ORHAN PAMUK IS THE FAVORITE AUTHOR OF BETTERS
Sabah, Turkey
Sept 28 2006
An English betting site has indicated Orhan Pamuk as the favorite
author by a ratio of 4 to 1.
The soon-to-be owner of the new Nobel Literature Prize will be
determined on October 17th. An English betting company, Ladbrokes,
has indicated Orhan Pamuk as the favorite author out of 36 authors.
Pamuk was ahead of the famous Italian author Umberto Eco and the
American author Paul Auster.
Pamuk favoured four to one
As the date of determination for the new Nobel Literature Prize
winner looms, betting sites on the internet are also experiencing
the anticipation. Orhan Pamuk is being favoured as the most possible
candidate with a rating of four to one.
Orhan Pamuk, who is on the agenda as a candidate for the Nobel and
his comments on the so-called Armenian genocide, is now popular on bet
sites wagering for the Nobel Prize. The bet site on ”
” indicates him as the most probable candidate for the Nobel Literature
Prize. The authors coming after Orhan Pamuk with a possibility to win
the Nobel Literature Prize are successively the Lebanese Arabian poet
Adonis and Polish author Ryszard Kapuscinski.

TURKEY EXPRESSES CONCERNS OVER NETHERLANDS’ APPROACH ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
People’s Daily Online, China
Sept 28 2006
A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday expressed concerns
over Netherlands’ approach on a “so-called Armenian genocide” in early
20th century, Turkey’s semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
“We are deeply worried about the one-sided approach of our ally
Netherlands’ political parties on so-called Armenian genocide as
this puts a limit on the freedom of expression,” Namik Tan was quoted
as saying.
Tan’s comment came after three Turkish-origin candidates were
removed from their party lists in the Netherlands for the Nov. 22
early parliamentary elections because they refused to acknowledge
the Armenian genocide.
Ruling out the possibility that his country would accept allegations
on Armenian genocide as historical reality, Tan stressed that Turkey
had opened all its archives, including military ones, so that the
incidents of 1915 can be studied from a scientific perspective.
Tan also recalled that the Turkish government had proposed the Armenian
side to establish a joint history commission over the issue.
Turkey, a country seeking European Union (EU) membership, has always
refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia on the basis
that Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians died as a result of
systematic genocide during the Turkish Ottoman period between 1915
and 1923.
Some European Parliament (EP) members characterized the removal of the
three Turkish candidates as a violation of the freedom of expression,
Turkish Zaman daily newspaper reported.
On Wednesday, the EP approved a report on Turkey’s progress towards
accession to the EU, in which the lawmakers dropped their demand that
Turkey must acknowledge the Armenian genocide before it can join the
bloc and called on Turkey to speed up its reform process.

GENOCIDE EXPULSION
Hurriyet, Turkey
Sept 28 2006
It would appear that official recognition of Armenian genocide
claims is a pre-condition for participation in local elections in
the Netherlands this year.
A total of 3 ethnically Turkish citizens living in the Netherlands
have been removed as candidates from their parties’ pre-election lists
due to their unwillingness to recognize Armenian claims of genocide as
true. With local elections coming up on November 22, a campaign started
by Armenians living in the diaspora has met with success, as the Dutch
Social Democrat Workers’ Party and the Christian Democrat Party both
removed Turkish candidates from their candidate lists following the
candidates’ refusal to acknowledge the so-called Armenian genocide.
The removal of Social Democrat Workers’ Party candidate Erdinc Sacan
occured first this week, but was followed shortly by a decision by
the Christian Democrat Party to remove both Ayhan Tonca and Osman
Elmaci from its candidate lists.

