Author: Hambardsumian Paul

ERGENEKON ARMS SITE UNEARTHED IN GOLBASHI

Today’s Zaman
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Jan 9 2009
Turkey

Police in Ankara discovered a munitions site in an investigation into
the Ergenekon terrorist organization. Weapons, flamethrowers and hand
grenades found buried under the ground appear to date from the year
2004. Other excavations are under way in various areas of the city.

A large cache of weapons, ammunition and bombs was found yesterday
buried underground in Ankara’s GölbaÅ~_ı district, as a result of
a police search based on a map found in the home of Ä°brahim Å~^ahin,
a former head of the National Police Department’s Special Operations
Unit. The operation came at a time when Å~^ahin had ordered the
assassination of non-Muslim minority leaders in Sivas.

Å~^ahin was detained along with 36 others on Wednesday in the
investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine network of groups and
individuals accused of trying to overthrow the government. Thirty
varieties of explosives and bombs as well as three lightweight
anti-tank weapons (LAWs) were found buried underground. The newspapers
wrapped around the weapons were from the year 2004, the police
said. According to the initial official list, there were a large
number of bullets for 9mm guns, two LAV weapons, 10 hand grenades
whose serial number had been deleted and 10 smoke bombs used in
training with colored smoke. Another boxed explosive and an ignition
mine were found in the first phases of the excavation, the police
said. The materials found have yet to be examined thoroughly at a
police crime lab. There were also plastic explosives buried.

The excavation of the site started on Thursday and continued until
midday. The teams resumed excavation on Friday and located the
munitions. Excavations were also launched in the Bala, Mamak, Emek,
BeÅ~_tepe, Saklıbahce and Ataturk Orman Ciftligi districts of the
city to locate more weapons possibly buried in these areas.

The operation started when Å~^ahin, whose phone conversations have
been tapped by police for at least two months, gave the order to
finalize plans to assassinate Armenian community members in the city
of Sivas. Twelve others were detained in Sivas during Wednesday’s
operation. Police also found shocking evidence that the group was
plotting to kill prominent figures including Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, Former Chief of General Staff YaÅ~_ar Buykanıt,
Police Department Intelligence Unit Chief Ramazan Akyurek, journalist
Fehmi Koru, author Orhan Pamuk and some politicians including members
of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).

Gladio weapons fields

The fields brought to mind a great number of NATO-made arms depots
found buried underground during an investigation started by Italian
prosecutor Felice Casson, who discovered the existence of Operation
Gladio, a NATO stay-behind paramilitary force left over from the Cold
War. In a panel he joined in Ä°stanbul last April, Casson said these
weapons were found buried in cemeteries, under churches and even in
caves. Ergenekon is also thought to be a remnant from the original
Turkish Gladio, which was founded against a possible Soviet invasion
during the Cold War, but later turned into an organization trying to
cut off Turkey’s ties with the West. The retired generals arrested
in the Ergenekon investigation seem to have an anti-EU, anti-NATO
stance favoring a closer relationship between Turkey and Russia and
Eurasian nations.

Analysts said on Friday that the buried weapons might shed light on
a number of murders committed in the GölbaÅ~_ı area prior to the
Susurluk investigation of 1996, which started when a former police
chief, a southeastern tribal leader whose men were armed by the state
to fight separatist violence and an internationally wanted mafia boss
were involved in an accident near the small township of Susurluk while
riding in the same car. The police chief and the mafia boss as well
as his girlfriend, a former model, were killed in the accident. No
serious arrests followed from the ensuing investigation, which had
exposed, for the first time in modern Turkish history, a gang with
links to the state.

Some of the most significant unresolved murders were the assassination
of Yusuf Ekinci, a lawyer of Kurdish origin, and the murder of retired
Maj. Cem Ersever and his girlfriend. Investigators are examining
possible links between the GölbaÅ~_ı weapons and unresolved murders
in the area in the ’90s.

