CELEBRATE HARVEST AT ARMENIAN CHURCH
Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA
Oct 13 2005
The Women’s Fellowship of the First Armenian Church, 380 Concord Ave.
in Belmont, is sponsoring a Fall Harvest Festival on Saturday, Oct.
22 from noon to 8 p.m.
Armenian delicacies such as shish kebab, losh kebab and chicken kebab
will be served for lunch and dinner, and choreg, string cheese,
yalanchi and manti will be among the many foods available for
purchase. There will also be a wide variety of Armenian and American
pastries for sale. All are welcome.

THE ARMENIAN SHADOW OVER TURKEY’S DEMOCRATISATION
Gunes Tezcur
Open Democracy, UK
Oct 13 2005
Turkish acceptance of the fate of the Armenians in 1915 would unlock
a society steeped in denial of its own historical experience, says
Gunes Tezcur
“Every society experiences defeat in its own way”, observes Wolfgang
Schivelbusch in his book The Culture of Defeat: On National Mourning,
Trauma and Recovery, “but the varieties of response within vanquished
nations conform to a recognisable set of patterns that recur across
time and national boundaries.”
Turkish responses to the Ottoman defeat in the “great war” of 1914-18
have been idiosyncratic. After all, that ignominious defeat gave
birth to ultimate victory under the nationalist leadership of General
Mustafa Kemal, who succeeded in creating a homeland for the Turks and,
as Kemal Atatűrk, led the country until his death in 1938.
Perhaps as a result, almost ninety years since the greatest debacle
ever to have befallen the Turkish people, a collective amnesia of the
disaster prevails. History textbooks do not even tell young Turkish
citizens that the Ottoman empire was defeated in the war.
Also on the future of Turkey in openDemocracy:
Reinhard Hesse, “Turkish honey under a German moon” (March 2004)
Murat Belge, “Turkey and Europe: why friendship is welcome”
(December 2004)
Fred Halliday, “Turkey and the hypocrisies of Europe” (December 2004)
Fadi Hakura, “Europe and Turkey: the end of the beginning” (October
2005)
If you find this material valuable please consider supporting
openDemocracy by sending us a donation so that we can continue our
work and keep it free for all
For the ultimate surrender of the empire, they blame the failure of
the Germans and the allies; for the loss of the Arab territories,
they perpetuate the myth of an “Arab stab in the back.” This denial of
defeat has been accompanied by a denial of any responsibility for the
fate of the empire’s Armenian subjects. And that tragic fate of the
Armenians still haunts Turkey’s prospects for democratisation today.
Debates on the fate of the Armenians living under the Ottoman empire
have intensified in recent years. Armenian communities in the west have
long been active in publicising the Armenian genocide and in urging
western parliaments and governments to recognise it. On 28 September
2005, the European parliament passed a resolution that calls on Turkey
“to recognise the genocide of the Armenians” and considers this act
as a “prerequisite to accession to the European Union.” Meanwhile,
an Istanbul conference organised by Turkish scholars who challenge
the official Turkish line stirred a major controversy after various
attempts to prevent it from convening it proved futile.
Still, Turkish public opinion remains very sensitive to the claims
that Armenians were deliberately annihilated in a policy of ethnic
cleansing. Not just the Turkish state, but large segments of Turkish
society remain defensive. Dissidents have a hard time swaying public
opinion; they feel compelled to state that they are not “traitors.”
How to make sense of the current state of Turkish public opinion?
What can it tell us about the power of national imaginations vis-a-vis
the past on the future of democracy?
Four elements of denial
The denial of Turkey’s defeat in the first world war translates
into sympathy for the Ottoman rulers who perpetrated the acts of
genocide against the Armenians. Mehmet Talat Pasha, the wartime
grand vizier who ordered the mass deportation of Armenians in 1915,
was assassinated in Berlin by an Armenian survivor, Sogomon Teleyran,
in 1921. His remains were brought to Turkey from Germany in 1943 and
reburied on the “hill of liberty” in Istanbul along with those of
the formidable war minister, Enver Pasha.
Talat, Enver, and their accomplices brought about the demise of six
centuries of empire in pursuit of hollow, grandiose designs; they were
men who sent millions to their deaths with impunity. Yet they still
enjoy the status of heroes in contemporary Turkey. Despite the fact
that the Young Turks lost the war, their crimes are long forgotten
if not forgiven by Turkish nationalists.
There are four reasons why Turkish public opinion cannot swallow the
term “genocide”.
First, Turks do not believe that the “Turkish nation” is capable of
committing such unspeakable atrocities.
Second, the extermination of the Armenians has been shrouded in
the claims of a civil war: “if we killed some of them, they also
killed many of us” is the usual reaction of ordinary Turks. It is
not uncommon for the Turkish media to show newly discovered mass
graves full of Turks killed by Armenian militias in eastern Turkey,
or to publish memoirs of old Turks who witnessed Armenian atrocities.
Turkish public opinion is stirred up by the perception that Armenians
exclusively monopolise the status of victim.
Third, it is an open secret that without the annihilation of Armenians,
Turkey’s eastern borders would look quite different.
Fourth, the extreme politicisation of the issue in the international
arena and western pressure on the Turkish government to recognise
the Armenian genocide have strongly contribute to widespread Turkish
feelings of unfairness, exploitation, and inferiority vis-a-vis the
west. In this connection, the passivity of western governments during
the genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda, to cite the most recent cases,
hardly helps their claims to serve as arbiters of justice.
For all these reasons, discussions of the fate of the Armenians
in contemporary Turkey are largely deprived of moral concerns and
sensitivities.
Also in openDemocracy, Nouritza Matossian’s essay on the Armenian
painter Arshile Gorky, “Disinterring the past” (July 2001):
“The violation of history continues to unhinge the present.”
New past, new future
An unfettered and open discussion of the fate of the Armenians would
lead to greater public awareness of the perils of absolute state
power, as it would buttress democratic and accommodative approaches
to dealing with Kurdish nationalism.
It would be naïve, however, to expect that the emergence of the
Armenian issue as a major factor in negotiations between the European
Union and Turkey would tame the chauvinistic tendencies in Turkish
nationalism. It would more likely play into the hands of isolationists
and ultra-nationalists who insist that Europe is insincere and seeks to
“betray” Turkey over and over again.
How the defeats of the past are articulated in national memory
inevitably affects how nations behave in the conflicts of the
present. Crimes committed in times of national desperation or
decadence can occasion healing only when all of their justifications
are categorically rejected by present generations. Then, the culture
of impunity unravels.
In the case of Turkey, this entails a self-critical and unflinching
examination of its greatest defeat, the first world war, as well
as its subsequent victory in the war of independence of 1919-22. A
more open and ethical understanding of the fate of the Armenians is
absolutely essential for Turkey’s democratic future.
–Boundary_(ID_uHJNcEyEE8TlGxR9bQ6W4g)–

BUSINESSMEN ARRESTED AMID COURT BATTLE WITH ARMENIAN CUSTOMS
By Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 13 2005
The two top executives of a coffee importing company who have alleged
high-level corruption within Armenian customs have been arrested on
charges of fraud and smuggling, their lawyer said on Thursday.
The arrest of Gagik Hakobian and his deputy Aram Ghazarian is the
latest twist in a long-running bitter dispute between their Royal
Armenia firm and the State Customs Committee (SCC). It began nearly
two years ago when they the company claimed to be penalized for its
refusal to cut illegal deals with corrupt customs officials.
Criminal proceedings against the Royal Armenia executives were launched
by the National Security Service (NSS), the Armenian successor to
the KGB secret police, last spring. The case is reportedly based on
a complaint filed by a U.S. citizen of Armenian descent who claims
that Royal Armenia owes him $164,000 for coffee supplies and has
failed to pay up. The man, identified as Vache Petrosian, has also
alleged that Hakobian and his associates forged financial statements
to understate the volume of their imports.
Hakobian’s lawyer, Ashot Sargsian, described the case as “weird.” “I
wonder why he went to the National Security Service,” Sargsian
told RFE/RL. “If one of the parties fails to honor its contractual
obligations, it must be taken to court.”
“I don’t know what National Security wants today. They themselves
probably don’t know,” he said.
The NSS refused to comment on the case on the grounds that the
investigation is still going on.
Speaking at a news conference last June, Hakobian charged that he is
being prosecuted in retaliation for its high-profile battle with the
customs chiefs. “We are dealing with a group of officials who set
unofficial rules, and if you don’t comply with those rules then you
must not operate,” he said.
The two-year dispute centers on the Customs Committee’s controversial
discretionary power to determine the market value of imported
commodities before levying a fixed 10 percent duty from them. Royal
Armenia, which imports, processes and sells coffee, said last year that
customs officials offered to grossly undervalue price of its imported
coffee beans in return for sharing in the resulting extra profits.
The Armenian customs has evaluated one kilogram of Indonesian raw
coffee imported by Royal Armenia at $1.8. The company insists that
its real purchasing price was only $1.24 per kilogram. The value of
the same sort of coffee brought in by other importers is set at $1.1
per kilogram or even less.
Customs officials say they trust invoices submitted by Royal Armenia’s
competitors but they have yet to clearly explain why they distrust
customs declarations issued by Hakobian’s company.
Royal Armenia says it has repeatedly demanded a written explanation
of the price evaluation policy from the customs but to no avail. It
asked Armenia’s Economic Court last month to force the SCC to provide
such a document and reconsider its controversial import duties. The
court is still considering the lawsuit
Customs administration is one of the most frequent sources of
complaints made by Armenian entrepreneurs. However, few of them go
public with their grievances for fear of government retribution.
Royal Armenia is the only private firm which is known to have publicly
clashed with the SCC in recent years.
Corruption among Armenian officials in charge of collecting taxes and
import duties is widespread. President Robert Kocharian personally
warned senior customs officials on two occasions this year to stop
harassing honest taxpayers and helping importers avoid taxes in return
for kickbacks.
Armenia’s controversial customs chief, Armen Avetisian, is believed to
be close to Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian. Incidentally, Avetisian
has held senior posts in the NSS in the past.

INSURER TO PAY $17 MILLION FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CLASS-ACTION SUIT
By VOA News
Voice of America
Oct 13 2005
Photo: Armenians lay flowers at memorial to Armenians killed under
Ottoman empire
The French insurance company, AXA, has agreed to pay descendants of
some of the more than 1.5 million Armenians killed in Turkey under
the Ottoman empire.
Under terms of a settlement reached in a U.S. court, $17 million will
be shared by Armenian heirs of AXA’s policyholders who died in what
Armenians say was genocide.
This is the second lawsuit pertaining to the killings to be settled
in U.S. courts. In February, New York Life agreed to pay $20 million
to descendants of its Armenian policyholders who were victims of the
alleged genocide.
One of the plaintiffs’ U.S. attorneys, Mark Geragos, said the cases
are historic because they are the first to be heard for genocide
survivors. Mr. Geragos, who is of Armenian descent, said the ultimate
goal of the lawsuits is for the United States and Turkey to officially
acknowledge the genocide.

INSURANCE FIRM TO PAY OUT ON OTTOMAN ARMENIAN POLICIES
NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 13 2005
The French insurance company Axa on Thursday agreed to pay $17
million to settle a case brought by the descendants of Armenian policy
holders the claimants say were killed during the First World War by
the Ottoman Empire.
Guncelleme: 10:31 ET 13 Ekim 2005 PerºembeLOS ANGELES – Turkey has
strenuously rejected suggestions that the Ottoman Empire carried out
a policy of genocide against its Armenian citizens.
Under the settlement, Axa is to pay at least $3.0 million to a
number of Armenian charitable groups based in France, with another
$11 million set aside for the descendants of the original policy
holders of insurance policies with companies that were subsidiaries
of Axa operating in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Many of the claims
were never met.
Some Armenians claim that up to 1.5 Armenian Ottoman citizens were
killed in 1915 and in the years following in what they describe as
a deliberate act of genocide.
Turkey denies that there was any policy of mass killings, though
does acknowledge that some 300,000 Armenians and many Ottoman Turkish
citizens died during the conflict of the First World War.
–Boundary_(ID_xrnvX+M9pfKE0MQigA3x8g)–

EUROPEAN BOWL HIT BY WITHDRAWAL OF ARMENIA: PLAYERS DENIED VISA
International Korfball Federation, Belgium
Oct 13 2005
The IKF has been informed by the Korfball Federation of Armenia that
six members of their delegation hoping to travel to participate in
the European Bowl have been refused a Visa.
