New York Times
Oct 14 2006
EU backs Turkey over French law
By Sebnem Arsu The New York Times
Published: October 13, 2006

ISTANBUL Senior European Union officials sided with Turkey on Friday
in a growing controversy over legislation in France that would make
it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians in Turkey during
and after World War I constituted genocide.

A statement by José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European
Commission, coincided with satisfaction in Turkey that Orhan Pamuk,
who has been involved in controversy over the Armenia issue, had been
named the first Turkish novelist to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature.

“We don’t think that this decision at this moment is helpful in the
context of the European Union’s relations with Turkey,” The
Associated Press quoted Barroso as saying in Helsinki. “This is not
the best way to contribute to something we think is important.”

The French National Assembly approved the bill Thursday and it now
moves to the Senate for action. Turkey has denounced the legislation.

The EU commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, also quoted by The
AP, said the bill, “instead of opening up the debate, would rather
close it down, and thus have a negative impact.”

“We don’t achieve real dialogue and real reconciliation by
ultimatums, but by dialogue,” Rehn continued. “Therefore, this law is
counterproductive.”

Many Turkish newspapers, meanwhile, showered Pamuk with praise, but
some also noted the irony that a writer who had faced charges of
“insulting Turkishness” for saying that “one million Armenians were
killed in Turkey” during World War I, was awarded the prize on the
day of the vote in France.

“Pamuk who is given the Nobel Prize, accepts the Armenian genocide,”
said Ozdemir Ince, a critic of the novelist. “Turkey has been put on
sale and Turkish history has been sold in an auction at the lowest
price.”

Bulent Arinc, the speaker of Parliament, praised Pamuk but called on
him to help clarify the debate surrounding his prize. “Since he is a
writer, what are his thoughts on the law in France that massacres
freedom of expression?” Arinc asked. “Not only the Turkish society
but the whole world is curious about it.”

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Pamuk in New York on
Friday to congratulate him. The writer is teaching at Columbia
University for a semester.

Turkey has denied charges that it committed genocide against the
Armenians and asserts that Armenians and Turks alike were killed in
civil unrest during World War I. The issue often results in charges
against intellectuals and writers in court: The genocide claim is
regarded as an insult to Turkish identity and is considered a crime.

Many writers voiced support for Pamuk. “We welcomed his prize with
great joy,” Vecdi Sayar, the head of PEN in Turkey, said in Milliyet
newspaper. “Various interpretations are being and will be made but I
think this prize will make serious contributions to Turkish
literature.”

Yasar Kemal, another of Turkey’s best-known novelists, who has
himself faced prosecution, congratulated Pamuk. “I trust that you
will continue writing new novels with the same passion. I have no
doubt that you will also stand by what you believe in with full
determination,” he said in a message printed in the Turkish press.

Pamuk, in a news conference in New York on Thursday declined to
respond to accusations that his selection was a political decision.

In a statement to the newspaper Radikal, he said: “I consider this
prize as one given to Turkish culture, literature and writers as a
whole. I would like my country to be proud and help me carry it.”

ISTANBUL Senior European Union officials sided with Turkey on Friday
in a growing controversy over legislation in France that would make
it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians in Turkey during
and after World War I constituted genocide.

A statement by José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European
Commission, coincided with satisfaction in Turkey that Orhan Pamuk,
who has been involved in controversy over the Armenia issue, had been
named the first Turkish novelist to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature.

“We don’t think that this decision at this moment is helpful in the
context of the European Union’s relations with Turkey,” The
Associated Press quoted Barroso as saying in Helsinki. “This is not
the best way to contribute to something we think is important.”

The French National Assembly approved the bill Thursday and it now
moves to the Senate for action. Turkey has denounced the legislation.

The EU commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, also quoted by The
AP, said the bill, “instead of opening up the debate, would rather
close it down, and thus have a negative impact.”

“We don’t achieve real dialogue and real reconciliation by
ultimatums, but by dialogue,” Rehn continued. “Therefore, this law is
counterproductive.”

Many Turkish newspapers, meanwhile, showered Pamuk with praise, but
some also noted the irony that a writer who had faced charges of
“insulting Turkishness” for saying that “one million Armenians were
killed in Turkey” during World War I, was awarded the prize on the
day of the vote in France.

