TURKISH NOVELIST FACING PRISON OVER GENOCIDE CLAIMS
The Herald, UK
Ankara October 17 2005
A Turkish novelist who could face prison over charges he insulted
his country has defended himself, insisting he did not describe the
killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as a genocide.
Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey’s best-known writers, is to go on trial on
December 16 and could face up to three years in prison for comments
on the killings of Armenians and Kurds.
The United States and the European Union have called on Turkey to
drop charges to ensure freedom of expression.
“I did not say, we Turks killed this many Armenians,” Pamuk said. “I
did not use the word ‘genocide’.”
Turkish prosecutors filed charges against Pamuk after he told a Swiss
newspaper in February “30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians were
killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it”.
He was referring to Kurds killed during Turkey’s two-decade conflict
with autonomy-seeking Kurdish guerrillas and to Armenians killed
around the time of the First World War.
The PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party, is branded as a terrorist group by
the US and EU. Indeed, Turkish authorities yesterday blamed Kurdish
rebels for an explosion caused by a remote-controlled bomb which
injured five people at an Istanbul filling station on Saturday.
Armenians say 1.5 million of their countrymen were killed by Ottoman
Turks, which Armenia and several nations recognise as a genocide.
Turkey, however, denies that the mass killings were genocide, saying
the death toll is inflated and that the Armenians were killed in
civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
Asked about the numbers of people killed that he referred to in his
interview with the Swiss newspaper, Pamuk said “they were spontaneous
remarks”.
“There are martyred Turkish soldiers among those 30,000 to 35,000
killed people. Let’s express our respect to them,” Pamuk said,
complaining that he had become a victim of a “defamation campaign”.
The EU, which Turkey hopes to join, has said it will be watching
closely when Pamuk goes on trial in December.
Pamuk’s books, which include the internationally acclaimed Snow and
My Name is Red, have been translated into more than 20 languages and
the novelist has received numerous international awards.

THE ELECTIONS OF MAYOR IN ARMAVIR, TAVOUSH AND LORI REGIONS
Panorama.am
13:56 17/10/05
On October 16 the elections of mayor were held in Dilijan, Etchmiadzin
Vanadzor and Berd. Hear are the results of the local elections
according to the Central Electoral Committee.
In Dilijan the candidate of mayor Armen Santrosyan (he was the chief
of Tax department) has received more votes from the electors than
the acting mayor Jora Saghabalyan.
In Etchmiadzin the candidate Gagik Avagyan has received 18793 votes,
5970 electors have voted for Yerevand Aghvanyan, 300-for Susanna
Harutiunyan and about 140-for Avetis Khanjyan. 38 ballots were
considered invalid.
25014 electors have voted for Samvel Darbinyan in Vanadzor, 19800 –
for Gagik Hovsepyan and 1283 electors – for Andranik Ghoukasyan. There
were 1697 invalid ballots.
As for Berd, here 3745 of 7579 total electors have participated in the
elections. Hrachik Atoyan has received 792 votes, Azniv Matevosyan –
111, Davit Melikyan -610. The most votes has received the candidate
Andranik Sharoyan -2129 votes and won the elections.

DUKE STUDENT RELEASED FROM ARMENIAN PRISON
NBC 17.com, NC
Oct 17 2005
POSTED: 5:49 am EDT October 17, 2005
DURHAM, N.C. — A Duke University scholar is back at work on his
doctoral dissertation after spending two months in an Armenian prison
this summer on what he believes was a trumped-up charge.
Yektan Turkyilmaz was detained when he tried to leave that country
with antique books, a violation of Armenian law.
But the Turkish citizen thinks it was his research that really got
him into trouble. The two countries have a historically hostile
relationship, and Turkyilmaz’s dissertation addresses it.
“I never thought that they would, like, you know, detain me. I thought
it was something silly,” he said.
Turkyilmaz, 33, has been to Armenia five times, the first in 2002. He
returned in April to work for two months. The avid book collector
also bought more than 100 used books and pamphlets in Yerevan, the
Armenian capital, something he has done in the past with no problem.
This time, however, it caused a big one.
As Turkyilmaz waited to pass through an airport security checkpoint
on June 17, a strange man spoke to him in broken English. Turkyilmaz
had been speaking Armenian.
“I realized that something was up,” he recalled.
His passport was stamped, but then he was surrounded by more than
half a dozen agents from the National Security Service who told
Turkyilmaz to empty his pockets and confiscated his luggage. They
disregarded his explanation that he was a scholar and meticulously
began logging the titles of the 88 books he had in his bags —
sometimes with Turkyilmaz’s help in translating those that were
written in old Armenian.
But the agents also showed little care for the books, some of which
dated to the 17th century. They piled them on the floor or dumped them
in plastic bags. And their questions quickly switched to Turkyilmaz
himself — his political views, his Kurdish ethnicity, who he knew
in Armenia and the subject of his research.
