Author: Maghakian Mike

"DEFENSE MINISTER CONFESSES THE ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS CLEANSING, BUT TAKES NO LESSONS"
Tolga Korkut – [email protected]

BIA
Nov 17 2008
Turkey

Dr. Aktar discusses Defense Minister’s statement that "If the Greeks
and the Armenians had stayed, today’s nation would not come into
existence." While agreeing with the minister’s conclusion, Aktar
emphasizes the same cannot be forced upon the Kurds.

Regarding Vecdi Gönul’s speech about the actions taken by the
Turkish national state as a confession, Dr. Cengiz Aktar, a faculty of
BahceÅ~_ehir University at Istanbul, said, "I do not know if he has
taken into consideration the possible reactions to his speech, but
it is not wrong to say that the Turkish nation was shaped by Islam."

In a speech given at the Turkish Embassy in Brussels on November 10,
Gönul had said "If there would be Greeks in the Aegean region and
Armenians in many regions in Turkey today, then could there be today’s
national state?"

Claiming that the forced migration and exchange of populations had
had positive results for the economy, Gönul continued as follows:
"I had worked at the Izmir Chamber of Commerce for a period. There
was not a single Muslim among the founders of this chamber. It was
composed of the Levantines (the European Christians who had been
living in the Ottoman Empire, for centuries in some cases). There
were four neighborhood inhabited by the Armenians, Greeks, Jews and
Muslims in Ankara before the founding of the Republic. The fertile
lands had belonged to the minorities."

Likening these words to a form of confession, Aktar said these were
very brave words, although they were probably said for different
reasons. He believes these words clearly define what actually
happened. Aktar made the following comments about the speech:

The role of religion in nation-building: Gönul says that at the
beginning of the twentieth century, the bonding factor at the root
of the nationalist currents in this region was religion. In fact, the
concrete base the Unionists and later the Republicans had in mind for
the Turkish nation was Islam. None of the other qualities that make
a nation – language, race, culture and economy – had existed in this
region at the time of the invention of the Turkish nation. Religion
as the fundamental factor of nation-building naturally excludes those
who are not from that religion, consider them as non-national. The
Armenians, the Greeks and the Jews, thus, become the natural other,
the natural enemy of the nation.

Non-Turkish Muslims are Turkified: As Gönul put it, there was no
place for the non-Muslims since the very beginning of the Republic,
but the non-Turkish Muslims could only take their place in the new
nation only after they were Turkified and as long as they would
discard their former identities.

Greece is similar too: This kind of nation-building process based on
religion can be found Greece, too. Over there, no religion is allowed,
other than Greek orthodox faith. In fact, when Greece had conquered
Macedonia in 1912, the first action it had taken was to remove the
Muslim and Jewish components of the city. This process had reached
its culmination with the exchange of populations put into effect
with Turkey.

Instead of taking lessons: The important thing is to read the
nation-building process correctly, with its rights and wrongs, to
accept the pains it caused, to understand it and to take lessons from
it. The nation-building is probably the gravest incident that has
befallen upon humanity in recent history. But Turkey does not have
the luxury to make the Kurdish people to go through the homogenizing
nation-building process of "ethnic and religious cleansing" of the
early 20th century in the 21st century.

"This nation-building process has weakened Turkey" Economy: It is
highly questionable if the operation of making the capital change
hands all over Anatolia was effective economically.

Armenians, the eastern Anatolia and the Kurdish problem: After the
Armenian forced migration and massacres the economy of the eastern
Anatolia crashed, never to recover again. Today’s Kurdish problem
has a lot to do with this economic crash.

Greeks: Even though the economic vacuum created by shipping
off the Greeks from Anatolia was filled with the Muslims coming
from the Balkans and Greece, that the western shore could not
come back economically for a long time is a fact accepted by the
historians. Caglar Keyder’s work titled "Turkey Within the World
Economy" is very enlightening in this respect.

Those who accumulated capital were kicked out: Those bourgeoisie and
artisans who had managed to accumulate capital were kicked out. This
operation was an operation of plunder rather than an operation of the
capital changing hands. For those who got their hands on the Greek and
Armenian properties could not convert them into productive capital,
since they did not have the necessary knowledge and experience. It
took a long time for Turkey to get to the same level and this led to
the weakening of Turkey. The nation-building process did not enrich
Turkey, but rather weakened it.