The team had been planning to travel to the Netherlands and then
make onward travel from there to Catalonia. Such an occurrence as
the refusal of a Visa has never before happened in any IKF Tournament
anywhere in the world. We bitterly regret the situation and the IKF
has been forced to reluctantly accept the Armenian’s withdrawal from
the Tournament which is being used as the route to qualification
for the European Championships, scheduled for Budapest next April,
and the World Championships due to take place in 2007.
Matches schedule:
Day 1 Portugal vs. Poland (1845 hrs) Opening Ceremony (2000 hrs)
Catalonia (Spain) vs. Russia (2045 hrs)
Day 2 Russia vs. Portugal (1900 hrs) Poland vs. Catalonia (Spain)
(2045 hrs)
Day 3 Russia vs. Poland (1900 hrs) Catalonia (Spain) vs. Portugal
(2045 hrs)
Day 4 3rd vs. 4th (1100 hrs) 1st vs. 2nd (1245 hrs)
The first three days will have the pool matches and on the final day
matches based on the end of pool positions to decide the medal winners.
The European Bowl is a new IKF event being used as a qualification
event for the European Senior Championships 2006 to be held in Hungary
and the World Championships 2007 to be held in Czech Republic. The
inaugural edition will take place in Terrassa (Spain) from October
27-30, 2005.

JUMP ON HISTORY BANDWAGON WHILE YOU CAN
By Jeff Schmucker
Atchison Daily Globe, KS
Oct 13 2005
I believe it was Max Lerner who once said, “The so-called lessons of
history are for the most part the rationalizations of the victors.
History is written by the survivors.”
Other arguably more famous people in history have used or paraphrased
this quote, by saying: “History is written by the victors” but the
meaning seems to hold true.
After all, you won’t read many books glorifying the Nazi regime from
World War II because, as many readers probably (and should) know,
they “lost” the war.
But history isn’t just about winners and losers; it tells the story
of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come as a civilization. If we
study it closely, it will also warn us of mistakes best not repeated.
So the question is, if history is so important, why don’t public
schools emphasize teaching it at the same level as English and
mathematics?
With so many tests and standards, teachers seem forced to teach the
curriculum based on ensuring students can pass multiple tests, but
not necessarily whether they are truly learning about the subject.
History isn’t something you can really cram. It’s very encompassing,
and there are many elements surrounding a time period that are needed
to be known to truly understand.
With so many government requirements for teachers, different ethnic
groups are jumping on the history bandwagon by petitioning lawmakers
to ensure the history of their group’s struggles are included in
school history lessons.
According to a story on CNN’s web site called,
“Schools directed to expand history curriculums”
(),
along with studies on the Holocaust, Civil War and slavery, the
Great Depression, segregation and other American history subjects,
groups are also pushing for students in different states to learn
about Cesar Chavez, a farm labor activist, the Irish potato famine,
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the Armenian genocide of the early
1900s and other historic events and issues.
When you pile these on top of world history and geography, it’s simple
to see that teachers and students have a full plate before test time.
Then is it any wonder people are ignorant of basic geography and
history?
If you watch Jay Leno’s “Jay Walking,” you’ll see some sad examples
of how easily people forget information they supposedly learned in
grade school.
“Name two states that do not border the United States,” Mr. Leno
asks someone.
“Uh…is it Canada and Mexico,” answers the participant.
Somewhere in the United States, there is a history/geography teacher
clenching his or her fists and asking, “Why do I bother?”
While I know Alaska and Hawaii are the two states not connected to
the other 48 states, there are many historical and geographical facts
that I know I should know, but I’m as ignorant as the thousands or
millions of other people.
And how can we reduce this problem when history happens every day?
I’m sure it was much easier for teachers to teach history before World
War II and onward when more than 50 years of history wasn’t included
in their lesson plans.
There we go again, adding more work for teachers as they were forced to
add World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the civil rights era
and Desert Storm to their list along with other historical information.
So what does or does not get taught?
When Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, by Japanese aircraft,
I bet many people thought, “No one will ever forget this gruesome
day in history.”
Talk to someone in their 20s or even 30s and ask them when Pearl
Harbor was attacked. You may be shocked to discover how many don’t
know. You may be even more shocked to discover how many think Germany
or China was responsible.
Give it a couple of decades and I’m sure people will vaguely remember
9/11. It’ll just be one of those events that happened a long time ago.