That, he believes, was the real issue. Turkyilmaz is studying how
modern Armenian, Kurdish and Turkish nationalism developed after the
mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during World War I. He was the
first Turkish scholar allowed in the Armenian national archives to
conduct research.
“His trip was unprecedented for a Turkish citizen and also a huge
feather in his cap for his academic career,” said Charles Kurzman,
an associate professor of sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill and one of
Turkyilmaz’s advisers. “That’s high-risk, high-gain research.”
U.S. politicians and diplomats were joined by a host of academics
who campaigned for his release from Armenia, while Turkyilmaz spent
his days in a small prison cell in Yerevan.
He was questioned almost daily during the first month by agents who
examined his computer files and CDs. They also accused him of being
a spy — a charge that could bring a 15-year prison term.
But the only charge filed against him, three days after his arrest,
involved the books. Breaking the obscure law — unfamiliar even to
the booksellers — could have gotten Turkyilmaz as much as eight
years in prison.
“The whole idea that you could be sentenced to years in prison for
taking used books out of the country was preposterous,” said Orin
Starn, a professor of cultural anthropology at Duke and primary
adviser to Turkyilmaz.
On Aug. 16, a judge convicted Turkyilmaz but gave him a two-year
suspended sentence.
Turkyilmaz worries now that the conviction could hamper his travel
in southwestern Asia — and, consequently, his research — or create
problems with U.S. authorities when his visa expires in a few months.
But he said he’s not bitter, and the experience has only cemented
his desire to pursue an academic career in the United States.
“I’m so glad to be back,” he said. “I feel so safe here, so secure. I
just want to go back to my work. That’s the only thing I want to do
with my life.”

GEORGIAN MI INVESTIGATES APPEARANCE OF ANTI-ARMENIAN LEAFLETS IN SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI
The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 17 2005
On October 12-13, leaflets reading “It’s high time for revenge”
appeared on the streets of Akhalkalaki (the largest city in the
predominately Armenian region of Javakheti).
“Armenians! We are coming and whoever stands in our way will die.
Russia will not help you, as their time on our land is over,” the
leaflet, by a group calling itself the “Brigade of Liberation of
Akhalkalaki,” warned.
The administration of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region notes that
all leaflets have been confiscated and criminal proceedings have
been instituted. The Georgian Interior Ministry Secret Service is
investigating the case.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MEMORIAL FUND SET UP FOR VICTIMS OF CRASH
By Josh Wein
Staff Writer
San Francisco Examiner, CA
Oct 17 2005
Friends of Zareh Soghikian, the Yellow Cab driver killed in a gruesome
suspected DUI collision Oct. 9, have set up a memorial fund to honor
his life and the life of Tyler Brown, the 21-year-old Duke University
student who was riding in the front passenger seat and also killed
in the accident.
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has charged Kevin
McGuinness, a 43-year-old Irish citizen, with two counts of
second-degree murder for his role in the crime. McGuinness allegedly
ran a stop sign at the corner of Broadway and Webster streets,
broadsiding Soghikian’s taxi.
Two passengers, Tyler’s brother Adrian and his friend Michael Giedgowd
were also injured in the collision. Authorities said McGuinness was
driving down Broadway Street at 80 miles per hour with a blood-alcohol
level twice the legal limit. McGuinness allegedly fled the scene of
a hit-and-run near Polk and Washington streets just moments before
the fatal crash. He is being held without bail in San Francisco’s
jail and is scheduled to enter a plea on Oct. 27.
About 50 cabbies attended a candlelight vigil to honor Soghikian and
Brown on Friday night, said Ruach Graffis, an executive member of the
United Cab Workers’ Union. Funeral services were held Saturday for
Soghikian at a local Armenian Church. Brown was also buried Saturday
in Rhode Island.
The Zareh Soghikian and Tyler Brown Memorial Fund will benefit two
charities Brown and Soghikian were already involved with, Graffis
said. Soghikian had been quietly sending money to an Armenian family
who lost their home in a recent earthquake. They will receive part
of the money raised by the fund.
Brown had recently returned from a trip to Indonesia helping a village
recover from December’s tsunami and another part of the fund will
benefit charities in Banda Aceh.
To contribute, send a check made out to the Zareh Soghikian and Tyler
Brown Memorial Fund, to the Mission Area Federal Credit Union at 2940
16th St., San Francisco, CA 94110.

AREA ARMENIANS TWICE BLESSED
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, CA
Oct 17 2005
Aram I is second Apostolic Church pope to visit Pasadena this year
By Marshall Allen, Staff Writer
PASADENA — The city’s Armenian Christian community celebrated its
second pontifical visit in the past four months Sunday, as a pope
from the historic church consecrated a new church building in Pasadena.