–Boundary_(ID_NWRrtAJ0LRuInd72szVDFA)–

Interfax, Russia
Nov 15 2008

Minsk Group Leaders Arrive in N.-Karabakh
Saturday, November 15, 2008 11:11 PM

(Source: Daily News Bulletin; Moscow – English)YEREVAN. Nov 15
(Interfax) – The U.S., Russian and French co- chairmen of the Minsk
Group, an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe body
mediating in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, have arrived in the
disputed enclave, where they are to meet with the region’s leader.
The co-chairmen, Matthew Bryza of the United States, Yury Merzlyakov
of Russia and Bernard Facier of France, will meet with Beko Sahakian,
president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, an
Armenian-speaking enclave in Azerbaijan and the source of a two-decade
conflict between that country and Armenia.

Bryza, Merzlyakov and Facier, who arrived in Armenia from Baku on
Friday, are expected to meet with journalists on Monday.

In a radio program earlier on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov expressed optimism about chances for the settlement of
the conflict.

The Azeri and Armenian presidents, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, at
a meeting in Moscow, "unequivocally reaffirmed their readiness and
intentions to continue having meetings at the highest level, and they
did so for the first time in 14 years in the form of a document to
which they put their signatures," Lavrov told Moscow radio station
Ekho Moskvy.

This, Lavrov, said, was the first time the two countries made such a
pledge since "the end of the hot phase of the conflict."

"Secondly, the Moscow declaration contains concrete instructions by
President Aliyev and President Sargsyan for their foreign ministers to
intensify the work of seeking compromises," the Russian minister said.

"Thirdly, it was the first time that the Armenian and Azeri
leaderships recorded the actual fact of the existence of the Madrid
document, which the co-chairmen handed to the [conflict] parties a
year ago," he said.

Lavrov said the fact that "the Armenian and Azeri sides have recorded
at presidential level the existence of this document and their
readiness to take it into account in their work [is] a great step
forward."

"Russia, the U.S. and France have no tactical disagreements on this
conflict, they are following the same route and trying to stimulate
the parties to reach agreement. The Moscow declaration stresses the
sustained significance of this mechanism more than once," Lavrov said.

FOREIGN MINISTER OF TURKEY INTENDS TO CONSULT AZERBAIJANI LEADERSHIP BEFORE MEETING HIS ARMENIAN COUNTERPART

ArmInfo
2008-11-14 16:39:00

ArmInfo. Foreign Minister of Turkey Ali Babacan is going to consult
the Azerbaijani leadership before his meeting Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian.

Bakililar.az reported Turkey is ready for dialogue with Armenia and
even establishment of relations but only after settlement of the
Karabakh conflict. Ali Babacan will visit Azerbaijan to consult on
the course of the upcoming negotiations with Nalbandyan.

To recall, on 24 November, Edward Nalbanyan will really pay a daylong
visit to Istanbul. He will participate in the meeting of BSEC and will
present the 6-year program of the organization and the priorities
of Armenia as the Foreign Minister of BSEC Chair-state. However,
Armenian Foreign Ministry press-services reported earlier that the
Armenian party had received no proposals on the meeting of Armenian
and Turkish foreign ministers.

ALEXANDER ISKANDARYAN: "RESULTS OF A REFERENDUM ON THE STATUS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH ARE ABSOLUTELY PREDICTABLE"

Today.Az
ws/politics/48959.html
Nov 13 2008
Azerbaijan

Day.Az interview with famous Armenian political scientist Alexander
Iskandaryan.

– How do you assess results of the meeting in Moscow, which ended in
signing of a declaration on the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh
conflict between the Presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia?

– The Moscow meeting of the three president proved what was clear
before it: at the current stage the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict is impossible. This declaration is a declaration in all
senses. It declares intentions, which is certainly not bad but can
hardly change the format of this protracted and complex problem,
like Nagorno Karabakh.

– Is it possible to say that Azerbaijan has officially fixed its
agreement for a referendum in Nagorno Karabakh on its status in
10-15 years in exchange for return of several occupied regions around
Nagorno Karabakh?

