Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

JUDGE IS DEPENDENT AND DEFENSELESS

A1plus
| 13:10:22 | 07-05-2005 | Politics |

“The sore spot of the juridical system is the problem of
independence not only of the executive bodies but also of all the
power branches. Presently the Ombudsman is trying to influence the
juridical independence”, judge of the Court of First Instance of
Erebuni and Nubarasehn communities Ara Kubanyan considers.

The judge proposes to create mechanisms, which would exclude any
interference. For this purpose the Union of Judges included Ara
Kubanyan in the group working out constitutional changes. The group
submitted to the NA the following suggestions: “The Articles 94
and 95 should be re-edited to transform the Justice Council into a
constitutional body, which takes corresponding decision.”

Kubaryan considers that to date a judge is defenseless and one of
the constitutional changes touches upon this problem: “The process
of dismissing judges, arrest or calling him administrative account
should be more complicated. In part, the corresponding decisions by
the Justice Council should be passed only on the basis of a resolution
handed down by a special commission of the Court of Cassations composed
of three members” To make the independence of a judge complete the
possibility to appeal the decision in the CC should be fixed in the
Constitution, Ara Kubaryan considers.

According to Kubaryan the three-step juridical system justifies
itself. Besides the Economic Court, he highlights the formation of
the Administrative court as it will ease the work of the Courts
of First Instance. The problems of administrative responsibility
referring to the state bodies and officials should be settled in
administrative order. Kubaryan also considers that there are cases
that demand consideration in the Court of First Instance by the
collective composition.

Victoria Abrahamyan

REVOLUTION DEMANDS VICTIMS

A1plus
| 17:22:09 | 04-05-2005 | Politics |

The most significant difference between the “Judge International
Third Conference” organized in Georgia this year and those organized
previously was that the event was no longer presided by Georgian
Supreme Court President Lado Chanturia. At present he is replaced by
Konstantin Kublashvili. Mr. Chanturia is one of the few representatives
of the Georgian Court system who has a very good reputation not only
in his fatherland but also outside it.

During the rose revolution Mr. Chanturia considered the results of the
Presidential elections in Georgia invalid, but this did not mean that
he would continue to have high posts under Mikhail Sahakashvili. During
the 8th month of Sahakashvili’s presidency Lado Chanturia resigned
from his post.

In some circles of Georgia this is accounted for by the fact that in
fact the most serious rival of Sahakashvili was Chanturia. Some people
claim that Eduard Shevardnadze saw Chanturia as his successor. By the
way, Lado Chanturia is Shevardnadze’s distant relative and is in good
terms both with Shevardnadze and the present Georgian authorities.

After several failures of President Sahakashvili Lado Chanturia’s
reputation has grown still more and his leaving Georgia was exactly
in time. After resigning from the post of the Georgian Supreme Court
President Lado Chanturia was invited to work in the Bremen University,
and he accepted the invitation.

In Georgia many people are convinced that as a result of Sahakashvili’s
policy Lado Chanturia’s reputation will grow more quickly and he will
remain a real candidate of the next President of Georgia.

Armenia frees captured Azeri soldiers

Agence France Presse — English
May 7, 2005 Saturday 3:29 PM GMT

BAKU May 7 — Three soldiers captured by Armenian forces along the
ceasefire line dividing Azerbaijan and Armenian-occupied territory
in February have been freed and turned over to Azerbaijan, officials
said Saturday.

The three men were not harmed during their detention according to
Shain Sailov, an official with Azerbaijan’s committee for prisoners
of war and hostages, Lider TV reported.

He said the three were released through the mediation of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the
International Committee of the Red Cross.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a stalemate over the
ethnic Armenian enclave Nagorno-Karabakh since they ended large-scale
hostilities with an uneasy ceasefire agreement in 1994.

Armenia controls Karabakh and seven surrounding regions equal
to roughly 14 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized
territory.

The Red Cross often intervened to negotiate the release of soldiers
captured by enemy forces serving on the ceasefire line.

About a dozen soldiers have lost their lives from sniper fire and
mines along the ceasefire line every year but that figure has already
doubled by some estimates for 2005.