EXCLUSIVE: TALKING TO TEHERAN’S JEWS
By Seth Wikas
Jerusalem Post
Sept 28 2006
On my first Friday evening here, my friends took me to the large
synagogue in Yosefabad, in the center of the city, a neighborhood
that is home to a large Jewish population. I found the sanctuary
packed. Inside the main gate there were ads for Hebrew lessons and
family activities sponsored by the Jewish Association.
There was an Iranian policeman on guard outside, but with the exception
of the signs in Farsi, the Hebrew-Farsi prayer books and the style of
the women’s hair coverings, this could have been an Orthodox synagogue
in America.
Excepting Israel, Iran boasts the Middle East’s largest Jewish
community. The capital contains around 10,000 Jews as well as Jewish
schools that serve 2,000 students. Teheran also has a Jewish retirement
home with 50 residents, and its Jewish Association owns a number of
buildings, including a large library used by Jews and non-Jews alike.
Why are the Jews still here? Answers differed across the generations.
For many older people like my host Fayzlallah Saketkhoo, the vice
president of Teheran’s Jewish Association, Iran is simply their home.
As the owner of a successful carpet and souvenir shop, Saketkhoo has
provided well for his three children, and devotes a good deal of time
to Jewish Association activities. At his home on Friday night after
services, where he showed me his collection of Kabbala books and a
large tapestry of Moses splitting the sea, he told me about how he
had traveled around the world only to learn that nothing was better
than home.
Asked about the future of the Iranian Jewish community, he replied:
“Did you see how many children were there tonight?”
He was right. It was hard to concentrate on praying in the synagogue,
where at least 300 people had come, because of all the children
running up and down the aisles and chattering outside.
But there is a difference between children and young adults. Peyman,
Saketkhoo’s 27-year-old son, was fond of saying, “Everyone in Iran
has a problem,” meaning that everyone – Jewish and non-Jewish –
wants to leave.
It’s not just the political situation, he said, but the fact that
with the rise of Ahmadinejad, the economic situation has worsened
and poverty has deepened. For college graduates, it is hard to find
jobs in their field; Peyman is an architect by training but works in
his father’s shop. As he and other young Iranians attest, both the
political and the economic situation are getting harder to bear.
On the issue of Jewish/non-Jewish relations, Iranians of different
ages, Jewish and Muslim, pointed to a unifying national idea.
Iranian culture dates back nearly 2,500 years, to the days of Cyrus the
Great and Darius, founders of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty mentioned
in the Bible. Throughout Iran, citizens of all religions are proud
of their national history, and of the various pre-Islamic leaders
and dynasties. Many parents even name their children Darius or Cyrus.
This pre-Islamic culture, even in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
is still respected and unifies Iranians of different backgrounds.
Most indicative of this tacit acceptance of religious diversity is a
huge picture on the side of a building in north Teheran. Like many
pictures in the capital, it commemorates Iranian soldiers who fell
during the 1980-8 Iran-Iraq war. But this one is different. It is
dedicated to the minorities who served their country, and depicts
five Iranians of various religions and ethnicities. Four represent
Assyrian and Armenian ethnicities and members of the Christian and
Zoroastrian communities. Right in the center is an Iranian Jew,
with his name spelled in Farsi and Hebrew.
I found great tolerance when I told people I was Jewish. Israel,
however, was a different matter…
(Seth Wikas’s full report from Iran will appear in the Yom Kippur
supplement published with Sunday’s Jerusalem Post.)

HARD STRUGGLES OVER TURKEY REPORT IN EP
By Selcuk Gultasli – Emre Demir, Strasbourg
Zaman Online, Turkey
Sept 28 2006
The European Parliament (EP) is preparing to vote one of the most
critical Turkey reports in its history as parliamentarians who approve
Turkey’s membership into the European Union are making last-minute
attempts to add more balance to the report.
E.U. Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, in a speech on the
report, criticized Turkey but also declared that the European Union
needed Turkey.
Taking the floor at the closing session, Louis Michel, another
commissioner, emphasized the recognition of the Armenian “genocide”
could not be a precondition for Turkey’s accession to the European
Union.
Some parliamentarians displayed racist attitudes during the debate.
Boguslaw Rogalski, a Polish MP, claimed Turkey could not be a bridge
of peace among civilizations but it could only be a door to terrorists.
Belgian MP Philip Claeys claimed Turkey was an Islamic state and it
was a mistake to start negotiations with this country.
In addition to the Socialist Group, the second-largest in the EP,
the Liberals and Greens keep the option of a ‘no’ vote open unless
the report became balanced.
Liberal Democrat Group Leader Graham Watson, in a statement in
Strasbourg yesterday, said they were not satisfied with the current
state of the report and considered all options including “no.”
Socialist Group Vice-President Jan Marinus Wiersma warned Turkey
would move away from the European Union if the report passed in its
current state, and Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-Chair
Joost Lagendijk, speaking on behalf of the Greens, announced they
would abstain from voting unless the necessary changes were made.
Rehn Says EU Must Comply with Pacta Sunt Servanda
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn clarified European Commission
President Jose Manuel Barrosso’s remarks that caused unease in Turkey
in the last two days.
Stating the European Union must comply with the principle of pacta
sund servanda and keep its promises to Turkey, Rehn said “I am tired
of warning Turkey on Article 301.”
Rehn reemphasized Turkey’s commitments to Cyprus.
However, Rehn’s remarks gained more importance in view of the MPs’
generally unbalanced criticisms.
Rehn said Turkey’s membership will be a “threshold for its children
and grandchildren.” Reiterating Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s words, “If not with the Copenhagen Criteria, we will continue
our way with the Ankara criteria,” Rehn said that the reform process
should continue for the Turkish people.
Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian
Aid, made the closing remarks of the EP debate instead of Rehn, and
stated the Armenian genocide could not be a precondition for Turkey’s
membership and warned this would mean a change in the rules.
“If you consider Iraq, Iran, Middle East and the problems on energy,
you will see what a key player, what an indispensable ally Turkey is
for us.
Ahmet Turk and Aysel Tugluk, co-chairs of the Democratic Society Party
(DTP), held meetings in the EP before the voting.
The DTP delegation met EP President Josep Borrell and Rehn Tuesday
morning, and the timing of the delegation’s visit attracted notice.
The visit was synchronous with the case against 56 DTP mayors and
the DTP’s call for a ceasefire with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
terrorist network.
Rehn is reported to have allowed only five minutes for the DTP
delegation.
Turk, in a news conference supported by the Leftist Group in the EP,
said the ceasefire call they made was their “last chance.”
It was being discussed that Christian Democrats will submit a
motion of amendment for the draft due to the reactions against Pope
Benedict XVI’s remarks given by Erdogan and Turkish Religious Affairs
Directorate Head Ali Bardakoglu.
A supplement was attached to the draft on the pope’s visit to Turkey,
but the proposal includes quite positive elements.
“It is hoped Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Turkey will contribute in
the interreligious and intercultural dialogue between the Christian
world and the Muslim world,” the proposal made by MPs Antonio Tajani,
Charles Tannock and Camiel Eurlings read.

