Author: Kalantarian Kevo

GENOCIDE TRADE
ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z

Today’s Zaman
Dec 20 2011
Turkey

When the French were discussing passage of a law in 2006 to criminalize
denial of the Armenian genocide, Hrant Dink was being tried under
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalized claiming
Turkey had committed genocide in 1915.

As soon as he heard of the intention of the French to pass this
so-called genocide denial bill, Hrant Dink expressed his intention
to go to France and challenge this law. His remarks were quite
thought-provoking.

“When this bill appeared first, we were fast to declare as a
group that it would lead to bad results. … As you know, I have
been tried in Turkey for saying the Armenian genocide took place,
and I have talked about how wrong this is. Yet, at the same time,
I cannot accept that in France you could now possibly be tried for
denying the Armenian genocide. If this bill becomes law, I will be
among the first to head to France and break the law. Then we can watch
both the Turkish Republic and the French government race against each
other to condemn me. We can watch to see which will throw me in jail
first. … I really think that France, if it makes this bill law,
will be hurting not only the EU, but Armenians across the world. It
will also damage the normalizing of relations between Armenia and
Turkey. What the peoples of these two countries need is dialogue,
and all these laws do is harm such dialogue.”

I take exactly the same position as Dink towards this genocide
denial bill. It is hypocritical in that it only gives strength to
Turkish nationalists who would like to return to the old days in
which discussion of the Armenian genocide would only be associated
with serving the cause of Turkey’s external enemies.

There is already a huge continuing debate about history, about past
atrocities in Turkey. Let me give you a specific example. I write
two columns a week in English for Today’s Zaman and two columns
in Turkish for the Radikal daily. You know how many times I have
discussed and tried to look at 1915 and its affects on today’s Turkey
in this column for Today’s Zaman. In just the last couple of weeks,
I also wrote at least six or seven articles in Radikal that directly
or indirectly discuss Armenian genocide and other past atrocities. And
I am not the only one who brings these subjects to the attention of
the Turkish audience. How do you think this French bill affects all
those discussions? The answer is simple: It will just kill them. While
writing this article, I refused two invitations from two television
channels to discuss “1915 events and the French bill.” You see, the
context has already been changed: “The French bill” has started to
become an inseparable part of this discussion. It is now a subject
for nationalists to discuss.

Another thing is that I really hate when human rights issues and
human suffering are used as a political tool by people who really
are not concerned about them at all. What has human rights to do with
Sarkozy and his government? Were it not they themselves who stop the
passage of this law before? What has been changed now as they press
for the passage of this law? Is it the upcoming elections? Is this
not the same France that attempted to pass a law that required school
history teachers to stress the “positive aspects” of French colonialism
and further criminalizes insults or defamatory statements aimed at
“harkis”(Algerians who fought alongside the French army in Algeria)?

Can France serve as an example for Turkey on how to deal with past
atrocities?

The reactions of the Turkish government to the French move are also
extremely embarrassing. They seem to forget that we still have Article
301 in Turkey and yet they condemn the Armenian genocide bill, saying
it will violate freedom of expression.

Everyone should try to look at the skeletons in their own closets
before saying anything to others. When it comes to confronting past
atrocities, the most dangerous serial killer is insincerity, which
always come to the fore wherever and whenever political interests
are involved.

‘FRANCE YET TO FULFILL ITS HUMANITARIAN DUTY TOWARD ALGERIA’

Today’s Zaman
Dec 20 2011
Turkey

The Sarkozy-led French government is yet to agree to a demand made
by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2006 to apologize
for French-organized massacres, amounting to genocide, during
its century-long colonial rule in Algeria, according to Abdenour
Boukhemkhem, Secretary General of National Federation of Algerian
Journalists and a senior journalist at the prominent Algerian
Echorouk daily.

Algeria became a French colony in 1830 and later fought a war of
independence from 1954-1962 against France, leaving 1.5 million
Algerians dead out of a population of 9 million. However, a 1962
agreement with France that gave Algeria its independence prevented
both Algeria and France from seeking future compensation for deaths
and other losses. Boukhemkhem explained French activities in Algeria
in detail and said that Algerian independence was not the end of
French violence.

