The Globe and Mail, Canada
Oct 8 2005
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: ONE AUTHOR SPEAKS
On flogging poets and catching fish
At a recent writers’ festival in Iceland, MARGARET ATWOOD spoke out
about the Orhan Pamuk case. Here’s what she had to sayBy MARGARET
ATWOOD
Saturday, October 8, 2005 Page R13

REYKJAVIK — I’ve been asked to say a few words about writers’
festivals, and why we might have such things. There’s also a fish
conference here at this time — I hope none of you have come to the
wrong place. Here’s how to tell them apart: At the fish conference,
they’re talking about fish — an important subject, in my view, as
some kinds of fish are threatened — whereas at the writers’
conference we are talking about writing . . . in many areas of the
world, under threat as well.
Iceland is a highly fitting place to be talking about writing,
because most of the earliest writing of the medieval period took
place here. There has been much discussion of why this was, but two
of the elements must have been an appreciative and discerning
audience, and the desire to learn and create. Any society needs both
of these to produce a vigorous literary tradition, but it also needs
a third element — the public policy we refer to as freedom of
speech.
It was intensely moving for me to visit Thingvallir, the volcanic
rift valley where the Althing met, in Iceland’s earliest days, when
it was a self-governing country. Here points of view were hotly
debated, speakers were heard, and decisions were reached. The memory
of this kind of freedom — freedom from absolutism, freedom to
express your mind without being thrown into a dungeon — this memory
died hard in Iceland. Difficult times arrived, and the country fell
under the rule of Denmark, in that era a hard-handed monarchy; but
finally Iceland regained its independence, a quality that its
citizens as individuals had never lost. Parliamentary democracy as we
know it today owes much to Iceland.
Now I am going to make a connection that will be a surprise to some
— a connection between Iceland and Turkey. Oddly, in the Prose Edda
— which deals with the supposedly ultra-Norse pre-Christian
mythology — there’s a Christian-era cover story. This story
identifies the Aesir — Odin, Thor, Baldur, and all the rest — as
having come originally from Troy, “known to us,” says the Icelandic
Edda writer, “as Turkey.” It’s a curious thought — that the Norse
Gods came from Turkey. I mention it here because the world-famous
Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, who has done more than anyone to
encourage a sympathetic view of Turkey in the West, is about to stand
trial in his own country for having spoken about the deaths of
Armenians and Kurds in Turkey at the time of the First World War.
Perhaps Iceland should make Orhan Pamuk, if not a god, at least an
honorary Icelander, as exemplified by his independence of mind and
expression.
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The Icelandic Nobel laureate Halldor Laxness begins his novel
Iceland’s Bell — a novel that circles around the losing and the
recovering of the ancient Icelandic manuscripts — with an act in
which free speech is punished. A poor farmer has said that the Danish
monarch then ruling Iceland had a fat mistress. That the man who is
flogged for stating a widely circulated truth is also an accomplished
oral poet is no accident.
Why are repressive governments so afraid of writers? Why do they
arrest and imprison and torture and kill them, all around the world?
It’s for much the same thing — for saying what everyone knows, but
nobody dares voice, and for saying it well. Imposed silence is a
favoured weapon of tyrants. To own up to the real history of one’s
country is an act of courage, because real histories are never
spotless; they are also seldom popular with the authorities of the
day. But true writers like Orhan Pamuk and Halldor Laxness are not
placed among us to flatter and conceal.
To flog the poets is not in the best interests of any country, much
less one that wants to join an association — in this case, the
European Union — where flogging the poets is not viewed well. Let us
hope that Turkey comes to its senses, and takes up again the destiny
ascribed to it by the old Icelandic Edda writer — as a place where
“the people are most endowed with all blessings: wisdom and strength,
beauty, and every kind of skill.”
And let us, as writers, celebrate our own particular skill — and the
freedom we have to practise it — during this exceptional writers’
festival. In Ireland, where many Icelandic genes originated, there
was a mythical fish known as the Salmon of Wisdom. I hope that is the
kind of fish we will all try to catch.

