Author: Hovhannisian John

DASHNAKS WERE SENTENCED FOR DRUG BUSINESS

Lragir.am
06-07-2007 15:30:23

Aram Manukyan, member of the All-Armenian Movement, thinks in
the political sphere of Armenia the ARF Dashnaktsutyun and Tigran
Karapetyan are doing the same thing and explained his words with an
example on the ARF Dashnaktsutyun. "Always at the feeding trough of
the government, they say they are opposition to win over opposition’s
votes. They get ministerial posts, head certain sectors, but they
say they are not responsible for the activities of the government."

Aram Manukyan reminds about the days when they were government. Prime
Minister Khosrov Harutiunyan was dismissed because he did not
endorse the government program. "How does the ARF disagree with Serge
Sargsyan when Serge Sargsyan fulfills the strategy and the tactics
of the government?"

Aram Manukyan thinks thereby the ARF Dashnaktsutyun deals with 30
percent of the state budget of Armenia. Aram Manukyan reminded that
when the All-Armenian Movement was government, the members of the
ARF Dashnaktsutyun were sentenced for illegal drug business, some of
them are still in prison, the charges against the released were not
changed. And if there is another problem, "now they have both the
hammer and the nail. Let them take these people out of prison."

AI REPORT 1998:TURKEY

(This report covers the period January-December 1997)

Hundreds of people were detained because of their non-violent political
activities; most were released after a short period of police detention
but others were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Torture continued
to be widespread and systematic in police stations and gendarmeries,
although new legislation on detention procedures had some impact. There
were at least six reported deaths in custody. At least nine people
reportedly `disappeared’ in security force custody and at least 20
people were killed in circumstances suggesting that they had been
extrajudicially executed. There were no judicial executions, although
courts continued to pass death sentences. Armed opposition groups
committed deliberate and arbitrary killings of prisoners and civilians.

The government headed by Necmettin Erbakan of the Islamist Welfare
Party in coalition with the right-wing True Path Party ended with his
resignation in June, largely as a result of pressure from the armed
forces. Later that month, a new coalition headed by Motherland Party
leader Mesut Y.lmaz was formed together with the Democratic Left Party
and Democratic Turkey Party. State of emergency legislation was lifted
in three provinces in October, but remained in force in six provinces
of the southeast, where the 13-year conflict between government forces
and armed members of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed the lives
of 6,000 people, including civilians, during the year.

Trade unionists, students and demonstrators were frequently taken into
custody at peaceful public meetings or at their organizations’ offices,
and were held in police detention for hours or days because of their
non-violent political activities.

The trial under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which outlaws any
advocacy of `separatism’, of 184 members of Turkey’s literary and
cultural elite for publishing a book entitled Freedom of Thought (see
Amnesty International Report 1997) was halted in October under the
terms of a law which suspended judicial proceedings against editors for
three years.

Other articles of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) were also used against
writers, journalists and political activists whose statements
criticized the Turkish state. In June the writer and lawyer Ahmet Zeki
Okçuo©lu was imprisoned under Article 159 of the TPC for `insulting the
institutions of the state’, after the Supreme Court upheld a 10-month
sentence handed down in 1993 by Istanbul Criminal Court No. 2 for his
article published in the newspaper Azadi (Freedom). He was released in
October. The trials under Article 159 continued against Münir Ceylan, a
trade unionist; Ercan Kanar, president of the Istanbul branch of the
Turkish Human Rights Association (HRA); and Ã`anar Yurdatapan,
spokesperson for the Together for Peace initiative (see Amnesty
International Report 1997). They had publicly accused the Chief of
General Staff of covering up the Güçlükonak massacre, in which state
forces allegedly detained and killed 11 civilians and village guards.
The security forces presented the killings as having been committed by
the PKK.

Prisoners of conscience Hatip Dicle, Orhan Do©an, Selim Sadak and Leyla
Zana, former parliamentary deputies for the Democracy Party, continued
to serve 15-year sentences, imposed in 1994 for alleged membership of
the PKK, at Ankara Closed Prison. No conclusive evidence was presented
to support the charges against them during the course of a blatantly
unfair trial and they appeared to have been imprisoned because of their
criticism of state policy in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern
provinces.