EU DIPLOMAT URGES SOONEST RESOLUTION OF KARABAGH DISPUTE

Armenpress

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS: A senior EU diplomat told a news conference
today in Yerevan that a plan of actions to deepen relations between
Armenia and the EU within the frameworks of European Neighborhood
Policy should be ready by the end of the year.

Heiki Talvitie, an EU special representative for the South Caucasus,
said the EU attaches great importance to stronger cooperation with
the region’s countries, but added that its focus now is on Georgia
rather, following the ‘rose revolution” there. Talvitie said the three
countries of the region have now to do their homework and develop
a plan of actions that will outline the main goals and the tasks of
future cooperation.

According to the diplomat, each of the countries will be approached
separately and added that the European Neighborhood Policy does not
envisage the region’s countries’ full integration with the European
Union.

Talvitie also said the EU is interested in a soonest resolution of the
Nagorno Karabagh problem, as this conflict hampers the development
of the region and stressed the importance of talks between Armenia
and Azerbaijan on the level of foreign ministers.

JOHN EVANS: ARMENIA FOLLOWING RIGHT DIRECTION

Pan Armenian News
02.05.2005 08:43

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia is following the right direction, US
Ambassador to Armenia John Evansstated at the press conference held
upon completion of the sitting of the Armenian-American Working Group
of Economic Cooperation. In his words, the US assistance to Armenia
is realized in two directions, the first being the assistance to the
economic development of the country and the second – to the development
of democracy. Mr. Evans also noted that during the sitting the issues
referring to the amendments to be made to the Constitution and the
Election Code were as well discussed.

Zaman Online, Turkey
April 30 2005

The Orient is always the Orient for the West…

by MEHMET KAMIS

Media channels, which have multiplied in recent years, subject our
people today to very serious misinformation.

Tens of TV channels, newspapers, magazines, cinema, Internet portals,
and billboards constantly send messages to people’s minds. Despite
such a bombardment, we can have deep information about almost no
topic. We neither have the time nor the appetite to attain deep
knowledge even about issues that we have our own ideas or opinions
on. Since this is the situation, images and small messages gain
greater importance. The Western media often emphasizes certain issues
when writing about or monitoring Muslims. Turks and Arabs are either
terrorists or thieves or cheaters. This is such an accepted fact that
a few years ago it was insistently underlined in newspaper film
advertisements that a Muslim character was the good man in a film
called the 13th Warrior, the lead role of which belonged to Antonio
Banderas. It is such a rarely encountered situation that Muslims are
portrayed with good images in Western films that the company that
brought the film to Turkey felt it had to insist on this.

Again, a majority of news articles about Turkey and the Islamic world
in the Western media include negative photographs and information. A
travel and culture magazine called Mare, which I saw in the hands of
our photography editor Selahattin Sevi, had a photograph of Istanbul
on its October 2004 cover page. The photography and publishing
editors of this magazine published in Germany had chosen the worst
photograph they could find of such a magnificent city for their cover
page. Photographs of Istanbul, which is full of wonders and beauties
in every corner, were chosen as if with an approach of “which bad
side can I find” rather than of “what beauty can I capture.”

Venice is a foul smelling city even at a temperature of -2. This
city, which is referred to as the city of romance, is a place where
in reality the channels are full of pollution, the houses are not
plastered and are in bad condition. You cannot see; however, any
negative photographs or articles about Venice even in Turkey,
whereas, if Venice were in the Orient, the whole world would hear
about all the environmental pollution and smells from the canals
there. France, which carries the Armenian issue to the agenda the
most and which wants to blacken Turks and Muslims in this way, never
carries the massacres it committed in Algeria to the agenda. While it
did not say to history how it would pay for the cost for this, the
great sin of 500,000 massacred in Rwanda also belongs to France. I
don’t say here that if we did, you did, too. I only say to those
attempting to distribute justice: “Don’t forget your own murders!”

We have said that contemporary man makes decisions according to
images and symbols. He also constructs his truths on these images.
There are only a few who are interested in the details or the reality
of the issues. It is possible to stigmatize a big region through a
few negative pieces of information or images sprinkled in a film or
on the news. This negative image is not used only by Western media or
Westerners. Even the Turkish media approache everything belonging to
the Orient with an Orientalist point of view. For example, you may
well remember discussions of the Feast of the Sacrifice, articles and
photographs about it. Bloody images and not-yet-buried bowels were
published in newspapers. Television channels competed much to
broadcast images of escaping bulls kicking their masters and animals,
their legs knifed to make them lay down. In short, I don’t know how
one can explain the silence of France and Germany, who stood up by
saying that women are beaten in Turkey when their own demonstrators
were harshly beaten. Yet, their tolerance to their own sins is in
fact not new.