The Globe and Mail, Canada
Oct 8 2005
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ONE MAN’S BATTLE
A writer fights the war of words
Turkey’s Orhan Pamuk was charged with ‘denigrating’ his beloved
countryBy CONSTANCE ROOKE
Saturday, October 8, 2005 Page R12

Last February, Turkey’s most celebrated writer, Orhan Pamuk, told a
Swiss newspaper that “thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians
were killed in these lands and almost no one dares talk about it.
Therefore, I do.” This caused a furor within Turkey, with liberals
defending Pamuk’s right to free speech and/or the critical importance
of speaking out about this particular matter, and reactionaries
branding Pamuk a traitor, burning his books, and issuing the
anonymous death threats that have forced the writer to flee his
country.
In general, the liberal camp passionately supports Turkey’s bid for
admission to the European Union, while reactionary nationalist forces
fiercely oppose it — and the terrible story of what has happened to
Pamuk is strongly linked to this struggle within Turkey.
In July, the prosecutor’s office in Istanbul determined that Pamuk’s
words were indeed protected by free speech. However, in late August,
a district prosecutor laid charges against Pamuk — a world-famous
writer whose deep love of Turkey is palpable in all he writes — and
the furor became international. External opponents and supporters of
Turkey’s admission to the EU were appalled, and the European
Parliament launched an initiative to monitor the legal process
against Pamuk. His trial on charges of “denigrating Turkey” is
scheduled to begin on Dec. 16. Turkey’s penal code cites a penalty of
up to three years in jail for this offence, and one-third more if, as
in Pamuk’s case, the supposed insult was voiced outside Turkey.
The charge against Pamuk is in direct opposition to the United
Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the
European Convention on Human Rights. Turkey is a signatory to both.
Liberals in Turkey are rightly concerned that worldwide attention to
this outrageous charge, and suppression of debate on the darkest
chapters of their country’s history, may lead to rejection by the EU.
A powerful minority of Turks on the far right, however, have welcomed
— indeed, probably engineered — the charges against Pamuk largely
for that reason. The timing is certainly suspicious: Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan began his talks with the EU on Oct. 3, just over a
month after charges were brought against Pamuk.
Writers around the world have been quick to defend Pamuk and to
express their outrage. Michael Ondaatje, for example, has issued this
statement through PEN Canada: “Orhan Pamuk is one of the great
writers of our time and is also one of the most generous chroniclers
of the glories of Turkey and its culture. From The White Castle to
Snow to his recent memoir Istanbul, it is clear that this is a writer
who loves his country. That he should be accused of ‘denigrating’
Turkey and threatened with a prison term is shocking. It is an
appalling example of censorship in a country seeking admission to the
EU and clearly signals a lack of freedom of expression in Turkey.”
Within Turkey, the battle for and against free speech continues. Last
spring a group of Turkish academics tried to hold an international
conference in Istanbul on the Armenian massacres of 1915. They hoped
by ‘owning’ this issue to signal to the European community that
Turkey is a maturing democracy, intent on protecting freedom of
expression. But Turkey’s Justice Minister called the conference “a
dagger in the back of the Turkish people,” and the conference was
postponed. Then the Prime Minister voiced his support for the
conference, which was rescheduled for September so as to precede his
talks with the EU. To the Prime Minister’s great embarrassment, a
last-minute court order again prevented the conference from starting.
Organizers circumvented this by moving it to another venue, and the
conference opened the next day with stormy demonstrations for, and
against it.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister has “announce[d] to the world that there is
free speech in Turkey,” and pointed out that no verdict has been
reached on the charges against Pamuk. But the charges were brought,
and they have not been dropped. Moreover, as International PEN
reports, despite a recent decline in convictions and prison sentences
under laws penalizing free speech, there are currently over fifty
writers and publishers before the Turkish courts. In several senses,
Orhan Pamuk is not alone.
Writer and academic Constance Rooke is the president of PEN Canada.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Quad City Times, IA
Oct 8 2005
Sounds of cymbals are heard in the Q-C
By Tamara Fudge
Master cymbal specialist Mark Love and other artists of a premiere
cymbal company called Sabian spent an afternoon earlier this week
under the awning of West Music’s Davenport store on Brady Street as
part of the group’s Vault tour.
Customers were able to have a cymbal custom-made, watch hand
hammering and lathing demonstrations, and test or purchase the many
cymbals on display. For a small donation to Hurricane Katrina
victims, black Sabian wristbands also were available.
`A lot of cymbals are developed working with the artists, taking a
sound or vision in their heads and turning it into an instrument,’
Love said.