“Pamuk who is given the Nobel Prize, accepts the Armenian genocide,”
said Ozdemir Ince, a critic of the novelist. “Turkey has been put on
sale and Turkish history has been sold in an auction at the lowest
price.”

Bulent Arinc, the speaker of Parliament, praised Pamuk but called on
him to help clarify the debate surrounding his prize. “Since he is a
writer, what are his thoughts on the law in France that massacres
freedom of expression?” Arinc asked. “Not only the Turkish society
but the whole world is curious about it.”

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Pamuk in New York on
Friday to congratulate him. The writer is teaching at Columbia
University for a semester.

Turkey has denied charges that it committed genocide against the
Armenians and asserts that Armenians and Turks alike were killed in
civil unrest during World War I. The issue often results in charges
against intellectuals and writers in court: The genocide claim is
regarded as an insult to Turkish identity and is considered a crime.

Many writers voiced support for Pamuk. “We welcomed his prize with
great joy,” Vecdi Sayar, the head of PEN in Turkey, said in Milliyet
newspaper. “Various interpretations are being and will be made but I
think this prize will make serious contributions to Turkish
literature.”

Yasar Kemal, another of Turkey’s best-known novelists, who has
himself faced prosecution, congratulated Pamuk. “I trust that you
will continue writing new novels with the same passion. I have no
doubt that you will also stand by what you believe in with full
determination,” he said in a message printed in the Turkish press.

Pamuk, in a news conference in New York on Thursday declined to
respond to accusations that his selection was a political decision.

In a statement to the newspaper Radikal, he said: “I consider this
prize as one given to Turkish culture, literature and writers as a
whole. I would like my country to be proud and help me carry it.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BBC News, UK
Oct 14 2006
Pride and suspicion over Pamuk prize
By Sarah Rainsford
BBC News, Istanbul

Pamuk is one of the youngest writers to have won the prize
The novels of Orhan Pamuk are now piled high in the windows of
Istanbul bookshops. His smiling face beams from the front page of
every newspaper.
“Our Pride,” is the headline in Radikal. “Thank you Orhan!” blazes
BirGun.
“It’s very important, I congratulate him,” says bookseller Mehmet,
who moved all his Pamuk stock to the front of the store as soon as he
heard that the first ever Turk had won the Nobel Prize for
Literature.
“It’s not only Orhan Pamuk who’s won here. This prize will be a
chance for all the world to get to know Turkish literature.”
Even before the Nobel announcement, Orhan Pamuk was Turkey’s
best-selling novelist by far.
Each of his books had sold more than 115,000 copies here at home. He
has been translated into dozens of foreign languages – and demand is
now soaring.
In the first four hours after the news from Sweden, Pamuk’s
publishers in Istanbul received another 6,000 orders. They have had
to allocate extra printing presses to keep up.
But Orhan Pamuk is a difficult hero for some in Turkey.
‘Western plot’
Earlier this year nationalist groups labelled the author a traitor
when he spoke out on two of Turkey’s most sensitive issues – claims
that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against the Armenians nine
decades ago, and the plight of ethnic Kurds in modern-day Turkey.
His comments earned him death threats – and criminal charges.
He didn’t get this award for his literature, they gave it to make a
point to us here in Turkey
Pamuk critic
Pamuk was put on trial for insulting Turkishness, sparking a wave of
pressure from the EU which accused Turkey of limiting free speech.
“For his words, or his pen?” demands the headline in Vatan newspaper.
Inside a columnist argues that the Nobel Prize decision is part of a
dark Western plot against Turkey.
“I’m not proud Pamuk won. This is all political,” Gokhan protests
outside another Istanbul bookshop sporting a brand-new window display
devoted to the writer.
“He didn’t get this award for his literature, they gave it to make a
point to us here in Turkey.”
“The nationalists will see Pamuk’s win as their loss. It’s as if they
let in a goal in a football match,” Ragip Zarokolu explains.
The dissident publisher is on trial himself here for publishing books
on the fate of the Ottoman Armenians.
He believes Pamuk fully deserves his Nobel Prize, for his literature.
“But I feel those of us who dare to speak about our history and face
our taboos have won a moral victory with this award too,” Ragip
Zarokolu adds.
“It’s an award for the right not to be silent, for freedom of
expression.”
Orhan Pamuk himself is abroad at the moment, where he pronounced
himself honoured to receive such recognition.
Official silence
But in the narrow cobbled streets close to his Istanbul home his
neighbours are divided over the news.
“He comes in here sometimes to buy kiwi fruit and chocolate, he
always says hello,” enthuses Mehmet, shopkeeper at Pamuk’s nearest
grocer’s.
Turkish people should recognise that Orhan Pamuk has achieved a
great success and that he is serving the Turkish nation
Bahar Siber
Pamuk editor
“Of course we’re pleased he’s brought a prize to our country,” he
adds. “But is he really on Turkey’s side?”
“He wanted fame and he’s got it,” the local florist fumes. “But look
at all the muck he’s spread with his comments about the Armenians!”
Neither Turkey’s prime minister nor its president has congratulated
Pamuk publicly on winning such a prestigious award, a sign perhaps of
how divisive a figure he is here – and how sensitive the Armenian
issue in particular remains.
The prize announcement came on the same day that the French
parliament voted to make denial of the Armenian genocide a criminal
offence, a decision that infuriated many Turks.
Work in progress
But at Iletisim publishing house in Istanbul there is no doubt that
their most successful author fully deserves his Nobel Prize for his
literary genius alone.
“As a novelist he has his own political thoughts, that is natural,”
believes Bahar Siber, one of a team of editors who works closely with
Pamuk. “But this prize is because he invested great efforts for years
in the art of novel writing.”
Iletisim has published Pamuk since 1994.
“I think Turkish people should recognize that Orhan Pamuk has
achieved a great success and that he is serving the Turkish nation,”
his editor argues. “He should be a source of pride.”
For those who agree, there is good news: the editor revealed that
Orhan Pamuk’s next novel is due out next year.
“I’m excited,” Mr Siber admits, explaining that the book will be a
new departure for the author – a contemporary love story, to be
called Museum of Innocence.
“He has not submitted his first draft to us yet, we’re expecting the
manuscript very soon.”

