Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Levon Aronian crashes to shock defeat by David Navara at Wijk aan Zee

Leonard Barden
guardian.co.uk,
Friday 27 January 2012 22.55 GMT

3238: H Nakamura v D Navara, Tata Steel Wijk 2012. White (to play)
gave up a knight for this position, but 1 Qxd8 fails to Qxf7. So how
did White win? Photograph: Graphic
When the world No1 Magnus Carlsen beat the No2 Levon Aronian in an
early round at Wijk aan Zee last week, it seemed that the 21-year-old
Norwegian would continue his smooth advance towards Garry Kasparov’s
all-time peak rating.

Aronian, 29, had a different script. The Armenian caught up Carlsen,
who was bogged down by draws, then took the lead in Tuesday’s ninth
round, where the favourite crashed with the white pieces to Sergey
Karjakin.

It was a huge psychological blow and the next day Carlsen, whose
trademark is to operate with small edges in long games, halved out in
a mere 21 moves while Aronian won again to go 1.5 points up on Carlsen
with only three rounds left.

But there was another twist in Friday’s 11th round, when Aronian was
crushingly defeated by the Czech tail-ender David Navara. The final
two rounds (12.30pm GMT start) take place this weekend.

Record internet audiences of over 10,000 daily have been watching the
play free and live on the Tata Wijk site, aided by new web technology
which enables online spectators to view continuous computer
assessments of all 21 Wijk games. I recommend it highly, whether or
not you have watched online chess before. It is enjoyable, free and
can improve your own play.

Play also continues this weekend, with free and live internet viewing,
at Tradewise Gibraltar (2pm GMT start), now the best open tournament
in the world. Entrants from 60 countries include the Russian champion,
Peter Svidler, England’s top pair, Michael Adams and Nigel Short, and
the all-time No1 woman, Judit Polgar.

Adams’s first round win featured a crushing attack on the black king,
highlighted by 18 g4! planning c4 19 Qh2 and ending with a smart rook
sacrifice.

M Adams v N Zhukova

1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 Be3 a6 5 h3 Bg7 6 f4 O-O 7 Nf3 b5 8 e5
Nfd7 9 Bd3 Nb6 10 Qe2 N8d7 11 O-O-O e6 12 h4 Bb7 13 h5 b4 14 Ne4 Bxe4
15 Bxe4 d5 16 Bd3 c5 17 hxg6 hxg6 18 g4 Re8 19 Qh2 cxd4 20 Bxd4 Qc7 21
f5 exf5 22 gxf5 Nxe5 23 Nxe5 Rxe5 24 fxg6 f6 25 Rdf1 Nd7 26 Bf5 Nf8 27
Bxe5 Qxe5 28 Qh3 a5 29 Re1 Qd6 30 Rhf1 a4 31 Be6+ Nxe6 32 Qh7+ Kf8 33
Rxf6+ 1-0

Polgar won more clinically. Her early queen’s side action provoked the
error 14 Qd1? (Qc4) and she was three pawns up when her opponent
conceded defeat.

A López v J Polgar

1 g3 Nf6 2 Bg2 d5 3 Nf3 c6 4 O-O Bg4 5 c4 Nbd7 6 cxd5 cxd5 7 Nc3 e6 8
d3 Rc8 9 h3 Bh5 10 e4 dxe4 11 dxe4 Bb4 12 Qb3 Qa5 13 e5 Nc5 14 Qd1?
Bxc3 15 bxc3 Nfe4 16 Qd4 Nxc3 17 Qh4 Ne2+ 18 Kh2 Bxf3 19 Bxf3 Nxc1 20
Raxc1 O-O 21 Rfd1 Qxa2 22 Qe7 Qxf2+ 23 Bg2 Rfe8 0-1

3238 1 Qf1! with the double threat 2 Rf6 or 2 Qh3+ Qh5 3 Rh7+. Black
tried 1…Qh5 2 Rxb7 c4 3 Qf6+ Qg6 4 Qxd8, then resigned.

TURKS FUME AT SARKOZY AND FRANCE
by PATRICK COCKBURN

CounterPunch

Jan 27 2012

Prison for Deniers of Armenian Genocide

Turkey warned yesterday that it would impose permanent sanctions on
France if a bill being discussed by the French Senate, which would
punish with prison and a fine anybody denying that the killing of
over one million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was genocide,
was passed into law.

