THE FOLLY OF JAILING GENOCIDE DENIERS
By Garin K. Hovannisian
Christian Science Monitor, MA
Nov 6 2006
Democracy’s test: Do we tolerate a view that it is thoroughly
repulsive?
LOS ANGELES – Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can
incarcerate you. Thus spake the National Assembly of France last month,
when it voted to fine deniers of Turkey’s 1915 genocide of Armenians up
to 45,000 euros or send them on a maximum yearlong holiday to prison.
The measure would join a series of European laws that have criminalized
denial of the Jewish Holocaust.
Although it has dim hope of clearing the Senate and President Jacques
Chirac, the bill reminds us that France’s Socialist Party – and many
European elites – believe truth is decreed, not discovered.
The news drove Armenian communities into raptures. In Armenia’s
capital, Yerevan, college students besieged the French Embassy in
ecstasy. In Los Angeles, their counterparts hurried to chat rooms
and blogs to register Hollywood’s admiration of Francois Hollande,
the bill’s chief advocate.
Hilda Tchoboian, president of the European Armenian Federation,
welcomed this “historic step,” noting that “the hydra of denial is
a tumor on freedom of expression,” which proved that you can mix
metaphors and talk nonsense in the span of five nouns.
A government that punishes lies…
Genocide denial might be a tumor on truth, memory, or even human
dignity, but it’s not even a pimple on the freedom of expression.
It’s an exercise – however false or disgusting – of that freedom,
which Ms. Tchoboian wants to ration.
A government that has the power to punish lies also has the power to
punish truth (consider Turkey’s law that punishes those who denigrate
“Turkishness”) and, really, to punish anything it pleases.
This was the terrible lesson of the 20th century, fleshed out in
millions upon millions of carcasses across Joseph Stalin’s gulags,
Adolf Hitler’s concentration camps, Pol Pot’s killing fields, and
Mao Zedong’s torture chambers.
Indeed, this was the lesson of the Armenian genocide, which was
perpetrated by a regime that tried to build one people, one religion,
and – most important – one idea, “Ottomanization,” on the rubble of
human rights.
That lesson, sadly, is lost on some French parliamentarians and the
Armenian diaspora, whose notion of politics ends where the genocide
begins. “If we have to muscle their view to death then that’s just
what we’ll do!” the Armenians seem to say, not realizing that this
is precisely what the Young Turks said about them.
Facing charges of insulting Turkishness for acknowledging the Armenian
genocide, Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish writer and 2006 Nobel Laureate,
declared at his trial this year, “What I said is not an insult. It
is the truth. But what if it is wrong? Right or wrong, do people not
have the right to express their ideas peacefully?”
That’s the key clause: right or wrong. Genocide deniers insult us.
Yet in any decent society, their rights are the most vital, precisely
because they are the most difficult to respect. Here’s the test of
true democracy: Do we tolerate another’s view when it is thoroughly
repulsive? France has failed the test.
It is easier to shut deniers up than to make them stop believing. In
a perilous reversal of its intended effect, this law would give to
deniers two advantages they crave: exemption from the debate and the
position of the oppressed. The deniers will gain not only immunity
from our persistent challenges, but an underdog’s advantage in
“speaking truth to power” when power is against them. Denial isn’t
just a river in Egypt; it’s soon to be an underground fashion in Paris.
Censorship has long been the tool of people who are threatened by
the facts – who can’t win a debate on equal terms.
Censors have sought to gain through power what they lack in argument:
the truth. France has just exerted its power in Armenia’s name. And
Armenians rejoiced. But it will not strengthen our people and it
will not redeem the reality of the 1.5 million who were massacred
beginning in 1915.
Don’t silence deniers, expose them
Like that of the Holocaust, the cause of bringing greater recognition
to the Armenian genocide is best served through total freedom of
speech, in which historians can argue the deniers into silence. We
should long for a society where those who deny documented crimes
against humanity will not be fined or jailed, but worse, be exposed,
humiliated, and condemned to oblivion.
Winston Churchill said, “History will be kind to me, for I intend to
write it.” History is less kind to people who try to rewrite it.
In its most recent move, the French National Assembly has deprived
history of its final redemption. It has revealed to the world that
Armenians would rather stifle debate than win it once and for all.
~U Garin K. Hovannisian is the editor of UCLA’s journal of opinion
and culture, .
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY OFFERS TO AMEND LAW TO AVOID EU CRISIS
Gulf Times, Qatar
Nov 6 2006
ISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that
he is ready to amend a law used to prosecute writers, including Nobel
prize winner Orhan Pamuk, apparently aiming to head off a crisis with
the EU.
