TURKISH NOVELIST FACES TRIAL OVER CHARACTERS’ WORDS
By Suzan Fraser
Washington Post
Associated Press
Sept 10 2006
ISTANBUL, Sept. 9 — Elif Shafak, one of Turkey’s leading authors,
is about to have a baby — and go on trial.
The reason for this conjunction of joy and foreboding is her new novel,
which has exposed her to a charge of “insulting Turkishness” because
it touches on one of the most disputed episodes of her country’s
history — the massacres of Armenians during the final years of the
Ottoman Empire.
A professor of Near Eastern studies at the University of Arizona,
Shafak, 35, divides her time between Tucson and Istanbul. She sought
a postponement of her trial, set for Sept. 21, until after her first
child is born, but she was refused.
She could receive three years in prison, though similar trials of
other Turkish writers have often folded on technicalities.
“I think my case is very bizarre because for the first time they are
trying fictional characters,” Shafak said, referring to the words
she gave to an Armenian voice in the novel.
The case has broad ramifications, highlighting a rising wave of
Turkish nationalism and the question of whether Turkey, a Western
ally and NATO member, should be admitted to the European Union —
a move the Bush administration supports.
Turks who long for E.U. membership worry that trials of writers are
setting back their cause. But nationalists such as Kemal Kerincsiz,
one of the lawyers suing Shafak, say Turkey should not have to forsake
bedrock convictions — for instance, that there was never any Armenian
genocide — just to please Europe.
“The Easterner has to insult himself and degrade his own culture
to ingratiate himself with the West,” Kerincsiz said in a recent
interview. “Our place is in Eastern culture.”
The novel in question, “The Bastard of Istanbul,” deals with taboos —
domestic violence and incestuous rape — that are rarely discussed
in this conservative, predominantly Muslim country. But it is what
Shafak’s Armenian American characters say that has landed her in court.
For instance, this from a man worried about his niece being brought
up by a Turkish stepfather:
“What will that innocent lamb tell her friends when she grows
up? . . . [That] I am the grandchild of genocide survivors who lost
all their relatives to the hands of Turkish butchers in 1915, but
I myself have been brainwashed to deny the genocide because I was
raised by some Turk named Mustapha!”
Turkey insists the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians during forced
evacuations in World War I was not a planned genocide but the result
of the bloody breakup of the Ottoman Empire.
Shafak said she does not take sides on the genocide debate but accuses
Turkey of having “collective amnesia.”
“Turks and Armenians are not speaking the same language,” she said.
“For the Turks, all the past is gone, erased from our memories.
That’s the way we Westernized: by being future-oriented. . . . The
grandchildren of the 1915 survivors tend to be very, very
past-oriented.”