People expressing political beliefs from an Islamic point of view were
also held as prisoners of conscience. Former parliamentary deputy Hasan
Mezarc. was serving an 18-month sentence imposed in 1996 under Law 5816
for insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic.
He was released in October. In April members of the Aczmendi religious
order detained in October 1996 were sentenced to prison terms by Ankara
State Security Court (SSC) for appearing in public in Ankara in turbans
and cloaks _ garments which contravened the Dress and Hat Laws
instituted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Ilyas Eldi, Yakup AkkuÒ, Ahmet
Arslan, Ã-mer Faruk, Bülent Baykal, and Servet Dündar were sentenced to
four years’ imprisonment after conviction under Article 7/1 of the
Anti-Terror Law for `membership of an organization founded to transform
the Republic by means of intimidation or threats.’ In fact, the
Aczmendi order does not advocate violence. Another 110 Aczmendi
defendants received sentences of three years’ imprisonment.

The HRA was subjected to intense harassment. Three branches were shut
down including the Diyarbak.r branch, which was closed on the grounds
that `its activities threaten the unity of the state.’ Aziz Durmaz,
president of the Ã`anl.urfa branch, was detained and reportedly tortured
in June. He was committed to prison on apparently bogus charges of
membership of an armed organization. He was a prisoner of conscience.
Aziz Durmaz was released in November.

Turkey does not recognize the right of conscientious objection to
military service and there is no provision for alternative civilian
service. In January the General Staff Military Court in Ankara
sentenced Osman Murat Ã`lke, chairperson of the Izmir War Resisters’
Association (ISKD) (see Amnesty International Report 1997), to six
months’ imprisonment and a fine for `alienating the public from the
institution of military service’ by publicly declaring his
conscientious objection and burning his call-up papers in 1995. In
February the General Staff Military Court opened a new trial against
Osman Murat Ã`lke and a further 11 defendants from the HRA and ISKD on
charges of `alienating the public from the institution of military
service’ in speeches that they had given during Human Rights Week in
1995. Osman Murat Ã`lke was conditionally released in May, but was
rearrested in October at EskiÃ’ehir Military Court after being convicted
of `persistent insubordination’, for which he received a five-month
prison sentence, and `desertion’, for which he received a further
five-month sentence.

In March detention procedures were amended for people held under the
Anti-Terror Law (which includes non-violent offences). The Turkish
Government announced this as a measure to combat torture. The new law
shortened the maximum terms of police detention from 30 to 10 days in
provinces under state of emergency legislation, and from 14 to seven
days throughout the rest of the country. The new provisions were a
substantial

improvement but still failed to meet international standards. The law
provides for four days’ incommunicado detention, described by the
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment as `unacceptable’. Incommunicado
detention is widely recognized as being conducive to torture.

The revised detention procedures appeared to have some inhibiting
effect on the practice of torture. Nevertheless, there were many
well-documented reports of torture by police and gendarmes (soldiers
carrying out police duties, mainly in rural areas) in many parts of the
country. Male and female detainees frequently complained that they were
sexually assaulted. The victims included those detained for common
criminal offences as well as for offences under the Anti-Terror Law.
Children and juveniles were again among the victims. Sixteen-year-old
Murat Yi©it reported that he was tortured at a police station in Ankara
while detained in January. He stated that he was blindfolded and
stripped naked, drenched with cold water, beaten on the soles of his
feet and given electric shocks to his penis and feet by police officers
who wanted him to sign a confession to a series of burglaries. He was
later released without charge. A medical report issued by Ankara
Forensic Medicine Institute recorded injuries consistent with his
statement.

Hatun Temuzalp, a reporter for a left-wing journal, stated that she was
tortured while held for interrogation at Istanbul Police Headquarters
for seven days during March. Police officers insulted and threatened
her, and pulled some of her clothes off. Her arms were tightly bound to
a wooden bar and two people grabbed her, lifted her onto a chair, hung
her up, and pulled the chair away. This happened repeatedly. After a
period of intense pain she started to lose consciousness. A radiography
report indicated a fractured shoulder blade. When brought before a
judge, Hatun Temuzalp made a complaint of torture. She was released,
but her interrogators were not prosecuted.

In a judgment in September the European Court of Human Rights found
that Turkish security forces had tortured Ã`ükran Ayd.n while she was
detained at Derik Gendarmerie Headquarters in Mardin in 1993. She was
17 years old at the time. The Court found that Ã`ükran Ayd.n had been
raped, paraded naked in humiliating circumstances and beaten, and that
the Turkish authorities had failed to conduct an adequate investigation
into her complaint. The Court ordered the Turkish Government to pay
Ã`ükran Ayd.n compensation of approximately US$41,000.