– It is possible to say whatever one wants. Moreover, it will
depend on the level of objectiveness of those who speak. In real,
the declaration can not be "an official agreement", such kind of
documents are not made in a hurry.

– What do you think will be the results of a referendum on the status
of Nagorno Karabakh?

– The results of the referendum on the status of Nagorno Karabakh
are absolutely predictable. The ethnic nature of the policy in
our region is great, the population will vote depending on ethnic
belonging. Thus, the results of any referendum can be predicted by
the number of people of any nationality. Therefore, the referendum can
not be a way of the problem settlement, as there is no other variant.

First of all, we should adopt a political settlement and then define
a place and issues of a referendum to attain the result, to which
the parties of the agreement came. But the political settlement is
impossible, therefore, we can argue for years among whom to hold
this referendum.

– Is it possible that within these 10-15 years from the moment of
liberation of a number of currently occupied regions of Azerbaijan,
our countries will develop such friendly and good-neighbor relations
that the status of Nagorno Karabakh will not be important?

– There is no such a possibility. This will not occur in a short
period of time. Generations are needed for that.

– What will be the balance of powers in the whole South Caucasus
region, its economic and political future in case of the settlement
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict?

– The Karabakh conflict will not be settled in the near future. But
even if we imagine it, the South Caucasus will not turn into
Switzerland in an hour.

And the proof is Azerbaijan and Georgia. Political relations are not
bad, borders are open, there are communications, railroads are working,
pipelines are also working. And what? Azerbaijan is interesting for
Georgia as a source of energy, while Georgia for Azerbaijan as a
territory. The economies are integrated weekly, similar economies
are usually badly integrated.

This is a common event, for example, in Eastern Europe. Bulgaria
wants to integrate with Bosnia or Albania, while the second and the
third want integration with Germany. Nothing extraordinary will happen
even if Azerbaijan and Georgia involve Armenia with Karabakh, though,
of course, positive results will be recorded.

The same is in the internal political spheres. Armenia, Georgia
and Azerbaijan need to integrate with Europe, try to assimilate its
values, institutions, regulation mechanisms and not use each others
as an example, that they are trying to do with a temporary success.

As for the balance of powers, changes will accelerate here, but they
will not change the reality. Russia, Iran, Turkey and the United
States will remain players in the region. No one will quit it. Their
weights will undoubtedly, change, but they are strictly changing now.

TURKEY’S HERO, BEHIND THE BRONZE VENEER

New York Times
pe/13ataturk.html?hp
Nov 13 2008

ISTANBUL — After nearly a century of looking serious, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, has started to smile.

Portraits of a serious Ataturk hang all over Turkey, but a new film
may alter his image.

Ataturk — a war-hero-turned-statesman who defended Turkey during
the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire — is the subject of what is
perhaps the world’s longest personality cult.

His portrait hangs in every tea shop, government office and
classroom. Insulting his memory is a crime under Turkish law. And
every Nov. 10, Turkey observes a moment of silence to commemorate
his death in 1938.

But the ironclad official version might be softening. Last month a
documentary on Ataturk was released that looks at his human side. That
might not sound like much, but in a country where official history
is kept under lock and key, the film, "Mustafa," was a brave endeavor.

The film is by no means an effort to tear the leader down. It is a
largely sympathetic portrayal. But the mere fact that its director,
Can Dundar, was able to show Ataturk looking less like a bronze statue
and more like a man with a bad drinking habit who sometimes got bored,
says a lot about how far Turkey has come in the past 10 years.

"Can Dundar opened the gates of an ivory cage that we have locked
ourselves in," Mehmet Ali Birand, a journalist, wrote in the daily
newspaper Posta.

Founded in 1923, modern Turkey in its early years was monochromatic,
as authorities scrubbed the country of differences to forge a national
identity. But as wealth and democracy have increased, so have efforts
to re-evaluate the past, bringing some of those differences, ethnic
and religious, into focus.

Turkish intellectuals like Mr. Dundar have begun to question the
official line, opening up painful debates on topics that have long
been considered closed. Ataturk, whose name means father of the Turks,
was one of the most important figures of the 20th century, but his
story is not broadly known in the West, in part because his godlike
status in Turkey has made it too politically prickly to tell.