While the world’s billion Catholics follow one pope, the Armenian
Apostolic Church has two pontiffs. With equal authority, the popes
lead two arms of the same church, sharing history and doctrine.
In June, His Holiness Karekin II, who is based in Armenia, visited
St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church in Pasadena. On Sunday,
His Holiness Aram I, who is based in Lebanon, led a ceremony at
Pasadena’s Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church.
Both popes visited the Los Angeles area this year to celebrate the
1,700-year anniversary of the church in Armenia, and the 1,600-year
anniversary of the creation of the Armenian alphabet.
The two Armenian Catholicos date back to 1441 and are a testimony to
the suffering experienced by Armenians. For centuries, Armenia has
been overrun by enemies, and its people scattered to neighboring
regions. The years of conflict and domination resulted in the
reorganization of the church to ensure its survival, Armenian Christian
leaders said.
The two branches of the Armenian Apostolic Church — called the Diocese
of the Armenian Church and the Prelacy of the Armenian Church — now
enjoy friendly relations. But their relationship was strained during
much of the 20th century, when the Diocese in Armenia came under the
control of the Soviet Union, said Raffi Hamparian, a board member of
the Armenian National Committee of America.
During the Cold War, there was the impression that the church in
Armenia, because of Soviet oppression, was not free to operate
independently, said Hamparian, 37, who attends St. Sarkis Armenian
Apostolic Church.
“For an Armenian-American born and bred on apple pie and the
——————————————————————————–
Advertisement
——————————————————————————–
First Amendment that doesn’t cut the right way,” he said.
With the fall of the Soviet Union and the establishment of an
independent Armenia in 1991, the relationship between the two branches
has strengthened, Hamparian said.
Now, Armenians often go back and forth between the two branches of the
church, said Bo Patatian, a member of St. Sarkis who helped organize
the visit of Aram I.
“The church isn’t divided, it’s diversified,” Patatian said. “Most
people only have one pope. We’re blessed that God has provided us
with two popes.”
In the past month, St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church has been
transformed in preparation of the pope’s visit. The church spent
about $1.5 million on the purchase and renovation of the building,
a former hall owned by the Boys and Girls Club, said the Rev. Khoren
Babouchian, pastor of the church.
The church owned the building at 58 S. Sierra Madre Blvd. for about
a year before completely changing its interior. It used to be dark
inside, with musty carpets, church members said. But now sunlight pours
into the room through broad, arched windows, on to a hardwood floor.
The renovations were performed almost completely by the Armenian
community and much of the work was donated, church leaders said. The
new building, combined with the visit of Aram I, has brought pride
to the community, Babouchian said.

YEREVAN: ARMENIA’S FOREIGN DEBT TO HIT $1.2 BILLION IN LATE 2005
RIA Novosti, Russia
Oct 17 2005
Armenia’s foreign debt will stand at $1.2 billion in late 2005,
the deputy finance and economy minister said Monday.
Atom Dzhandzhugazyan told a parliamentary session on the 2006 draft
budget that Armenia’s foreign debt would grow by $43.9 million year
on year.
He also said Armenia would repay $50.2 million and $10.9 million in
interest next year. After that, he said Armenia’s foreign debt would
stand at $1.3 billion, or 25.1% of the planned GDP, in late 2006.
“The republic will face no serious problems from the standpoint of
foreign debt repayment,” Dzhandzhugazyan said. “Armenia is considered
a country with a medium and even low debt burden.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PONTIFF PUSHES FOR RECOGNITION OF GENOCIDE
By Peter Prengaman
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Contra Costa Times, San Francisco, CA
Oct 17 2005
LOS ANGELES – Two recent life insurance settlements for decedents
of Armenians killed 90 years ago by the Turkish Ottoman Empire are
a first step toward international recognition that the bloodshed was
an act of genocide, the Armenian pontiff said Sunday.
His Holiness Aram I, on a two-week visit through Southern California,
home to the largest Armenian community outside the Asian country,
said the financial settlements could help prod Turkey and Turkish
allies like the United States to declare the killing of up to 1.5
million Armenians in eastern Turkey a genocide.
“The settlements will be helpful in raising awareness,” Aram I said in
an interview Sunday with The Associated Press. “If we are committed
to preventing future genocide in the world, the world must recognize
the genocide that has happened.”
Aram I, the spiritual head of one of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s
two branches, said gaining recognition for the mass killings took
on a religious meaning for thousands of Armenian families who fled
Armenia during the turmoil and have yet to return.
The church is a focal point for the Armenian diaspora, including the
estimated 500,000 Armenians living in Southern California.
“The crime and sin must be acknowledged by those who committed it,”
Aram I said.
Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians died between 1915
and 1923, but says the totals have been exaggerated and that the deaths
occurred in the civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
France, Russia and many other countries have declared the killings
genocide. Turkish allies including the United States and neighboring
Azerbaijan have not.
Last week, French life insurance company AXA agreed to pay $17
million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by descendants of
Armenians killed, splitting the money between about 5,000 people and
charities. That came after New York Life Insurance Co. and heirs of
some 2,400 policyholders agreed last year to a $20 million settlement,
believed to be the first in connection with the disputed event.
Turkey, which has no diplomatic ties with Armenia, is facing increasing
international pressure to fully acknowledge the event as it seeks
membership in the European Union.
It was the pontiff’s third trip to California since being elected in
1995 as head of the Great House of Cilicia, the diaspora branch of
the church based in Lebanon.
During the visit, Aram I has led a handful of masses at Armenian
churches, met with local political leaders and spoken to groups
including the World Affairs Council of Los Angeles.
The church’s other branch, the Catholicosate of All Armenians,
is headquartered in Armenia. Its pontiff, His Holiness Karekin II,
visited California in June.
The church split administratively more than 50 years ago while Armenia
was under the control of the Soviet Union.
Aram I said the division turned out to be a “blessing” because
it allowed the Armenian Church to better connect with millions of
Armenians living abroad.
Less than 3 million live in Armenia while more than 1 million live
in the United States. There are also large numbers in Lebanon, Iran
and Syria.
“At this point, the two centers are serving their people,” said Aram
I when asked if the administrative centers might someday consolidate.
“What will happen in the future, nobody knows.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“GENOCIDE” ALLEGATION FROM ASSYRIANS, CHALDEANS
STAR
Turkish Press
Oct 17 2005
Press Review
A group of Assyrians and Chaldeans has dedicated a monument in Paris
to an alleged “genocide” committed against them in the waning days of
the Ottoman Empire. Some 10,000 Assyrian-Chaldeans live in Paris. The
monument is near a similar to the so-called Armenian genocide.
Francois Pupponi, the socialist mayor of Paris’ Sarcelles district,
said in a dedication speech that the monument was meant to show deep
sympathy for the Assyrian-Chaldean people who died 1915. He also
added that as long as Turkey resists the genocide allegations it will
never join the European Union. A Chaldean Iraqi parliamentarian,
Yonadam Kanna, also reportedly attended the dedication ceremony,
saying that the monument is not a symbol of hostility between Turkey
and Iraq but would help raise awareness of the subject.

C.H.P. CLINGS TO ITS FAIRY TALE
By SemÝh ÝdÝz
Turkish Press
Oct 17 2005
Inal Batu is one of the leading figures of the Republican People’s
Party (CHP) and he was shut out by the party administration. Speaking
to Haber Turk on Friday, Batu said that he was afraid of nobody and
that he would continue to speak his mind. Former Ambassador Batu said
that the decision to start Turkey’s European Union talks taken at
Luxembourg on Oct. 3 wasn’t ideal. However, he also said that Turkey
had moved to a higher class. In short, he is one of the people in the
CHP pleased with the outcome. However, he doesn’t care for the CHP’s
stance. He complains that although it has many international ties,
the CHP doesn’t use these ties on Turkey’s behalf on the EU issue.
Indeed, it’s difficult to say that the CHP lobbied hard for Turkey by
using its contacts at the Socialist International meeting before the
Luxembourg summit. Meanwhile, CHP leader Deniz Baykal met neither
with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, nor with any other social
democrat leader. The CHP staff was distant from social democratic
members of the European Parliament and national parliaments.
Actually, this is understandable because can you imagine CHP deputy
leader Onur Oymen or CHP Deputy Sukru Elekdag discussing the Kurdish,
Cyprus or Armenian issue with social democrats at the EU? When they
open their mouths, one could see that they’re not on the ‘social
democrat wing’ of the political spectrum because the political view
they claim to own is humanist, socialist and internationalist.
However, they’re proud of being nationalists and partisans for state
control.
In sum, the fact that the common view of social democracy clashes
with the remarks made by these people prevents them from taking their
place among their ‘comrades’ on the international level. They can’t
even exhibit solidarity with their brothers in the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). They are afraid of giving an appointment
to discuss the Kurdish issue to the intellectuals who were received
by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and who call themselves social
democrats or socialists.
One can find information on definable characteristics of socialism in
the Declaration of Principles accepted by the Socialist International
in 1989 at socialistinternational.com. When the content of this
document is compared with the CHP’s remarks and stance, we see that
this party insists on keeping a lie alive. Actually, if the CHP says
that it’s not social democratic at all, there would be no problem.
However, it can’t say that and it’s falling apart in this dilemma.
–Boundary_(ID_Q5X3wHZfIipWX+SNfjJ1QA)–