There were at least six deaths in custody apparently as a result of
torture. Fettah Kaya died at Aksaray Police Station in May, after being
detained by vice-squad officers at the music hall where he worked.
Police authorities reportedly claimed that the 23-year-old man had died
of a heart attack, but a detainee who was in custody with him stated
that both of them had been tortured by police, who struck them with
sandbags.

At least nine people were reported to have `disappeared’ in the custody
of police or soldiers. In February witnesses saw four armed men,
apparently plainclothes police officers, stop Fikri Ã-zgen outside his
house in Diyarbak.r, check his identity and drive him away. His family
made inquiries with all the relevant authorities, who denied that he
was detained. In common with several other victims of `disappearance’,
Fikri Ã-zgen had relatives reported to have PKK connections.

At least 20 people were reported to be victims of political killings,
many of which may have been extrajudicial executions. In January Murat
Akman was killed during a house raid in Savur, Mardin province, shortly
after two security force officers had been killed by the PKK. According
to a family member who witnessed the killing, members of the Special
Operations Team (a special heavily armed police force unit) came to the
door, asking for Murat Akman. When he appeared and showed his identity
card, they opened fire, killing him instantly. The family made an
official complaint, but by the end of the year those responsible for
the killing had not been brought to justice.

The forcible return to their country of origin of recognized refugees
and asylum-seekers, including Iraqi and Iranian nationals, continued
throughout the year. On several occasions, Amnesty International
expressed grave concern to the Turkish Government about these
refoulements. No response was received.

For the 13th consecutive year there were no judicial executions,
although courts continued to pass death sentences.

Armed separatist, leftist and Islamist organizations were responsible
for at least 13 deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians and
prisoners. Armed members of the PKK were allegedly responsible for at
least 10 of the killings. According to reports, in July PKK members
killed Mehmet Ã-zdemir at Ã`zümlü village, near Eruh in Siirt province,
and also abducted Abdullah TeymurtaÃ’ from the same village before
killing him. In October Merka Akay was taken from her home in Nusaybin,
Mardin province, and strangled by PKK members. The Turkish Workers and
Peasants’ Army (TIKKO) reportedly claimed responsibility for the
killing in June of Devrim Yasemin Ã?ld.rten and Behzat Y.ld.r.m in
Istanbul, claiming that they were `traitors and collaborators’. The
Islamic Raiders of the Great East_Front claimed responsibility for the
bombing of a sewage treatment plant in Istanbul in June. Mehmet Ã`ahin
Duran, a worker at the plant, was wounded in the blast and subsequently
died of his injuries. Amnesty International condemned these grave
abuses and publicly called on armed opposition groups to ensure that
their members were instructed to respect international humanitarian law
and human rights standards.

Throughout the year Amnesty International appealed for the release of
prisoners of conscience and urged the government to initiate prompt and
independent investigations into allegations of torture, extrajudicial
executions and `disappearances’. Reports published during the year
included Turkey: Refoulement of non-European refugees _ a protection
crisis.

Amnesty International delegates observed several trial hearings,
including the January hearing in the trial at Izmir SSC of a group of
juveniles who had been tortured at Manisa Police Headquarters in 1996
and subsequently accused of membership of an armed organization, and
the final hearing in May of a trial at Adana Primary Court in which Dr
Tufan Köse, an employee of a rehabilitation centre for torture victims,
was sentenced to a fine for refusing to give officials access to
treatment records.

Annual Report UPDATE:
>From January to June 1998

The irresponsibility of the Turkish authorities created the climate for
the shooting on 12 May of Ak2n Birdal, President of the Turkish Human
Rights Association (HRA) Ak2n Birdal was wounded by six bullets from
the guns of two assailants who entered the headquarters of the
association in Ankara.

The authorities have not only consistently failed to investigate or
condemn earlier fatal attacks on officials of the association, but the
judicial authorities had apparently contrived to leak spurious but
highly dangerous allegations about Ak2n Birdal. These were contained in
confessions alleged to have been made by a former military commander of
the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) recently taken prisoner by the
security forces. Although Turkish law provides that evidence collected
during preliminary investigation is secret, these statements, which
cited Ak2n Birdal as well as numerous other prominent personalities
critical of the government as being implicated as having actively
supported the PKK, were given enormous publicity.

