocide committed by
Armenians in Nagorni Garabagh.
Azerbaijan will never forget heroic deed of Turkey, its faithfulness
to friendship and cooperation with our nation”, Mirzazade stresses.
However, deputy recognizes that there are some forces in fraternal
country, ready to open frontiers with Armenian aggressors for the
sake of their own interests.
“But I don’t think that any Turkish government will do so”, deputy
supposes. In this case, following deputy, they will have to answer
before Turkish nation, which at one with Azerbaijan.
As political scientist and co-founder of Azerbaijani national and
public committee on European integration, Leyla Aliyeva, says,
open frontiers is one of EU principles. “But Armenia is not EU
member”, she stresses. That is why it is not right to put forward
such conditions before Ankara. In this connection EU uses different
pressure instruments with respect to Turkey. “Some issues concerning
historical past are focused on and it is particularity of EU-Turkey
relations”, political scientist, Aliyeva holds.
Accordingly to her, there are many anti-Turkey forces in EU,
particularly, Greece and Cyprus. At the same time respond of Ankara
to EU requirements on frontier opening will depend on internal
situation in Turkey. “If European perspective of Turkey is getting to
be realistic and everything depends on frontier opening with neighbor
state, then who knows…” It’s not easy to predict steps of Turkish
government, Aliyeva says.
Chief of Administration on Information Policy of Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Tair Tagizade, particularly
underlined for “Echo” that Turkey and Armenia have number of issues,
apart from Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, which aggravate inter-state
relations. “At the same time Azerbaijan highly appreciates principal
adherence of Turkey to international law showed by Ankara with regards
to Garabagh conflict”, T. Tagizade concluded.
–Boundary_(ID_sjZhP5czgCmoUobEOf/h0Q) —
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LEBANON’S ARMENIANS DENOUNCE TURKISH UN FORCE
By Jocelyne Zablit
Burj Hammud, Lebanon
Agence France Presse — English
September 8, 2006 Friday 12:33 PM GMT
Lebanon’s Armenians, who have not forgotten the massacres their
people suffered under Ottoman rule, demonstrated Friday against
Turkish troops set to take part in a UN peacekeeping mission.
Waving Lebanese flags and banners denouncing Turkey as a murderous
state, several hundred gathered in the Beirut suburb of Burj Hammud,
heavily populated by Armenians, and appealed to the United Nations to
reconsider Turkey’s participation in an expanded UN force in Lebanon.
“Genocide, massacre, deportation: Turkey’s definition of peace,”
read one banner.
“No to the participation of Turkish forces among UN troops coming to
Lebanon,” read another.
“We had 1.5 million of our people slaughtered under the Turks and
you expect us to welcome them?” asked Arous Ghougassian, the owner
of a home furnishing business.
“I can assure you that I won’t sell them anything if they come into
my shop,” she said.
Hagop, an employee at the Basterma Mano food store, raised his fists
in anger when asked about the Turkish UN force.
“Look at my arms, I get goose bumps when you refer to them,” he said.
“If they dare come into our neighborhoods we’ll deal with them.”
Garo Hovsipian, a shopkeeper, said he could not put to rest the
massacre of his uncle and grandparents by the Turks in 1915.
“I somehow become a fanatic when I hear the word Turkey,” he said,
drawing on a cigar. “It brings back memories of my ancestors, our
history, the massacres.
“Still if I encounter any soldiers I will treat them as guests because
we are more civilized than them.”
Lebanon’s minority Armenian community, which numbers about 140,000
people, has objected to Turkey taking part in the UN force because
of mass killings of Armenians by Turks in 1915.
“Turkey, which carried out horrible crimes against humanity, cannot
take part in any peace process until it recognizes the massacre of
the Armenian people,” Jacques Choukhadarian, a former MP and minister,
told Friday’s gathering.
Representatives of the community have sent letters to UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan and to Western embassies in Beirut urging them
to reject Turkish participation in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon
(UNIFIL) set to number 15,000 troops from various countries.
Religious leaders has also issued a statement calling the Turkish
participation in UNIFIL “morally unacceptable”.
The Turkish parliament voted after fierce debate at an extraordinary
session Tuesday to authorize the government to send troops to take part
in the UN force to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has said the number of soldiers
is not likely to exceed 1,000.
Under the old Ottoman empire, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians are
said to have been killed or died after being forcibly driven from
their homes in Turkey between 1915 and 1917.
Ankara rejects all accusations of genocide, estimating the number of
Armenian deaths at 300,000 and arguing they were not a consequence
of deliberate extermination but a combination of war, disease, famine
and ethnic conflict.

ARMENIAN SERVICEMEN WILL TAKE PART IN NATO EXERCISES IN KISHINEV
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.09.2006 13:25 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Three officers of the Armed Forces of Armenia under
the command of Hakob Melikyan will take part in the Cooperative Longbow
2006 exercises, to be organized within the NATO Partnership for Peace
Program in Kishinev September 10-21. According to the Armenian MOD
Press Service, another 11 Armenian servicemen under the command of
Karapet Salabashyan will take part in NATO Cooperative Lancer 2006
exercises, to be held in Kishinev September 18-29.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress