Author: Tambiyan Samvel

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Feb 9 2007

`Armenian Claims’ tops Turkish FM Gul’s talks with US Congressmen
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Friday , 09 February 2007

In Washington for talks with senior US officials, Turkish Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul met with John Murtha, the chairman of the
defense sub-committee of the House of Representatives Appropriations
Committee, and House majority leader Congressman Steny Hoyer.

During both meetings Mr. Gul said a resolution proposed to the US
House of Representatives constitutes a threat to relations between
the two countries.

Gul later had talks with Congressman Robert Wexler, co-chairman of
the Turkish- American Friendship Group, Tom Lantos, the chairman of
the House Committee on Foreign Relations, and Congressman Roy Blunt.

Lantos had supported Turkey’s position on the "Armenian genocide
claims" issue in the past, but after the Turkish Parliament’s refusal
on March 1, 2003 to allow the deployment of 62,000 US troops in
Turkish territory to launch a northern front in the war with Iraq,
Lantos said he would shift his position and back the resolution.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Balman said Gul’s meetings
at the US Congress have been positive.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "We understand
very clearly that this is a sensitive issue not only for the Turkish
people but also for the Armenian people."

McCormack also said that the State Department is working with the
Congress to pass Turkey’s concerns regarding the issue. However, he
said, "I think Gul and the Turkish government understand how our
government system work, and that the Congress is a separate body."

US President George Bush will have to persuade the new
Democratic-controlled congress, which does not need presidential
approval to pass such a resolution. Members behind the proposed bill
have said they expect a push by the administration and lobbyists
working for the Turkish government to keep the resolution from a full
vote by the House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will decide whether to offer the bill
for a full vote if, as expected, it is approved by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, has already expressed support.

Gul said they do not plan to meet with Pelosi because she is "too
engaged" in the issue but he will meet with her close aides and
friends to make sure Turkey’s views are heard.

Turkey rejects the "genocide" accusations and argues that only
300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in mutual civil
strife. The Ottoman Armenians rioted during the First World War and
the armed Armenian groups attacked the Turkish and Kurdish villages.
The Istanbul Government decided to re-settle about 800.000 Armenians
to Syria province of the State. The decision was similar to the
re-settlement campaign of the Japanese American people during the
Second World War.

PanARMENIAN.Net

U.S. Congressmen outraged by Turkey’s threats
09.02.2007 17:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We are outraged that the Turkish government would put the
lives of our troops abroad at risk in the pursuit of its increasingly
desperate campaign to deny the systematic slaughter of 1.5 million
Armenians," said Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI).

Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe
Knollenberg (R-MI) expressed outrage at recent warnings by the Turkish
government that it will take actions threatening the security of U.S. troops
in Iraq should Congress even consider the Armenian Genocide Resolution,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). In a letter to
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA), Reps. Pallone
and Knollenberg noted that, "it is our understanding that senior Turkish
government officials have warned that, in response to Congress even
considering this resolution, they will close supply pipelines for our forces
serving in Iraq. This shameless threat to interfere in U.S. military
operations is absolutely unacceptable and deeply offensive."

"Sadly, the Turkish government is able to maintain its denial – against all
evidence and the tide of international opinion – in large part due to the
State Department’s efforts to silence those who speak with moral clarity
about the Armenian Genocide," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
"It is a testament to the hypocrisy of the Administration’s position that,
on the one hand, its senior officials remained almost entirely silent on
Article 301 prior to Hrant Dink’s murder, while on the other hand loudly and
repeatedly attacking even the consideration by the U.S. Congress of the
Armenian Genocide Resolution."

PEOPLE HOPE TO GET APARTMENTS

Azat Artsakh Daily – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
08-02-2007

Last year, according to the Ministry of Urban Planning, a block of 13
apartments was built. Another building with 21 apartments is under
construction on Tigran Mets Street. Soon construction of the block
with 45 apartments on Tumanian Street will finish. According to the
City Hall, 1163 people are still waiting to get an apartment. In
addition, people have been registered since 1960s. Davit Tsaturian, a
senior City Hall official, says people still hope to get an
apartment. Another 30 people were registered in 2006. According to
him, over the past few years several people received apartments who
were included in the special program because a member of their family
was killed or became disabled in the war, the Azat Artsakh writes. The
190 families of killed azatamartiks and 208 families of the disabled
of the war in Artsakh are included in the special register. In 2006
another 65 families added. According to the City Hall, last year 10
received apartments. Yet another group includes residents of
dismantled blocks, who were not provided with apartments. Davit
Tsaturian says the government has launched a policy in 2005 on
providing parentless children aged 18 and down with apartments. 22
children will be provided with apartments. Last year 3 of them got
one-room apartments for ten years. The state of dormitories poor. The
media have reported on the grim picture of dormitories for a number of
times. We visited two dormitories where rats are running in the
corridors, the walls are humid and moldy, electric lines are damaged,
sanitation is poor. The dormitories have no gas supply considering all
these problems. The problems has been discussed at different levels,
and on every visit of the representatives of government the residents
think their problems will be solved soon. Davit Tsaturian said the
community has 7 dormitories, where privatization started from 2006. 15
families have already privatized their apartments. The department of
housing admits that the state of the residents of dormitories is poor
but they say the government should attend to this problem. Meanwhile,
the solution of this problem is not visible; there is no definite
policy, said the housing department.

SRBUHI VANIAN.
08-02-2007

AMBASSADOR OT TURKMENISTAN TO RA PAYS VISIT OF FAREWELL TO MOTHER SEE OF HOLY ETCHMIADZIN

Noyan Tapan
Feb 08 2007

ETCHMIADZIN, FEBRUARY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. On February 8, Catholicos
of All Armenians Karekin II received Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to Armenia Khidir Saparliyev
who is completing his diplomatic mission in RA. According to the
report submitted to Noyan Tapan from the Information Services of
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, at the meeting they spoke about
Armenian-Turkmen relations and cooperation between the two countries.

Mentioning that he is leaving Armenia with good impressions, the
Ambassador said: "Armenia is my second homeland."

GROUP SEEKS END TO LAW AGAINST INSULTING TURKEY
By Sebnem Arsu

The New York Times
Feb 8 2007

ISTANBUL, Feb. 8 – A group of civic organizations today proposed
changes to Article 301, a controversial section of the Turkish penal
code that makes insulting Turkey or Turkishness a crime. The section
has been used against intellectuals, journalists and writers like the
Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and the newspaper editor Hrant Dink,
who was shot dead in an Istanbul street in January.

But critics said the new proposal uses archaic language that would be
just as vague and hard to interpret as the existing article, which
the government refuses to abolish, and would not solve the problems
with the current law.

Many Turks believe that Article 301 is primarily to blame for the
murder of Mr. Dink, an ethnic Armenian who was prosecuted under the
law for comments he made about the mass deaths of Armenians before
and during World War I. His conviction publicly labeled him as a
traitor against the state in the eyes of many Turkish nationalists.

The subject of the mass deaths of the 1910’s is, nearly a century
later, still among the sorest in Turkey. Many historians call the
episode genocide on the part of the Ottoman army, but the Turkish
government denies that and insists that both ethnic Turks and ethnic
Armenians suffered in those years of wartime hardship.

Turkish courts and nationalist groups tend to interpret any public
statements that contradict that official version of events as an
"insult against the Turkish state" and a crime under Article 301.

Mr. Dink’s death reinvigorated efforts to amend or repeal the law,
which has helped attract harsh criticism of the Turkish government by
the European Union for suppressing freedom of expression by prosecuting
writers and intellectuals.

The government has responded by allowing civic organizations from
across the political spectrum to take the lead in drafting proposed
amendments to the law, while insisting that it must be retained in
some form.

"Leading up to the general elections in November, the government
has escaped from political responsibility on a controversial issue
like Article 301 in fear of losing voters," said Gencay Gurun, the
general secretary of Turkish Chamber of Doctors, which dropped out
of the amendment-drafting effort and called instead for total repeal.

"Changes are only a facade, and can never prevent bitter consequences,
as we’ve witnessed with Mr. Dink’s murder."

The new proposal, signed by 10 major civic organizations, is meant to
draw a clearer distinction between criticism and insult, but critics
say it fails to do so. For example, in place of a crime of "insulting
Turkishness," the new draft outlaws "openly abasing and deriding"
the Turkish identity.