“Turkey will continue to implement sanctions so long as this bill
remains in motion,” the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said
before the debate. Turkey briefly withdrew its ambassador to France
and placed sanctions on economic, political and military cooperation
with France when the bill passed the French lower house last month. It
would criminalize denial of the genocide, making offenders liable to
a one-year prison term and a 45,000 Euro fine. Mr Sarkozy’s office
said that the law would come into effect in two weeks.

The French action has created extreme anger in Turkey where television
news channels gave continuous coverage to the Senate debate. Turkish
critics denounce the legislation as a cynical attempt by French
President Nicolas Sarkozy to win the vote of the 500,000-strong French
Armenian community before the French presidential election later this
year. “Turkey is no longer the Turkey of 2001,” Mr Davotoglu said,
emphasizing that Turkey is much stronger today than it was in the
year when the French parliament first recognized the Armenian genocide.

In a tea house in the Bayoglu district of central Istanbul an elderly
man, who gave his name as Ali, vehemently denounced Mr Sarkozy. “He
plots like the devil,” he said. “He wouldn’t even pick up the phone
to talk to talk to our president. People do that even in war time. He
should resign as leader of France.”

The remaining Armenians in Turkey, believed to number about 70,000,
are not optimistic about the Turkish government ever admitting to the
genocide. At a march last week commemorating the fifth anniversary
of the murder of the Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in 2007,
an Armenian woman, Mariam Kalk, said she did not expect any change.

“Turkish society is a very silent society,” she said. “The state will
never admit to the Armenian massacre.”

Some Turkish historians have moved far in establishing the facts
about the Ottoman’s government’s instructions for the massacre of
the Armenians in 1915. The exact number killed in shootings or death
marches is not known, but historians estimate the figure to be between
1.2 million and 1.4 million. A document found in the papers of one
of the Ottoman government leaders and recently published recorded a
drop in the Armenian population of the Empire from 1,256,000 in 1914
to 284,157 in 1916.

In the past Turkey had contended that the figures for the dead are
exaggerated or that the Armenians were collateral damage, killed in
military operations and not on orders from the government.

Cengiz Aktar, a professor of political science at Bahcesehir University
in Istanbul, says that what happened to the Armenians was part of
“the religious cleansing that happened with a view to create a
homogenous state based on Islam. Non-Muslims had no place in the new
nation.” He said it would be very difficult for Turkey to admit this
now and when the demand “comes from France, especially from Sarkozy,
people here take it badly.”

Professor Aktar said there were three other reasons why the Armenian
genocide could not be admitted by Turkey. Those who carried it out
had continued to work for the government in senior positions. The
cleansing did not stop in 1923 and surviving Armenians, who still
numbered 300,000, were still being pushed out of Turkey for years
afterwards. Thirdly, “we should not forget that the Armenians were
often bourgeoisie and their wealth was plundered.”

Nevertheless, the present government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has shown itself more tolerant than any of its predecessors
towards Armenians and other Christians in Turkey. “The words ‘Armenian
genocide’ are no longer taboo,” says Prof Aktar. He adds that the
authorities have made sure there were no attacks on those taking part
in commemorations of “Genocide Day” on April 24. He believes that
there would be a nationalist backlash in Turkey if the French bill was
passed into law, but that discussion of what happened would not cease.

He says “the genie is out of the bottle.”

Armenians in Istanbul say they are treated with greater tolerance than
five years ago, partly because of the general outrage over the murder
of Hrant Dink. “Before Armenians were second class citizens in Turkey
and now they aren’t,” said Armen Kalk. There are signs of some state
support for the Armenian community such as at Vortods Vorodmans,
a previously derelict church opposite the Armenian Patriarchate
in Istanbul. It re-opened a month ago after being restored by the
government and has just been used for a concert.

Armenians in Istanbul are sceptical about the motives of France on
the genocide. One Armenian cafe owner said “it is all politics. It
is a storm in a glass.”

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has renewed his
personal attack on French President Nicolas Sarkozy for racism and
anti-Turkish behavior.

Mr Erdogan said yesterday that Turkish retaliation would be held back
since France might “correct its mistake”. This appears unlikely to
happen so Turkey may move to withdraw its ambassador and ban French
military aircraft and naval vessels from entering Turkish airspace
or waters. More damagingly, Turkey could stop placing large defense
orders with French firms and exclude France from winning contracts
for nuclear power stations and other big projects.