Ergenekon suspects on the run

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Mustafa Dönmez, an Ergenekon suspect in whose
houses in Sakarya and Ankara were found to contain dozens of bullets,
hand grenades and weapons, is now reported to be a fugitive. On
Wednesday Dönmez, who promised the police who called him on his cell
phone to inform him that an arrest warrant had been issued for him
that he would go to a police station "right away", disappeared shortly
after the phone call. The police claim they arrived on Wednesday at
the Adapazarı Central Command to capture Dönmez, but gendarmerie
officers who said the area fell under gendarmerie jurisdiction said
they would find Dönmez. Later, the gendarmerie told that police they
had been unable to find Dönmez and that they believed he had escaped.

Twenty-two hand grenades, five revolvers and a Kalashnikovs as well
as 8,300 bullets were found in a house belonging to the lieutenant
colonel in Sakarya. The search in another house belonging to Dönmez
in Ankara revealed three revolvers, 2 Kalashnikov rifles and a pair
of night-vision binoculars.

Thirty-seven in total were detained in the last wave of Ergenekon
detentions on Wednesday, including six army members who are currently
on duty as well as seven retired generals. In addition to Dönmez,
Bedrettin Dalan, a former mayor of the city of Ä°stanbul, was also
being searched by the police on Wednesday, but it soon turned out that
he was in the US. However, some newspapers claimed on Friday was Dalan
had evaded to the US after being tipped off on the Ergenekon operation.

Political clashes over Ergenekon

On Thursday, one day after the high-profile detentions, the traffic
in Ankara between institutions was intense. Chief of General Staff
Gen. Ä°lker BaÅ~_bug visited both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and President Abdullah Gul, with no statement on the content of the
talks but stating that they were indeed about the recent detentions
in which some retired generals and current officers were taken into
custody. Newspapers wrote yesterday that BaÅ~_bug was seeking special
treatment for military members. According to sources which spoke to
various newspapers, BaÅ~_bug demanded that military members should be
invited to the prosecutor’s office instead of being taken into custody.

Sources also say that BaÅ~_bug demanded that senior generals
HurÅ~_it Tolon and Å~^ener Eruygur, arrested last year as part of
the investigation, be released pending trial.

BaÅ~_bug’s visit on Thursday came after a 6-hour meeting of the
Force Commanders on Wednesday evening, convened immediately after
the detentions.

Accusations disrespectful to judiciary, says Å~^ahin

Also yesterday, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin responded to
allegations from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) that
the Ergenekon investigation had turned into a witch-hunt against the
government’s opponents. CHP leader Deniz Baykal claimed the operation
was a revenge against the secular Republic and its supporters. Å~^ahin
said, "Showing our prosecutors and judges because of their judicial
activities to be "settling accounts with the Republic," is the highest
form of disrespect that can be shown the judicial institution." Å~^ahin
called on all segments to show the utmost effort not to cast doubt
upon the judiciary.

–Boundary_(ID_WfSi3kfBzOubWVEIMGsppw) —

ANCA WELCOMES 111TH CONGRESS

armradio.am
08.01.2009 19:40

As Armenians around the world celebrated Christmas, Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA) staff and activists spread good cheer on
Capitol Hill, participating in the Congressional swearing-in ceremony
kicking off the 111th Congress.

"With a new Congress beginning its legislative session, it was a
great day to be on Capitol Hill, to reconnect with seasoned supporters
and to meet with Members of the freshman class," said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. "In the upcoming weeks, we look forward to
expanding on these meetings here in Washington, DC and around the
country as we pursue a proactive agenda in 2009."

ANCA Legislative Affairs Director Raffi Karakashian, Legislative Team
Member Garo Manjikian and activists from California, Rhode Island,
Michigan, Nevada and New Jersey spoke with a range of Senators and
Representatives on the upcoming legislative agenda – focusing on
Armenian Genocide reaffirmation efforts, self-determination for Nagorno
Karabagh and efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Armenia relationship.