The spokesman for the group, Davut Okutcu of the Economic Development
Foundation, acknowledged that the amendments would make no difference
unless the mind set of the country’s judges also changed, toward
greater tolerance of free expression.

"We do not claim that this is the best version," Mr. Okutcu said in a
telephone interview. "We consider this draft as an encouragement to
support better application of law, which will ultimately be worded
by Turkey’s lawmakers."

Article 301 is not the only provision of Turkish law that has been
interpreted to support prosecution of speech and opinion. Perihan
Magden, a columnist for the newspaper Radikal, was charged under a law
that makes encouraging draft-age men from fulfilling their mandatory
military service a crime. That law was not addressed by the committee.

Ms. Magden, who was given police protection following Mr. Dink’s death,
said the proposed changes to Article 301 were too small to matter.

"The fact that I have to live in my own country under police
protection shows the government acknowledgment that something is
wrong," Ms. Magden said. "They can and they have to prevent this."

The government, on the other hand, says that the European Union
bears much of the responsibility for an underlying problem in Turkey,
rising nationalist feeling that manifests itself as intolerance of
criticism and resentment of demands from abroad for change.

Egemen Bagis, a spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development party,
noted that many Turks were angered when the union froze talks over
possible Turkish membership in 2006, after Turkey had worked for years
to overhaul its laws at the union’s request to qualify for membership.

The stated reason for the freeze was that Turkey had failed to open its
ports and airports to trade with the ethnic Greek part of Cyprus, whose
government is internationally recognized and belongs to the union (the
ethnic Turkish government in the northern part of the divided island
is recognized only by Turkey). But many here saw that as a pretext,
and that rising anti-Muslim prejudice in Europe was the real reason.

"We need the motivation by the E.U. in order to improve freedom of
expression alongside other democratic reforms in Turkey," Mr. Bagis
said. "The E.U.’s double standard in treating Turkey’s candidacy,
however, is the primary reason behind the growing nationalist
tendencies in Turkey, and we expect the E.U. to change this attitude
for a better future in Turkey."

GENOCIDE RESOLUTION GAINS STEAM
By Pam Wight Staff Writer

Whittier Daily News, CA –
Feb 8 2007

Armenians say Democrats support effort

MONTEBELLO – Having the U.S. government use the term "genocide" to
describe the World War I-era killing of Armenians would be more than
a symbolic gesture for Montebello resident Jack Hadjinian.

It would be a long-awaited victory he’s fought to win for most of
his adult life.

As a board member of the San Gabriel Valley chapter of the Armenian
National Committee, Hadjinian organized other members, friends and
"anyone with a consciousness who would listen" to write letters
to their congressional representatives and urge them to support a
resolution introduced last week by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena.

The resolution calls on the U.S. government to officially recognize the
killing of 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide committed by Turkey’s
Ottoman government between 1915 and 1919.

This is not the first attempt by members of Congress to push for
an official genocide recognition. But this is the first time in
years the issue has had a serious chance of passing in the House of
Representatives, Hadjinian said.

"For years there was a huge contingency of legislators who either
didn’t want to take a stand on the issue or had a contrary belief,"
he said. "But now with the Democrats, there’s more support."

Serge Samoniantz, chairman of the San Gabriel Valley ANC, said the
approval of Schiff’s resolution could prompt the media to use the term
"without qualifications" such as the word "alleged."

"It’s really only a non-binding resolution, a statement from the
House basically," said Samoniantz, a Whittier resident. "But with
Nancy Pelosi … she’s been a long-time supporter of it. It’s an
important statement that has a good chance of passing."

Apart from Pelosi’s leadership as speaker of the House, other factors
have helped build support for the legislation this time that wasn’t
there in the past, Samoniantz said.

The Jan. 19 murder in Istanbul of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink sparked large demonstrations in support of free speech,
Samoniantz said. Dink had been prosecuted for "insulting Turkishness"
for calling the Armenian slayings a genocide. His prosecution angered
some American lawmakers.

The demonstrations also "showed a side of Turkey not seen before,"
Samoniantz said. "Some of the liberal-thinking people identify with
the thoughts of , an element of the Turkish population that thinks
differently."