While Ak2n Birdal was struggling very close to death the Prime Minister
Mesut Yilmaz compounded the offence by describing the attack as an
"internal dispute" among people connected with the PKK. In fact, seven
men close to right wing political groups — one of them a gendarmerie
officer — were shortly afterwards arrested and charged with planning
and carrying out the attempted killing.

ARMENIAN FROM BEIRUT, PIERRE GUYUMCHIAN, GRANTS DIGITALIZATION DEVICE
TO MATENADARAN FOR TWO MONTHS

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, NOYAN TAPAN. Pierre Guyumchian, an Armenian engineer
from Beirut, granted a digitalization device Atiz BookDrive Diy to
Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran for two months. An agreement "On Free of
Charge Use of Property" was signed on June 26 between Arshak Banuchian,
the Acting Director of Matenadaran, and P. Guyumchian.

In P. Guyumchian’s words, it occurred to him to give that device to
Matenadaran after the stir over the agreement signed between the U.S.
Minnesota Hill Museum-Library of Manuscrips and Matanadaran.

P. Guyumchian stated that Matenadaran’s manuscripts should be
digitalized without the participation of foreigners, only Armenian
specialists should be engaged in it. "There are few centers like
Matenadaran in the world, and we should not give out its wealth to
foreigners," he said. P. Guyumchian said that before coming to Armenia
he visited Mayravank in Antelias and was upset to find out that part of
the books kept there had been already digitalized by the Hill
Museum-Library. As a result, if someone wishes to use that books, he
should receive the Hill Library’s consent. At the same time, P.
Guyumchian said that the device given by him is more suitable and
operates more smoothly than the one offered by the Hill Library.

A. Banuchian said that they plan to find out by means of the device
given by P. Guyumchian how quickly manuscripts’ digitalization is done,
how much that device is useful for that purpose, whether it can be
perfected, and how many devices of the kind are necessary for
digitalization of all manuscripts of Matenadaran.

The RA Ministry of Education and Science charged Matenadaran to submit
a manuscripts digitalization program to the RA government within three
months. In A. Banuchian’s words, this program should also include
manuscripts’ restoration, photography, creating databases, as well as
publication of unpublished originals.

It was mentioned that a proposal of a method of Matenadaran
manuscripts’ digitalization has been received from Karl Franz
University of the city of Graz, Austria.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Hrant Dink’s family brought action against Turkish general
30.06.2007 15:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The family of Armenian editor Hrant Dink,
assassinated January 19, 2007 in Istanbul, demands to launch legal
proceeding against general Dursun Ali Karademir. The motion came after
the general recited an equivocal poem during the funeral of a Turkish
soldier. The poem was dedicated to the soldier killed January 18 in
Diarbekir.

In April general Karademir said `the U.S. and EU did not condemn the
murder of a soldier but condemned the murder of a traitor.’

Dink’s family accuses the general in inciting hatred between the
families, Radikal newspaper reports.

CEC did not deny breach

30-06-2007 16:48:35 – KarabakhOpen

The election headquarters of the NKR presidential candidate Masis
Mayilyan sent a letter to the chair of the CEC Sergey Nasibyan and
reported that on the first day of the campaign after the airtime
provided for the campaign on the Public Television Murad Petrosyan’s
program propagated for Bako Sahakyan and against Masis Mayilyan. Masis
Mayilyan’s headquarters said to be ready to pay for this part of the
program of the CEC devoted to the election at least to make this
incident appear legal.

On Thursday the Central Electoral Commission responded to the letter.

STATE BUDGETARY REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES GROW BY 22.57% AND 17.9% RESPECTIVELY IN JANUARY-MAY 2007 ON SAME PERIOD OF LAST YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Jun 29 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, NOYAN TAPAN. In January-May 2007, the RA state
budgetary revenues made 198.3 billion drams (over 522 million
USD), expenditures – 183 billion drams, as a result of which the
government-approved program for the first half of 2007 was fulilled by
87.4% and 69.5% respectively. The annual program of the state budget
was fulfilled by 39.1% (revenues) and 33.6% (expenditures).