“What has happened is an effort to gain votes through
anti-Turkishness,” Mr Erdogan told his AK Party’s members of
parliament. The French presidential election is on April 22 and
May 6 and Mr Erdogan and most Turks believe he is trying to win
the 500,000-strong Armenian vote. As in the past, the Turkish prime
minister turned on Mr Sarkozy personally, saying that his grandfather
had been part of the Jewish community in Thessaloniki that had been
given refuge by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th Century after being
expelled from Spain by the Inquisition. He said that Mr Sarkozy
“regardless of how much anti-Turkish feeling he display, his history
coincides with the history of Turkey.”

Mr Erdogan and many Turks have developed a visceral loathing for
Mr Sarkozy, who has also played a leading role in keeping Turkey
out of the European Union. He famously said that every school child
knew that Europe ended at the Bosphorus. When the French lower house
of Parliament first passed the Bill, Mr Erdogan accused France of
massacring 15 per cent of the Algerian population after 1945. He
scornfully added that Mr Sarkozy’s father had been a soldier in
Algeria at the time and “I am sure has plenty of time to tell his
son about it.”

The French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, who was personally against
the new law, said it was “ill-timed”, but called on Ankara to remain
calm. “We have very important economic and trade ties,” Juppe added.

“I hope the reality of the situation will not be usurped by emotions.”

The mayor of Ankara has suggested changing the name of the street the
French embassy is in to Algeria Street and erecting nearby a memorial
to Algerian victims of French colonial oppression.

There is a limit to what Turkey can do without damaging itself since
France is its fifth biggest export market and bilateral trade in
the first ten months of last year was $13.5 billion. France is also
a significant investor in Turkey at a time when there are fears that
the foreign investment that has driven Turkey’s high growth may begin
to flow out of the country. The Turkish government may wait to see
if the new law will eventually be declared unconstitutional before
introducing long term sanctions.

PATRICK COCKBURN is the author of “Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Shia
Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq.

TURKISH STATE TV AIRS HOLOCAUST FILM
By SUZAN FRASER

The Associated Press
January 27, 2012 Friday 10:05 AM GMT

An epic French documentary about the mass murder of Jews under
the German Nazi regime has appeared on Turkish television to mark
international Holocaust Remembrance Day the first time the film has
been aired on public television in a majority-Muslim country.

State television TRT’s documentary channel showed the first episode
of filmmaker Claude Lanzmann’s “Shoah” late Thursday the eve of the
day of remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.

The film has been subtitled into Arabic, Farsi and Turkish by the
Paris-based Aladdin project as part of its campaign to promote
understanding between Jews and Muslims and to fight Holocaust denial.

Last year, a Los Angeles-based Farsi satellite channel broadcast the
9-plus-hour documentary in Iran, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
has questioned historical accounts of the Holocaust and called for
Israel’s destruction.

The film is not the first Holocaust film to be shown on television
in Turkey, a secular country that is seeking membership in the
European Union. Turkey also has its own Holocaust film: “The Turkish
Passport,” which was released last year and tells the true story
of Turkish diplomats who saved thousands of Jews by issuing them
Turkish passports.

“Shoah” has also been shown to a limited audience at a Turkish film
festival.

Nevertheless, it was the first showing of “Shoah” on a public
television channel in a Muslim country. The director said he hoped
more Muslim countries would follow suit.

“It is a historical event,” Lanzmann, 87, said in a telephone interview
with The Associated Press from his home in Paris. “It is extremely
important that it is being shown in a Muslim country.”

“The Turks are engaged in a pioneering work and I am sure it (the
showing) will be followed by other Muslim countries,” he said.

The documentary’s airing comes at a time when some Jewish groups have
warned of growing anti-Semitism in Turkey, following the country’s
frayed relations with Israel.

Turkey was outraged by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian
civilians during Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip three years ago. Ties
worsened in 2010 after Israeli naval commandos killed nine Turks in
a botched raid on a flotilla that was trying to breach Israel’s Gaza
blockade. Israel’s refusal to apologize for the flotilla killings
sent relations deteriorating even further.

The documentary was also aired amid an escalating dispute between
Turkey and France over French legislation that would make it a crime
to deny that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks amounted
to genocide.

Most historians contend that the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians
as the Ottoman Empire broke up was the 20th century’s first genocide,
and several European countries recognize the massacres as such.