So for you parents, teachers and lawmakers who feel certain time
periods should be taught in school, you’d better jump on the history
bandwagon while you can. History is happening and it won’t be too
long before other important events are forgotten.
———-
Jeff Schmucker, a Globe reporter, can be reached at 367-0583, Ext.
214, or [email protected].

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
October 13, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
INTERNATIONAL OPPOSITION CONTINUES TO MOUNT AGAINST
CAUCASUS RAILROAD PROPOSAL THAT BYPASSES ARMENIA
— European Commission Rules Out Support for Turkish
Railroad Proposal that would Institutionalize
Turkey’s Closed Border with Armenia
WASHINGTON, DC – The European Commission has added its voice to the
growing international opposition to a Caucasus railroad proposal by
the Turkish government that would, if built, institutionalize
Turkey’s border closure with Armenia, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA).
The Commission’s position was articulated this week by the
Directorate General for Transport and Energy. In explaining why
the European Union would not support the creation of this rail
line, the Directorate noted that its construction was both
unnecessary and inefficient in light of the existing railroad
connecting Kars, Gyumri, and Tbilisi. This line, which passes
through Armenia, was effectively shut down more than a decade ago
by Turkey’s imposition of its blockade of Armenia, which continues
to this day.
The Commission’s adoption of this position comes in response to a
May 21st letter from Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian to
Jacques Barrot, Deputy Chairman of the European Commission. In
this letter, the Foreign Minister outlined the destabilizing
implications of the proposed route bypassing Armenia, and stressed
the willingness of the government of Armenia to cooperate in the
reactivation of the existing Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi railway, which
remains fully functional but unused due to the unilateral Turkish
blockade.
“We welcome the wise position taken by the European Commission
against Turkey’s most recent effort to effectively institutionalize
its border closure with Armenia. The well founded concerns raised
by the Commission reflect and reinforce those being addressed in
the U.S. Congress by the South Caucasus Integration and Open
Railroads Act,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “In
pressing forward so recklessly with this politically motivated
proposal, Turkey openly disregards the Administration’s repeated
calls to end its decade-long border closure with Armenia. Clearly,
this disregard must be recognized and reckoned with by the U.S.
Congress, which should, in the coming weeks, act in an urgent and
decisive manner to check Turkey’s growing indifference to U.S.
priorities in the region.”
On July 21st, Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and
Frank Pallone (D-NJ), along with Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA),
introduced legislation addressing this issue by barring U.S.
financing for such rail projects circumventing Armenia. The ANCA
welcomed this bipartisan effort, noting that it would protect U.S.
taxpayers from subsidizing a totally unnecessary and regionally
destabilizing proposal by Turkey aimed at isolating Armenia. The
measure, known as the “South Caucasus Integration and Open
Railroads Act of 2005” (H.R.3361), currently has 39 House
cosponsors and is gaining support from both sides of the aisle.
The text of the legislation notes “the exclusion of Armenia from
regional economic and commercial undertakings in the South Caucasus
undermines the United States policy goal of promoting a stable and
cooperative environment in the region.” In its operative section,
the legislation prohibits U.S. assistance “to develop or promote
any rail connections or railway-related connections that do not
traverse or connect with Armenia, but do traverse or connect Baku,
Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, Georgia; and Kars, Turkey.” Specific forms of
U.S. assistance prohibited would include: foreign economic and
development aid, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Trade and
Development Agency, and the Export-Import Bank.
The ANCA raised this issue publicly as early as June 10th of this
year in a question to Foreign Minister Oskanian, during a briefing
at the National Press Club. Minister Oskanian expressed concern
that this would be a wasteful undertaking for the international
community. He said that they [Turkey] are “planning on spending
something from $600 million to $1 billion to put that railroad in
place.”
The Minister closed his comments, by stressing that, “This is in no
one’s interest – not the U.S. or European Union or the countries
involved. I have raised this issue with the Administration and
they understand, they promised to follow this, and to try to talk
them [the Turkish government] out of engaging in this type of
senseless, useless activity.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkey and Armenia

Targeting the Peacemakers
The recent conviction of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink for
“debasing Turkish identity,” reveals the flaws inherent in the Turkish
judicial system. Reactionary judges, argues the German Green Party’s Cem
Özdemir, bar the way to essential processes of reform on the road to
entry into the European Union.