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Oct 14 2006
Envoy admits to Armenian lobby’s influence on Paris
AssA-Irada 14/10/2006 02:00
The French ambassador to Azerbaijan Bernard du Chaffaut has said that
if the latest decision by the National Assembly of France goes into
effect, this could harm the country’s relations with Turkey and
Azerbaijan.
The bill, tabled in the legislature by opposition Socialist Party and
passed Thursday, criminalizes denying the `genocide of Armenians’.
Although the law was passed the assembly, it will not go into effect
unless it is approved by the French parliament’s upper chamber, the
Senate.
Armenians say Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million people in 1915, a
claim strongly denied by Turkey.
The envoy told a news conference Friday that he is disappointed with
the adoption of the bill in the lower chamber of parliament,
expressing hope that the measure will not be approved by the Senate.
The measure has sparked off outcry in France as well, he said.
Du Chaffaut emphasized that the fact it passed the lower chamber does
not mean it will be approved, as making any bill law in France
requires a very lengthy procedure. `I hope this procedure will not be
completed.’
He said France’s Constitutional Council may intervene as well. The
body may deem it contradictory to freedom of expression.
`Finally, although the president has no right of veto, he may send it
back for repeated deliberations at the National Assembly.’
Du Chaffaut admitted that the Armenian lobby influences the French
government. `I suspect that the law was supported by some Armenian
voters in some election constituencies.’
The diplomat said France has come under pressure of the European
Union to reject the law.
Du Chaffaut said the latest developments will not lead to a
postponement of French President Jacques Chirac’s visit to Azerbaijan
next year. Such decisions, he said, are up to the presidents, but
said he is confident the visit will take place.
The ambassador said he does not expect tension to escalate in
French-Turkish relations and called on the Turkish Diaspora to
actively struggle against the adoption of the genocide law.
Azerbaijani MPs on Tuesday protested at the bill and forwarded a
relevant appeal to the French legislature.
The Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan Turan Morali has termed the move
as `major injustice against his country that is primitive and
embarrassing’.
A group of the Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party members attempted
to hold a rally outside the French embassy in Baku on Friday in
protest at the adoption of the `genocide’ bill. The protest was
prevented by the police.