But Turkey rejects the term genocide, saying there was no systematic
campaign to kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the
chaotic disintegration of the empire. It also says that death toll
is inflated.

“Shoah” includes testimony from concentration camp survivors and
employees about the slaughter of millions of Jews in Europe during
World War II. Lanzmann worked for 11 years on the film, which was
released in 1985.

GRAND CONCERT DEDICATED TO 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMED FORCES OF ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
27 January, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS: “I am the Soldier of My Homeland”
solemn event was organized January 27 in Karen Demirchyan Sports and
Concert Complex.

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, his spouse Rita Sargsyan,
Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, National Assembly Speaker
Samvel Nikoyan, Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan, Defense
Minister Seyran Ohanyan and others attended the event.

Historical noteworthy periods beginning from the ancient one up to
Shushi liberation fighting were reproduced on every stair on the way
of the Sport and Concert Complex.

According to Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan, this is a
day when everyone congratulates each other simultaneously recalling
episodes from the heroic past.

“The Armenian army has a history of millenniums. Armenian people have
always struggled for land, belief and dignity. Our army is old and
young at the same time,” said the defense minister.

‘WAR IN IRAN WILL SLOW KARABAKH NEGOTIATION PROCESS’

News.Az
Fri 27 January 2012 08:00 GMT | 8:00 Local Time

News.Az interviews Maxim Minayev, leading expert of the Russian
Political Center.

What do you think about the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents with the mediation of president Medvedev, which some
skeptics considered formal for the outgoing Russian president?

I think that we are talking about double content of the event. On the
one hand, to expect that the meeting would end with some progress
in the current situation would be at leave naive. Medvedev’s
administration during his tenure proved that it is not so capable
of settling serious interstate conflicts in the territory of the
post-Soviet space. The only episode it proved to be relatively
effective is the episode associated with the conflict on the South
Ossetia and Abkhazia, but it generally is not an element of diplomacy
or foreign policy but an element of direct military confrontation.

Of course, now that almost one month remains before the presidential
elections in Russia, is should not be expected that Medvedev will
make a surprise and resolve the conflict. Nevertheless, the second
component of this meeting is that during the reign of Medvedev, Moscow
supported the negotiation process and the direct line of communication
with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leadership. In this context, the
current meeting is valuable because during it, Moscow could once
again carry out the coordination of positions in controversial issues.

Regardless of the efficiency of such agreement, the fact is there
and Moscow has the idea of what position Baku and Yerevan hold in the
current issue. And naturally, the meeting will be a useful tool for
the foreign policy team of Putin, when it will address the issue of
Karabakh in the summer or autumn.

Do you assume that Putin, if wins the elections, will maintain the
rate of the mediation which Medvedev did?

The Ossetian conflict showed that the territorial problem not only
in the Caucasus but also around the perimeter of Russian borders
is a very dangerous component of bilateral relations. This is a
problematic point which can explode at any moment and lead to an open
military confrontation. Seemingly, Moscow in 2008 understood that
it’s not good the delay the resolution of such problems. Naturally,
it’s easier to solve problem through political methods rather than
by tanks and aircraft.

So I think that this problem will be close to Putin and he will
seek to actively engage in it. It’s necessary to consider here
another point. Putin’s foreign policy doctrine, which is now being
actively formulated and is under development, is largely focused on
post-Soviet space. This space will within â~@~Kâ~@~Kspecial attention
of the Kremlin. And no matter how will be the new position of the
Kremlin’s administration, it will be anyway carefully concentrated
in all issues associated with this region.

And here we must take into account the personal profile of the
future administration and foreign policy team. There will be a place
for specialists in post-Soviet region and they will take a prominent
position. It will not be diplomats, but the people who occupy positions
in the top echelons of the political leadership. And they will act
not less diplomatically than in the foreign policy line, which is
more effective because the experience showed that the traditional
diplomacy in the post-Soviet space doesn’t work and the complex of
political and economical tools in necessary here. In the context,
the entire network of territorial problems (Karabakh, Transdniestria,
South Ossetia and Abkhazia) will be actively dealt with. We will judge
its efficiency based on the activity of the foreign policy team of
Putin. But to my mind, given promising personal steps of Putin and his
entourage in terms of the appointment of new players and consolidation
of the current positions, these actions set up in a positive way.

How would the possible war of the West against Iran affect the
situation in the South Caucasus?