“France first acquired nuclear weapons in 1960. Many of these weapons
were tested on Algerian soil, causing more than 100,000 deaths in
Algeria. Diseases coming out of these nuclear tests still occur in
Algeria, like cancer, physical deformation and so on,” he stated. In
addition, French military forces planted land mines and electrical
cables in an area from western Algeria to the Tunisian border during
the Algeria struggle, in order to block external help to Algeria,
he claimed, which continues to kill many Algerians in the area.

Bouteflika, the Algerian president since 1999, also demanded, in
addition to monetary compensation, another apology from the Sarkozy
government in 2006 for France’s bloody activities in Algeria and was
widely supported by Algerian civil society organizations and human
rights activists. Citing this fact in his exclusive interview with
Today’s Zaman, Boukhemkhem stated that the Sarkozy administration,
which is trying to enact a bill criminalizing the denial of the
“Armenian genocide,” did not apologize in any way. He claimed that the
French left and right, who disagree on almost every political issue,
were in consensus on denying the Algerian massacres. He explained
the reasons behind this, saying that “Sarkozy has an important
amount of voters from the far right and he does not want to lose
them by causing arguments on the French massacre. Other than that,
he does not want to pay the financial costs of such an admission,”
emphasizing that the French government “did not fulfill an important
humanitarian responsibility to the Algerian people.”

The French parliament is preparing to debate a bill penalizing the
denial of claims that Armenians were subject to genocide at the hands
of the late Ottoman Empire during World War I. Turkey, which denies
the genocide charges, has angrily protested the French plans and told
France to look at its bloody colonial past instead.

Boukhemkhem claimed that the initiative for the bill on Armenian
genocide denial does not stem from human rights concerns, deeming it
a mere political decision. “Sarkozy has wanted to block Turkey’s EU
integration since the beginning of his term, and he was doing that
by accusing Turkey of insufficient democratization. Facing the fact
that the current Turkish government fulfilled many EU recommendations
on democracy, France began to seek alternatives to discussion of
Turkey’s democratic deficiencies, to block Turkish integration,”
he said, depicting this bill as an example.

Additionally, he claimed that France is disturbed by Turkey’s
successful economic and political activities on the African continent,
noting that as another cause behind the bill. He praised the Turkish
businesses starting to take their hold in many African countries,
including Algeria, where French companies dominate the economy.

Turkish investments in Algeria, amounting to $1 billion annually,
are made predominantly in the fields in construction, agricultural
production, industry and education and employ nearly 20,000 Algerians.

REACTIONS GO SOUR AS FRANCE PUTS BILL ON AGENDA

Today’s Zaman
Dec 20 2011
Turkey

A full-fledged Turkish campaign to convince French officials to prevent
a bill that makes denial of the so-called Armenian genocide a crime
punishable under French law has turned sour as the French legislature
has put the bill on the agenda, allowing a vote on Thursday to decide
on the fate of both the denial bill and Turkish-French relations.

“To say the least, it is insensitive to distort history for political
motives, to make judgments about the history of a country through
parliament, a political institution,” Turkish President Abdullah
Gul said in a written statement on Tuesday. Gul urged France to
“retract the initiative as soon as possible.” Gul criticized the bill
as “unfair and groundless,” as he repeated Ankara’s claims that the
French move was a political tool for votes ahead of elections. “I
hope that France will not sacrifice the centuries-old Turkish-French
friendship, mutual benefits and ties of alliance for petty political
calculations,” Gul added.

“The bill is as big a catastrophe as the Mavi Marmara raid that
crumbled Turkish-Israeli relations,” diplomatic sources told Today’s
Zaman, as they raised doubts regarding the future of diplomatic
ties between Turkey and France. The analogy hinted that Turkey is
now poising to withdraw Tahsin Burcuoglu, ambassador to France,
as it withdrew its ambassador in Tel Aviv following an Israeli raid
targeting the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship, aboard which nine peace
activists were killed.

While Burcuoglu readies to leave for Turkey for “consultations with
Ankara on an indefinite period,” sources note that the bill, once
passed on to the senate for ratification after Thursday’s vote, could
seriously damage diplomacy between Ankara and Paris, and lead to a
reduction in diplomatic contact at the level of deputy ambassadors,
if it receives senate approval in the wake of French presidential
elections.

Ankara officially regards the genocide denial bill a political tool
utilized by France for its election benefits, therefore alarming
various political, business and civil society delegations from the
country to set out for Paris with hopes to avert a likely political
crisis from erupting between the countries after the bill’s passage.

Leading the government’s delegation to Paris, Volkan Bozkır, head of
Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission, expressed Turkey’s frustration
with the bill, allegedly triggered by strictly political motives. “We
are hoping that the Senate will stop the bill with a vote on Feb. 22,”
Bozkır told reporters from Paris, before he met with French foreign
minister, Alain Juppe, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s political
advisor, Jean Levitte, on Tuesday. In response to French lawmakers’
claims that Turkey would not act on its pledges and strike economic
and diplomatic ties with the country, much like in 2001 when France
recognized the “Armenian genocide,” Bozkır stated that the Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) was not in power back in 2001, signaling
that the current government was serious in its pledge for retaliation
and a “heavy toll” on France. Following the French proposal to make it
punishable in France to deny the alleged genocide, both the Turkish
foreign ministry and prominent business circles that are engaged in
contact with French businesses operating in or with Turkey warned them
of the unpleasant consequences of the bill’s passage. Increasing the
tone of warning to French companies, Turkish Tradesmen’s and Artisans’
Confederation (TESK) Chairman Bendevi Palandöken warned on Tuesday
that the bill, if it passes in the Senate, would “backfire on France,”
as he pledged that French products would be “removed from the shelves”
in Turkey, Anka news agency reported.

Estimating the trade volume between Turkey and France at 13.5 billion
euros, Bozkır warned that the bill jeopardizes French investments
in Turkey, amounting to 6.5 billion euros, and risking the profits
of nearly 2,000 French companies conducting business with Turkey,
the Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday. In a reaction to the bill,
roughly around 100 Turkish civil society organizations (CSO) operating
in Paris gathered on Sunday at the Turkish mission in the city and
started a committee to organize a walk of protest on Thursday. The CSOs
are planning to gather in front of the French Parliament on Thursday
morning to protest the denial bill and thousands of Turks from various
cities in France are expected to join in the demonstration. Addressing
representatives of participating CSOs, Ambassador Burcuoglu describes
the bill “a stain” on Turkish society, targeting the Turkish community
living in France. “We are worried that Turks in France might suffer
from serious legal problems,” Burcuoglu said, with foresight that
the bill’s passage would allow for the punishment of Turks if they
refuse to call the Ottoman era killings of Armenians a genocide.

Turks and Armenians have remained at odds regarding the tragic
deaths of 1915, with Armenians claiming that more than 1 millions
of their ancestors were killed systematically at the hands of Turks
as the Ottoman Empire fell. Turkey says the deaths were civil unrest
casualties and occurred on both sides at the onset of World War I.

NAIRA ZOHRABYAN: PACE SESSION SET TO BE EVENTFUL

Panorama
Dec 20 2011
Armenia

The agenda of PACE winter session has been already announced, member
of Armenian delegation to PACE, member of the Prosperous Armenia Party
parliamentary faction Naira Zohrabyan told a Panorama.am reporter,
adding that the session agenda mainly includes issues related to
human rights and democracy.

PACE winter session will hold the election of PACE President, the
parliamentarian said.

“However, the election is symbolic because French MP Jean-Claude
Mignon is expected to be the next PACE President.”

A new Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights will be also
elected during the PACE winter session.

So the session is set to be eventful, according to the Armenian
delegate.

We will remind that PACE winter session opens on January 23.

UNIVERSITY OF KENT SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AGREES WITH ARMENIAN SIDE ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Panorama
Dec 20 2011
Armenia

The University of Kent Brussels branch hosted a seminar titled
“Territorial Integrity of a State and Right of Nations to
Self-Determination,” attended by NKR Permanent Representative to
Germany Harutyun Grigoryan.

At the event which lasted around three hours, the scientific community
of the University of Kent agreed with the arguments of the Armenian
side on Nagorno-Karabakh.