Spiegel Online (Germany)
October 13, 2005
By Cem Özdemir
For a section of the Armenian diaspora and more than a few narrow-minded
critics of Turkey in Europe, he is “contradiction personified.” In fact,
he should not even exist. Hrant Dink is an Armenian in Turkey, actively
supporting the Turkish democratic movement and sensing an opportunity
for reconciliation with his own history. But Dink, and others like him,
are caught between a rock and a hard place.
The editor-in-chief of Agos, the Armenian-Turkish weekly newspaper, is
not short of adversaries. At the forefront are the Turkish
Ultra-Nationalists, who would like to see him silenced sooner rather
than later. Their allies in Turkey’s judiciary underlined these
sentiments again recently. On Oct. 7, an Istanbul court sentenced Dink
to six months in jail for a “crime of ideas.” The sentence was suspended
on the grounds that he had no previous convictions.
Dink’s case highlights the flaws in the new Turkish penal code. It gives
reactionary judges and prosecutors ample scope to position themselves
consciously as the protectors of true “Turkishness” and to thwart
Ankara’s efforts to bring about reform. Indeed, elements of the judicial
apparatus are quite blatantly set against the European Union aspirations
of the AKP government and the Turkish civil rights movement. By putting
intellectual figureheads like Dink or the German Publishers’ Association
Peace Prize Winner Orhan Pamuk in the dock, the judiciary is sending
unequivocal signals to Ankara and Brussels. The timing of the charges is
anything but coincidental. Reactionary forces in the justice system are
thus adding timely weight to opposition of Turkish entry into the EU,
whether those opponents are in Turkey itself or in the European Union.
“We know very well what happened,” Dink said. If the conference on the
historical question of Armenia had been cancelled yet again, shortly
before the slated start of EU accession talks on Oct. 3, Turkish
opponents of entry to the EU would likely have had a major victory on
their hands.
Derailment was ultimately only avoided thanks to an unlikely alliance
between liberal civil rights campaigners and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s Islamic-Conservative government.
This was not exactly what the ultra-nationalists had in mind.
Yet even as the protesters gathered in numbers outside the conference
center to exercise their democratic right to free speech, they at the
same time wanted to deny those talking inside the same right. Turkey is
going to have to get used to this sort of schizophrenia, which is
symptomatic of the pain that comes with reform, as felt by reactionary
sections of the population and the state.
Dink’s courageous efforts as one of the organizers were a major catalyst
in making the conference actually happen. Even the most ardent skeptics
with regard to the killings were swayed enough to reconsider when
challenged by the compelling Dink. Many in the crowd of scientists,
intellectuals, politicians and journalists were moved to tears as he
spoke of an Armenian woman from the Turkish town of Sivas. It was the
story of a woman who had lived in Paris and whose greatest wish was to
be buried in the place where she and her ancestors had lived for centuries.
The telephone calls that followed Dink’s television appearances have
become legendary. Some Turkish people come forward to reveal Armenian
roots which they have hitherto kept hidden. Others report traces of
Armenian life in their local areas and ask for assistance in preserving
this cultural legacy. On one occasion, a whole village turned up in the
newspaper offices: descendents of Turkish Armenians who had fled for
safety to their Alevite neighbors in the Tunceli region (Dersim) in
1915, when persecution was at its worst.
Dink’s prime concern is the future of Armenian and Christian minorities
in a cosmopolitan, secular Turkey as part of Europe. He is intent on
looking forward, not wanting the past to stand in the way of the future.
Facing up to the past should, in his eyes, find its way onto the agenda
as part of a natural process of increasing freedom of opinion and
democracy. Turkish acceptance of the claims that genocide was inflicted
on the Armenian people is being touted by some as a precondition of
Turkish membership in the EU. Dink feels this is playing too readily
into the hands of the reactionaries, who are determined to see an end to
Turkey’s EU ambitions. Nonetheless, he sees reconciliation with Armenia
as a high priority, hence his campaigning for the opening of the border
between Turkey and Armenia.