I think this problem is much more relevant for Azerbaijan because
in this case, the country will encounter more flow of refugees from
the northwestern regions of Iran where many Azerbaijanis dwell. These
people most likely will try to cross the border and settle mainly in
Azerbaijan. But it’s not the possible problem of one country.

This will affect the whole situation because first of all, it will
change the political situation in the Caspian as Iran in such a way
will fall out of the inter-state Caspian debates and thus, a problem
will occur on the delineation of spheres of influence in the Caspian
Sea. Second – the US will have an additional opportunity to build a
military base in Azerbaijan. Since, there is a possibility that it
will use military facilities in the country for military operations
and intelligence activities. We cannot say the Azerbaijan will become
a springboard for the US presence.

Since, Azerbaijan officially stated that it is not going to help any
anti-Iranian operation.

Yes, and this option is more than likely considering the Uzbek
scenario where there are one or two NATO facilities and the intensity
of consultations between Baku and the North Atlantic Alliance.

And finally, the fact that the war will unleash on the vicinity of the
borders of the post-Soviet space will seriously delay the Karabakh
negotiation process and maybe the sides will just have to freeze
discussions on this issue. The Iran’s agenda will first lead to the
fact that Moscow, instead of concentrating in the post-Soviet space
(as it plans to do so), it will have to direct its whole attention
to the situation in the Middle East because it cannot escape the
Iranian problem.

This topic is just going to take much of the agenda and time of those
who will formally oversee the direction of the South Caucasus. And all
the rest, including Yerevan and Baku will have to adjust their position
in accordance with the events around Iran, especially Azerbaijan
which will generally be at the forefront. Since, I assume that in the
event of the military conflict in the region, it will not be limited
to missile attacks. It will most likely be followed by ground attacks
with all its consequences. Of course, the US can break the resistance
of Iran, but what will follow it – we saw in the example of Iraq. That
is, civil war and partisan resistance to military interventionists.

Another thing is that despite the escalation of the situation, for now,
the possibility of such conflict is not high because of the elections
in the US. And even after the elections, the military conflict will
not be favorable for any sides – neither the opposition nor Obama,
because he doesn’t want serious problems in the Middle East during
his electioneering.

DIASPORA BUSINESSMAN BLAMES FRAUD ON PRESIDENT’S BROTHER

asbarez
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

President’s brother, Levon Sarkisian YEREVAN (A1-plus)-Armenian
businessman Edmond Khudyan demanded compensation of $7 million in
court, as much as he invested in Armenia before his involuntary
bankruptcy.

The businessman said he has been swindled and cheated out of millions
of dollars while engaging in commercial enterprises in Armenia and
blames the financial fraud on Serzh Sarkisian’s brother, Levon.

At the Criminal Court of Appeal Edmond Khudyan Wednesday demanded
that those involved in the financial fraud be exposed and punished.

In 2005, the Diaspora businessmen founded Arin Capital & Investment LLC
and developed a high-rise building at 33 Mashots. Before finishing the
construction, some of the flats had been sold to 17 Diaspora Armenians.

His partner and contractor was Vladislav Mangasryan, unofficial owner
of VERM, VMG, KAMAR companies. In 2007, Edmond Khudyan had appointed
Eduard Yesayan, as director of the company. Eduard was his long
time friend.

In 2010, Vladislav Mangasryan, and EdikYesayan mutually decided to
sell the flats and pocket the money without Khudyan’s knowledge. Later
they claimed that it was done to save the company from bankruptcy,
for everybody’s benefit.

Since then E. Khudyan placed several lawsuits against the parties
to return stolen properties and to bring them to justice but those
efforts have been unsuccessful.

LES SENATEURS ONT ECRIT L’HISTOIRE
Jean Eckian

armenews.com
jeudi 26 janvier 2012

Le Senat a ratifie la loi permettant de reprimer le negationnisme du
genocide armenien.

Le negationnisme d’Etat existe encore en Turquie. En France,
nous allons bientôt feter les 11 ans de la loi du 29 janvier 2001
reconnaissant le genocide armenien. La France le reconnait, mais les
Francais pouvaient le nier, en toute impunite.

Cette loi est un moyen de condamner ceux qui nient la realite de
l’Histoire dans ses heures les plus sombres. Les negationnistes de la
Shoah, nous les connaissons, ils ne discutent pas seulement des faits,
ce sont les plus grands antisemites. Ils s’inscrivent dans l’heritage
des nazis. Tout comme les negationnistes du genocide armenien et
Tutsi s’inscrivent dans la lignee du Gouvernement Jeune Turc et des
milices Interahamwe.