`BASTARD’ PITS TURKEY AGAINST ITSELF
AP , ISTANBUL
Taipai Times, Taiwan
Sept 10 2006
Europe’s governing body is watching which way Turkish courts will
jump as author Elif Shafak is prosecuted for insulting her nation
For best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak, this month promises to
be one of joy and tribulation.
Nine months pregnant, the University of Arizona literature professor
is set to give birth to her first child. Another important date looms:
the start of her trial on charges of “insulting Turkishness” in her
novel that deals with the waning years of the Ottoman Empire.
In a quiet cafe in the backstreets of Istanbul’s historic Beyoglu
district, where Turks, Armenians and Jews once lived in harmony,
Shafak reflected on the peculiarities of a case in which it is nothing
she said herself that is being put on trial, but words she gave to
a fictitious Armenian character.
“I think my case is very bizarre, because for the first time they
are trying fictional characters,” said Shafak, a striking woman with
unruly locks of blond hair.
If convicted Shafak, who divides her time between Tucson, Arizona,
and Istanbul, could face three years in prison. Turkey has refused
her request to delay the Sept. 21 trial because of her pregnancy.
The case will be closely watched by the EU, which has repeatedly
insisted that Turkey abolish laws that limit freedom of expression if
it is to fulfill its dream of joining the elite club of nations —
which sees itself both as an economic bloc and a beacon of liberal,
democratic values.
Shafak said the law on insulting Turkishness “has been used as a
weapon to silence many people. … My case is perhaps just another
step in this long chain.”
That chain includes Turkey’s best known novelist Orhan Pamuk — a
perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature — and dozens
of other writers and intellectuals forced to defend themselves against
charges of “insulting Turkishness.”
Shafak says he has received hate mail from nationalists calling her a
“pawn of the enemies of Turkey.”
Although most of the cases have been dropped for technical reasons —
such as the case involving Pamuk — and no one has ended up in prison,
the trials have raised serious questions about whether Turkey is
ready to embrace European values.
To Shafak, the trials, brought forward by a coalition of
ultranationalist lawyers, are an attempt to resist EU-inspired changes
toward a more democratic and pluralistic Turkey that some see as
a threat to the powerful central state, which has strong ties to
the military.
Yet Shafak sees reason for hope: The surge in nationalism, she
says, is a clear sign that Turkey is truly undergoing a momentous
transformation.
“This ultranationalist movement is taking place not because nothing
is changing in Turkey, but just the opposite, because things are
changing,” Shafak said. “The bigger the transformation, the bigger
their panic.”
Shafak’s novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, touches upon the massacres
of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, telling
the tale of a Turkish and an American-Armenian family whose lives
become intertwined.
The book also deals with other taboos — domestic violence and
incestuous rape — which are rarely discussed in this conservative,
predominantly Muslim country.
But it was fictional Armenian-American characters in the book who sent
Shafak to court. In one passage, a character is deeply concerned about
the prospect of his niece being brought up by a Turkish stepfather.
“What will that innocent lamb tell her friends when she grows up?”
the man asks. “[That] I am the grandchild of genocide survivors who
lost all their relatives to the hands of Turkish butchers in 1915,
but I myself have been brainwashed to deny the genocide because I
was raised by some Turk named Mustapha!”
Later, a radical Armenian-American blogger who goes by the name of
Lady Peacock/Siramark writes: “Do you think [the Turks] are going
to say: Oh yeah, we are sorry we massacred and deported you guys,
and then contentedly denied it all.”
Turkey insists that the mass evacuation and deaths of up to 1.5
million Armenians during World War I was not a planned genocide.
Labeling it as such can be considered a criminal offense.
The book has sold 60,000 copies since it was published — considered
a big hit in Turkey, where readership is low.
The daughter of a female diplomat who raised Shafak alone — her
father left when she was young — the novelist said that she first
became aware of the Armenian issue after Armenian militants killed
dozens of Turkish diplomats across the 1970s and 1980s.
“My very first acquaintance with the word `Armenian’ was so negative,
it just meant someone who wanted to kill my mother,” Shafak said. “I
then started to ask questions, `why so much hatred against Turkish
diplomats? What is behind this?'”
She does not take sides on the genocide debate, but criticizes Turkey
for what she calls a “collective amnesia” of the atrocities.
“Turks and Armenians are not speaking the same language,” she
explained. “For the Turks all the past is gone, erased from our
memories. That’s the way we Westernized: by being future-oriented…
The grandchildren of the 1915 survivors tend to be very, very
past-oriented.”
The English version of The Bastard of Istanbul is to be published
next year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DAY OF AZERBAIJAN TO BE ORGANIZED IN CZECH REPUBLIC
Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 10 2006
International music festival will be staged in Czech Republic on
September 23-24.
One day of the festival will be devoted to Azerbaijan, Nazim Ibrahimov,
head of Azerbaijani delegation, chairman of the State Committee for
Working with Azerbaijanis Residing Abroad, said.
That day, Czech people will be informed of Azerbaijan’s socio-economic
situation, governmental policy, Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh
conflict and, of course, traditional Azerbaijani music. Tunzale
Agayeva and her band will perform at the festival.
On the sidelines of the festival, Azerbaijani Diaspora representatives
are scheduled to meet with Czech officials.