The European Commission is expected to sharply rebuke Ankara over
judicial action against journalists, scholars and writers for
expressing peaceful opinions in a progress report on November 8 on
Turkey’s European Union accession process.
The EU says article 301, which makes it a crime to insult Turkish
national identity, unfairly restricts freedom of expression and must
be changed.
It has recently been used to bring charges against Pamuk, later
dropped, and to convict journalist Hrant Dink for articles about the
mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.
“We are ready for proposals to make article 301 more concrete if
there are problems stemming from it being vague,” Erdogan was quoted
by state-run Anatolian news agency as saying.
“In order to prevent a violation of freedoms … we are studying
several options for how we can handle article 301 in harmony with
the spirit of the (EU-oriented) reforms,” he said, without elaborating.
Only last week, Erdogan indicated there would be no movement on
301 after earlier this year promising to look into amending it. The
article has raised questions in Europe about the predominantly Muslim
country’s commitment to freedom of speech.
The government has been split, some fearing an amendment would
lessen the centre-right government’s chances of harnessing the rising
nationalist vote in general elections next year.
The Commission, the EU executive body, is about to issue a list of
criticisms of Turkey for failing to carry out reforms as promised,
particularly over Cyprus.
“Turkish-EU relations are based on such common values as democracy,
freedoms and supremacy of law and mutual interests of our peoples. I
therefore believe that our EU process has a depth that will not be
disrupted…” Erdogan said.
The EU has warned that membership talks could be badly damaged if
Ankara continues to refuse to open its ports and airports to traffic
from EU member Cyprus.
The government says the EU must first lift trade restrictions against
the breakaway Turkish Cypriots in northern Cyprus, who are backed
by Ankara.
Efforts to break the deadlock failed last week when EU president
Finland called off talks.
With elections in November 2007, Erdogan’s scope for more reforms has
narrowed, especially given rising euroscepticism among Turks weary
of EU demands and suspicious that the bloc does not really want ever
to take in their large Muslim nation.
One in four Turks is now opposed to EU membership and only 7% trust
the EU, one recent opinion poll indicated.

WANT A MOLDOVAN WINE? SARKISOV DELIVERS SPIRITS
By Kathy Carlson, News Correspondent
Nashville City Paper, TN
Nov 6 2006
Care for a glass of wine? It’s light, crisp and clean, with good
body and a hint of peach, similar to a pinot grigio. By the way,
it’s from Moldova.
Nashville accountant turned entrepreneur Simon Sarkisov wants to
introduce Nashville – and the rest of the country – to Moldovan wines
plus others he says are well-known in Europe but not here, yet.
“I want to be basically some kind of ambassador of good quality wines
to United States,” he said.
His South Nashville-based business, World Vintage LLC, currently
imports wines from Spain and Moldova, a landlocked country about the
size of Maryland in southeastern Europe, between Rumania and Ukraine.
Moldova, formerly part of the Soviet Union, is now independent.
Moldova’s economic future may hinge on its wines – and people like
Sarkisov.
Wines from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have gained much
interest recently, especially as land, labor and grapes become pricier
in other wine-growing regions, said Elise Loehr Solima, proprietor/
wine director at the Green Hills restaurant F. Scott’s.
Moldovans have produced wine for thousands of years, Sarkisov said,
and its climate and soil are well suited for grapes. Moldovan wineries
– including the one Sarkisov imports from – also have won honors in
recent international competitions. Nevertheless, the United States
imported less than $1 million in Moldovan wine last year, according
to U.S. Census Bureau trade data.
Sarkisov’s company imports wines from Moldova’s Dionysos-Mereni
winery, along with Man Quixot and Lopez Panach wines from Spain. The
businessman is planning trips to Spain and Italy this year to seek
additional wines.
Sarkisov is an American citizen of Armenian descent. He grew up in
Azerbaijan, another former Soviet republic, and came to Nashville in
1991 at age 24. After graduating from Belmont University in 2000 with
an accounting degree, he worked in the corporate world.
Oddly enough, breaking his leg in a racquetball game in 2003 was
a turning point for him. With time to think about his career, he
focused on a long-time passion for wines. He decided to invest in a
wine-importing venture and specialize in unusual vintages and products.
In 2004, Sarkisov started World Vintages, importing his first wines
in 2005. Sarkisov now has one employee and, while he declined to give
revenues, said business has grown by about 35 percent over last year.
He sells in six states besides Tennessee, his main state for sales.
World Vintages imports wines under annual agreements with producers.