Alors que le faux debat sur la liberte des historiens a ete utilise
pour dissuader le vote des senateurs, 15 000 personnes ont participe
samedi a un defile laissant place a des slogans negationnistes. Le
negationnisme ne s’attaque pas seulement a un fait historique, tout
comme le racisme et l’antisemitisme ne s’attaquent pas a une religion
ou a une idee, ils s’attaquent a des individus. Dans l’air du temps
ambiant, celui de la banalisation des idees extremistes, celui de
la liberation de la parole raciste, rien n’est vraiment grave tant
que le cadre est celui du debat. Un propos negationniste serait une
opinion qui en vaudrait une autre.

* Jonathan Hayoun est President de l’UEJF (Union des Etudiants Juifs
de France)

Fondateur de InProdWeTrust. Diplôme en Master de Communication
Politique PAris XII. Diplôme en Master de Production audiovisuelle
INA’Sup.

Lire la suite : cliquer sur le lien plus bas

LOI SUR LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : ” ERDOGAN ATTEND LE TROISIEME TOUR DU CONSEIL CONSTITUTIONNEL ”
Stephane

armenews.com
jeudi 26 janvier 2012

InterviewPour Ahmet Insel, professeur a l’universite stambouliote
de Galatasaray, la Turquie espère encore que les Sages ne valideront
pas le texte vote par le Parlement.

Recueilli par Quentin Girard

Ce mardi matin, le Premier ministre Erdogan a juge la loi francaise
sur le genocide armenien ” raciste ” et ” discriminatoire “…

Pour le moment, le Premier ministre a adopte une position moderee
par rapport a ce qui etait attendu. Il juge que cette loi etait
anticonstitutionnelle en France selon l’avis de plusieurs deputes et
senateurs. Il a dit : ” Notre patience continue, le processus n’est
pas termine et il faut attendre. ” Pour Erdogan, la saisie du Conseil
constitutionnel, evoque par le depute UMP Jacques Myard, est devenu
reellement l’equivalent d’un troisième tour.

Espère-t-il encore dans le jeu du lobbying ?

Exactement. C’est l’apparition du Conseil constitutionnel comme
perspective qui fait que je ne pense pas que la Turquie executera
ses menaces a court terme.

La presse turque semble elle etre vent debout contre la loi
francaise…

Comme après le vote de l’Assemblee nationale. Ni plus ni moins,
c’est exactement le meme niveau de reactions.

Dirigeons-nous vers une grave crise diplomatique, si le Conseil
constitutionnel n’est pas saisi ou s’il valide la loi ?

La, il y aura des menaces mise en ~vres de manière substantielle.

Erdogan peut difficilement revenir en arrière par rapport a tous
ses engagements. On a un peu du mal a imaginer ce que cela sera mais
cela peut etre par exemple d’ecarter les entreprises francaises des
marches publics. C’est le plus facile a faire.

Au-dela, il est très difficile de faire un boycott officiel car il y
a tout de meme les règles de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce. Les
relations bilaterales entre la France et la Turquie sont en grande
partie des relations multilaterales, donc les remettre en cause n’est
pas très facile.

En creux de cette loi, y-a-t-il des tensions autour de l’adhesion a
l’Union europeenne ?

Il y a de cela. La question s’est exacerbee autour de la personne de
Nicolas Sarkozy qui s’etait deja prononce contre l’adhesion a l’UE.

Pour la Turquie et Erdogan, le fait que Nicolas Sarkozy soit
directement le maître d’oeuvre de cette loi irrite. Les Turcs voient
des incoherences majeures dans le processus mis en place car ils ont
du mal a comprendre les arcanes, les negociations, les procedures de
l’Assemblee et du Senat et ils jugent que la loi vient d’un forcing
du gouvernement.

Sarkozy est donc vu comme l’instigateur qui agit seul contre l’avis
d’une part significative de l’opinion publique, des juristes, des
historiens et y compris de certains politiques.