RICHARD KALINOSKI WINS ARMENIAN MEDAL FOR HIS PLAY “BEAST ON THE MOON”
by Louis Garcia, of the Advance Titan Issue
Advance Titan, WI
Sept 27 2006
Theater professor Richard Kalinoski’s play “Beast on the Moon” has won
numerous awards and was translated into 12 languages. But last August,
he was astounded to learn he earned a prestigious medal from Armenia.
“I knew the play would be successful,” Kalinoski said. “But I never
expected the Armenian Medal. I’m still surprised I got the medal. I’m
surprised every day.”
The Armenian Medal of Movses Khorenatsi is an Armenian honor for
outstanding contributions to the arts and culture of the country.
President Robert Kocharian sent a medal and decree to the Armenian
embassy in Washington to give to Kalinoski.
“Beast on the Moon” is about a mail-order bride who comes to Milwaukee
in 1921 to begin a life with her new husband. They both are tormented,
however, by the Armenian genocide.
Kalinoski came up with the idea for the play after he married an
Armenian-American woman in the early 1970s. He learned of the tragedy
and wanted to write about it.
The play has garnered much success, but it would be a production in
Russia that would win Kalinoski the Armenian Medal. The play caught
the attention of the Armenian first lady when she accompanied the
Russian first lady to a performance.
The play was chosen for the Humana Festival in March 1995 and won five
Moliere awards, including Best Play from the Repertory, in May 2001.
In November 2004, Kalinoski’s play became part of the repertory of
the Moscow Arts Theatre. “Beast on the Moon” opened Off-Broadway
at The Century Center Theatre in Manhattan in April 2005 and ran
120 performances.
Professor Merlaine Angwall, a fellow theater professor and friend of
Kalinoski, has had the opportunity to direct the play. She said it is
“great, touching, moving and well-crafted.”
Angwall also described Kalinoski as witty and fun to be around.
“Kalinoski drives funky cars,” she said. He used to drive a Porsche,
but now he drives a Mini Cooper.
Student Maria Bartholdi, a senior who has been a part of a few
Kalinoski plays, agreed with Angwall. She said Kalinoski is very
encouraging, helpful and unique, and gives a lot of creative freedom
to the students.
“All the students love doing impressions of Richard,” Bartholdi said.
“We do it because we like him so much.”
The success of the play has granted Kalinoski new opportunities,
including the level of talent he is able to work with. “One guy who
was the male lead for one of the productions had to leave for about
a month because Steven Spielberg came to him and asked him to be in
his movie ‘Munich,'” he said.
The future seems bright and busy for Kalinoski. “A Crooked Man”
will be presented at the Fredric March Theatre in February 2007,
and he is working on another play called “The Thousand Pound Marriage.”

