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07/13/2005
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1)’Toronto Star’ Editorial Board and Community Reps Meet on Armenian Issues
2) International Court Finds Turkey in Grave Violation of Human Rights
3) Iraq’s Kurd Rebels Vow to Keep up Fight

1)’Toronto Star’ Editorial Board and Community Reps Meet on Armenian Issues

TORONTORepresentatives of Canada’s Armenian Community met the Toronto Star’s
editorial board headed by editorial editor Bob Hepburn, to exchange views on a
variety of issues, including the Armenian genocide Canada-Armenia relations,
Mountainous Karabagh, and the establishment of a Canadian Embassy in Armenia.
The Armenian delegation included Aris Babikian, president of the Armenian
National Federation of Canada (ANFC); Shaen Mirakian, of the Armenian
Community
Centre of Toronto (ACC); and Vahan Ajemian, Armenian National Committee of
Toronto (ANCT).
“In light of recent developments, we had to update and sensitize the Toronto
Star editorial board–especially after the April 23, 2004 House of Commons
resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide,” ANFC’s Babikian said,
describing
the frank and open exchange.
Since the adoption of that resolution, the Armenian National Committee of
Canada and the ANFC, and their affiliated chapters in Montreal, Laval,
Toronto,
Hamilton, Cambridge, St. Catharines, Kitchener, London, Guelph, and Vancouver
have routinely contacted the Canadian media asking them to clarify their
stance
on the ethical issue.
A September 9, 2004 meeting between ANCC and ACC members and CTV-TV board,
initiated an excellent segment on the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide.
Following the efforts of ANCC members, the Literary Review of Canada
published
David Warner’s January 2005 review of Taner Akcam’s book “From Empire to
Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide.” As a follow-up, ANCC
facilitated Michael Enright’s CBC Radio “Sunday Morning” interview with Taner
Akcam.
On January 14, 2004 ANCC successfully secured a resolution from the National
Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada–which represents over 400 newspapers
and magazinesrecognizing the Armenian genocide.
The ANCC broke the news of the banning of Atom Egoyan’s “Ararat” in Turkey.
Immediately afterwards, an explosion of coverage ensued, including editorials
in The Globe and Mail and the National Post condemning the Turkish
government’s
action.
In 2002, renowned Canadian journalist and broadcaster Michael Coren, hosted a
unique panel discussion between representatives of the ANCC and Turkish
community, who debated the Turkish government’s policy of denying the Armenian
genocide. Following the success of that show, Coren invited ANCC
representatives to talk about the Armenian genocide on his hour-long CFRB
radio
program.
More recently, the ANCC disseminated to the media, unknown details of why a
conference devoted to the Armenian genocide was “postponed indefinitely,” due
to pressure from the Turkish government and extremist groups.
The ANCC has also introduced to the Canadian media, writings of progressive
Turkish scholars and journalists who, in the past years, have condemned their
government’s denialist policies and have called on Turkish leaders to
acknowledge the historical reality of the Armenian genocide.
In addition, due to the persistence and behind-the-scenes efforts of ANCC and
its members, The Globe and Mail and the National Post now refer to the
Armenian
genocide without ambiguity, and without quotes–or the prefix “alleged” in
their editorials and stories.
“We firmly believe that the media has an important role to educate and bring
the truth of the Armenian cause to the Canadian public. With that in mind, the
ANCC has, over the years, established an excellent relationship with Canadian
media, based on mutual trust and respect,” stated ANCC President, Girair
Basmadjian. “As in the past, we intend to continue our communication with the
Canadian media in an open, objective, and positive manner.”

2) International Court Finds Turkey in Grave Violation of Human Rights

(AFP)–The International Court of Justice (ICJ), on Tuesday, found Turkey
guilty of inhumane treatment of a 17-year old boy while in police custody, and
demanded they pay 8,000 euro to the boy.
The ethnic Chalean was arrested on December 25, 1991, holding a Molotov
Cocktail during a demonstration in Istanbul. The boy was condemned to death in
1996; the sentence was later reduced to 16 years imprisonment.
The ICJ found that the boy was tortured while in police custody, and
though he
sustained physical injury, details were deliberately left out of medical
reports.
The ICJ also found that the crime against the youth is a grave violation of
human rights, according to European law.