Jeff Cook/QUAD-CITY TIMES Allie Cougle of Sabian, a company that
makes cymbals, uses a hammer to shape a custom cymbal during a
company tour visit this week to West Music in Davenport.
`The real secret we have at Sabian is the process added downstream
from the metallurgical process,’ said Bill Zildjian, part owner and
an executive in the company his father created. `It’s the attitude of
our people, who are willing to tinker and experiment. The
possibilities are limitless.’
He listed the number of bronze alloys, patterns of hammering,
lathing, shapes and sizes, all of which affect the cymbal’s sound.
His family’s name has been connected with cymbal making for
centuries. Zildjian said that his name is Turkish-Armenian for cymbal
(zil) – smith or maker (dj) – son (ian) and can be dated back to at
least the 1670s.
According to the Percussive Arts Society’s Web site, Bill’s father,
Robert Zildjian, worked for his father’s cymbal business. Upon the
older man’s death, Robert and his brother, Armand, shared the company
until deciding to split in 1982. Armand kept the original company’s
name, Zildjian, and younger brother Bob created his own company in
Meductic, a small village in New Brunswick, Canada.
`Sabian’ is a combination of the names of Robert’s children: `Sa’ for
Sally, `bi’ for Bill and `an’ for Andy. `We found out later that it
is actually the name of a tribe of people in Turkey,’ Zildjian said.
Sabian cymbals, carefully hand-hammered in the Turkish tradition, now
can be found all over the world, and are used by amateurs and
professionals from the Royal Opera House in London to jazzmaster Jack
deJohnette and rock star Phil Collins.
The idea of this kind of tour came because `whenever drummers make
the pilgrimage to Meductic, they have a great time seeing how cymbals
are made,’ Zildjian said. `They can select from a variety not
available in a store.’
At West’s showing, there were prototypes – unique cymbals that never
had seen store shelves.
`It’s a time-honored tradition,’ said Justin Beahm, combo manager for
West.
`It shows people how they’re made from scratch. They had some
unmarked, unique cymbals for sale that no one else in the world has.’
Why stop in Davenport?
`West Music is one of the premier percussion vendors,’ Zildjian said.
`They have high quality and an aggressive program.’
`It’s interesting to see how they craft these plates, demonstrating
this ancient method, into something that’s still integral in music
today,’ said Shawn Lafrenz, general manager of West’s Percussion
Source division. `Watching them is an amazing process, a show in
itself. The tour brings something quite special to Iowa.’
`Our real competitors are not the other cymbal companies,’ Zildjian
said. `It’s Nintendo, DVD players, and those kinds of things.’

Kurdish Info, Germany
Oct 8 2005
Journalist Guilty of ‘Insulting Turkishness’
Erol Onderoglu

Bianet /7 October 2005 /-Hrant Dink, the editor of the Istanbul based
Armenian language weekly newspaper Agos, has been sentenced to
suspended 6 months imprisonment for “insulting Turkishness” in a
series of articles he wrote on Armenian identity.
Hrant Dink, who was charged with “insulting Turkishness” in an
article on Armenian identity published in the weekly newspaper Agos,
has been sentenced to a 6-month term in prison, but the penalty has
been suspended.