Armenian National Committee of Texas
11301 Richmond Ave. Suite K108
Houston, TX 77082
Tel: (281) 558-1918

PRESS RELEASE
April 29, 2005
Contact: Vrouir Frankian
Tel: (281) 558-1918

TEXAS ARMENIANS MARK ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

— Armenian Americans Expand Activity Across the Lone Star State

HOUSTON, TX – Civic, community, and educational initiatives marking
the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide were in high gear
throughout the state of Texas this April, with Armenian Americans
securing proclamations from five key cities throughout the Lone
Star state leading up to a rally at the State Capitol on April
23rd, reported the Armenian National Committee of Texas (ANC-TX).

The state capital city of Austin was joined in marking the Genocide
by San Antonio, College Station, Galveston and Houston. Local
activists in each city, working as part of the Texas Joint
Committee for the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,
approached the Mayors and City Councils, raising awareness about
this crime against humanity. The texts of the resolutions are
provided below.

“The Texas Joint Committee for the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide did an excellent job, motivating our community, educating
elected officials, and strengthening the advocacy capabilities of
the growing Texas Armenian community,” said ANC-TX spokesperson
Vatche Hovsepian. “We look forward to expanding our outreach in
support of national legislation on the Armenian Genocide and the
full range of issues of concerns to the Texas Armenian community.”

On April 23rd, over 400 Armenian Americans from throughout the
state, carrying Armenian and American flag, and banners calling for
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, arrived at the State Capitol
for a special 90th anniversary Genocide Observance. The event was
featured prominently in the Austin American-Statesman newspaper and
covered on several local television news channels.

The Texas Joint Committee worked closely with the Texas Senate to
secure adoption of a resolution marking the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. While the Senate did recognize April 24 2005 as
“Armenian Martyrs Day,” the Texas Armenian community was
disappointed that the resolution fell short of properly
commemorating the Armenian Genocide as “genocide.” Efforts toward
an improved resolution have already begun for the next legislative
session.

Further away in El Paso, local activist Greg Yakoobian arranged for
a billboard on busy Interstate 10 calling for recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. Some 150,000 commuters see the red-blue-orange
background billboard daily, which reads “Turkey: 1,500,000 victims
say you MUST recognize the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, April 24, 1915”

Earlier in the year, the ANC of Texas worked extensively with the
Holocaust Museum of Houston to arrange “The Forgotten Genocide
Exhibit,” featured at the museum from March 29 – May 31, 2005. The
exhibit is part of a unified international effort to commemorate
the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and unite with
genocide survivors of all races and ethnicities. It includes a
newly created portrait, by artist Bob Schiffhaur of the German-
Jewish writer Frantz Werfel to accompany an early German edition of
his novel “Forty Days of Musa Dagh” based on the factual resistance
to the Genocide. Also there are artifacts, relics and shards of the
past that have these long 90 years preserved memories: a Bible, an
ancient rolled script, a hand-woven tablecloth and other items that
were part of daily life before the Genocide. From after the
Genocide there are postage stamps of the Near East Foundation to
help the orphans, children’s artwork to fund orphanages, survivors
handwritten notes from the 1930’s and 1950’s about their forever
lost villages.

A selection of the 1996 Glendale, CA based “Genocide Project”
contains some of the remaining survivors photographs and first hand
accounts. These are split images of faces and fingers. The
photographer Oshagan said “We wanted the discontinuity of the
killings, how their first life was stripped from them and a second
forced upon them, to show up in (these) sliced images.”

In addition to the exhibit, the Holocaust Museum of Houston will
also be hosting a lecture by William Parsons, Chief of Staff of the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on May 26th at 6:30pm. Admission is
open to the public.