In all, the ANCA team met with elected officials and staff from over
25 Congressional offices including Assistant Senate Majority Leader
Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA),
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), as well as House
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Democratic Congressional20Campaign
Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Congressional Armenian
Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) and a
range of freshman Representatives including Duncan Hunter (R-CA),
Jared Polis (D-CO), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Paul Tonko (D-NY).

In total, 94% of ANCA endorsed candidates were elected to the 111th
Congress, with 201 of 211 securing decisive wins in the November 2008
elections. Among those winning in tight House races, with Armenian
American support, were Armenian Genocide Resolution supporters Mike
McCaul (R-TX), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Tim
Walz (D-MD) and Florida Representatives Lincoln Diaz Balart (R-FL),
Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL) and Ron Klein (D-FL). Armenian American
Congresswomen Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) won their
reelection bids overwhelming with 70% and 75% respectively. ANC OH
chairman Dave Krikorian (OH-2) garnered an impressive 18% in his
independent Congressional bid, laying a solid foundation for future
electoral campaigns.

In the Senate, 12 of 15 ANCA endorsed candidates won their election
bids, including Armenian Genocide Resolution lead sponsor Richard
Durbin (D-IL), John Kerry (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Frank Lautenberg
(D-NJ), Carl Levin (D-MI) as well as Mark Udall (D-CO) and Tom Udall
(D-NM), who moved from the House to the Senate.

MEETING PLANNED FOR AZERBAIJANI AND TURKISH POLITICIANS: ANA VATAN PARTY
A. Huseynbala

Trend News Agency
Jan 8 2009
Azerbaijan

A meeting is planned for Azerbaijani and Turkish political parties.

"Depending on how events unfold, we may hold a conference," Azerbaijani
State Deputy and Ana Vatan Party Chairman Fazail Agamali told Trend
News on Jan. 7. "If the situation becomes serious, we will send
invitations to the parties of the Turkish Parliament."

A conference scheduled for late January 2009 in Baku on
"Turkish-Armenian Relations: Possible Expectations" has been
canceled. Members of the Azerbaijani and Turkish parliaments were to
take part in the event.

Armenian-Turkish relations have been severed since 1993 due to
Armenia’s "genocide" campaign and and forceful occupation of 20
percent of Azerbaijani territory. Turkish President Abdullah Gul
visited Yerevan on Sept. 6, 2008 after being invited by Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to watch a football match between the two
countries. Efforts have been made to normalize ties ever since.

Turkey has also acted as a mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan organized a meeting
between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Turkey to discuss
the issue in New York.

Agamali said his party is paying close attention to the negotiations
between Turkey and Armenia.

"We want the negotiations between these countries to be fruitful,"
he said. "But the differences between the previous government’s and
President Abdullah Gul’s views and the apology campaign launched by
some Turkish intelligentsia before Armenia have forced us to take an
expectant position."

The conference hopes to relieve the anxiety of the Azerbaijani and
Turkish people over Turkish-Armenian relations, he added.

"So far we have not held concrete discussions about the conference
with the parties of the Turkish parliament," Agamali said. "But I
do not think the political forces of our brotherly country will be
against the issue."

The pro-government Ana Vatan Party was founded in 1991. Two MPs
represent the party in the Azerbaijani parliament.

AND ARMENIA?

Haykakan Zhamanak
Jan 8 2009
Armenia

While meeting with journalists before the New Year, Movses Hakobyan,
the defence minister of the [unrecognized] Nagornyy Karabakh republic,
made an almost sensational statement, which, perhaps, will become a
matter of discussion in Armenia.

While answering a question of our correspondent on the Karabakh
settlement, Hakobyan said literally the following: "As opposed to other
countries in the region, Karabakh is the only one where the authorities
have been elected by the people and where the people accept it".

Perhaps after this statement the Armenian government will finally start
to treat seriously the issue of what Movsisyan implies by saying the
"region", and whether he believes that the government in Armenia,
as opposed to Karabakh, has not been elected by the people. It is
quite possible that if the Armenian government is convinced that what
the Karabakh defence minister said refers to them as well, then there
could be trouble in the pipeline for Movses Hakobyan.