Tennessee law allows him to sell only to distributors who sell to
restaurants and liquor stores, which in turn educate consumers by
suggesting wines for specific meals or occasions. One distributor
that handles Sarkisov’s products is Nashville-based Aleksey’s Imports,
which distributes several Russian brands.
Moldovan wines compete with “inexpensive wines that are easy to drink,
versatile and friendly,” said Eric Nichols, director of sales with
Aleksey’s. “It’s not special occasion [wine] but it’s very good
quality. It’s still kind of a secret, too.”
Perhaps the secret will not be kept long as the Moldovan wines World
Vintages imports are very reasonably priced. For example, a bottle
of Vino Vista Pinot Noir is currently selling for about $10 at one
local retailer.
Nashville’s Tin Angel restaurant is one of Aleksey’s Imports’
accounts. From time to time, Tin Angel owner Rick Bolsom has featured
wines – including a Moldovan variety from Alexsky’s – that aren’t on
the regular wine list so that patrons can sample something different.
“I love to be able to offer quality wines at a reasonable price that
[offer] something interesting,” Bolsom said. Moldova is “way off the
beaten track,” he added, but has a long history of winemaking.
Currently, Russia forbids the sale of Moldovan and Georgian wines,
claiming they don’t meet its sanitation standards, which the two
countries contest. Others see retaliation because Moldova and Georgia
oppose Russia’s bid to join them in the World Trade Organization. The
loss of the huge Russian market has forced layoffs at some Moldovan
wineries, but one European press report says Dionysos-Mereni still
is doing well because of the quality of its wines.
Sarkisov and his distributors are betting that the Moldovan wines’
mix of value and quality will win customers.
“Once people try them,” Nichols said, “they’ll come back.”

ERDOGAN REBUKES ARMENIAN JOURNALIST’S ‘GENOCIDE’ CLAIMS
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Nov 6 2006
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rapped an Armenian
journalist who said that Turkey should recognize the so-called Armenian
genocide, challenging the Armenian president to open its archives.
Erdogan attended the fifth NewsXchange conference on Friday, in which
hundreds of delegates representing TV channels and news agencies
participated.
The two-day gathering was held at the Conrad Hotel Istanbul.
Following a speech he delivered at the conference, Erdogan responded
questions from reporters.
Erdogan reacted to Gegham Manukian from Yorki Media of Armenia,
who said that Turkey should recognize the so-called Armenian genocide.
Recalling that Turkey had opened its archives on history, the Turkish
premier called on the Armenian president to do so.
“Tell your president to open your archives, if he could,” he responded.
Manukian later tried to wave a poster; however, security guards
prevented him by seizing his poster.

P.M. ERDOGAN ATTENDS “NEWS XCHANGE” MEETING IN ISTANBUL
Turkish Press
Nov 5 2006
ISTANBUL – “Despite several negative developments, Turkey achieved
important successes thanks to democratic reforms fulfilled in the
country,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during
“News Xchange” meeting in Istanbul which brought together executives
of news TV channels and news agencies as well as correspondents from
all over the world.
Stating that Turkey was located in the center of a large geography
extending from Europe to Asia and from Caucasus to Africa, Erdogan
noted that Turkey was affected by developments that took place in
Caucasus, Balkans, southern and Central Asia.
“Turkey has been exerting great efforts for peace and stability in
the region and the world,” he underlined.
Erdogan noted, “AKP (Justice & Development Party) government fulfilled
significant reforms during the last four years. We also achieved
important successes in Turkish economy and foreign policy.
Turkey has become one of the biggest 20 economies of the world.”
“There has been a sound and dynamic structure in Turkish economy.
Direct foreign investments in the country amounted to 9.7 billion
USD at the end of 2005,” he stressed.
Noting that Turkey has met necessary criterion to start full membership
talks with the EU, Erdogan stated, “Turkey showed that it has quality
and capacity to join the EU.”
Erdogan said, “one third of the constitution has been amended,
adjustment packages have been approved and several legal and
administrative arrangements have been made in regard to Turkey`s
EU process.”
Replying to a question of a correspondent from Yorki Media operating in
Armenia, Erdogan said that the incidents in 1915 were a displacement.
“We have opened our archives. Armenian President (Robert Kocharian)
should also open Armenia`s archives. Jurists and historians should work
on the matter and then politicians make a decision on it,” he stated.
Stating that when AKP came to the political power in the country,
the government started air transportation between Turkey and Yerevan,
Erdogan said that they also restored Armenian Orthodox Church on
Akdamar Island in Van Lake.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HAMMARBERG ON ARTICLE 301 OF TCK
Turkish Press
Nov 5 2006
ANKARA – Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for
Human Rights, said that he has got very good messages from Turkish
government officials that problems regarding the Article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code (TCK) will be resolved soon.