#####

————————————
Text of San Antonio, TX Proclamation
Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
————————————

City of San Antonio
Proclamation

WHEREAS, On April 24, 2005, Armenians around the world will
commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide; and

WHEREAS, During the First World War, the Turkish Empire massacred
approximately 2.5 million men, women and children of the Armenian
population in the twentieth century’s first genocides; and

WHEREAS, Although the survivors of this massacre were scattered to
all parts of the world, they have maintained their identity and
unity, while passing along to each generation knowledge about their
language, history and culture; and

WHEREAS, The City of San Antonio joins in this observance, and
urges all citizen to commemorate this tragic event in world
history, and to strengthen our commitment to the cause of liberty
and justice for all.

NOW, Therefore, I, Edward D. Garza, Mayor of the City of San
Antonio, in recognition thereof, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2005
to be

“Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day”

In San Antonio, Texas.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the City of San Antonio to be
affixed this 21st day April, 2005.

————————————
Text of Austin, TX Proclamation
Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
————————————

PROCLAMAT ION

Be it known that

Whereas,
Between 1915 and 1923, prior to the establishment of the Republic
of Turkey, more than a million people of Armenian ancestry were
victims of a genocide perpetrated by the governments of the Ottoman
Empire; and,

Whereas,
We join with the Armenian-American citizen of Central Texas in
opposing such atrocities; and,

Whereas,
We, Likewise, join with the Armenian Community of Austin in
honoring the memory of these victims at ceremonies being held here
today;

Now, Therefore,
I, Will Wynn, Mayor of the City of Austin, Texas,

Do hereby proclaim

April 24, 2005
As
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day
In Austin.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto
set my hand and caused the seal of the City
of Austin to be affixed this 19th Day
of April in the Year Two Thousand Five

————————————
Text of College Station, TX Proclamation
Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
————————————

Proclamation
Office of the Mayor, City of College Station

Whereas, On April 24, 2005, Armenians around the
world will commemorate the 90th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide;

And

Whereas, during the First World War, the Turkish
Empire in an effort of general extermination
and elimination of all traces of a thriving
and noble civilization over 3,000 years old,
massacred approximately 1.5 million Armenian
men, women, and children in the twentieth
century’s first genocide; and

Whereas, although the survivors of this massacre were
scattered to all parts of the world, they
have maintained their identity and unity
through their church, passing along to each
generation not only a strong Christian faith
but a knowledge of their language, history
and culture; and

Whereas, the heroic struggles of the Armenian people
inspire and challenge us to cherish and
preserve the freedom that is ours;

And

Now Therefore, I, Ron Silvia, Mayor of the City of College
Station, Texas, and acting on behalf of the
City Council do hereby proclaim April 24,
2005, as

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day
In College Station, Texas

————————————
Text of Houston, TX Proclamation
Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
————————————

Armenian Martyrs Day

WHEREAS, on April 24, 2005, Armenians around the world will
commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide; during
the First World War, the Turkish Empire in an effort of general
extermination and elimination of all traces of a thriving and noble
civilization over 3,000 years old; of the Armenian population in
Eastern Turkey, massacred approximately 1.5 million men, women, and
children in the twentieth century’s first genocides; and

WHEREAS, although the survivors of this massacre were scattered to
all parts of the world, they have maintained their identity and
unity through their church, passing along to each generation not
only a strong Christian faith but a knowledge of their language,
history and culture; and

WHEREAS, the survivors and descendents of this genocide which drove
them from their homeland, recall and commemorate April 24, 1915 as
Armenian Martyr’s Day; and

WHEREAS, the heroic struggles of the Armenian people inspire and
challenge us to cherish and preserve the freedom that is ours; and

WHEREAS, on April 24, 2005, City of Houston residents will be
called together to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915; and

WHEREAS, this commemoration will serve as an appropriate time for
the people of the City of Houston and others to remember the 1.5
million Armenian men, women and children who lost their lives; and

Therefore, I, Bill White, Mayor of the City of Houston, hereby
proclaim April 24, 2005, as

Armenian Martyrs Day

In Houston, Texas.