TURKEY’S LONG-AWAITED APOLOGY TO ARMENIANS BEGINS
By Esra Ozyurek

South Bend Tribune
dll/article?AID=/20090107/Opinion/901070427/1065/O pinion
Jan 7 2009
IN

Two hundred Turkish intellectuals last month launched an Internet
signature campaign for an apology to Armenians for the 1915 massacres.

"My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the
denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Armenians were subjected
to in 1915," the brief statement reads. "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."

Within a month, more than 26,000 people signed on, a significant
number in a country where the fate of the Armenians at the end of
the Ottoman Empire has been largely unmentionable for decades.

To those long frustrated by Turkey’s intractability on the issue, this
campaign may appear an inadequate gesture. But it has immense value,
educating many Turks about the violence done to Armenians for the
first time and enabling those who are ready to come to terms with it.

The official Turkish position on 1915 has shifted over time. It was
a fight between local Turkish and Armenian bands. Or it was a forced
resettlement — a march on which hundreds of thousands of Armenians
were sent to Syria, but most never arrived.

Historians and politicians also have argued that it was actually
Armenians who massacred Turks and that talk of an Armenian genocide
was an international conspiracy. In contemporary Turkey, novelists,
journalists, historians or other intellectuals who call the events a
genocide or even mass murder can face trial under the infamous Article
301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which outlaws insulting Turkey, its
government or its people.

Organizers of the "I apologize" campaign notably shied away from the
word "genocide," opting instead for "the Great Catastrophe," a phrase
initially used by Armenians. Still, Turkish nationalists were quick
to condemn the project and launch multiple counter we-want-an-apology
campaigns.

Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quickly dismissed the
apology movement.

"These Turkish intellectuals must have committed the genocide,"
he said mockingly, "since they are the ones who are apologizing."

Opposition parties in the parliament, other than the Kurdish-inclined
Democratic Turkey Party, have all condemned the campaign as well. The
Nationalist Action Party, for example, issued a statement that said,
in part, "There is no single page in the honorable history of the
Turkish nation for which we should be embarrassed, and no crime
for which we should apologize. No one has the right to smear our
ancestors by deviating from history, declaring them guilty, and ask
them to apologize."

Granted, 26,000 signatories to the campaign means Turks interested
in apologizing remain few and far between in a nation of 70
million. Still, this is a very significant development in Turkey.

In the last 10 years, several Turkish scholars began studying the
Armenian massacres outside the official Turkish framework, and some of
them, such as Taner Akcam, have openly acknowledged those events were
a genocide. Turkish and Armenian scholars organized joint workshops
to discuss what happened to Armenians at the end of the Ottoman
Empire. When Hrant Dink, a prominent journalist of Armenian background,
was assassinated by a nationalist thug in Istanbul two years ago,
200,000 Turks marched in the streets carrying banners that said,
"We are all Armenian."

Critics will certainly reply that these modest activities do not
compensate for the original crime or the suffering caused by its denial
for almost a century. They will complain that the current signature
campaign does not use the word "genocide." Yet the significance of
this campaign cannot be understated.

I grew up in Turkey in a politically engaged, educated and reasonably
liberal family in the 1970s and the 1980s, and I had only a vague
idea about the animosity between Turks and Armenians. It wasn’t
until I enrolled in graduate school at the University of Michigan,
one of the most important centers of Ottoman and Armenian studies in
the United States, that I learned about the unacceptably sad end of
the Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire.

Turks growing up today surely are better informed about the history
of the land they inhabit. Even those who accept the nationalist line
have to be aware of the sudden end of the centuries-long Armenian
presence in Anatolia.

Regardless of the terms they employ or the specific amount of
responsibility they willingly shoulder, this next generation of Turks
is already in a much better position to face the darkest aspect of
their national history and develop a more responsible relationship
to it.

It may appear a small gesture now, but the initiators of the "I
apologize" campaign have introduced a ray of hope for reconciliation
between Armenians and Turks before the 100th anniversary of the
catastrophe comes around.