DUFF: TURKEY MUST NOW STRENGTHEN ITS EFFORTS TO ADAPT TO EU STANDARDS
ABHaber, Belgium
EU-Turkey News Network
Sept 27 2006
Andrew Duff, (UK, Lib Dem MEP) and a vice president of the EP
delegation for relations with Turkey reacted to today’s vote:
“The European Parliament has taken two steps forwards and one step
back in its approach towards the controversial issue of Turkish
EU membership.
It is good news that MEPs have dropped their demand that Turkey
recognises Ottoman ‘genocide’ against the Armenians as a precondition
of accession.
And the Parliament is right to maintain its overall support for the
modernisation of Turkey along European lines.
It is a pity, however, that we have missed our chance to add value to
the search for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. The
EU still needs to fulfil its commitment to ending the isolation of
the Turkish Cypriot community.
Many MEPs are ignorant of the geo-political importance of embracing
Turkey fully within the European family. Despite its many current
difficulties, Turkey should be encouraged to continue developing a
European brand of Islam which will help to unite East and West. And
without Turkey the European Union will hardly succeed in building a
serious common foreign, security and defence policy.
Turkey must now strengthen its efforts to adapt to EU standards,
especially with respect to freedom of expression.

EURLINGS: “TURKEY REPORT IS FAIR”
ABHaber, Belgium
EU-Turkey News Network
Sept 27 2006
Parliament adopts tough but fair Turkey Report. Camiel Eurlings MEP
Today European Parliament adopted Camiel Eurlings’ report on Turkey’s
progress towards accession with an overwhelming majority (429 in
favour, 71 against).
MEPs from nearly all political groups in Parliament shared the
conclusion that the reform process in Turkey has slowed down during
the last year. Camiel Eurlings MEP said: “This is a tough but fair
signal. I hope it will be perceived by Turkish politicians and the
Turkish public as an encouragement to restart the reform process.”
Debating the report in plenary Eurlings said freedom of expression
in Turkey, and in relation to that issue article 301 of the new penal
code, raised many doubts.
Eurlings said: “The reconfirmation of the sentence of Mr. Hrant
Dink proves that Article 301 has to be changed or repealed. I ask
the Turkish Government and the Turkish people to recognize the need
for this. It is important for the freedom of the Turkish people,
it is important for the image of Turkey in the wider world.”
Eurlings also said that much needs to be done as regards freedom of
religion and that schooling facilities should be reopened. Eurlings
said: “Give back the properties to the religious minorities and change
the proposed law on foundations so that seized church property can
be given back, or that there is a good compensation for the minority
churches. For a country that wants to be European, it is very important
that it should be as easy to build a Christian church in Turkey as
it is to build a mosque in the current Member States of the EU.”
Eurlings is worried about the situation in south-east Turkey:
“I strongly condemn the PKK and all terrorism; there is never any
excuse for terrorism. But at the same time I ask Turkey to try to
find peaceful interlocutors, try to find a political way and invest
in the social and economic development of the south-east.”
Concerning Cyprus this report makes it clear that the European
Parliament wants to see more efforts by the EU in the northern part of
the island in terms of trade arrangements. But, at the start of the
accession negotiations, Turkey accepted hard conditions from Europe,
including the normalisation of the relations with the Republic of
Cyprus, by signing the Ankara Protocol. As the Council did before the
Parliament demands the full implementation of the Ankara Protocol
before the end of 2006. Eurlings: “Big trouble lies ahead with the
negotiations if the implementation of the Ankara Protocol is not
settled this year.”
Regarding the Armenian question European Parliament adopted a strong
position. Parliament reached the political conclusion that it is
indispensable for a country on the road to Europe to come to terms
with and recognise the past. This political conclusion was adopted by
a large majority. The fact that this decision, without implying that
it is formally one of the Copenhagen accession criteria, does not
make the position of Parliament weaker but more credible and thus
stronger. I urge Turkey to accept a committee under the auspices
of the UN and to accept its conclusions and in the shortest term to
stop sending people to jail when they express that they personally
recognize the Armenian Genocide.
This report states the position of Parliament very clearly. We are
committed to the accession process of Turkey but we ask a quick proof
that Turkey is committed as well. Only if Turkey restarts reforms in
a vigorous way can the future of the process be guaranteed.