Dink was also one of the organizers of the conference on Ottoman
Armenians that was recently held in Istanbul. The newspaper’s general
coordinator Karin Karakasli, who was charged along with Dink, was
acquitted on the grounds that she was exempt under a provision of the
Press Law. The journalists’ lawyer, Fetiye Cetin, told Bianet that
they are appealing the court’s decision.

The decision hearing took place today (7 October 2005) at the Second
Criminal Court in Sisli, and was attended by the journalists, their
lawyers, and other supporters. The prosecutor, Muhittin Ayata, argued
that Dink’s article had been written with the intent to criticize and
humiliate Turkish national identity. The court suspended the sentence
on the grounds that Dink had no previous convictions and on the
condition that he does not repeat the offense.
The suit was filed against Dink and Karakasli on 16 April 2004 for a
series of articles starting in February 2004 that criticized diaspora
Armenians for focusing on the history of Turkish crimes against
Armenians and not doing enough for the needs of Armenians in the
present. Reporters Without Borders, PEN International, and other
civil society groups have criticized the lawsuit.

A1+
| 19:48:15 | 07-10-2005 | Politics |
ARMENIA CANNOT KEEP A PROFESSIONAL ARMYON THE BACKGROUND OF BELLIGERENT
STATEMENTS
«United integrity and development is impossible in case the President of our
State sees the solution of the problem only in the principle of peace and
conditions the cooperation with neighbour country on regulation of
conflict», RA Minister of Defence Serj Sargsyan during Rose-Roth NATO PA
seminar.
Mr. Sargsyan considers impossible united regional reforms of the sphere of
defence. `Neither war nor peace promote the regional development, it is a
result of non-solved conflict, and that is why military factor has a big
role in state formation. Belligerent statements of our neighbour country
prevent Armenia from comprehensive development. Serj Sargsyan noted that
Armenia can’t realize defence reforms while Azerbaijan comes up with martial
declarations from the highest tribunes; a reform suggests reduction of
strength or a professional army. «Today having powerful armed forces becomes
a priority, and the problem of national interest and population security is
a priority’, – Mr. Sargsyan said adding that we can’t refrain from actions
while Azerbaijan doubles its military expenses and technical means».
That is why Armenia has a close alliance with Russia, cooperates with U. S.
and NATO

Panorama
15:45 07/10/05
ARMENIAN-AZERI TRADE
`There is lack of energetic recourses in Armenia, but here there is product
that azeris can be interested in’, said the USA ambassador in Armenia John
Evans concerning to the future expectations of Armenian-azeri economic
cooperation.
During NATO PA seminar the ambassador voiced the following opinion, ‘When
the economic situation improves, the conflict risks will reduce’.
J. Evans also talked about the USA policy in Armenia. According to him there
are three directions. `Firstly, we are anxious for security and stability
consolidation. Here the assistance of Yerevan and Baku is very important for
the conflict resolution in Nagorno Karabakh. The second direction is, that
we want the strengthening of economics not only in Armenia but also in three
countries of South Caucasus. The last one is, to strengthen the democratic
institutions. I think at least in Armenia we have invested huge recourses in
this field’,- added Mr. Evans. /Panorama.am/

A1+
| 18:30:09 | 07-10-2005 | Economy |
LUZHKOV PONDERS, ZAKHARYAN WAITS
`I’ll think about it’, mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov said to journalists
about buying an apartment in the centre of Yerevan city.
Of course, that was not the aim of Mr. Luzhkov’s visit. At 2 Argishti str.,
Yerevan, Moscow Culture and Business Centre will have been built by
September 1st, 2006. Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov and mayor of Yerevan
Yervand Zakharyan signed today à corresponding memorandum.
Due to tradition the memorandum was placed in a small bottle, which
simvolized the first stone of the building.
Yervand Zakharyan noted, that about 10 million dollars will go on the
building and added: «Beginning from today Moscow days start in Yerevan. The
fact that Culture and Business centre will be located near the city
administration talks to the friendship and brotherhood of two countries.
Mr. Luzhkov added, that `the centre will promote the development of
cultural, commercial and economic relations and business’. `This is what we
are expected to do’.
The architect of the building is Levon Vardanyan.
Yuri Luzhkov also stated, that before long similar territories are planned
to be given to Armenia for founding Yerevan Centre in Moscow.