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 14 2006
Armenians Protest Turkish Troops
By Fatih Artun – Cihan News Agency, Beirut
zaman.com
About 5,000 Armenians protested the arrival of Turkish troops in
southern Lebanon to join the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Waving Armenian and Tashnak flags, the crowd chanted anti-Turkish
slogans, carried placards protesting Turkey’s cooperation with Israel
and accused and shouted accusations of the purported Armenian
genocide.

Associated Press
Oct 14 2006
EU slams French bill on Armenian deaths
MATTI HUUHTANEN
Associated Press
HELSINKI, Finland – The European Union on Friday condemned a French
bill making it a crime to deny that the World War I-era killing of
Armenians in Turkey was genocide, calling it unhelpful at a critical
stage in the Muslim country’s EU entry talks.
The bill was approved by lawmakers in France’s lower house Thursday,
but still needs approval by the French Senate and President Jacques
Chirac to become law. Turkey has said the decision would harm
relations with France.
Chirac’s government is thought to be unlikely to forward the bill for
passage by the Senate.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said “we don’t
think this decision at this moment is helpful in the context of the
European Union’s relations with Turkey.”
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the bill came at a bad
time as the 25-member bloc was trying to avoid “a train crash” in
negotiations with Turkey.
“This law is counterproductive,” he told reporters.
France, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people whose
families came from Armenia, has already recognized the 1915-1919
killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. Under the bill,
those who contest it was genocide would risk up to a year in prison
and fines of up to $56,000.
Armenia accuses Turkey of massacring Armenians during World War I,
when Armenia was under the Ottoman Empire. Turkey says Armenians were
killed in civil unrest during the collapse of the empire.

IFEX, Canada
Oct 14 2006
National Assembly passes draft law criminalising the denial of
Armenian genocide

Français: L’Assemblée nationale adopte un projet de loi pénalisant la
négation du génocide arménien
Country/Topic: France
Date: 13 October 2006
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Person(s):
Target(s):
Type(s) of violation(s): censored
Urgency: Threat
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF strongly regrets the first reading passage of a law
that would make it a crime punishable by prison sentence to deny the
1915 Armenian genocide. The organisation notes that memorial laws are
part of the creation of an official historical truth – a practice
typical of totalitarian regimes – and expressed the hope that
senators, who are to examine the draft law shortly, will have the
wisdom to reject it.
The French National Assembly passed the draft law on 12 October 2006.
The law would make denial of the Armenian genocide a crime punishable
by five years in jail and a 45,000-euro fine.
The law complements a 19 January 2001 law which publicly recognised
the genocide.
“There is obviously no question of going back on the recognition of
the Armenian genocide, but legislating on it will expose anyone
denying it to harsh judicial penalties set out by the 18 July 1881
law on press freedom (Article 24a). Memorial laws contribute to the
creation of an official historical truth. This practice, typical of
totalitarian regimes, is incompatible with France’s fundamental
values, starting with freedom of expression,” said the organisation.
“Not only is it absurd that free expression – however contestable,
and that is not the question – should be subjected to a constraint
which is, in addition, a threat, but it seems to us that this
legalistic concept of history will be much more likely to stoke up
antagonism than to promote debate.
“It is particularly symbolic that this vote should have been held on
the same day of the awarding of the Nobel Prize for literature to
Orhan Pamuk, who was himself taken to court by the Turkish
authorities for having raised the issue of this genocide,” RSF
stressed.
RSF hopes that senators due to examine the law on second reading will
pay less attention to upcoming elections and have the wisdom to
reject it. If not, it could have incalculable consequences for all
historians as well as for press freedom.
MORE INFORMATION:
For further information, contact Zuzana Loubet del Bayle at RSF, 5,
rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 67, fax:
+33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: [email protected], Internet:

Duke University, NC
Oct 14 2006
French Bill Harms Understanding of Armenian Massacre, Says Duke
Scholar Arrested for His Research on Killings
Note to Editors: Yektan Turkyilmaz can be reached for additional
comment at [email protected].
Durham, NC — A bill passed Thursday by the French National Assembly
that labels the World War I massacre of Armenians as `genocide’ hurts
the cause of those trying to educate Turkish citizens about the
tragedy, says a Duke University graduate student.
The Strange Case of Yektan Turkyilmaz: An International Incident
International
The student, Yektan Turkyilmaz, was detained in an Armenian KGB
detention center for several weeks without charges being filed in
2005 while studying the conflict’s history. Turkyilmaz was released
after several American leaders, including former U.S. Senate Majority
Leader Bob Dole and Senator Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Duke President Richard
Brodhead, urged Armenian officials to intervene in the matter.
`I would like to see the entire world community, including Turkey,
recognize what happened to the people in Armenia,’ said Turkyilmaz, a
graduate student in cultural anthropology at Duke. `But decisions
like this [by the French parliament] only fuel reactionaries in
Turkey, who use this as an example of Western animosity. It doesn’t
encourage discussion at all.’
Turkyilmaz, a Turkish citizen of Kurdish decent, said some Turkish
scholars are already seeking to shed light on the Ottoman killing of
Armenians, as evidenced by a conference last September on the topic.
`”People do this despite this infamous code in Turkey that penalizes
`insulting Turkishness,” he said. `We can call what happened to the
Armenians `genocide,’ `tragedy’ or `massacre;’ the point is we need
to learn what happened and educate people about it.’
The French bill `jeopardizes the position of progressive people in
Turkey,’ he said.
`I would totally understand it if it were a principled decision about
genocide everywhere, but this is more about disturbing Turkey than
learning about the Armenian tragedy,’ he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sabah, Turkey
Oct 14 2006
Armenian flag at Aðrý
Armenian students are turned out to erect an Armenian flag to the
peak of Aðrý Mountain at the end of their climbing activity in
August.
Armenian flag erected in Aðrý Mountain
Armenian students who climbed to Aðrý Mountain on August 27 erected
an Armenian flag to the peak and took a photo.
Armenian students who climbed to Aðrý Mountain on August 27 erected
an Armenian flag to the peak. Armenian Diaspora announced the event
with the title of: “our flag is on the Peak of Aðrý Mountain.” The
students named Haroutune Armenian, Sona Armenian, Arsen Grigoryan,
Arthur Melkonyan, Varduhi Petrosian and Ara Tekian came to
Doðubeyazýt in Aðrý for the 15. anniversary of Amenia’s independence.

Sabah, Turkey
Oct 14 2006
Pamuk postpones Armenian conference
After learning he won a Nobel Prize, Pamuk’s first act was to
postpone his conference about the so-called Armenian genocide.
Pamuk postpones Armenian genocide conference after winning a Nobel
Prize
The conference which was supposed to be held on October 16 by Orhan
Pamuk at Minnesota University has been postponed to an uncertain
date. It was claimed that it was Pamuk who postponed the conference
after learning he won a Nobel Prize.
Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk’s conference on Armenain genocide has
been postponed to an uncertain date. The conference which was
supposed to be held on Monday, October 16 at Minnesota University was
about Armenian genocide claims. Minnesota University has announced
the postponement from its official website and said the conference
was postponed due to bad reputation around Pamuk’s winning
announcement. However, according to some sources it was Pamuk himself
who wanted to postpone the conference.

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Oct 14 2006
EU: The French Armenian Bill Would Prohibit Dialogue
Saturday , 14 October 2006
* The EU says the French Armenian bill would damage the relations
between Turkey and Armenia and Turkey and EU
The European Union said French parliament approval on Thursday of a
bill making it a crime to reject the Armenian accusations against the
Turkish people about the 1915 communal clashes could harm efforts to
end decades of dispute over the killings. Armenians name the 1915
Events `genocide’ while the Turks accuse the Armenians of massacring
520,000 Turkish civilian people.
A European Commission spokeswoman noted the bill still needed upper
house approval and said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn had
repeatedly warned in recent days it would damage efforts in Turkey
and Armenia to resolve the dispute. Turkish prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan had called Armenia to set up a joint commission to
solve the historical disputes. Yet Yerevan Government rejected the
offer claiming there was nothing to be discussed.
“Should this law enter into force … it would prohibit dialogue
which is necessary for reconciliation on the issue,” spokeswoman
Krisztina Nagy told a regular news conference.
Asked whether the bill could add a stumbling block to difficult
accession talks with Ankara opened just over a year ago, she noted
recognition of the 1915 killings as a `genocide’ was not a
precondition for accession.
“It is not up to law to write history. Historians need to have
debate,” she said.