Turkish Laureate Criticizes French Legislation

By SEBNEM ARSU
Published: October 14, 2006
ISTANBUL, Oct. 13 – Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish novelist who won the
Nobel Prize in Literature this week, went on television Friday to
criticize the French parliamentary vote that would make it a crime to
deny that the Ottoman Turks’ mass killing of Armenians constituted
genocide.
In a telephone interview broadcast live on the private television
network NTV, Mr. Pamuk, who faced criminal charges for his statements
acknowledging the massacre, said France had acted against its own
fundamental principles of freedom of expression.
`The French tradition of critical thinking influenced and taught me a
lot,’ he said. `This decision, however, is a prohibition and didn’t
suit the libertarian nature of the French tradition.’ The legislation
was approved by the lower house of Parliament, but it is uncertain
whether the upper house will concur.
In any case, Mr. Pamuk urged his compatriots not to let their
frustration with France get out of hand. He used a Turkish proverb to
get his point across. Roughly translated, it means `Don’t set the
blanket on fire for a flea.’
Some analysts fear that widespread anger against the French
legislation may turn more Turks against joining the European Union. A
Turkish opinion poll released in July showed a decline in support, to
58 percent from a high of 74 percent in 2003, in part because of the
prolonged road to admission.
Mr. Pamuk’s statement came after some in the country voiced suspicions
that the award was politically motivated. Mr. Pamuk owes part of his
celebrity in Europe to his criticism of Turkey’s stance on the
Armenian genocide. Many in Europe feel that Turkey should acknowledge
that the mass killings during and after World War I were genocide, and
the country’s refusal may complicate its attempts to join the European
Union.
Some of Mr. Pamuk’s supporters called it unfortunate that the prize
was awarded on the same day as the French parliamentary vote. They
fear that Turks will see the two events as more evidence that Europe
is treating their country unfairly.
Bulent Arinc, the speaker of the Turkish Parliament, challenged
Mr. Pamuk on Friday to tell the world what he thought about the French
legislation, which Mr. Arinc said `massacres freedom of expression.’
Mr. Pamuk was charged last year with making `anti-Turkish’ remarks
when he called attention to the Armenian genocide during an interview
with a Swiss magazine. Turkish nationalists initiated the criminal
case using a law that makes it a crime to insult Turkish
identity. Europeans and others who decried Mr. Pamuk’s treatment said
Turkey was violating his freedom of expression. After much outside
pressure, the charges were dropped on a technicality.
While the French legislation drew mostly negative reaction here,
Mr. Pamuk’s award inspired praise as well as criticism. Newspaper
writers and some other authors showered him with praise. But others
were more critical.
An arts critic, Ozdemir Ince, implied that Mr. Pamuk had won only
because he presented the view of Turkish history that many Europeans
wanted to hear. `Pamuk, who is given the Nobel Prize, accepts the
Armenian genocide,’ Mr. Ince said. `Turkey has been put on sale, and
Turkish history has been sold in an auction at the lowest price.’
Alev Alatli, a novelist, criticized Mr. Pamuk during an interview on
NTV.
`One of the most powerful institutions of the diaspora Armenians is in
Sweden, and they are very powerful there,’ she said. `Can you imagine
that one could have been even nominated without being in good terms
with these circles?’
Sema Munuklu, 38, a restaurant owner, said: `I don’t think that he
didn’t deserve it. After all, he is a great writer. But I can’t help
thinking that things he said might have been an influence on the
prize.’
Ms. Munuklu said the French Parliament’s action displayed European
hesitancy in accepting Turkey into the European Union.
Ibrahim Unseli, 55, who runs an electronics shop, said he was as
appalled by the French Parliament’s attitude as he was by Mr. Pamuk’s
position on the Armenians and added that he hoped that Turks would
boycott French goods