Speaking to reporters before he proceeded from Ankara to Istanbul,
Hammarberg indicated that Turkey has taken significant steps in human
rights. However, he stated, there are still some deficiencies because
there are some problems in perception of the related regulation by
the authorities.
He said that an efficient mechanism should be set up in Turkey to
monitor human rights.
Hammarberg qualified the cases filed against novelists Orhan Pamuk
and Elif Safak as “unfortunate”, and said that the highest authorities
have told him that some mistakes are being made in implementation of
this article and they will be corrected soon.
According to Hammarberg, the problem regarding Article 301 can be
solved in three ways, including abolition and correction of this
article. The third way is to inform the law enforcers that the way
the article is interpreted is different from the interpretation of
the legislators, he stated.
-FRENCH RESOLUTION-
On the resolution adopted by the French parliament which criminalizes
denial of so-called Armenian genocide allegations, Hammarberg said
that the resolution has not yet been passed from the Senate, and
noted that he does not think it will be adopted by the Senate.
Defining the development as unfortunate, Hammarberg said that this
is not a constructive decision, but a provocative one.
Hammarberg indicated that this decision violates the freedom of
expression.
Commissioner Hammarberg will proceed to Istanbul tonight.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CYPRUS PROBLEM CANNOT BE SOLVED UNDER AUSPICES OF E.U., ERDOGAN
Turkish Press
Nov 5 2006
ISTANBUL – “Cyprus problem cannot be solved under the auspices of the
EU. It has to be solved under the umbrella of the UN,” said Turkish
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Making a keynote speech in the “News Xchange” meeting at Istanbul`s
Conrad Hotel, Erdogan indicated that Turkey has taken the steps it
has to (on the road to EU membership).
“And the EU should assume an honest and sincere approach,” he stated.
Noting that some artificial problems and obstacles are put before
Turkey, Erdogan said, “Turkey`s full membership path should not
be obstructed by artificial problems. This (membership) is for the
best interests of both Turkey and the EU, and is important for global
peace and stability. I hope that the EU will see it too, and will not
permit a deadlock in (our) negotiations due to some political issues,
which should be solved in some other grounds.”
-GLOBAL PEACE-
“Our differences should bring us closer to each other, not to exclude
each other,” stressed PM Erdogan.
Erdogan noted that everybody should avoid remarks and behaviors that
incite prejudices.
“It is not possible to talk about an open society and a good democracy
without a free media. But, it is our right to expect the media to
behave responsibly,” he added.
-POPE`S VISIT-
“As the Prime Minister of Turkey, I am not arranging my schedule
according to the Pope. I will participate in the NATO summit in
Poland in the same days. I am going (abroad) on an earlier scheduled
formal visit. I am not going abroad just because the Pope is coming
to Turkey. This is out of question,” said Erdogan when commenting on
Pope Benedict XVI`s visit to Turkey at the end of this month.
Erdogan stated that the pontiff will discuss political matters with
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and religious matters with head of
Religious Affairs DG.
-IRAQ & IRAN-
PM Erdogan said that Turkey backs a democratic solution in Iraq and
underlines its territorial integrity, while pointed out that he will
visit Iran soon and wished that the nuclear program controversy will
be solved through diplomatic means.
On criticisms about freedom of expression in Turkey, Erdogan said
that those who are talking about this freedom in Turkey are remaining
silent to the French resolution criminalizing denial of so-called
Armenian genocide allegations. “France was a country of freedoms,
wasn`t it? We have to be more objective about these issues,” he added.

EU CALLS ON ANKARA TO TAKE CONCRETE STEPS ON MINORITY RIGHTS
Senem Caglayan
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Nov 5 2006
Turkey has made little progress on ensuring cultural diversity and
promoting respect for and protection of minorities in accordance with
international standards, the European Union said in the progress report
urging Ankara to take concrete and constructive steps in the issue.
In the draft report obtained by The New Anatolian, freedom of religion,
minority rights and their protection is the main areas of concern.
On the issue of freedom of religion, according to the progress report,
although freedom of worship continues to be generally respected,
no progress was reported with regard to difficulties encountered by
non-Muslim religious communities.
Stressing that restrictions on the training of clergy and on
foreign clergy to work in Turkey remain, the reports said, “Turkish
legislation does not provide private higher religious education for
these communities,” and therefore urged the reopening of the Greek
Orthodox Halki (Heybeliada) seminary and the recognition of the
“ecumenical” status of the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch.