His strategy is as unorthodox as it is effective. He does not allow
himself to get entangled in cynical discussions about whether the number
of Armenians murdered was 600,000 or 1.5 million. Instead, he confronts
the Turkish people with a history of which they either were ignorant, or
had only learned about through distorted channels of propaganda. His
arguments are persuasive, bringing to light what Turkey has irrevocably
lost in their destruction and denial of Armenian life. “If the Armenians
were alive today, Van (once a predominantly Armenian city in the East of
Turkey) would be the Paris of the East,” he says. Dink surprises his
people with unexpected ideas. He has proposed, for example, a memorial
to the slaughtered Armenians in Turkey. A memorial for the Turks who
fell at the hands of Armenian freedom fighters already exists.
He has also paid a price for his nonconformist views. Just a few years
ago, Dink was denied a passport by the Turkish state. He was considered
“unreliable” and was not permitted to leave the country. In spite of his
great endeavors to promote constructive debate and reconciliation
between the Armenians and the Turks, he still has to face criticism from
the Armenian diaspora. They accuse him of betraying the Armenian cause,
denounce him as a lackey in the pocket of the Turks. This is the same
man who has been brought before the Turkish courts with the very real
prospect of a prison sentence.
In the offending newspaper article, Dink is said to have insulted
“Turkishness,” as the judge put it. In fact, his column was aimed at the
Armenian diaspora. Dink’s appeal left no room for misinterpretation: The
Armenian diaspora should surrender their hostility to the Turks,
hitherto a defining element of Armenian identity. Even independent
assessors brought in by the courts could not find any disparaging
references to Turkey in his comments.
Dink’s main concern is neither the heated controversy about the past,
nor the instrumentalization of historical events. When asked by a
journalist whether genocide had taken place, he replied: “For us
Armenians, there is no discussion on that issue. We know very well what
happened.” Although he maintains that one should concentrate on looking
forward, whilst learning from the past, his reaction to his court
sentence reveals deep disappointment in his home country, Turkey. He
intends to take all legal measures available to prove his innocence. If
the sentence is not revoked, he plans to leave the country.
This should not be seen as a threat — that is not Dink’s nature.
Nevertheless, the Turkish government does need to take note of what his
statement signifies. The new penal code, which only came into effect on
June 1, 2005, is already in need of another overhaul. The law needs to
be implemented in such a way that it cannot be used as a weapon against
free speech. Nor should it be possible for judges or prosecutors to
exploit it in ways that would impede reform in Turkey. A prime minister
who was, himself, imprisoned for reciting a religious poem ought to be
well aware of that.
Cem Özdemir, 39, is a German of Turkish origin and a member of the
European Parliament in Strasbourg, where he also serves as the foreign
policy spokesman for the Green Party.

PHOTO CAPTION – DPA: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan prevented the
worst from happening, but protesters stil turned out to try to disrupt a
recent conference on Armenia.
PHOTO CAPTION – AFP: Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink: “We know
what happened.”
PHOTO CAPTION – AFP: The Turkish massacre in Armenia claimed the lives
of between 600,000 and 1.5 million people when it took place between
1915-17.
PHOTO CAPTION – AP: Turkish author Orhan Pamuk: Intellectual reformers
are being subjected to intimidation.
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,1518,379511,00.html

Investment Opportunity in Armenia
BISNIS Search for Partners
12 October 2005
BISNIS publishes Search for Partners leads to help U.S. companies find
partner and investment opportunities in the expanding markets of the
former Soviet Union. To receive Search for Partner leads regularly,
email BISNIS at [email protected] or call (202) 482-4655. To search
previously published Search for Partner leads online, visit
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Country: Armenia
Industry: Hotel Construction/Tourism
Company: Mehrabyan Medical Institute
Private educational establishment Mehrabyan Medical Institute seeks a
U.S. investor for a hotel construction project. The project envisions
the construction of an international standard, elite youth-student
hotel. The hotel will be a six-story building plus basement, with a
parking lot situated in front of the hotel and a playing ground for
volleyball, basketball and other sports behind it. A recreation complex
(a large pool, sauna, training hall, a body massage room, jacuzzi and a
bar) and an entertainment complex (disco and bar karaoke) are situated
in the basement. A two-story restaurant for 150 persons, administration,
travel agency and conference hall are to be situated on the ground floor.
The Mehrabyan Medical Institute plans to provide co-financing and
management of the facilities once the hotel is commissioned.
Web site:
LeadLink,
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Note: These opportunities are provided solely as an informational
service and do not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Commerce. Verification of these leads is the responsibility of the reader.
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