The event, organized by joint efforts, also hosted representatives
of Hay Dat (Armenian Cause) Brussels office Gaspar Karapetyan, Peto
Demirchyan, and head of central Hay Dat office Giro Manoyan.

The European Center for Artsakh reports that the seminar focused on
preservation of these two important principles of international law
in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process.

A. Grigoryan presented NKR’s position on the conflict settlement,
noting that though Artsakh does not avoid considering the issue from
the point of view of territorial integrity of a state, nevertheless,
the basic human rights should not be forgotten.

More, presenting Azerbaijan’s statehood from the legal point
of view, A. Grigoryan stressed that during the past 20 years the
principles of territorial integrity of a state and right of a nation
to self-determination are really violated, however, exclusively in
relation to NKR.

“Authorities of this or that state are authorized to demand
preservation of territorial integrity and to extend their powers only
to territories where they were a legitimate state power even if for
some time and where their population lived. In other words, where a
state was established in line with the spirit of the principles of
international law, which ceased to exist in consequence of possible
infringements of the law,” Grigoryan said.

At the same time, he reminded that the population of Nagorno-Karabakh
had never had Azerbaijani citizenship and never recognized the
Azerbaijani authorities which never had legitimacy here either in
relation to the territory or the population, they had no such right.

That is to say, Azerbaijani statehood has never existed in
Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Therefore the assertion that Azerbaijan has the right to demand
that the international community ensure Nagorno-Karabakh’s autonomy
within the framework of its statehood is a gross mistake. And forced
establishment of state power in the occupied territories, particularly
in the part of territories of Shahumyan, Martakert and Martuni regions
is violation of the international law by the Azerbaijani authorities,”
Grigoryan concluded.

In return, Giro Manoyan highlighted that no state has the right to
exercise state power in the territory of another state without the
consent of that party.

The lecturers and the undergraduates of the University of Kent agreed
with the arguments of the Armenian side.

FRENCH ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL ANGERS TURKEY
By Jack Phillips

Epoch Times

Dec 20 2011

Turkish officials on Tuesday bristled at a proposed French bill that
would prosecute people who deny the Armenian genocide during World
War I, which was at the time carried out by the Ottoman Empire.

The French Parliament is slated to hold a debate on the bill and
Turkey said that if it were passed, Turkey would frequently and
publicly denounce France’s colonial past, reported Today’s Zaman,
a daily English language newspaper in Turkey.

In the incident, which occurred more than 90 years ago, the Ottoman
Turks killed more than 1.5 million Armenians, according to many
historians, and it is considered one of the worst genocides during
the 20th century. Turkey denies that it was genocide and says only
around 300,000 were killed and that Turks were also killed when
Armenia attempted an uprising against the Ottomans.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said the bill “aims to eliminate
freedom of denying unfair and groundless accusations directed against
our country and nation,” according to the Zaman.

Adding that the bill is an affront to personal liberties, Gul said
he hopes “the bill in question is dropped and history writing is left
to historians.”

The penalty for denying the Armenian genocide would be a maximum
one year in prison and a $58,000 fine, which makes it on par with
Holocaust denial, reported EurActiv.

WEEK OF ITALIAN FILMS LAUNCHES IN YEREVAN

ARMENPRESS
DECEMBER 20, 2011
YEREVAN

“Hamazgayin” State Theatre launches December 20 week of contemporary
Italian films that will last till December 25. During a week films
presenting Italian cultural heritage will be presented. An official
from the theatre told Armenpress that five films will be presented. On
December 23 films will also be shown in Italian embassy.

The event is being conducted with the assistance of the Italian
embassy in collaboration with the “Hamazgayin” theatre.

BBC’S ARTICLE ABOUT FRENCH BILL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AMONG MOST POPULAR OF THE DAY

ARMENPRESS
DECEMBER 20, 2011
YEREVAN

Under the article French genocide bill angers Turkey British BBC
has referred today to Turkey’s response to the bill criminalising
the denial of the Armenian Genocide which will be discussed at the
French National Assembly. BBC says Prime Minister of Turkey and other
officials warned of irreparable damage to French-Turkish ties if the
legislation is passed.

Last week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote to French
President Nicolas Sarkozy warning him that the proposed legislation,
set to go before the National Assembly on Thursday, was “hostile”
and directly targeted Turkey and Turks living in France.