The Giant Camel of Thamudd
2006/10/08
Mathaba.Net, UK
The camel was so huge that grazing sheep fled from it in fright.
By Dr. Sahib Mustaqim Bleher
I read with interest that Swiss scientists had discovered an ancient
giant camel or dromedary in Syria. Professor Jean-Marie Le Tensorer
of the University of Basel said the camel’s shoulders stood three
meters high and it was around four meters tall, as big as a giraffe or
an elephant, adding “nobody knew that such a species had existed.”
standing a good three meters tall. They also found bones of early
humans who appeared to be somewhere between the categorizations of
Neanderthal and Homo sapiens. The researchers suggested that their
find indicated that a group of humans killed the large animal when it
was drinking from a spring. Could this be the she-camel of the people
of Thamudd referred to in the Qur’an?
The Thamudd are an ancient Arab people thought to be the descendants
of the Arab tribe of ‘Ad. They had an impressive civilization, carving
houses out of rocks, some of which can still be seen in the region to
the North of the Arabian peninsula and today’s Syria. Their prophet
Salih gave them a she-camel as a sign which he instructed they had to
share their drinking space with and forbade them from harming
her. Instead they hamstrung her and brought upon themselves the doom
of total annihilation. The land once known for its abundance of water
returned to being a desert, exactly as the researchers from Basel
describe it.
According to Islamic folklore the camel was created by the prophet as
a sign from a rock and was so huge that grazing sheep fled from it in
fright and even cattle would keep their distance. As a one-off miracle
it would be unique rather than a remnant of an extinct
species. Further analysis should prove most interesting if the results
will be shared with the public. We are still waiting for the results
of the exploration of Noah’s ark on mount Judi in the Greater Ararat
range in Eastern Turkey (Western Armenia) which once excited
archaeologists, but has gone strangely quiet over the years.
— Dr. Sahib Mustaqim Bleher is a German living in England, a Muslim
and a pilot – in the oppressive neo-fascist climate of today, this
means walking a tight rope. And it requires speaking out. He has done
so through articles, pamphlets and books, many of which are available
via his FlyingImam web site which you can visit at FlyingImam.com.

Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey agree on major railway project
14.10.2006, 19.02
BAKU, October 14 (Itar-Tass) -Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey have
reached an agreement on key issues concerning the railway route from
Kare (Turkey)to Baku via Akhalkalalki (Georgia) and Tbilisi (Georgia).
`In the course of trilateral talks held in Baku yesterday, the drafts
of three important documents were considered: a framework agreement on
the project, the Georgian side’s obligations to allot land for the
constructionof the railway road, and a credit agreement between
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, and on the whole an understanding was
reached,’ Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mamedov told journalists
on Saturday.
The three countries will finalise the document within a month and
resubmit them. `The main corrections will have to be made in the
credit agreement,’ the minister said, adding, `Each party has its own
project financing proposals.’

According to Mamedov, Turkey has no objections and is ready to start
implementing the project on its territory at the beginning of 2007.
`We are now working with the Georgian side to make sure it can start
building the railway road on its territory in the same period of
time,=80=9D Mamedov said.
He believes Georgia has an interest in this two-year project.
The new railway route is estimated at 422 million U.S. dollars. It
envisages the construction of a 105-kilometre road, including 29
kilometres in Georgia and 76 kilometres in Turkey, as well as the
modernisaiton of a 150-kilometre section of the Georgian railway road.
In the initial stage, the road will transport up to five million tones
of cargos a year. But Mamedov says the new road will be of interest
also to Kazakhstan and China, which are seeking to deliver their
cargos to Europe by the shortest route.