Esra Ozyurek is an associate professor of anthropology at the
University of California, San Diego, and author of "Nostalgia for
the Modern: State Secularism and Everyday Politics in Turkey" and
"Politics of Public Memory in Turkey."

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
Jan 4 2009

Armenian Foreign Ministry: `Armenia hopes for continuation of
improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations"

04 January 2009 [19:08] – Today.Az

Armenia hopes that the process of improvement of Armenian-Turkish
relations with first steps undertaken in 2008 will continue in 2009.

According to spokesman for Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan,
the meeting of Armenian and Turkish President Serzh Sargsyan and
Abdullah Gul on September 6 and further the meeting of the Foreign
Ministers of these two countries were constructive and Armenian side
hopes that these positive tendencies will also continue in 2009.

Balayan also noted that there has not been any agreement about holding
the meeting soon.

/GHN/

URL:

ARTSAKH ACTIVIST DR.ELENI THEOCHAROUS INVOLVED IN INCIDENT WITH ISRAELI
PATROL BOAT, WHILE TAKING HUMANITARIAN AID TO PALESTINIANS IN GAZA

Friday December 26 – Nicosia – Gibrahayer e-magazine

December 30, 2008 – Associated Press – LARNACA, Cyprus – Israeli naval
vessels reportedly have rammed a Gaza-bound boat carrying doctors,
medical supplies and international peace activists – among them former
U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney.
According to a statement released early today by the aid
mission’s organisers, the 66-foot yacht Dignity was struck on the bow
side, took on water and suffered engine damage.

In recent months Israel has permitted several similar missions
to reach Gaza, but with the two sides now locked in combat the Israelis
apparently have decided to prevent the latest ship from reaching port
in the besieged territory.
The ship sailed to Lebanon after the incident, according to a
statement released early today by organisers. They also said Dignity
was 90 miles off the coast of Gaza, in international waters, when it
was intercepted by the Israelis, who allegedly also fired machine guns
into the water to stop the ship from reaching Gaza.
The Israelis have denied their ship deliberately struck the
Dignity, telling The Associated Press that the ships collided when
Dignity tried to manoeuvre around the Israeli ship.
The aid vessel left Larnaca with almost 3.6 tons of
Cypriot-donated supplies and 16 passengers, including McKinney, Cypriot
lawmaker Eleni Theocharous and activists from Britain, Australia,
Ireland and Tunisia, organisers said.
McKinney, who unsuccessfully ran this year for the U.S.
presidency on the Green Party ticket, said she will petition U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama to speak out against the Israeli attacks
on Gaza.
Theocharous, who is also a surgeon, said supplies include
urgently-needed surgical equipment and antibiotics that will be used to
treat the wounded.
"We’re hoping that the Israelis are receptive to our very clear
focus that this is a humanitarian mission," said Caoimhe Butterly, the
spokeswoman for the Free Gaza group. "This is a symbolic relief
shipment and we hope that it will be the first of many."
The Fr ee Gaza group has made five deliveries of aid by boat to
Gaza since August, defying a blockade imposed by Israel when Hamas won
control of the territory in June 2007. One of their ships was named
after the USS Liberty, an American spy ship that the Israelis attacked
during the Six Day War in 1967. Israel claims they thought the ship was
Egyptian, though surviving crew-members and others have long maintained
their identity was clearly known to the attacking ships and aircraft.
The previous aid ships have all been allowed entry to Gaza, but
organisers say they are aware the Israeli navy may stop them this time.
Israel launched the deadliest bombing campaign against
Palestinians in decades on Saturday in retaliation for rocket fire
aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.
The strikes in Gaza have killed at least 315 people and wounded
1,400. Israel has launched more than 300 air-strikes, and its military
has said naval vessels have also bombarded targets from the sea.
It is also sending tanks toward the Gaza border and approving
the call-up of thousands of reserve soldiers in apparent preparation
for a ground offensive.
"We will try to make it to send the message to the Palestinian
people that they are not alone and to the rest of the world that they
must consider what is going on there right now," Theocharous said.