“Such steps will have grave consequences for future relations between
Turkey and France in political, economic, cultural and all areas,
and the responsibility will rest with those behind this initiative,”
the Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying.

By the way, the article has appeared among the 10 most popular on
the web site.

HISTORY CANNOT BE WRITTEN IN PARLIAMENTS – ERDOGAN

news.az
Dec 19 2011
Azerbaijan

‘If French National Parliament wants to deal with history it should
illuminate sufferings inflicted by France in Africa.’ French
Parliament was reminded in the letter that country’s foreign policy
should not be made an instrument for short term and minor domestic
political calculations.

French National Parliament will discuss a draft law penalizing
negatrons’ of the Armenian claims on December 22. Severe reactions
continue to come from Turkey against this draft law.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Edogan said if French National Parliament
wants to deal with history it should illuminate sufferings inflicted
by France in Africa.

It should enlighten Rwanda and Algeria. It should go and investigate
how many people were slaughtered by French soldiers in Algeria,
how they had murdered them and what kind of inhuman methods they had
used there.

Erdogan said that history cannot be written in the parliaments.

EU Minister Egemen Bagıs said that France was going through dumbness.

Bagısh said French firms working in Turkey will be the ones to be
severely harmed by the draft law regarding the so called Armenian
claims to be discussed at the French Parliament.

European Turkish Democrats Association British Branch warned French
Parliament with a letter.

French Parliament was reminded in the letter that country’s foreign
policy should not be made an instrument for short term and minor
domestic political calculations.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH REGION ‘CANNOT DEVELOP’ WITHOUT AZERBAIJAN

news.az
Dec 19 2011
Azerbaijan

‘I think that many useful points in meetings conducted in different
levels because they are not held for the sake of acquaintance but
to find settlement of the problem’. The statement came from Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Elman Abdullayev during his interview to Gun.Az.

According to Abdullayev, indeed, the Minsk group’s activity didn’t
give any results this year. However, some points and directions
were defined.

“For example, a joint declaration was reached by five countries at the
OSCE Ministerial Council’s summit in Vilnius. The summit emphasized
the involvement of all countries to settle the conflict through the
Minks group. It showed the activeness of not solely one country but
all Minsk group countries.

Mediation of a certain country is a positive thing. However, Azerbaijan
stands for overall activeness of Minsk group. As you know, Azerbaijan
expressed its position on renewed Madrid principles suggested by Minsk
group in Athens. Unfortunately, Armenia hasn’t expressed its position
yet. Bu non-constructive steps, Armenia tries to demonstrate that it
is in more convenient position.

But Azerbaijan’s approach is presented to the world community in so
argumented, clear and grounded manner that we begin to hear about
the inadmissibility of the status quo from OSCE country presidents
and Minsk group co-chairs.

What does status quo mean? It means occupation. I think the world
community understands very well that development in the South Caucasus
will remain under question until the settlement of the conflict.

Though Azerbaijan develops rapidly, gives impetus to Georgia’s
development and conducts cooperation with Turkey at high level,
the overall development of the region trudges.

This is because of a known reason. I don’t talk yet about the situation
in Armenia. The situation in this country is very miserable.

The Armenia’s economy is facing regress and demographic crisis. Over
80-90,000 citizens leave the country every year. It gradually
becomes obvious that Nagorno-Karabakh region cannot develop without
Azerbaijan. This is because Azerbaijan is turning into a powerful
country. The 80% of the South Caucasus economy falls on Azerbaijan.

Some are concerned over this situation but this is a fact. I think
that besides the settlement of the conflict, Azerbaijan also needs
to be strong and it does gradually’.

The spokesman also noted that Karabakh is the issue of security.

‘Azerbaijan has always focused on peace and security in the world
and we always support this process. During the term in the Security
Council, this issue will continue to remain on the focus of attention.

As to the conflict, this issue will be brought forth with the
coordination of member countries. They can include Minsk group member
countries since they are also members of the SC. On the other hand,
some other members of the Organization can also put forward this
issue. It means that not only the Azerbaijani side but also other
member countries can show interest in resolving the conflict. We will
deal with not one but several issues at the SC’.