EARLY EU WARNING FOR ANKARA
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Sept 27 2006
The European Parliament approved on Wednesday a report on Turkey,
after dropping a section making recognition of the so-called Armenian
genocide a precondition for membership, but stressed that “it is
indispensable for a country on the road to membership to come to
terms with and recognize its past.”
The report drawn up by Dutch conservative MEP Camiel Eurlings passed
easily by a vote of 429-71 among the 625 deputies present. There were
125 abstentions.
The MEPs rejected an amendment proposing a special partnership for
Turkey, in lieu of full membership, but underlined that the accession
talks are an open-ended process whose outcome cannot be guaranteed
beforehand.
While the EP withdrew the most contentious issue of making recognition
of the Armenian genocide claims a precondition for membership, it
criticized Turkey for its policy on this historical issue as well as
its policy towards neighboring Armenia. The report underlined that
Turkey has to “come to terms with its past” in its accession process
and called on Ankara to open its land border at an early date, and
to establish diplomatic and good neighborly relations with Armenia.
On the Cyprus problem, the MEPs urged Turkey to open its ports and
harbors to Greek Cypriots before end of this year and warned that
otherwise Ankara will face problems in overall progress in its EU
accession talks. The report underlined that recognition of all EU
members, including the Greek Cypriot administration, is “a necessary
component of the accession process” and it also called upon Turkey
to take concrete steps for the normalization of relations with the
Greek Cypriot administration.
The report did not express support for Turkey’s proposal to
simultaneously lift all restrictions on Cyprus by all parties,
but asked the European Council to make renewed efforts to reach an
agreement on direct trade with the Northern Cyprus.
The report strongly criticized the slowdown of the reform process. It
noted “persistent shortcomings” in areas such as freedom of expression,
religious and minority rights, the role of the military, policing,
women’s rights, trade union rights and cultural rights, and urged
Turkey to “reinvigorate” the reform process.
The report recognized the improvements in legislation resulting from
the Turkish government’s efforts since 2002 for a zero tolerance
policy towards torture, but stressed that more effective implementing
measures were needed.
“It is important that the reforms be given impetus from within the
country by the authorities themselves and are not merely the result
of pressure from outside Turkey,” the report underlined.
The MEPs urged Turkey to bring its penal code in line with European
standards for freedom of expression. They said that Ankara must
abolish clauses such as Article 301 under which insulting the state
and its institutions is considered an offence which could lead to a
sentence of three years in prison.
With regard to freedom of religion in particular, MEPs deplored the
absence of progress and reiterated Parliament’s previous calls to the
Turkish authorities to fulfill their commitments and to take concrete
steps to eradicate obstacles facing religious minorities. While
respecting the sensitivities of a country with a large majority of
Sunni Muslims, the report nevertheless reminded Turkey of the important
cultural and historic heritage “handed down to it for safekeeping by
the multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious Ottoman Empire.”
Looking at the situation in the southeast, the committee strongly
condemned the resurgence of terrorist violence on the part of
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and expressed concern about the
tensions in this region, which constituted a serious threat to peace
and stability. The Turkish government was urged to pursue a democratic
solution to the Kurdish issue inter alia by promoting political
dialogue and the economic and social development of the southeast,
possibly using the EU pre-accession assistance.
Dutch MEP Camiel Eurlings, who prepared the report, welcomed the
result and said with Wednesday’s amendments the report had become
close to its earlier form, with striking out last-minute changes that
caused fears that the report would undermine those who are driving
reforms in Turkey. Eurlings described his report as “fair but tough”
and expresses hope that it would further motivate Turkish officials
to move forward with reforms.
Asked to comment on the discussions on Armenian genocide claims which
overshadowed the other significant contents of the report, he said,
“Officially, formally, recognition is not a criterion [for accession],
which is the truth, but it is indispensable for a country on the road
to membership to come to terms with its past. So, let the message
not be misunderstood. We really urge Turkey, together with Armenia,
to get over the past.”
Eurlings said that formally, recognition of the mass killings as
genocide cannot be held to be a criterion for EU entry as no other
candidate country has had to recognize it.

RA FOREIGN MINISTER: AZERBAIJAN UNDERMINES “MINSK PROCESS” BY HANDS OF ARMENIA
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 28 2006
YEREVAN, September 28. /ARKA/. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia
Vartan Oskanian told “Azatutyun” (Freedom) radio in New York that
Azerbaijan tried to undermine “Minsk Process” of Karabakh conflict
by Armenia’s hands.
Oskanian said that we had confirmed our consent to the principles
laid on the negotiation table by his statement at the United Nations
General Assembly 61-th session, while Azerbaijan – all the time showed
between the lines, not evidently, that it tries to deviate from the
agreements, which had been achieved till then”, he said.
In this connection Oskanian pointed out that Azerbaijan’s such position
proved that all that had taken place till the present time was aimed
at undermining the Minsk process.
He finds that diplomacy must be directed in a way that Azerbaijan could
not achieve its aim and its aspirations were exposed. In that Oskanian
said that we would be able to reanimate the existing document within
the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Minks Group and force Azerbaijan
not to repudiate its promises and return to the negotiation table.
He also informed that the document still contained the idea of
referendum in Karabakh. “When we resume the negotiation process this
idea will become one of the key issues”, he said.