————————————
Text of Galveston, TX Proclamation
Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
————————————

PROCLAMATIO N

We the Mayor and City Council, by virtue of the authority vested by
the City of Galveston, Texas, do proclaim

April 24, 2005

as

ARMENIAN MARTYRS DAY

in the City of Galveston

WHEREAS, City of Galveston and Armavir region in Armenia have been
sister cites since September 2001 through the University of Texas
Medical Branch healthcare and disaster preparedness collaboration
funded by AIHA-USAID; and

WHEREAS, On April 24th, 2005 Armenians around the world will
commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide; during
the First World War, the Turkish Empire in an effort of general
extermination and elimination of all traces of a thriving and noble
civilization over 3,000 years old; of the Armenian population in
Eastern Turkey, massacred approximately 1.5 million men, women, and
children in the twentieth century’s first genocides; and

WHEREAS, The survivors and descendents of this genocide which drove
them from their homeland, recall and commemorate April 24, 1915 as
Armenian Martyr’s Day, and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mayor and City Council for the
City of Galveston, Texas does urge each and every citizen to join
our sister city and commemorate this tragic event in world history
and to strengthen our commitment to the cause of liberty and
justice in this and all other nations of the world.

In testimony whereof, witness my hand and Seal of the City of
Galveston, this 24th day of February 2005.

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS GEORGIA: US ‘CHALLENGE’ AID FOR TBILISI SEEN AS
CATALYST FOR DEVELOPMENT

Robert McMahon 4/29/05
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL

For more than a decade, Georgia fostered a reputation as one of the
most corrupt states of the former Soviet Union.

But the leaders who took power after the 2003 Rose Revolution
impressed officials running a new U.S. aid agency focused on rewarding
poor countries fighting corruption.

Georgia is now near the top of the candidate list for the alternative
U.S. aid program — the Millennium Challenge Account — and is likely
this summer to sign a compact for up to $200 million aimed at
infrastructure improvements.

Paul Applegarth is chief executive of the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC). He told a U.S. Congressional panel this week that
Georgia’s leadership change made a crucial difference.

“You had true leadership clearly reinforcing the principles of the
Millennium Challenge — to fight corruption, to clean up the
government, to put effective procedures in place,” Applegarth said.

Under the Millennium Challenge program, the Bush administration says
it will give money only to poor countries with proper governance. The
program chooses states that maintain rule of law, pursue sound
economic policies, and demonstrate a commitment to investing in their
people. Local officials decide how to use the grants but must show
some impact on economic growth.

Madagascar signed the first agreement in April and will receive $110
million for initiatives that include a reform of land-title
procedures.

Sixteen other countries, including Armenia, have been invited to
submit proposals.

Georgia, like Madagascar, devised its development plan after a
thorough consultative process. It included organizing eight regional
forums, establishing a website for public input, and involving local
civil society. The government received more than 600 proposals for
projects to spur economic growth.

Lasha Shanidze, chief executive of the body organizing Georgia’s
effort to sign with the MCC, told RFE/RL during a recent visit to
Washington that the nearly year-long campaign has created new thinking
in the Georgian government about development. He said the process has
also drawn the interest of private banks and other international
funding sources.

“MCC is becoming a catalyst within the country of not only organizing
and [bringing a] more focused approach to particular projects, but
bringing more financing into a country — and that is visible even
without having this compact signed,” Shanidze said. “People are in
line to be with you to co-finance projects, because they believe in
it.”

MCC and Georgian officials expect to sign a compact by this
summer. After talks in April with MCC officials in Washington,
Shanidze was hopeful that Georgia will get approval for a five-year,
$200 million package.

The country’s proposal includes a road project to connect the isolated
southern Akhalkalaki region with the rest of Georgia. Shanidze said
the project is designed to open the region for development as well as
facilitate trade routes between Turkey and Armenia.

Another project would use MCC funds to rehabilitate the north-south
gas pipeline from Russia. The Georgian government earlier this year
had discussed selling the pipeline to Russia’s state company
Gazprom. But Shanidze said the government is now committed to
refurbishing the crucial pipeline itself with the help of the
U.S. program.

“It’s problematic. We’re losing a lot of gas; Armenia is dependent on
this pipeline’s gas,” Shanidze said. “Our electricity-generation
companies are dependent on this gas, and generally investors — to
attract foreign investors into Georgia, large investments — are
always looking for reliable gas supply. It’ s all interlinked, this
chain, which we need to put in shape and itâ=80=99s of course better
if put into shape and owned by us.”