Thursday, October 12, 2006
****************************************
People who say, “It can’t be done,” are either opportunistic cowards or apologists for the status quo. Avoid them. What cancer is to the body, they are to creativity and daring. It is better to fail on your own terms than to succeed on theirs.
*
On the day you find your right path, success and failure, greatness and mediocrity, misery and joy will become irrelevant concepts.
*
The license of a preacher who does not practice what he preaches should be revoked. To say, “Do as I say, not as I do” is to legitimize abuse.
*
To speak of abuse in our environment means to succeed only in uniting the abusers against you.
*
Orhan Pamuk was awarded the Nobel Prize for two reasons: (one) in addition to being a good writer, he enjoyed Turkish popular support, and (two) he exposed the lies of Turkish propaganda. You may now guess why so far no Armenian writer has been awarded the Prize.
*
If we don’t betray them to the authorities, we beat them up or silence them. For Armenians divide themselves only against their enemies…. If you read the biographies of our greatest writers… What am I saying? There are no biographies of Oshagan or Zarian.
#
Friday, October 13, 2006
*****************************************
TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
*******************************************
The first says our leaders are our saviors, and the second, they are our dividers and destroyers. If you subscribe to the first school, you are a dupe of our propaganda; if you subscribe to the second, it means you trust the judgment of our writers (from Khorenatsi and Yeghishe in the 5th Century to Massikian and Zarian in the 20th) more than the charlatanism of our wheeler-dealers – sorry, I meant to say, our political leaders, bosses for short.
*
LITERATURE AND PROPAGANDA
************************************************
Propaganda is more popular than literature because disoriented people prefer lies that validate their prejudices and fallacies. Those who say Blacks are savages and Jews are rats will never think of themselves as swine. What Blacks and Jews are to racists and anti-Semites, Turks are to us. Turks are what binds Armenian to Armenian. They are our glue. Delete Turks from our consciousness and our communities will collapse like a house of cards. Literature is less popular because it exposes contradictions and charlatans who speak with a forked tongue.
*
CRITICIZING CRITICS
***********************************
If you are in the business of exposing contradictions, your critics will detect contradictions in everything you say; and if you say you are against A, B, and C, they will accuse you of all three aberrations plus X, Y, and Z.
*
ASSUMPTIONS AND AMBITIONS
*******************************************
Because we come from a long line of victims, we cannot be victimizers, or so we would like to believe. It is more accurate to say, however, that as perennial victims we think of progress only in terms of how soon we can behave like the opposition, even if it means victimizing our own brothers.
#
Saturday, October 14, 2006
*******************************************
APOLOGISTS OF THE STATUS QUO
*******************************************
Very much like our self-appointed Turcocentric
pundits, they are a dime a dozen and they come in
all sizes, shapes, and colors of the rainbow, and
they operate on the assumption that they know
things you don’t know because they have sources
of information available to no one but
themselves. Even more to the point, unlike you,
they love and understand their country and fellow
countrymen. Theirs is therefore a superior brand
of patriotism. And their reasoning goes something
like this: our problems are not ours alone; we
did not invent them; rather they are an integral
part of the human condition; they will be found
even in the most prosperous, progressive, and
developed democracies in the world, including the
United States of America. Internecine divisions
and conflicts, corruption in high places,
catastrophic policy blunders, fraud, mafias, drug
trafficking, homelessness, unemployment,
destitution, prostitution…these things have been
with us since time immemorial and they will
probably be with us as long as there is life on
earth.
*
What these apologists neglect to tell you is that
the overwhelming majority of nations around the
world did not experience six hundred years of
Ottoman oppression followed by its equally
nefarious Soviet variant, neither were they
serial victims of massacres and a genocide which,
according to the perpetrators and their allies,
may well be a figment of our imagination.
*
True, the majority of uncivilized as well as
civilized nations have had their share of
traitors and collaborators with the enemy, but,
with the possible exception of Ireland, treason
and betrayal are not an integral part of their
collective experience and identity.
*
All people tend to blame their problems on
others, but they do not adopt the blame-game as
their favorite national sport. Furthermore, no
other nation is experiencing the same high rate
of alienation, assimilation, and emigration.
*
Somewhere Avedik Issahakian (not a dissident or
critic, but a poet) has said: “We have been
thrice cursed with earthquakes, bloodthirsty
neighbors, and brainless leaders.” He should have
added “and brainwashed apologists and
opportunistic academics and monomaniacal pundits,
all of whom enjoy the support of Big Money and
are united only in stifling criticism and
dissent.”
*
Speaking of Big Money, in this morning’s paper I
read the following quotation by Jack Welch
(retired chairman of General Electric): “You are
the last person to know who the jerks are,
because they are all putting on a face for you.”
#