According to the RA Ministry of Finance and Economy, the state
budgetary revenues grew by 22.5% or 36.4 bln drams, expenditures grew
by 17.9% or over 27.7 bln drams on the same period of 2007. Taxes
and duties grew by 32.1 bln drams, non-tax revenues by 5.4 bln drams,
revenues from capital operations by 1.5 bln drams. Official transfers
declined by 2.6 bln drams.

In accordance with Apricle 9 Point 18 of the Law on the 2007 State
Budget of the RA, off-budget resources of state institutions were also
included in the state budget, with their revenues making more than
4.2 bln drams in the period under review against 4 bln drams last year.

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email [email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE
June 29, 2007
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

MAJORITY OF U.S. HOUSE MEMBERS COSPONSOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
RESOLUTION

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106)
reached an important milestone today with the number of cosponsors
for the human rights measure growing to 218 – a majority of the
U.S. House of Representatives, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).

"We welcome the growth of Armenian Genocide Resolution cosponsors
to the 218 threshold – and want to extend our appreciation to
Congressman Schiff and his colleagues who helped us reach this
mark, as well as to each and everyone of the two hundred and
eighteen cosponsors of this measure," said Aram Hamparian,
Executive Director of the ANCA. "We look forward in the coming
days and weeks to working with our chapters and activists across
the country in maintaining and expanding the bipartisan majority in
favor of the timely adoption of this human rights legislation."

"In gaining 218 cosponsors, we have demonstrated that a majority of
the House strongly supports recognizing the facts of the Armenian
Genocide," said lead sponsor, Congressman Adam Schiff. "While
there are still survivors left, we feel a great sense of urgency in
calling attention to the attempted murder of an entire people. Our
failure to acknowledge these dark chapters of history prevents us
from taking more effective action against ongoing genocides, like
Darfur."

Introduced on January 30th by Rep. Adam Schiff along with
Representative George Radanovich (R-CA), Congressional Armenian
Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI),
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Rep. Thaddeus
McCotter (R-MI), the Armenian Genocide resolution calls upon the
President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States
reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning
issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide
documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian
Genocide. A similar resolution in the Senate (S.Res.106),
introduced by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen.
John Ensign (R-NV) currently has 31 cosponsors, including Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

Over the past five months, Armenian Americans and human rights
advocates have joined with Members of Congress in educating their
colleagues about the Armenian Genocide and the importance of proper
recognition of this crime against humanity.

Just this week, thousands participated in the ANCA "Call for
Justice Campaign," a national Congressional call-in effort in
support of H.Res.106. The campaign was a follow up to the weeklong
ANCA "Click for Justice" web campaign in April.

On March 22nd and 23rd, over 100 activists from 25 states
participated in the Washington, DC advocacy days, titled "End the
Cycle of Genocide: Grassroots Capitol Campaign." By the end of the
whirlwind two-day campaign, organized by the ANCA and the Genocide
Intervention Network (GI-Net), activists had visited all 100 Senate
and 435 House of Representatives offices, meeting with Members of
Congress and their staff, and dropping off information regarding
pending Armenian and Darfur genocide legislation.

The grassroots campaign continued with the launching of the ANCA
Western and Eastern Region POWER Initiatives designed to
significantly expand community outreach and support. Dubbed
"Project Outreach Western Region" in the West and "Project Outreach
Waves the Eastern Region" in the East, the program has generated
renewed grassroots activism in large and small communities.
Travels to traditional strongholds in California, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and
Illinois have been complemented with visits to Arizona, Florida,
Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina and South Carolina, expanded outreach
to established communities in Ohio, Wisconsin and Missouri and
burgeoning communities in Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico,
Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington state.