Georgia is also proposing to use a portion of the MCC funds to provide
equity capital for investments in agriculture and tourism in the
country’srural regions.

Louise Shelley is director of the Transnational Crime and Corruption
Center at American University in Washington, which has reported
extensively on corruption in Georgia. She told RFE/RL she is impressed
by the list of initiatives the government has proposed for the
Millennium Challenge funds.

“I think in terms of what they’re targeting — in terms of rebuilding
their agricultural sector, tourism, transport, and energy — those are
just absolute priority areas for Georgia’s development,” Shelley
said. “[They are] things that we’ve been identifying as what is
possible and what is key if it’s going to get out of this cycle of
poverty.”

Shelley and other Georgian monitors argue that the government has
begun to show its seriousness through crackdowns on money laundering
and reform of police patrols.

The World Bank’s country manager for Georgia, Roy Southworth, credited
Tbilisi with developing a home-grown process to identify the most
crucial areas for reform. Southworth told RFE/RL the Georgian
government is sending the right signals on correcting years of abuses.

“It would be naive to say that Georgia in one year has managed to
eliminate corruption, because it was endemic before under the old
government and it existed pretty much at all levels of government,”
Southworth said. “But what the new government has come in on is
essentially a mandate from the population to fight corruption. And
they have made, I think, very good progress in that in a year.”

Georgian and World Bank officials are discussing cooperation between
the bank’ s Municipal Development Fund, which has already created a
structure for funding urban infrastructure, and the anticipated
Millennium Challenge funds.

Overall, the World Bank has spent nearly $800 million on development
projects in Georgia during the past 10 years. One-third of that amount
has gone to infrastructure improvements.

Editor’s Note: Robert McMahon has been RFE/RL’s UN correspondent since
January 2000. He served previously as RFE/RL’s director of news
andcurrent affairs and helped to guide the division’s move to Prague
in the spring of 1995. He joined RFE/RL in Munich in 1992 after
working as an editor on the international desk of the Associated Press
in New York.

Posted April 29, 2005 © Eurasianet

Journal of Turkish Weekly
April 27 2005

1915-1916 saw the displacement of not just Armenians but 702,905
Turks

by Murat Bardakci

source: Hurriyet

Ottoman Grand Vizier and Interior Minister Talat Pasha, in black
books that he kept from the period he was in office, recorded that in
the years between 1915 and 1916, not only Armenians but hundreds of
thousands of Turks were displaced from their homes in eastern Turkey.

The notebooks show that up to 800,000 Turks from provinces under
invasion threat from Russian forces took to the road as “emigrants,”
and that a corridor stretching from Izmit to Halep was used to
resettle up to 702,905 Turkish citizens.The area most emigrated to
was Mosul, with 150,000 resettled, and the least emigrated to was
Icel, with only 426 people.

The so-called “black books” from the archives of Grand Vizier Talat
Pasha record not only the migrations that took place from the Eurpean
side to Anatolia during the Balkan War, but also lists of citizens
displaced by the Russian invasion of eastern provinces during World
War I. The lists of people removed from their homes and out of the
way of fighting between Turkish and Russian forces reveal that while
Armenians were moved, Turks were also moved.

Spiegel Online, Germany
April 25 2005

Armenian Genocide Plagues Ankara 90 Years On

By Bernhard Zand

This weekend, Armenians commemorated the 90th anniversary of the
genocide of 1915. But Turkey has yet to recognize the crime — the
first genocide of the 20th century. By refusing to use the word
“genocide,” Turkey could complicate its efforts to join the European
Union.

AFP photo:
Genocide in Armenia: Many Turks view the perpetrators as their
fathers.

Typhoid, the Russians, imperialism and Kaiser Wilhelm II in far away
Berlin — all were responsible for the mass deaths of Anatolian
Armenians. At least that’s the case if you read the official Turkish
history books. According to the Turkish version, the only group that
didn’t bear any responsibility were the Ottomans, the
great-grandfathers of modern-day Turkey, which is now on the cusp of
joining the European Union.