La Turquie critique la France, mais elle aussi possède des lois qui
encadrent la parole historique…

Tout a fait, c’est la où on peut mettre en cause la position de
ceux qui manifestent contre la loi en France et qui disent qu’ils
font ca pour defendre la liberte d’expression. J’ai envie de dire :
” D’accord, très bien, mais defendons avant la liberte d’expression
en Turquie qui est bien plus menacee ici qu’en France. ”

De votre côte, vous vous etes prononce contre cette loi…

Cette loi est une mauvaise idee pour des questions de principe. Je
suis pour la liberte de l’histoire, je suis oppose a ces lois où le
parlement se substitue aux historiens. La France a deja suffisamment
de lois pour reprimer le racisme et les discours haineux.

En 2008, vous aviez publie une lettre demandant pardon aux Armeniens,
et vous aviez ete beaucoup critique…

La question du genocide armenien touche aux racines de la constitution
de l’Etat turc et relève toutes les questions autour de notre
identite. Nous aurions pu resoudre ce problème dans les annees 20
voire 60 mais 100 ans après, c’est très loin d’etre le cas.

Deuxièmement l’Etat organise la negation de manière systematique
parce que la aussi cela touche directement aux fondements de sa
constitution en 1915. Il y a eu trop de mensonges, trop de silence,
et tous les pays europeens en sont responsables car ils auraient pu
aussi mettre ca sur le tapis il y a bien longtemps. Les reproches
actuelles de la France donnent l’impression aux Turcs qu’il y a une
volonte malveillante de raviver les douleurs refoulees du passe.

TURKEY SHOULD DEVELOP CREATIVE POLICIES TO THWART GENOCIDE ALLEGATIONS

Today’s Zaman
Jan 25 2012
Turkey

Twenty-two Parliaments around the world have recognized the killings
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around a century ago, which I will
refer to as the 1915 events, as genocide.

The French Assembly recognized the killings as genocide in 2001. The
French Senate passed a law late on Monday that makes it a crime to
deny that the killings of Armenians constituted genocide. Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Wednesday that this
move would deal a heavy blow to relations between the two countries.

We Turks have become used to hearing similar reactions from Turkish
governments each time various nations’ parliaments have passed a bill
that recognizes the Armenian killings as genocide.

The genocide allegations damage Turkey’s national pride. Ankara
says that there was no systematic campaign to kill Armenians and
that many Turks also died during the chaotic disintegration of the
Ottoman Empire. Most historians worldwide, however, say evidence of
the genocide is indisputable.

The Turkish argument, in the meantime, has fallen short of convincing
many nations. Hence, more states can be expected to follow the example
of the nations that have already recognized the alleged genocide
of Armenians.

Until then, Turkey will continue wasting its energy on criticizing
the nations that recognize the 1915 events as genocide while imposing
sanctions that, in general, do not work.

Turkey, which is an integral part of the global world, should seriously
think about developing creative policies to thwart allegations of
genocide instead of allowing itself to be hijacked by this issue,
which has turned into a never-ending story.

For example, it can begin with an apology for the events that took
place under the waning Ottoman Empire. However, an apology would
not mean that Turkey must recognize the genocide of Armenians. This
is because, in my opinion, there does not exist clear evidence that
Armenians were killed systematically. Turkey expressed its willingness
to open all the archives related to that period to Turkish as well as
foreign historians. Turkey should be encouraged to keep this promise.

Unlike the state, Turkish intellectuals have already expressed their
apology for the killings of Armenians. They launched a campaign in
December 2008 stating that they were apologizing for the deportation
policy of Armenians in 1915 as a humanitarian gesture.

Turkey, which recently apologized for the killing of more than 13,000
Kurds in the late ’30s in the southeastern province of Dersim, known
as Tunceli, can also apologize for the 1915 events.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan apologized last November for the
Dersim events, commonly known as the massacre of the Kurds. The
killings occurred when security forces, acting upon orders from the
then-decision makers, crushed a Kurdish rebellion in Dersim using
aerial bombings and poison gas.

“Dersim is the most tragic event in our recent history. It is a
disaster that should now be questioned with courage,” Erdogan declared.

He became the first Turkish leader to make the apology.

Another step that should be taken by Turkey as a means to ease
increased pressure exerted upon it by other nations is to educate
the extremely nationalistic public about the events surrounding the
1915 period, which are defined officially by Turkey as the “Armenian
deportation.” This is one of the dark chapters in Turkish history
that has remained closed to its citizens.

But the curtain has been raised gradually, and we have been witnessing
increased public debate over the events that took place close to 100
years ago.