esctoday.com, Netherlands
Oct 13 2006
Too many participants? what would happen
Eurovision Song Contest full?
With all 37 participating countries at the 2006 Eurovision Song
Contest almost certain to return in Helsinki next year, and with both
Serbia and Montenegro stating their intention to enter the
competition following the disengagement and independence of the two
states, we are already set to have 39 countries participating in
2007. Today, esctoday.com spoke to Svante Stockselius, EBU’s
Eurovision Song Contest Executive Supervisor, to confirm what would
happen if more than 40 countries enter and for his interpretation of
the rules.
Mr. Stockselius confirmed to esctoday that 40 is the maximum number
of participants that will be allowed to enter the Eurovision Song
Contest. If all 37 participating countries from 2006 return to the
Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, and Serbia and Montenegro return as
separate countries after their withdrawal in 2006, there would only
be one remaining spot for a new or returning country at the
competition.
With Czech and Georgian television interested in joining the
competition, the possiblility that Lebanon will seek to enter next
year (if they can agree to broadcast the Israeli song), and the
possibilty that Austria, Italy and Hungary may return, there could be
a situation where 44 countries will apply to participate in Helsinki.
With only a month to go before countries must submit their decision
on participation to the EBU, esctoday.com today contacted Svante
Stockselius to confirm what would happen, should this scenario unfold
before confirming the news that Montenegro will participate in
Helsinki!
Mr.Stockselius confirmed that the current rules do provide for a
solution: “First we will look at the countries’ participation over
the last five years, if that did not give the answers, we would move
to a draw”.
What does this mean?
Should this scenario occur, Austria would definitely return to the
competition if they enter, and would not take part a draw because
they have participate in four of the last 5 years.
Both Serbia and Montenegro should be included because they have
partiipated in the competition twice in the last five years, albeit
as one joint pariticipant in 2004 and 2005.
So, if Serbia, Montenegro and Austria all apply, they would join last
year’s participants at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest. No debut
countries would be able to enter.
However…
Matters would become complicated if Italy was to return. Although
this seems unlikely in 2007, it would be very popular with fans of
the Eurovision Song Contest. Italy would also have a case to join the
‘Big 4’ as part of a new ‘Big 5’ because they are one of the primary
contributors to the EBU. This means that should they return,
Armenia’s place at the contest may be in jeopardy because they have
only participated once and they may be forced out of the competition.
If Italy do not enter, Serbia and Montenegro both enter as separate
countries and Hungary applies to return to the Eurovision Song
Contest, a draw would be needed to select the 40th participant
between Hungary and Armenia who have both participated once in the
last five years. No new participants would then be able to enter in
2007.
Without Italy, but including Serbia and Montenegro as separate
countries and the return of either one of Austria or Hungary,
Georgia, Czech Republic, Lebanon and any other country looking to
enter the Eurovision Song Contest would be turned away.
Should none from Austria, Hungary or Italy return and Serbia and
Montenegro both participate, if Czech Repulblic, Georgia and Lebanon
or any other debut country enter, a draw would be held to select one
final participant in Helsinki.
Until the deadline for entry submissions passes, this will be a topic
of debate for fans of the Eurovision Song Contest. In November, we
will know which countries will participate in the 2007 Eurovision
Song Contest.

Associated Press
Oct 13 2006
Turkish Group Boycotts Some French Goods
ISTANBUL, Turkey – The Turkish Consumers Union announced a limited
boycott of French goods Friday in reaction to a French law that would
make it a crime to deny that mass killings of Armenians in Turkey was
genocide.
The non-governmental group, which seeks to educate and advocate for
Turkish consumers, said the boycott would begin with the French oil
products company Total, and that the union would publicize a new
French company for Turks to boycott each week.
“From today on, every week we are going to boycott a French brand,
and show our reaction in a language that France can understand,”
group chairman Bulent Deniz said.
“By adopting the bill on making denial of the so-called Armenian
genocide a crime, the French National Assembly expressed its
opposition to freedom of thought.”
He said the boycott would continue until the law was defeated or
annulled.
Total trade between the two countries last year stood at nearly $10
billion. Turkey imported goods from France worth nearly $6 billion.
On Thursday, French lawmakers _ in a 106-19 vote _ approved a bill
that would criminalize denying the mass killings of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I amounted to genocide,
but the bill still needs to be approved by the French Senate and the
president to become law.
Turks were outraged by the decision, which was widely viewed as a
hostile measure. The European Union on Friday said the bill was
“counterproductive.”
Turkey acknowledges that great numbers of Armenians were killed in
fighting and mass expulsions, but does not accept the label of
genocide.
In Istanbul, customers at some retail centers were being urged by
salespeople not to purchase French goods as a reaction to the French
lawmakers’ vote.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had called on Turks Thursday to
be moderate in their response, and the Foreign Ministry said it would
do everything it could to ensure the law was not passed.
On Friday, a Turkish parliamentary commission charged with EU
harmonization called on France to reject or retract the law. “Our
commission condemns this unjust decision and hopes that France will
succumb to common sense and turn back from this mistake,” the
statement said.

Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)

Oct 13 2006

More co-operation needed to avoid fires in Nagorno-Karabakh region,
OSCE-led expert mission finds

YEREVAN, 13 October 2006 – An OSCE-led team of international and
local experts today called for more co-operation to prevent and
manage fires in and around Nagorno-Karabakh following the end of a
10-day mission to assess the environmental impact of fires in the
region.
“The fires have covered extensive areas and inflicted significant
damage,” said Bernard Snoy, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and
Environmental Activities, who headed the Environmental Assessment
Mission.
“The authorities have used all available means to counteract the
fires; in the future, capacities will need to be strengthened to
prevent and handle fires, through co-operation in a regional and
international framework.”
The mission examined and assessed fire-affected areas and met with
officials on both sides of the Line of Contact. It is preparing a
report that will include recommendations towards an environmental
operation and other confidence-building measures as envisaged in a
resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 7 September 2006.
The mission’s report will be submitted to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office
in November. The UN General Assembly Resolution requested the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office to provide a report to the member states of the UN
General Assembly by 30 April 2007.
The mission included experts from the Global Fire Monitoring Center,
the United Nations Environment Programme, the European Commission,
the Council of the European Union and the Council of Europe as well
as local experts. Also participating were officials from the Office
of the Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office on the
Conflict dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference.
The mission was supported by a contribution of the Environment and
Security (ENVSEC) Initiative. Armenia and Azerbaijan provided in-kind
contributions.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)

Oct 13 2006

OSCE field office in Syunik province organizes environmental action

YEREVAN, 13 October 2006 – More than 30 schoolchildren and local
volunteers helped clean up some 2 hectares of land around the
Vahanavank (King Vahan’s Monastery) historic monument in the Armenian
province of Syunik this week.
The action was part of an environmental awareness and cultural
education campaign “Golden Autumn – clean and neat environment,”
organized by the OSCE Programme Implementation Presence in Syunik
province and the Aarhus Public Environmental Information Centre in
Kapan.
Special billboards with notices asking not to pollute the environment
were also installed in the area. Children found out more about the
history of the Vahanavank cultural complex, the preservation of
biodiversity, climate change, local and international environmental
laws.
“Ecological education is an important element in making sure children
help keep our environment cleaner,” said Garik Chilingaryan, Project
Co-ordinator of OSCE presence in Syunik province. “Pollution in the
province is mainly caused by the mining industry, but we often forget
that all of us create household waste, which also pollutes the
environment.”

Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 13 2006
Suleyman Demirel: “Kocharyan said Armenia suffers neither Azerbaijan,
nor Karabakh, but Turkey”

13 October 2006 [20:22] – Today.Az

Turkey 9th president Suleyman Demirel’s exclusive interview to APA
Turkey bureau.
How do you appreciate the decision of France Parliament on a law
which makes it crime to deny so-called Armenian genocide?
It is a shame. It is France’s wrong stance on Turkey and Turkish
people. We criticize this decision. I do not believe this law will be
approved by the Senate and president. Otherwise France will lose the
friendship with Turkey.
What Turkey should do after such a decision?
We should immediately react to this. It is a problem of international
importance. Turkish people express solidarity in this problem. We
will never forget this.
How do you appreciate Turkey-Azerbaijan relation?
Turkey and Azerbaijan are a nation in two states. Our friendship is
forever. I wish Azerbaijanis happiness and peace.
Is there a relation between France Parliament’s decision and Nagorno
Karabakh conflict?
Kocharyan told me that Armenians suffer neither Azerbaijan, nor
Garabagh, but Turkey. I replied that if you break off relations with
Azerbaijan we will do the same with Armenia. But for Turkey Armenians
make the world enemy to Azerbaijan.
An American once blamed Azerbaijanis for Nagorno Garabagh conflict. I
replied that the real invaders are Armenians; they kill Azerbaijanis,
destroy cities and villages.
Armenians occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan territory. Is it possible
to liberate them?
Azerbaijan should increase its economical power. You should maintain
peace and avoid hostilities for some time. No country will support us
in current situation if we wage war.
Orkhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for literature. What is your view on
this?
We are very glad that Turkish writer won this prize. Turkey is a
democratic country and people can react differently. I congratulate
Orkhan Pamuk.

URL:

Azeri Press Agency
Oct 13 2006
Azerbaijan Parliament objected to France Parliament’s unfair decision.
[ 13 Oct. 2006 19:31 ]
Azerbaijan Parliament issued statement on France Parliament’s unfair
decision, APA reports. The statement reads that Armenian lobby is
ready to harm state interests of France.
`This decision violates democratic principles, human rights,
especially freedom of thinking and speaking. It shows once again that
there are dual standards in the world. This is the wrong policy of
France and causes new problems in South Caucasus. France National
Assembly believe Armenians’ fictions about the events happened in the
beginning of the 20th century, but turn the blind eye to Azerbaijani
genocide by Armenians. This decision makes it difficult to maintain
the peace in the region. Azerbaijan Parliament objects to France
National Assembly decision and expects the Senate to take measures to
prevent the adoption of unfair law.’ /APA/