Athens News Agency, Greece
Dec 28 2008

Ecumenical Patriarch receives visiting Athens mayor

ISTANBUL (ANA-MPA) — Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I
(Vartholomeos) on Sunday received Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis at
his Fanar-district seat in the Bosporus metropolis. Kaklamanis later
met with the mayor of Beyo?Ä?lu (Peran), a historic district in
Istanbul, who also visited the Patriarch on the occasion of the
Christmas holiday.

Bartholomew later received two Armenian Church Archbishops of the
city, representatives of Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Mesrob
II, who conveyed the latter’s Christmas wishes to the Ecumenical
Patriarch and the Orthodox faithful.

CONVERSEBANK PROFITS MAY REACH 2.5BLN AMD

ARKA
Dec 26, 2008

YEREVAN, December 26. /ARKA/. Ararat Ghukasyan, the Executive Director
of Conversebank, said the bank’s profits before taxation may reach
2.5bln AMD.

"In the whole, the 2008 was a successful year for the bank and we
intend to complete it with profits exceeding the expected indicators,"
he told reporters on Friday.

According to Ghukasyan, Conversebank will adhere to a policy of
expansion in the regions and improve infrastructures and services
there.

"We managed to bring the number of branches to 25 with four of them
being renovated thoroughly, expanded the network of ATMs, increasing
their number up to 41 against 29 early this year," he said.

The Conversebank CJSC was incorporated in Armenia on December 20, 1993.

Eduardo Ernekyan, an Argentina-based Armenian businessman purchased
the bank’s 95% shares last February. The other 5% is held by the
Armenian Apostolic Church.

The bank’s assets reached 63.9bln AMD this October 31, total capital
13bln AMD, liabilities 50.9bln AMD. ($1 – 308.37).

SAAKASHVILI PLEDGES TO HELP MINORITIES
By Etuna Tsotniashvili

The Messenger
Dec 24 2008
Georgia

"Every ethnic group in Georgia should feel that they are
representatives of the country," President Saakashvili stated at a
meeting with the staff of news programme National Moambe, which is
broadcast in various languages, on December 22.

The President said the Georgian Government should take additional
measures to help ethnic minority groups to learn the Georgian language
better, something which would make it easier for them to integrate
with Georgian society. "We should improve the process of learning
the Georgian language for ethnic minorities, or rather, I would say
‘so-called ethnic minorities’ because I don’t accept such a term. I
don’t think they are either minorities or should be separated out
by ethnicity, but the learning of the Georgian language should be
enhanced in Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli and other regions of Georgia
where other ethnic group representatives live," he said.

Saakashvili talked about those teachers who work in areas populated
by minority ethnic groups and stated that after consultation with the
Education Minister the decision was made to increase the salaries of
teachers to GEL 1,000. "This will enable us to attract professionals
to teach there," he said.

Saakashvili said that the Ministry of Education made a very serious
mistake in expecting minority ethnic students to pass national entry
exams of the same standard as those for native Georgian speakers and
promised that this mistake will be rectified soon. "We should give
them special privileges to help them pass entry exams. Several hundred
representatives of minority ethnic groups should study at Georgian
higher educational institutions under the simplified programmes,"
he said, adding that the Government should create some incentives
for ethnic minorities so that they will stay in Georgia and continue
studying in local universities and institutions rather than going to
Baku or Yerevan.

At the end of his speech Saakashvili stated that Georgia’s
de-occupation will come soon and the unity previously created with
various ethnic groups will be decisive. The enemy called us everything
they could, but did not call us chauvinists or nationalists or accuse
us of pursuing ethnically discriminatory policies. "They failed
because such a position is totally unacceptable for the present
Georgian authorities, me personally, our nation and our multi-ethnic
society," Saakashvili said. "Our multi-ethnicity is not our weakness;
it is Georgia’s greatest wealth and strength," he added.