The Armenian Genocide resolution is supported by a broad-based
coalition of over 47 human rights, religious, civic, and ethnic
organizations, including the (in alphabetical order): American
Federation of Jews from Central Europe (New York, NY), American
Hellenic Council of CA (Los Angeles, CA), American Hellenic
Institute (Washington, DC), American Hungarian Federation
(Washington, DC), American Jewish World Service (New York, NY),
American Latvian Association in the U.S. (Rockville, MD), American
Values (Washington, DC), Arab American Institute (Washington, DC),
Belarusan-American Association (Jamaica, NY), Bulgarian Institute
for Research and Analysis (Bethesda, MD), Center for Russian Jewry
with Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (New York, NY), Center for
World Indigenous Studies (Olympia, WA), Christian Solidarity
International (Washington, DC), Congress of Romanian Americans
(McLean, VA), Council for the Development of French in Louisiana
(Lafayette, LA), Estonian American National Council (Rockville,
MD), Genocide Intervention Network (Washington, DC), Global Rights
(Washington, DC), Hmong National Development, Inc., Hungarian
American Coalition (Washington, DC), Institute on Religion and
Public Policy (Washington, DC), International Association of
Genocide Scholars (New York, NY), Jewish Social Policy Action
Network (Philadelphia, PA), Jewish War Veterans of the USA
(Washington, DC), Jewish World Watch (Encino, CA), Joint Baltic
American National Committee (Rockville, MD), Leadership Council for
Human Rights (Washington, DC), Lithuanian American Community
(Philadelphia, PA), Lithuanian American Council (Rockville, MD),
National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (New York, NY), National
Council of Churches USA (New York, NY), National Federation of
American Hungarians (Washington, DC), National Federation of
Filipino American Associations (Washington, DC), National Lawyer’s
Guild (New York, NY), Polish American Congress (Chicago, IL),
Progressive Jewish Alliance (Los Angeles, CA), Reconstructionist
Rabbinical College (Wyncote, PA), Slovak League of America
(Passaic, New Jersey), The Georgian Association in the USA
(Washington, DC), The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring (New York, NY),
U.S. Baltic Foundation (Washington, DC), Ukrainian Congress
Committee of America (New York, NY), Ukrainian National Association
(Parsippany, NJ), Unitarian Universalist Association of
Congregations (Washington, DC), United Hellenic American Congress
(Chicago, IL), Washington Chapter Czechoslovak National Council of
America (Washington, DC), and the Women’s International League for
Peace and Freedom (Philadelphia, PA).

from the June 29, 2007 editio

woeu.html < .html>

Why Turkey’s Kurds are ever more edgy

While Kurds are testing the limits of legal reforms that grant more freedoms, an uptick in attacks from separatists threaten to erode gains made by the ethnic minority.

By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Diyarbakir, Turkey

Mohammad Isiktas, only 13 years old, is prepared to take on the
Turkish state so he can legally use his Kurdish middle name.

He is still forbidden from having Demhat, which means "the time has
come," on his ID card. His younger brother will also go to court, to
use his Kurdish name, which means "freedom."

While Turkey’s Kurds have seen some limited reforms, this family’s
pending fight is emblematic of the legal limits the ethnic minority
still face.

Application of new laws that permit limited use of Kurdish, such as
ending the ban on Kurdish names and allowing 45 minutes of Kurdish TV
broadcasts a day, are being challenged by zealous state prosecutors
fearful that such minority rights will undermine the Turkish republic.

So change has come only fitfully to southeast Turkey, where separatist
guerrillas of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and Turkish forces
fought a vicious war throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

"I want peace between Turkey and Kurds, between police and the PKK,"
says Mohammad, his dress shirt buttoned to the neck. "For that reason
I want both names, Mohammad and Demhat, as a combination of these two:
the [Turkish] police and [Kurdish] fighters."

"In the past, because of high pressure, we were afraid of learning our
own culture," says Makbule Tanriverdi, the boys’ mother. "But now we
are more self-confident and brave because of that hard struggle
period."

Still, after five years of relative peace, expanding self-rule, and
easing language restrictions, there has been a resurgence of PKK
attacks and Turkish military action, which threatens to spill into
northern Iraq and erase these modest changes.

The PKK is increasing attacks on Turkish soldiers and is blamed by
officials for a string of bombings against civilians. Public support
is high for a military invasion against PKK bases in northern Iraq –
the US and their Iraqi Kurdish allies are accused by Turks for giving
the PKK safe haven.

The US and European Union labels the PKK a "terrorist" group for
targeting civilians. Turkey has backed up threats by boosting troop
strength along the border.

But even as Kurds test the limits of EU-inspired legal reforms that
grant more cultural rights, they say the renewed bloodshed stems from
a lack of creativity on both sides.

The PKK, for example, did not disarm after the 1999 capture of its
leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who vowed in court to "give up the armed
struggle" and "dedicate my life to bringing Kurds and Turks together."
Earlier this month, the imprisoned PKK leader warned that invading
Iraq would spark a broader Turk-Kurd war and risk "losing all Turkey."