PREGNANT AUTHOR FACES CHARGE OF ‘INSULTING TURKISHNESS’ IN NOVEL
Buffalo News, NY
Sept 10 2006
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) – Elif Shafak, one of Turkey’s leading authors,
is about to have a baby – and go on trial.
The reason for this strange conjunction of joy and foreboding
is her new novel, which has exposed her to a charge of “insulting
Turkishness” because it touches on one of the most disputed episodes
of her country’s history – the massacres of Armenians during the
final years of the Ottoman Empire.
A University of Arizona literature professor, the 35-year-old Shafak
divides her time between Tucson and Istanbul. She sought a postponement
of her trial, set for Sept. 21, until after her first child is born
but was refused. She could face three years in prison.
The case has broad ramifications, highlighting a rising wave of
Turkish nationalism and the whole question of whether Turkey, a
Western ally and NATO member, should be admitted to the liberal,
democratic European Union – something the Bush administration supports.

DEFENSE MINISTER SERGE SARGSAYAN TO PAY AN OFFICIAL VISIT TO BULGARIA
ArmRadio.am
09.09.2006 15:37
September 11-13 the delegation headed by RA Defense Minister Serge
Sargsayan will leave for the Republic of Bulgaria on an official
visit. In the framework of the visit meetings with Bulgarian President
Georgy Prvanov, Defense Minister Vesselin Bliznakov and Deputy Speaker
of the National Assembly Peter Beron are envisaged.

NEW NOVEL SPARKS TRIAL IN TURKEY
Edmonton Sun, Canada
Sept 10 2006
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Elif Shafak, one of Turkey’s leading authors,
is about to have a baby – and go on trial.
The reason for this strange conjunction of joy and foreboding
is her new novel, which has exposed her to a charge of “insulting
Turkishness” because it touches on one of the most disputed episodes
of her country’s history – the massacres of Armenians during the
final years of the Ottoman Empire.
A University of Arizona literature professor, the 35-year-old Shafak
divides her time between Tucson and Istanbul. She sought a postponement
of her trial, set for Sept. 21, until after her first child is born.
COULD GET THREE YEARS
She could get three years in prison, though similar trials of other
Turkish writers have usually folded on technicalities and no one has
gone to jail.
For now, she’s reflecting on the peculiarities of being tried for
the words she gave to an Armenian voice in the novel.
“I think my case is very bizarre because for the first time they are
trying fictional characters,” Shafak told The Associated Press.
The case has broad ramifications, highlighting a rising wave of
Turkish nationalism and the whole question of whether Turkey, a Western
ally and NATO member, should be admitted to the liberal, democratic
European Union – something the Bush administration supports. Turks
who long for EU membership worry that trials of writers are setting
back their cause.
But nationalists such as Kemal Kerincsiz, one of the lawyers suing
Shafak, say Turkey shouldn’t have to forsake bedrock convictions –
for instance, that there was never any Armenian genocide – just to
please Europe.
Shafak said the law on insulting Turkishness “has been used as a
weapon to silence many people. … My case is perhaps just another
step in this long chain.”
That chain includes Turkey’s best known novelist, Orhan Pamuk, and
dozens of other writers forced to defend themselves against charges of
“insulting Turkishness.”
NOVEL DEALS WITH TABOOS
The novel in question, The Bastard of Istanbul, deals with taboos –
domestic violence and incestuous rape – that are rarely discussed
in Turkey.
But it is what her Armenian-American characters say that has landed
Shafak in court. For instance, this from a man worried about his
niece being brought up by a Turkish stepfather:
“What will that innocent lamb tell her friends when she grows up? …
(That) I am the grandchild of genocide survivors who lost all their
relatives to the hands of Turkish butchers in 1915, but I myself have
been brainwashed to deny the genocide because I was raised by some
Turk named Mustapha!”
Turkey insists the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians during forced
evacuations in the First World War was not a planned genocide but
the result of the bloody breakup of the Ottoman Empire.