On Sunday, Armenians all around the world remembered the 90th
anniversary of the start of the genocide. This year brought the last
decennial memorial in which survivors of the crime, one of the worst
of the past century, will still be alive to attend. Never before has
the international pressure on Turkey as stronger as it is now for
Turkey to address its own history. And Ankara’s political elites have
never been more steadfast in their efforts to defend the myths Turkey
has used to explain the crime or to stamp critics as traitors.

The assertion that what happened to the Armenians was genocide is
“categorically unacceptable,” said Yüksel Söylemez, the chairman of a
group of former Turkish ambassadors who are seeking to promote the
official Turkish version of events abroad. Turkish president Ahmet
Necdet Sezer said the accusations are baseless and “upset and hurt
the feelings of the Turkish nation.” It is wrong, he added, for our
European friends to press Turkey on this issue.”

At least one of the arguments of the modern apologists evokes the
same motives of those which led to the order to deport the Armenians:
the leaders of the declining Ottomon Empire saw themselves in 1915 as
surrounded by enemies on all sides and created a case for the
self-defense of the state. It’s an argument that is still used by
modern Turkish defenders today. Be it the Kurds, the Armenians,
Greece, Europe or even the US — inside, like outside, the country
has nothing but opponents, they claim. “From the first day of its
existence,” Ankara Chamber of Commerce chief Sinan Aygün said, time
and time again people have tried to “unsettle and destroy” Turkey.

The fact that Ankara as an EU candidate won’t be able to use this
line of argumentation for much longer is only gradually dawning on
representatives of the Turkish government.

AP/ Armenian National Archives
Victims of the 1915 massacre: Finding out the truth about the
Armenian genocide is an uphill battle.”
Confronted with more and more Armenia resolutions in European
parliaments, opinion is growing among some that Ankara’s position on
the Armenian issue could ultimately endanger its prospects for EU
membership. Although there is no formal requirement that Ankara
recognize the murder of the Armenians as “genocide,” politicians
including French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier have made clear
comments in that direction. “I believe that when the time comes,
Turkey should come to terms with its past, be reconciled with its own
history and recognize this tragedy,” he said. “This is an issue that
we will raise during the negotiation process. We will have about 10
years to do so and the Turks will have about 10 years to ponder their
answer.” Recently, Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union,
filed a resolution on the Turkey-Armenia issue in its own parliament,
the Bundestag, where it will be discussed this week and voted on in
June.

In an effort to counter the pressure coming from Europe on the 90th
anniversary, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
opposition leader Deniz Baykal agreed to a common position at the
beginning of March. Turkey is prepared, Erdogan said, to address its
past. He added that the state archives in Ankara and Istanbul are
open to everyone and that he could imagine an independent entity —
like UNESCO — participating in an historical fact-finding mission.

Two opposition members of the Republican People’s Party, former
ambassadors Onur Öymen and Sükrü Elekdagi, conceived the idea. The
fact that the action originated from the pair has created its own set
of problems, since they are both outspoken hardliners on the Armenian
issue. Their aim is to prove that the deportation and massacre during
World War I can in no way be compared to a genocide, that the number
of victims was considerably lower than the Armenians claim, and that
Anatolya’s Muslims were actually the ones who suffered the most from
the tragic events.

Why is it so hard for modern Turks to deal with this part of their
history? The crimes of 1915 were committed by the then-government of
the Ottoman Empire — a government from whose leading members Mustafa
Kemel clearly distanced himself from when he became the founding
father of the Turkish Republic.

Kemal, who later became known as Atatürk, broke with all of the
traditions of the Ottoman times when he took power in the 1920s. He
did away with the sultanate, the caliphate and sharia law. He added
the Latin alphabet, a European legal system and introduced the
Christian Sunday as one of the weekly public holidays. In addition,
he had a very tense relationship with the three young Turkish leaders
of the Ottoman Empire — Talaat, Cemel and Enver Pasha. He didn’t
want to include a single one of the three, who were considered the
primary culprits of the deportation of the Armenians, as part of the
Turkish national movement after the war. He considered Envers to be
especially dangerous because he saw in his pan-Turkish expansionist
agenda a suicide adventure.