The position of the Turkish government is that, although many
people died at that time, it was a result of the "civil strife and
displacement" occurring on both sides – not a deliberate extermination,
according to officials from the Consulate General of the Republic of
Turkey in Los Angeles.

Bush administration officials this week assured Turkish diplomats
that Bush would not support the resolution.

OSCE OBSERVERS TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA HALF A MONTH PRIOR TO ELECTIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.02.2007 14:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ OSCE long-term mission on observing the parliamentary
elections in Armenia, which will be held May 12, will arrive half a
month prior to voting.

And earlier a delegation will arrive in Armenia to watch the
process of preparing the elections, stated OSCE PA Chairman Goran
Lennmarker. It’s truth that the authorities of Armenia have not sent
official invitation yet, but in Lennmarker’s words, "there will be no
problems in this question." "Undoubtedly, the Armenian nation wants
fair and transparent elections.

I hope the authorities will provide all necessary conditions to hold
such elections," Lennmarker stressed.

The delegation at the head of OSCE PA Chairman departed for Tbilisi,
and tomorrow will arrive in Azerbaijan, where a meeting with Azeri
President Ilham Aliev will take place. As to the meeting with Armenian
President Robert Kocharian, which was scheduled but did not take place,
Goran Lennmarker explained it that the head of the state was not in
Yerevan," RFE/RL reports.

TENSION OVER DINK CASE SPILLS INTO FOOTBALL STADIUMS; FANS PENALIZED FOR BANNERS

Hurriyet, Turkey
Feb 6 2007

Football fans who opened a banner reading "We are neither Armenian
nor from Malatya-We are Elazigliyiz" at a match between Malatya and
Elazig will not be able to attend football matches for another year,
according to regional sports authorities.

The banner, which was a response to banners at murdered journalist
Hrant Dink’s funeral which read "We are all Armenian," was interpreted
as being a clear provocation by many watching the match.

Dink was himself from Malatya.

In a related story, yesterday in Ankara cabinet ministers debated
an incident at an Afyon-Bozuyuk football match last week at which
certain fans chanted "We are all Ogun"; the chant was a reference to
the Ogun Samast, the 17 year old Trabzon resident who has admitted
to firing the gun which killed Hrant Dink.

AIT RECTOR: ARMENIAN TOURISM SECTOR NEEDS QUALIFIED STAFF

Noyan Tapan
Feb 06 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, NOYAN TAPAN. Today Armenia has much potential
for receiving considerable revenues in the tourism sector. For this
purpose the state should conduct an encouraging policy and develop
this sector by forming the respective legislative field. Robert
Minasian, Rector of the Armenian Institute of Tourism (AIT) – the
Armenian branch of the Russian International Academy of Tourism,
expressed this opinion during a talk with NT correspondent.

According to him, tourism is one of the most profitable sectors of
economy: about 50 million people are currently engaged in the
tourism sector worldwide. R. Minasian noted that it is wrong to
conclude that this sector is developing only based on the fact
of the increased number of tourists. It is necessary to implement
infrastructural reforms: to build hotels accessible to travellers and
prepare qualified staff. The RA Law on Tourism, which was adopted
in 2003, has a provision on licensing the activity of a torist
guide. R. Minasian said that such licences should be granted by
some independent organization, like in developed countries and not
by the RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, as is done in
Armenia by the decison of the Armenian government. The AIT rector also
considers the current order of examination for getting a licence to
be incorrect as "it is impossible to examine the spoken proficiency
(which is important for a tourist guide) by means of a test." In his
opinion, it is also incorrect to grant a permanent licence.

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Feb 3 2007

Turkish minister to visit USA on 4 February

Ankara, 3 February: Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister Abdullah Gul will leave for the United States on Sunday [4
February] to hold a series of talks.

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials told the Anatolia that
Gul was scheduled to meet US Vice-President Dick Cheney, Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley in Washington, D.C.

He will also hold talks with US House of Representatives Foreign
Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos and members of the committee.
Gul will deliver a speech at the German Marshall Fund.

He will proceed to New York on 8 February to meet with United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Issues such as recent developments in Iraq, and the draft resolution
on so-called Armenian genocide which was submitted to the House of
Representatives will be high on agenda of Gul’s meetings with US
authorities.

Gul is expected to return to Turkey on 9 February.