VLADIMIR PUTIN PRESENTS HIS CONDOLENCES TO FAMILY OF ARKADY VOLSKY
Regnum, Russia
Sept 10 2006
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has presented condolences to the
family of Arkady Volsky, the presidential press office informs.
President and founder of the Russian Union of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs, Arkady Volsky died at his 74. He will be buried at
Novodevichye Cemetery on September 12, Ekho Moskvy reports.
Volsky was laureate of the National Prize, awarded with the Order For
Services To Homeland of the second and third grades and many other
national awards.
Arkady Volsky was born on May 15, 1932 in the town of Dobrush
(Byelorussia). After graduating from Moscow Steel and Alloy Institute
he worked at Likhachyov Car Plant, starting from assistant foreman
and finishing as head of the foundry and secretary of the Communict
Party Committee. After that he was transferred to the engineering
industry department of the Communist Party Central Committee. In
1989-90, Volsky was chair of the committee for separate governing of
the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region.
In August-December 1991, Volsky was Deputy Chairman of the Committee
for Operative Management of the USSR Economy; he was in charge of
industry and military complex. In 1995, he was deputy head of the
mission for peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Chechen
Republic.
In 1990, the Scientific Industry Union of the USSR was established,
headed by Volsky. After the collapse of the USSR, the Russian Union
of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs succeeded the Scientific Industry
Union.

CHINA SELLS 80-KM-RANGE MISSILES TO ARMENIA
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2006
Armenia purchased DW short-range missiles from China via Russia,
Akbar Huseynli, an Azerbaijani living in Hong-Kong, told APA.
He said that local media spread info about the fact that the missiles
are capable of hitting 80 km.
“Maybe Armenia could buy the missiles as a result of the activities
of the Armenian Diaspora s Armenian has no business agreement with
China”.

MONEY AS THE END AND MEANS
Aram Abrahamian
Aravot.am
08 sept 06
Armenian politicized circles discuss two themes today” the growth
of violence and the coming parliamentary elections. It seems, nobody
denies the ties between those two themes. The parliament itself has no
authority in Armenia: it isn’t a legislative body and is nothing as a
state institution. In that case you’ll ask why the whole criminal world
directly or indirectly participate in the electoral processes. Just
for the above-mentioned reason: legislative activities and state
institutions are as far from them as Schubert’s symphonies. The only
sacred thing for the representatives of our criminal is the MONEY;
they make great efforts to have it more.
As money is the end in this ”pre-electoral fight”, so money and
power must be the means, and now money and power are accumulated
and assigned before ” decisive battles”. As it is known money is
used to give electoral bribes, as for power, it is necessary for
administrative levers and own interests. Is it possible for different
“power centers” not to have discrepancies, the part of which can be
solved by shoots and blasts? Is it possible for media, which detects
all those mechanisms not to be oppressed?
In time, when ”October 27” happened, there were people who were
saying that Karen Demirchian and Vazgen Sargsian wanted to fight
against corruption, but terrorism prevented that fight. I consider
such explanation as a ”black humor” . The services of those state
men towards the Homeland are enormous but why should we ascribe
their intentions, which they have never had to them. Now the official
explanation of Shahen Hovasapian’s murder is that he wanted to collect
taxes fairly but the taxpayers persisted by terrorism. Mr. Hovasapian
also had great merits but that version will lead the investigation
by a wrong direction.
–Boundary_(ID_Z/0sVCJ0vIMO90ToqXYlKA) —

GUESTS WIN WITH MINIMUM SCORE IN ARMENIA-BELGIUM MEETING HELD IN YEREVAN
Noyan Tapan
Sept 08 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. By the group tournament schedule
of the selection stage of the 2008 Europe Championship of football,
the national team of Armenia received the Belgian team on September
6, in the republican sports ground after Vazgen Manukian. Daniel
van Buyten scored the only goal of the meeting on the 40th minute,
and the Belgians won with the score 1:0. The national team of Armenia
will compete in Yerevan with Finns on October 7, and in Serbia with
the local national team on October 11.