For its part, the state ended a brutal state of emergency marked by
extrajudicial killings, destruction of villages, and torture. "They
did not internalize those changes, so they were token moves," says
Osman Baydemir, the mayor of Diyarbakir. Like local Kurdish officials
across southeast Turkey, home to some 15 million ethnic Kurds, he is
facing a number of legal cases.

Still, a Kurdish political party exists with many PKK sympathizers
among its ranks, and some 30 members hope to be voted into Turkey’s
parliament in July 22 elections.

Development and other economic projects have borne little fruit or not
materialized, however, leading to 60 percent unemployment in this city
alone, and feeding what Mr. Baydemir counts as the 29th Kurdish
rebellion – the one launched by the PKK in 1984.

"From the end of 2005 onwards, there has been a remarkable regression
of cultural rights," says Baydemir, whose broad desk is watched over
by a portrait of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. "Currently
there is no trace of the positive atmosphere from 2000 to 2005."

The result is clear in the number of legal court cases brought against
local officials and Kurds, who daily test the limits of the law. The
mayor and municipal council of Diyarbakir’s Sur district, in the old
city, were recently sacked for voting to use Kurdish to spread
information about local services ranging from tourism to trash
cleanup.

Baydemir’s most recent case is prosecution for printing New Year cards
in Turkish, English, and Kurdish. Some non-Kurdish officials who
received them sent them back. The case was not brought because Kurdish
is banned, the prosecutor explained, but because the letters X, W, and
Q exist in Kurdish but not Turkish, so their use violates a law
protecting Turkish letters.

The mayor responded, in court, that the prosecutor also must violate
the law every day, when he logs into the Justice Ministry website,
tapping the URL address that begins www.

"In the last four years, many new laws passed parliament and as a rule
they are not bad – the same as in European countries," says Tahir
Elci, a human rights lawyer who spent time in detention in the
1990s. "But in practice, the problems continue because prosecutors and
judges haven’t changed their minds."

Broad Kurdish disillusion means more than 50 percent of Kurds believe
the PKK "represents their rights," estimates Mr. Elci, though only 10
to 20 percent support killings.

"Kurdish people are not happy with the violence – they want peace and
don’t support these attacks," says Elci. "But also they are not happy
with government policy, because the Kurdish problem is not
solved…. Kurds in Turkey don’t believe this state represents them,
or belongs to them."

Indeed, unity was the key message of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan at an election rally in Diyarbakir on Sunday. In this
long-neglected region, Mr. Erdogan listed his Islamist Party’s
achievements, including claims of opening 1,500 new classrooms
already, and 500 more by the end of the year.

"What did we do in Diyarbakir? You’ll tell everyone what we did!"
Erdogan told the chanting crowd. "We just want to win your hearts and
emotions. We don’t want any hate or conflict."

Still, Mr. Erdogan has sought to take a tough line against
"terrorists" and says he would approve a military push into northern
Iraq when "necessary." But he also says that 5,000 PKK activists
inside Turkey – his numbers – should be dealt with before crossing
into Iraq.

Turkish generals Wednesday repeated their call for a cross-border
operation into Iraq, estimating that 2,800 to 3,100 guerrillas are
based there. "Turkey prefers security to democracy, [and] if you
prefer security to democracy, then you will have a violent reaction,"
says Ali Akinci, head of the Diyarbakir branch of Turkey’s Human
Rights Association.

Turkish military operations have stepped up since 2004 and surged in
the past six months, during which time 214 people died on both sides,
says Mr. Akinci. His predecessor was hit with 46 court cases from
state prosecutors; the office was shut down between 1997 and 2000 for
saying that "a Kurdish nation exists in Turkey."

A breaking point, observers here say, came during riots in Diyarbakir
in March 2006, when protestors at the funerals of PKK militants
clashed in the streets with Turkish soldiers for several days. A total
of 10 people died in the gunfire, including a boy watching from a
balcony; the Human Rights Association is handling 350 cases of the 600
people arrested.

"The latest conflicts will increase nationalism [on both sides] and
will make things worse than ever before," says Sezgin Tanrikulu, chair
of the bar association in Diyarbakir. "Kurds are becoming more
radical, and I believe their trust in the system is going to be
weaker."

A call by Turkey’s top general on June 8 for Turks to "show their
reflex action en masse against these terrorist acts" amounts to a
"declaration of internal war," says Mr. Tanrikulu, winner in 1997 of
the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.