AFP
Decapitated heads of Armenians: Why is it so difficult for modern
Turkey to deal with its past?
Many of the accomplices to the Ottoman war crimes nevertheless fared
well in the Turkish Republic, founded in 1923. Surprisingly, Atatürk
himself, spoke with such openness about the crimes that his comments
could be enough to land him behind bars today. In 1920, in
parliament, he condemned the genocide of the Armenians as an
“abomination of the past” and pledged to dole out severe punishments
to the culprits.

Repeatedly, representatives of Armenia have offered to accept the
version of events as told by Atatürk. In vain. When historian Halil
Berktay of Istanbul made similar statements earlier this month, he
was attacked. It was not unlike the way the nation’s best-known
author Orhan Pamuk was vilified after he told a Swiss newspaper in
February that, “one million Armenians were killed in Turkey.” Since
then, Berktay has refused to make any statements about the Armenian
issue.

Historians like Berktay are unfit to participate in the process of
historical fact-finding, said Onur Öymen, who was Turkey’s ambassador
to Germany and is now the deputy opposition chief and one of the two
initiators of the Turkish parliamentary offensive. They claim the
historians have been susceptible to prejudices spread by the
“Armenian propaganda machine.” However, the two do endorse the
version of events proffered by the American historian Justin
McCarthy, who spoke in March before the Turkish National Assembly and
later in a round with scientists and foreign diplomats.

Diplomats viewed McCarthy’s presentation skeptically, but Turks
welcomed it jubilantly. First, he said, the number of victims claimed
by the Armenians (1.5 million) is based on falsified census figures:
Only 1.1 million people could have lived in the Eastern provinces of
the Ottoman Empire affected by the deportations, he said. Of these,
close to 40 percent died and of those deaths, 80 percent were from
natural causes.

The Turks are fighting a tough battle, says McCarthy, who teaches in
Louisville, Kentucky, and has been largely unknown in his field until
now. “They’re fighting against prejudice, and their opponents are
politically strong, but the truth is on their side,” he told the
crowd.

“Would you admit to the crimes of your grandfathers, if these crimes
didn’t really happen?” asked ambassador Öymen. But the problem lies
precisely in this question, says Hirant Dink, publisher and
editor-in-chief of the Istanbul-based Armenian weekly Agos. Turkey’s
bureaucratic elite have never really shed themselves of the Ottoman
tradition — in the perpetrators, they see their fathers, whose honor
they seek to defend.

AFP
Turkish soldiers stand next to Armenians who have been hanged: Today
Atatürk would wind up behind bars for his criticism of the crimes
against the Armenians.
This tradition instils a sense of identity in Turkish nationalists —
both from the left and the right, and it is passed on from generation
to generation through the school system. This tradition also requires
an antipole against which it could define itself. Since the times of
the Ottoman Empire, religious minorities have been pushed into this
role.

At the beginning of April, Dink was invited along with other
representatives of the approximately 60,000 members of the Armenian
minority in Turkey to appear before the parliament’s EU Committee. He
came with a passionate appeal for reconciliation. He also had some
sharp-tongued words for Germany’s main opposition, which recently
took up the issue of the Armenian genocide in parliament. “Ms.
(Angela) Merkel (of the Christian Democratic Union), isn’t bringing
this instance up in the German parliament because she likes black
eyebrowed Armenians,” he said. “She’s playing this card because she’s
against EU membership for Turkey.”

Turkish-Armenian journalist and sociologist Etyen Mahcupyan also
wants to see the rhetoric toned down in this war of words. Whatever
the historical truth, he said, “The term genocide is only of use to
extremists. I would have nothing against it if this word wasn’t
used.” Rarely in recent decades, says Hirant Dink, have the
opportunities for an improvement in Turkish-Armenian relations been
as good as they are today. Erdogan’s government, dominated by
Muslims, is far less a product of the nationalist spirit of the
Turkish bureaucracy than its predecessors. And that’s something
Europe should seek to exploit.

Germany, especially, which as a former ally of the Ottoman Empire
also carries its share of blame in the tragedy, would be well advised
against writing any resolutions. Instead, it should make concrete
proposals: “Why don’t the Germans challenge Eriwan to make the old
nuclear reactor in Metsarot safer or put pressure on Ankara to reopen
its borders to Armenia?” Berlin could help economically and
diplomatically and support the moderates who exist on both sides,
Dink said. “Truly, the possibilities are endless.”

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