A1+
| 18:06:49 | 07-10-2005 | Economy |
DIFFERENT VIEWS
RA will need about 367 years to return the population deposits of Soviet
years. To this conclusion came member of United Labor Party Grigor Ghonjeyan
after making simple arithmetic calculations.
Next year the parliament foresees for the repayment of deposits 1 mlrd
drams, that is to say $2 mln 200 thousands. General debt counts about 8
miliard roubles /800 mln dollars/. Dividing the last figure into the second
one Grigor Ghonjeyan got 367.
Armenian PM Andranik Margaryan thinks that `all this is just a farce’,
taking into account that there’s no clear indexation, program approach, and
continuance is also under doubt.
Leader of Republican Party of Armenia Galoust Sahakyan doesn’t agree with
this view, «as in this case there are neither elected nor voters». Mr.
Sahakyan thinks if this should be done in 2007, on the threshold of next
general elections.
Galoust Sahakyan considers returning of deposits non-efficient both for the
state and the population, though PM Andranik Margaryan had noted that 1
milliard drams will be marked out on that purpose in the budget of 2006.

A1+
| 17:04:04 | 07-10-2005 | Politics |
USA EXPECTING RA REGULAR ELECTIONS
«USA will put up money as to make Armenian 2007 Parliamentary and 2008
Presidential elections democratic, just and transparent», – U.S. Àmbassador
Åxtraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia John Evans stated today
addressing Rose-Roth NATO PA seminar.
In his speech he also mentioned constitutional amendments as democratic ones
and conditioned them on further development of democracy in Armenia.
Secretary of `National Unity’ Aleksan Karapetyan asked John Evans whether it
would be right to hold extraordinary Parliamentary and Presidential for
creating an atmosphere of confidence and realizing the constitutional
amendments properly. U.S. Ambassador answered, that they understand very
well it’s not enough to have a good Constitution. `It’s necessary, but not
enough. Laws must be observed without arbitrariness’, John Evans noted. As
regards extraordinary elections Mr. Evans told that `there’s not much time
left until regular elections, so these 15 months may be used for preparation
to free and just elections.
Azeri delegate Leyla Alieva asked Evans if U.S. doesn’t keep ex-Soviet
countries in kind of dependence by marking them out financial means, and
doesn’t that ’cause diffidence of those countries as it actually happened at
Soviet times. Evans answered they don’t have such an aim, they just think,
if economic and social condition of people improves, there’ll be fewer
conflicts.
«By financial support we stimulate the formation of security and stability.
Support from outside does not weaken the development of self-dependence».
Mr. Evans also reminded, that U.S. alloted Armenia 1,6 mlrd dollars during
these years.
Is democracy possible in a region, where there are troops which simply block
some developments. Evans answered democracy and regional conflicts are
interconnected. If democracy wins, the conflicts will become fewer.