Turkey says it would punish France over the Senate’s decision to
criminalize denying that the killing of Armenians constituted genocide,
but did not disclose the new sanctions to be imposed on Paris.

Turkey’s earlier sanctions, both against France and other countries
that recognize the Armenian killings as genocide, have not deterred
further states from adopting similar bills.

Therefore, Ankara should seriously revise its reactive policies and
consider the thoughtful ones mentioned above that I believe will work.

LEGAL AMENDMENT: ILLEGAL WORKERS OUT

BIAnet.org

Jan 25 2012
Turkey

The Law Related to Residence and Travels of Foreign Subjects will
be amended. Göc-Der President Gurbuz evaluated the amendment as a
“threat to Armenian people”.

IÅ~_ıl CÄ°NMEN [email protected] Istanbul – BÄ°A News Center25
January 2012, Wednesday The amendment regarding Law No.5683 Related
to Residence and Travels of Foreign Subjects will be passed into law
in one week’s time.

The amendment will affect Armenian citizens – their number estimated
by the prime minister at about 100,000 – and citizens of other
nationalities who are working in Turkey as well as their employers.

Bianet talked to Å~^efika Gurbuz, President of the Migrants’
Association for Social Cooperation and Culture (GOC-DER) about
the change.

Gurbuz explained that the ministry worked out these amendments in
order to prevent illegal employment, to make it easier for Turkish
citizens to find a job and to avoid outflows of foreign exchange.

However, in Gurbuz opinion, this amendment should have been handled
in conjunction with the process when the French Parliament accepted
the draft bill on punishing the “denial of genocide”. She deems the
law a “threat to Armenians”.

Amendment on its way since 2010 The first sign that the amendment
was on its way was given by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in
an interview given to BBC in London in March 2010. The prime minister
said that the Armenians were the ones who were going to pay the price
for the recognition of the Armenian genocide in national parliaments
of other countries.

The prime minister said, “There are 170,000 Armenian people in my
country. 70,000 of them are my fellow-citizens. But we are tolerating
another 100,000 people in our country. So, what am I going to do –
I will tell them to go back to their country tomorrow if necessary”.

Who is going to be affected?

However, the amendment that is going to be enacted on 1 February 2012
is of course not going to affect only almost 100,000 Armenians working
“without permission” but also people who came to work in Turkey from
other countries.

In the current system, people from countries like Turkmenistan,
Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Ukraine, Moldova or Indonesia come to Turkey
with a tourist visa and work in various business segments without
security. They stay for three to six months before they leave and
re-enter the country in order to obtain a new tourist visa.

The new regulation increases the time between two entries to 90 days
after the exit from Turkey. In general, the absence of 90 days for
people who work in child care, patient care or as masseuse/masseur
means the loss of job.

Option: Payment of TL 1.330 TL+ insurance premium An alternative option
has been developed for people who do not want to lose their employee:

People who want to stay in the country for work will apply to the
Ministry of Labour and Social Security for a work permit. The employer
will pay a salary of TL 1,330 (â~B¬530) plus insurance premium.

“No sincere approach” Å~^efika Gurbuz emphasized that providing
social security for employees in the scope of this law instead of in
the context of contolling informal economy was a “matter of action
and reaction”.

* This law will have much more negative effects rather than positive.

Furthermore, in political terms this is a threat against Armenians.

* If the approach would have been sincere the duration of 90 days
could have been shortened. A person in patient care does not have
the option to leave the patient for three months. This person will
lose his/her job.

* In a country with a minimum wage of TL 701 (â~B¬280), the demanded
figure of TL 1,330 is another factor that makes things more difficult.

* The purpose of this law is to create difficulties for the ones who
enter the country for work and the ones who want to employ them. The
aim is to close the door for their arrival.

* For many years, people from different nationalities came to Turkey
for work. Most of them are from Moldova, the Ukraine and Turkmenistan.

Until now, there was no reaction voiced against any person with a
different nationality apart from Armenian people. The people coming
from Turkmenistan in particular were protected. They established
their own associations and it was made easier for them to find jobs.

* People coming from Armenia however can only work at workplaces
together with their Armenian fellow citizens. This law will narrow
that restriction even further.

* There are thousands of people working/being employed off the record.

Thousands of people work in the construction or textile sector, as
cleaning ladies, in child and patient care without social security
and officially not visible. Especially the problems of these people
have to be solved. (IC/VK)