3) Iraq’s Kurd Rebels Vow to Keep up Fight

By Yahya Barzanji

KHUNERA (AP)–In the jagged mountains along the Iranian border, a leader of
the
Kurdish rebels–who have been battling Turkish soldiers for two decades–vowed
to keep up his fight until Turkey agrees to open a dialogue with militants.
But
it remains a request that Turkey refuses, saying all the guerrillas of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) must surrender or die. Fighting has recently
intensified.
Since May 30, soldiers and 24 rebels have been killed as the rebels
stepped-up
attacks, concentrating more on bombings than direct assaults. On Sunday, a
bomb
planted by a rebel splinter group injured 18 Turks and three tourists in
Cesme,
a popular Turkish resort.
Both sides are looking to Washington to help create a solution to a
two-decade
fight that has left some 37,000 people dead and parts of southeastern
Turkey in
ruins.
Turkish generals say the United States, which controls Iraq, must do more to
stop rebels from crossing the border and carrying out attacks.
Murat Karayilan, the military leader of the PKK, says that Washington, which
is pressing for more democracy in the Middle East, must allow the Kurds a
voice
and vows to keep fighting.
“We seek peace, but Turkey seeks war and wants our surrender,” he said in an
interview with The Associated Press. “It wants to get rid of us entirely. The
Kurds’ resistance will continue.”
He also said that the rebels, who were once fighting for a Marxist Kurdish
state in the southeast of Turkey, now want to be part of a democracy.
“We want to live in a democratic way and establish a democratic Kurdish
movement while giving up extremist socialist ideas,” Karayilan said. “We also
notice a change in American policies, which now support democratic
governments.
America came to change the Middle East, and Kurds have a great role in this
matter.”
Turkish officials have dismissed that claim as a mere change in tactics by
the
group, which the Turkish government and the US consider a terrorist
organization.
Turkish land forces commander, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit recently rebuffed a
suggestion that the army end its offensive against the rebels.
“In Turkey, no one in their right mind could say yes” to that request, the
Cumhuriyet newspaper quoted Buyukanit as saying last month. “Our struggle
against terrorism is continuing and will continue.”
Turkey considers all of its Muslim citizens to be Turks and has rejected
Kurdish aspirations as an attempt to break apart the country. It was
illegal in
Turkey to speak Kurdish until 1991, and broadcasting in Kurdish only began in
2004.
Statements from the rebels are rarely printed in Turkey, where such comments
could be considered as aiding a terrorist organization, and rights activists
have been jailed for saying that there should be a negotiated solution to the
fighting in the southeast.
The PKK announced a unilateral cease-fire in 1999, shortly after its leader
Abdullah Ocalan was captured but annulled it in 2004, saying that Turkey had
not responded.
During a recent visit, Kurdish fighters escorted a journalist along a curvy,
five-hour nighttime route to meet Karayilan. The visit included a stop at the
PKK’s “Martyr’s Cemetery,” which contains the graves of 25 fighters killed in
battle and a large picture of Ocalan.
“We no longer believe only in armed struggle as we did in the past,”
Karayilan
said. “Today we believe in the diplomatic and political struggle in order to
obtain our legitimate rights.”
The presence of an estimated 3,500 PKK fighters in Iraq–which effectively
remains under US control more than two years after the U.S.-led
invasion–complicates American efforts to rebuild this country after
decades of
dictatorship, war, and ongoing insurgency. It is believed that there are some
2,000 PKK fighters in Turkey.
Confident of the safety of their mountain redoubt, the PKK fighters seemed to
enjoy good relations with local villagers and Iraqi arms merchants who sell
them weapons. As a concession to Iraqi sensitivities, however, PKK fighters
routinely move about only at night.
“We want to solve the problem through dialogue,” Karayilan said. “But if they
attack us, we will defend ourselves.”

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