There have been no developments made in relation to the situation
of the Alevis and they face difficulties for opening their places
of worship (Cem houses), it was said in the report, urging Ankara
to recognize Cem houses and give funding for them. Furthermore, the
Union also criticized the compulsory religious instruction given to
Alevi children in schools.
Another area of concern stated in the progress report is that
although the mandatory indication of religious affiliation in some
personal documents such as ID-cards was abolished in April 2006, such
documents still include information on religion, which according to
the EU leaves open the potential of discriminatory practices.
Furthermore on freedom of religion, Brussels called on Turkey to give
access to legal personality to non-Muslin religious minorities and
abolish their restricted property rights.
Call for more Kurdish language broadcasting, education
On the issue of cultural rights of Kurds, the EU called on Turkey to
do more to ensure more broadcasting and education in Kurdish language.
Stressing that permission was granted to two local TV channels in
Diyarbakir and to one radio in Sanliurfa to broadcast in Kurdish,
the Union expressed criticism on the time restrictions, the presence
of subtitles or translations in Turkish and the absence of educational
programs teaching the Kurdish language. Stating that the Turkish Public
Television (TRT) has continued broadcasting in five languages including
Kurdish, the Union expressed concern over the limited duration and
scope of TRT’s broadcasts, adding that no private broadcaster at
national level has applied for broadcasting in languages other than
Turkish since the enactment of the 2004 legislation.
The Union also urged Ankara to do more in education in Kurdish saying,
“Children whose mother tongue is not Turkish cannot learn their mother
tongue in the Turkish public schooling system. As concerns Kurdish
all private courses were also closed down in 2004.
Therefore, there are no possibilities to learn Kurdish today in the
public or private schooling system. Furthermore, there are no measures
taken to facilitate access to public services for those who do not
speak Turkish.”
Touching on the overall record of Turkey in the minority rights, the
EU described it as “unchanged” and urged Ankara to determine other
minorities in Turkey except the Jews, Armenians and Greeks who were
given the status of minorities with the Treaty of Lausanne.
“The February 2005 visit of the OSCE High Commissioner on National
Minorities (HCNM) to Ankara has not been followed up and no progress
has been made in starting a dialogue on the situation of national
minorities in Turkey,” said the report urging Ankara to include
relevant areas such as minority education, languages, the participation
of minorities in the public life and broadcasting in minority languages
to facilitate Turkey’s further alignment with international standards
and best practice in EU member states to ensure cultural diversity
and to promote respect for and protection of minorities.

ARMENIAN ORGANIZATIONS OF U.S. SHOULD COORDINATE EFFORTS FOR GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2006 12:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The main task of the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) is to bring up the young generation and strengthen the
lobby, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter in Washington. In his words, the Armenian organizations of the
U.S. should coordinate efforts for achievement of the principal goal –
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. “Our endeavors are targeted
at neutralization of the Turkish lobby led by Senator Bob Livingston
and the ATA (the American-Turkish Association). The latter’s rating
has considerable fallen down during the recent 10 years. Generally
the place of Turkey in the U.S. foreign policy has changed,” Hamparian
said. At that he underscored that Turkey’s interests are supported by
Israel, which enjoys good relations with the United States. “However I
should mention that these relations have changed too. The Jews living
in the U.S. say that the Armenian Genocide should be recognized like
the Holocaust. I am convinced that the U.S. President Administration
is not far away from saying it was Genocide,” he emphasized.

ANCA: DOES ARMENIA NEED AMBASSADOR DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE?
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2006 13:11 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The appointment of Richard Hoagland Ambassador to
Armenia is still in the air. A diplomat should mind his expressions
when speaking of a country where he is going to serve as an
Ambassador, ANCA Communications Director Elizabeth Chouldjian told
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter in Washington. “Why does Armenia need
an Ambassador, who surpassed the President and now speaks of the
‘so-called Genocide’ and says Armenians were treated well in the
Ottoman Empire. By the way, the President himself says it was a
tragedy,” she remarked adding that the State Department would never
send an Ambassador denying the Holocaust to Israel. Meanwhile,
according to a source in the U.S. Department of State, Richard
Hoagland’s designation will be approved. “This is our nomination and
it should be approved. Although the hearings will resume in the newly
elected Senate late November there will be no problem, I suppose. At
long last the President can appoint the Ambassador bypassing the
Senate. History records such cases,” the source said adding that John
Evans’ activities were appreciated highly by the State Department and
it’s the President who decides on the terms of Ambassadors’ service.