PKK attacks also have some Kurds angry. "Lots of people are shouting
against them, ‘Why are they using such violent methods?’ " asks
Tanrikulu. "Especially operations against civilians. People don’t
support this."

He is handling a string of cases at the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg, France, where decisions often go against Turkish
authorities. Locally, Tanrikulu is now defending Baydemir, the mayor,
who has been charged with "aiding and abetting the terrorist
organization PKK," and faces 10 to 15 years in prison for trying to
calm demonstrators during the riots last year with the words: "We
share your pain deep in heart."

"In Turkey, we have lived almost everything that could be lived; war
and torture…." says the mayor. "The war concept was consumed to its
limits. But there is only one way we have not tried: negotiations,
peace, and talking.

"Dialogue and compromise are inevitable [to end] this conflict," adds
Baydemir. "We need to show Turkey the path of reason. But now there is
an eclipse of reason."

Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.

BRITISH DIPLOMAT SAYS YEREVAN A SPORTSMAN WITHOUT LUNGS

Panorama.am
18:14 27/06/2007

Richard Hide, British deputy ambassador to Armenia, has said "Yerevan
is like an Olympic sportsman without lungs" in a discussion today on
Armenian forests.

"Yerevan’s air is polluted," he said comparing Yerevan with a sportsman
that is forced to smoke 10 packs of cigarettes. Unlike Armenia, in
Britain candidates include environmental issues in their election
campaigns, Hide said.

STRESSES MOUNT FOR BUREAUCRATS
James Travers

Toronto Star, Canada
June 28 2007
Ottawa

Stephen Harper’s frustration is only one sign of rising tension
between Conservatives and civil servants. Just two weeks before the
Prime Minister railed privately at resistant bureaucrats, Defence
Minister Gordon O’Connor publicly embarrassed his top general for a
policy failure.

The cases are different in detail. Harper accused headstrong mandarins
of opposing recognition of the 1915 murder of some 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide, while O’Connor said Rick Hillier had failed
to ensure families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan are adequately
compensated for funeral costs.

But the similarities are deep and instructive. Each probes the
relationship essential to the effective operation of intricate
government machinery and exposes the pressures now pulling it apart.

In theory, non-partisan mandarins advise and ministers decide.

Equally important, bureaucrats are anonymous while politicians reap
the rewards in good times and accept responsibility in bad.

In daily practice, the lines are blurring and the system breaking
down. Bureaucrats paid to provide sound policies feel ignored by an
ideologically certain cabinet and are understandably angry when held
publicly responsible when things go wrong.

That’s an accelerating trend, not a new phenomenon. For decades
ruling parties concentrated power at the centre and made scapegoats of
bureaucrats. Liberals are living proof. Lest anyone forget, politicians
escaped essentially unscathed from the Quebec sponsorship scam and
from the human resources grants fiasco while bureaucrats were charged
or ridiculed.

Conservatives remain commendably clear of similar scandal. Still,
what should have been a supportive partnership has only deteriorated
since Harper took a wild pre-election swipe at everyone he considers
Liberal hacks.

Much of the trouble tracks to arguably the most insular modern
prime minister. Blinded by the beauty of Conservative solutions,
Harper relies on his intellectual strength and ideological intuition
while closing the door to all but a clique of officials, ministers
and deputies.

There’s more to it than a private, often prickly, personal style.

Conflicting pressures squeeze the Prime Minister between relentless
demands for top-down decisions and the equally pressing need to solve
problems that sweep across departments.

On a consultant’s graph, the prime minister is the high point of the
vertical command-and-control axis, while the public service spreads
across the horizontal policy axis. The result is a push-me, pull-you
structure failing under impossibly heavy loads.

When that happens, this prime minister bashes the bureaucracy for
resisting changes in political direction and his defence minister
blames the top soldier. Rare now, those ugly incidents will increase as
stresses mount on a minority government and on bureaucrats struggling
to respond innovatively to complexity.

Pillorying bureaucrats who can’t defend themselves increases resentment
and makes it more difficult for those charged with steering and rowing
the state to constructively hold a course.

But structural reconstruction is also urgently needed. The critical
relationship between politicians and public servants is cracking as
Ottawa struggles to make timely, often controversial decisions that
overwhelm the capacity and accountability of a system that is isolated
from modern realities and evolving too slowly.