Previous attempts to tell it on film have failed. In an article
last year titled "The 56-Year Story of the Unmade Ataturk Film," an
English-language newspaper, The Turkish Daily News, said, "Actors
have grown old waiting for the role," citing reported efforts by
Antonio Banderas, Kevin Costner and Yul Brynner.

"Turkey would never want to see its founding father, which it sees
as a holy person, be portrayed as a person with human weaknesses,"
the paper said.

That trait is at the heart of many of this country’s problems. Turkey
has a tremendous capacity for denial, which includes the Armenian
genocide early in the last century and a large Kurdish minority whose
existence the state is only beginning to acknowledge. Without facing
that history, intellectuals here argue, Turkey will never be able to
move beyond it.

"Ataturk is used as a shield by those who are blocking discussions
on many deformities in this country," wrote Ahmet Altan, one of the
country’s most prominent intellectuals and a columnist for Taraf,
a liberal daily newspaper. "They attribute godlike status to Ataturk
and then hide behind it."

Mr. Dundar drew on a wide selection of Ataturk’s diaries and letters
that had been closed in military archives for decades. The man who
emerges in the film is even more radical in his beliefs than Turks
have been taught, Mr. Dundar said.

Ataturk was determined, for example, to subordinate Islam and to force
Turks to look and behave as Westerners. In 1914, Mr. Dundar said,
the 33-year-old Ataturk attended a ball in the Czech spa of Carlsbad
with a Turkish diplomat and his wife, who remarked that she could not
imagine such a scene — the dancing, the dress — in her home country.

In a later entry in his diaries, Ataturk wrote that "it would not be
difficult at all," Mr. Dundar said. "If I would be given the power,
I would do it overnight," Ataturk wrote.

"Ataturk didn’t believe it should happen over time," Mr. Dundar
said. "He thought it should be abrupt."

Mr. Dundar said he could use only a small fraction of the material
he sifted through that revealed something about Ataturk’s thoughts
on Islam. The rest was too explosive, he said.

There were a few sharp divergences from the official history, though
the film veered close. In one scene, Ataturk says, just before an
address to an early Parliament, that he believes the areas populated
predominantly by Kurds should have a special status. The concept
is extremely controversial in Turkey, which fears that its largely
Kurdish southeast will want to secede, and discussions of special
status for the region are strictly taboo.

The film, which opened on Oct. 29, National Day, and is being shown in
more than 200 theaters around Turkey, was praised by intellectuals but
drew a frenzy of angry reactions. (Mr. Dundar, knowing the delicacy of
the topic, preferred to speak in his native Turkish for the interview
for maximum precision of language, though his English is fluent.)

"Your production is a priceless source for people who want to tarnish
young minds with their dark thoughts," wrote a viewer on the movie’s
Web site who identified himself as Tulay. "Surely, you would also
qualify for a Nobel Prize," he wrote in a reference to the Nobel
Prize-winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, who was spurned by the
Turkish establishment after discussing the Armenian genocide.

"I denounce you."

Nevertheless, the kinder, gentler Ataturk seems to be a turning point
of some sort for Turkey. Even the Turkish state seems to feel the
need for some adjustments: New bank notes planned for circulation in
2009 picture the leader smiling, not scowling.

VAHE STEPANYAN TO HEAD THE FACT-FINDING GROUP

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
12 Nov 08
Armenia

During its session by the simple majority of votes the fact-finding
experts’ group elected Vahe Stepanyan nominated by the Human Rights
Defender as the head of the group.

The head of the group organizes the activity of the group, signs the
documents, notes, surveys, and invitations elaborated by the group. But
the pubic won’t have any information about all the before mentioned,
because the members of the fact-finding group will give an oath of
silence. The group’s activity is not subject to elucidation and the
sessions are close-door.

RECOGNITION OF TURKEY’S INTERNATIONAL ROLE IS A GOODWILL GESTURE ON ARMENIA’S PART

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.11.2008 14:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The visit of Turkish President Abdullah Gul to
Armenia was a landmark event but it’s not enough, the Armenian
leader said.

"We should press for having normal relations and open
borders. Otherwise, Armenians will be disappointed," Serzh Sargsyan
told Le Figaro.