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
[Turkey’s aspiration to be “European but different” must not include
continued Armenian Genocide denial]
Turkey and the European Union
Now make Turkey’s case
Oct 6th 2005
>From The Economist print edition
On being European and different
AFTER two days and a night of unseemly horse-trading between Turks,
Austrians and other Europeans, Britain’s foreign secretary, Jack Straw,
made bold claims for the deal he brokered this week. The start of entry
talks between the European Union and Turkey, he said, marked an
“historic day for Europe and the whole of the international community”.
His bleary-eyed triumphalism may yet prove premature. But the reverse of
what he said is certainly true. It would have been an historic disaster
if, 42 years after promising the Turks the possibility of entry, and ten
months after giving a definite date for talks to begin, the Union had
slammed the door in Turkey’s face. That outcome would have been
dreadful, both in its direct consequences and because of the
opportunities lost.
Among the short-term results, Turkey’s impressive but still fragile
programme of economic and political reform could have slowed or worse.
Those Turks-starting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister-who
have invested in a European future would have been left horribly
exposed. Worse, Muslims in Turkey and elsewhere would have concluded
that Europeans bore a grudge against them because of their faith alone.
This would have encouraged all those, from Osama bin Laden to the
western world’s religious far-right, who long for a clash between Islam
and the historically Christian world.
It is also true that a chance now exists to achieve something vastly
desirable. All sides will benefit hugely if what is best in Europe,
including its tolerant, liberal-democratic tradition, can finally come
together with what is best in Turkey-including the dynamism of a
demographically young nation that makes Europe’s heartland seem sluggish
by comparison.
But reaching that goal will require hard work and political courage. It
will also need a prudent openness to the possibility that somewhere in
the process, one or other party (and it could well be the Turkish side)
will conclude that the price is too high. That would be disappointing
but not necessarily terrible-as long as the EU expects of Turkey only
the same as it would of any other applicant.
In Turkey, people’s enthusiasm for a European future has already waned
in the face of the “rudeness” of potential partners such as France and
Austria. How can it be, many Turks ask, that people in those countries
do not see the obvious benefits of having them as members? If the Turks
are to find their way to Europe, they will need to grow thicker skins.
For European politicians, the queasiness of many citizens about
embracing another large, impoverished country is a hard, irreducible
fact. In several European countries, far-right parties are doing well by
playing on fears of Muslim immigration. The response of the EU’s leaders
to these realities may yet be statesmanlike, or opportunistic. But it is
politics, not technicalities, that will finally decide Turkey’s fate.
And the politics will be tough. All the arguments against incorporating
the Turks seem obvious and, to some politicians, tempting. The case for
keeping the doors open has to be reasoned through more carefully. The
onus is on politicians to convince voters that making western Europe a
sort of up-market gated community would be worse than useless: it would
not protect existing job-holders, or keep desperate labour migrants out,
or stem Europe’s relative decline in the world economy. If politicians
are responsible, they will also point out that trying to toughen the
rules unreasonably for Turkey will not make that country go away, or
reduce its importance, or slow the pace at which it is changing: it will
simply increase the chances that Turkey will evolve in an unhappy
direction, towards Muslim fundamentalism or militaristic nationalism.
The right sort of scepticism
At the same time, politicians should accept that one ground for
Turco-scepticism is, in its own terms, perfectly sound. To the delight
of some and the dismay of others, Turkey’s presence will make it harder
for any country or axis to play a dominant role in Europe. With 15% of
the total population, the Turks will hardly take over the Union
themselves; but their membership will deny preponderance to others.
So France’s ex-president, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, is right to say
that an EU including Turkey will be a looser grouping than some people
desire. The Turks may well wreck things for any state or pair of states
which still hope the EU as a whole will act as a mouthpiece for their
own political, or geopolitical, ideas; or that the Union will turn into
a super-state with one or two of its current members in charge.
But in fact, those dreams have been dashed already, and it was not the
Turks, or even the party-pooping Brits, who destroyed them. Among the
many messages delivered by French and Dutch voters when they rejected
the Euro-constitution, one was certainly this: that there are still some
fundamental questions-such as how to mix efficiency with fairness, or
tolerance with responsibility-that cannot be settled by pan-European
edict alone. And many would rather see a somewhat looser EU than have
choices they abhor imposed on them from above.
So as politicians consider the arguments in favour of embracing Turkey,
they might try this one: the Turks’ aspiration to be “European but
different” may yet give heart to people in other parts of the EU who are
willing to participate in the Union, and abide by commonly-agreed rules,
but not to sacrifice their own nations’ distinctiveness. Such people are
quite numerous, and Europe is the stronger for it.