"Recognition of Turkey’s international role is a goodwill gesture on
Armenia’s part. However, we want equal relations. We do not set the
Armenian Genocide recognition as a precondition for normalization of
relations and we would like Turkey not to bring forth conditions,"
he said.

Gul was in Yerevan on September 6 to watch a World Cup qualifier
between the Armenian and Turkish national soccer teams. Before the
match, Presidents of Armenia and Turkey said their meeting will
encourage a dialogue between the two countries. They considered the
Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform, which was evaluated
by the Armenian President as a step toward creation of a favorable
atmosphere throughout the region.

ESTONIAN AMBASSADOR PRESENTS HIS CREDENTIALS TO ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

Noyan Tapan

Nov 13, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The newly-appointed ambassador of
Estonia to Armenia Thomas Luk (residence in Tbilisi) presented his
credentials to the Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan on November
13. Congradulating the diplomat on his appointment, S. Sargsyan
attached importance to development of bilateral relations with Estonia,
as well as to active and comprehensive cooperation within the framework
of the EU European Neighborhood Policy.

According to a press release of the RA presidential press service,
S. Sargsyan said that in his activity the ambassador can anticipate
every possible support of the Armenian side.

Noting that maintaining close links is the best way of developing the
relations, T. Luk said that Estonia aims to deepen cooperation with
the Armenian side in various spheres, and his country’s sympathy for
Armenia provides a good basis for it.

YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY PURCHASES 31,000 TONS OF VINTAGE IN 2008

ARKA
Nov 11, 2008

YEREVAN, November 11. /ARKA/. Yerevan Brandy Company (YBC) has shown
record-high result of grape procurement, reported Naira Tovmasyan,
PR manager of the company.

Combining their efforts, the company’s three branches in Armavir,
Tavoush and Aigavaz this year ensured 100% of the planed 31,000 tons
of vintage – 7% increase compared to 2007, she added.

The company’s branches in Armavir and Aigavaz ensured 46% if the
purchase order each, but harvest was relatively poor in Tavoush region
(2,100 tons) this year due to frosts.

This year the average procurement price of grape set by YBC branches
was 147 drams per kilo, with the company’s budget on procurements
totaled US$15.2mln, Tovmasyan said, adding YBC aims at leaving ample
reserves of cognac alcohol.

YBC has been cooperating with farmers on a legal basis, having
contracts with 5,500 grape growers.

Trying to introduce innovations in grape growing, the company has set
up a number of experimental vineyards to make lands more fertile by
using methods affordable for the farmers.

Established in 1887, YBC was modernized in 1953. In June 1998, the
company became member of Pernod Ricard, the world’s second leading
supplier of prestigious spirits and wine brands. Ararat bandy is a
YBC brand.

BARROSO HOPES GUL’S VISIT HERALDS DIALOGUE

Today’s Zaman
Nov 8 2008
Turkey

Hailing a landmark visit to Yerevan by President Abdullah Gul in
September, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has
encouraged Turkey to take further steps to pave the way for concrete
rapprochement between estranged neighbors Armenia and Turkey.

In an annual progress report released earlier this week, the EU had
praised Gul’s visit to Yerevan at the invitation of his Armenian
counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan. During the one-day visit, which made Gul
the first ever Turkish president to visit Armenia, Gul and Sarksyan
watched a World Cup qualifying match between the national teams of the
two countries. "President Gul’s visit was a very important initiative,"
Barroso was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency at a joint
press conference held with Sarksyan in Brussels on Thursday.

"I believe that there is need for more gestures in the region. I hope
this initiative does not remain only a visit and that it becomes the
beginning of a true dialogue," Barroso added, while acknowledging
that problems between Armenia and Turkey were "sometimes difficult,
dramatic and very sensitive." However, he said, the two parties could
overcome problems by showing political courage.

Barroso also voiced satisfaction over the fact that Armenia had
responded positively to Ankara’s proposal for a Caucasus Stability
and Cooperation Platform to promote dialogue between the countries
of that region. "The ongoing exchange of views between Yerevan and
Ankara will have a positive impact on the security of the Caucasian
region — including the Nagorno-Karabakh issue," he said.

–Boundary_(ID_Yp3EPIKaOBFdS2aGcb6Xeg)–