Veteran journalist Hasan Cemal has parted ways with the Milliyet daily, for which he had been working since 1998, following a controversy over the paper’s publishing of the secret minutes of a meeting between the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader and Kurdish deputies last month, a news portal reported on Monday.

According to an article on T24 penned by Doğan Akın, Cemal decided to quit his job at the daily when an article he sent to the daily to be published on Tuesday was rejected by Miliyet Editor-in-Chief Derya Sazak.

Both Sazak and Cemal defended Milliyet’s publishing of the secret minutes, drawing harsh criticism from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The meeting with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan took place as part of ongoing peace talks between the government and the PKK, which aim to resolve Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish problem and disarm the terrorist organization.

In a speech in Balıkesir province on March 2, Erdoğan harshly criticized Cemal for his stance on the leak, saying, “This kind of journalism should go to hell.”

Akın said Erdoğan’s remarks prompted Milliyet’s owner, Erdoğan Demirören, to ask Sazak to part ways with Cemal and Can Dündar, another Milliyet columnist with the same stance on the leak incident.

The crisis was seemingly resolved as Cemal was given a two-week-long break as a punishment while Dündar continued to write his articles.

Yet, the article sent by Cemal to the daily at the end of this period was rejected by Sazak, who asked the columnist to write another article. Cemal reportedly told Sazak that he will not send another article as long as his latest article is not published.

Akın claimed that Cemal’s latest article was on the relationship between the media and government and included criticism of this relationship.

Cemal stated in his unpublished column, which appeared on various websites, that the relationship between the press and the government has always been problematic in this country because the political establishment and networks generally sought to keep the media under control within the boundaries of the “red lines” arbitrarily drawn by themselves.

Political bodies exerted pressure on the press through political, legal and economic instruments to make it happen, Cemal stressed.

In an attempt to portray how a patronage relationship between the government and media barons poison the foundation of journalism in the country, Cemal noted that the economic affairs of media barons in other fields also strengthen the hands of politicians, as bosses desperately need Ankara for their business operations.

According to Cemal, the weak legal structure to protect freedom of the press and the enormous power that politicians enjoy are also, among other factors, what led to the problematic and unethical relationship between the government and media barons.

These factors, he said, facilitate the government intimidation of the media.

In addition to this, Cemal concluded, another problem lies in the media barons’ perception of journalism and owning a newspaper.

Cemal pointed out that many media barons decided to own a newspaper in order to have an advantage in their business affairs.

Journalism is not at the core of their interests, Cemal said, but using media tools to bolster their positions against rival companies in the business world.

Former Minister of Education of Azerbaijan: Expression ‘‘Azerbaijani nation’’ is wrong from scientific point of view

“In independent Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (1918-1920) Turkic was adopted as an official language. At the beginning the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic (1920-1991) the name of the official language also was Turkic,” writes the Azerbaijani service of “Radio Liberty”.

The article says that in the late 1930s, the name of the language was changed into Azerbaijani, as well as the name of the people. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1992, after a lot of debates, the Azerbaijani parliament, decided to use the word “Turk” in the name of the state language. The new name of “Azerbaijani” language was approved in 1995 by adopting a new constitution.

Discussion about the correct name of the language still continue, “Radio Liberty” says. Thus, the former education minister Firudin Jalilov stated: “From the very beginning, when I took up the pen, I was against the word “Azeri”, because this word was on Persian. Why should we call our language by Persian word?”

According to Jalilov, if the name of the nation is written Azerbaijanis in the constitution then the language of the people automatically is considered as Azerbaijani. “It means that this also proceeds from the wrong definition of national identity,” he said.

However, Jalilov did not insist on calling the language “Turkic”, saying: “All the speakers of Turkic languages, have its own name: Uzbek, Tatar, Kyrgyz, Turkmen and Azeri. To Separate one of them and then call it Turkic would be wrong from the point of view of the science. Just like it was once been wrongly done in Turkey.”

Head of the Institute of Linguistics of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Fahraddin Veysalli stated that if the language would be called Turkic, it will be difficult to differentiate between the Turkish and Azerbaijani. “Radio Liberty” explains that the in Azerbaijani the word “Turkish” and “Turkic” is spelled in the same way as “türk”, but is read like a “Tyurk” with a “yu”. According Veysalli today it’s wrong to use the “Azerbaijani” or “Azerbaijani language”.

F. Jalilov stated that the language was called “Azerbaijani” for political reasons. “It was a step undertaken by a political objective. In fact, during Mamed Emin Rasulzade’s reign our language was called Turkic, and the nation – Turks. And in passports of my parents in 1936, was written “Turk.” By Stalin’s order the name of the nationality “Turk” was eliminated, and was changed into “Azerbaijani,” he said.

Professor Kamil Veli Narimanoglu also stated that the issue of the name of the language in Azerbaijan has political bases. “This step by Heydar Aliyev was an order of Russia and the United States,” he said. The professor said that there is nothing more tragic than changing the name of a people and their language. “Naming the language correctly was a big blow to the concept of “historical homeland,” said Narimanoglu.

The professor also said that before the Russian scientists have begun to use the term “Azerbaijani”, all the sources and in all documents term “Turkic” was used. “Azerbaijan” is the name of the state, and language is Turkic, Azerbaijani Turkic.

“We determine our national identity, identification. One thing is how we call ourselves, another how the others call. Now we write all over the world that our official language is Azerbaijani. If we change the name, what would we gain? This is a dangerous path,” F. Jalilov said.

As Professor Rahman Badalov stated, one should not consider this a simple question. “On one hand we want to be Turks, on the other hand, we want to distinguish ourselves from the Ottomans. It is a difficult process. The issue will not be solved if we will call ourselves Turks. Maybe we should say “Azeri Turks”? … However, we did not do that as well,” he said.

Former Education Minister of Azerbaijan Firudin Jalilov said that the expression “Azerbaijani nation” is wrong from the scientific point of view.

YEREVAN. – Armenian Transport and Communication Minister Gagik Beglaryan on Tuesday received the Asian Development Bank (ADB) representatives led by Arto Ahonen, the person in charge of the Transportation Projects of the ADB North-South Road Corridor Construction Project.

The parties discussed the current course of the North-South Road Corridor Investment Program, and the implementation of Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 of this program, the Transport and Communication Ministry press service informs.

Beglaryan underscored the need for a quick organization of the technical activities and the paperwork of Tranche 3.

“The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved the co-funding—by 50 percent—of the construction of Tranche 3 of the North-South project. Now, ADB’s cooperation is necessary,” Beglaryan stressed.

In his turn, Ahonen informed that they already reached an agreement with EIB in terms of the sections and estimates of the North-South project.

In addition, the Armenian minister was introduced to Priyanka Seneviratne, the new person in charge of the Transportation Projects of the ADB North-South Road Corridor Construction Project, who will replace Ahonen in this position.

Gagik Beglaryan thanked Arto Ahonen for the productive work, and expressed a hope that these activities will continue during the tenure of the new project manager.

The leader of Holland’s anti-Islamic Party for Freedom (PVV), Geert Wilders, has urged Dutch authorities to call off Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s upcoming visit to the country.

Wilders, known for his extremely negative views on Islam and Muslims, described Erdoğan as anti-homosexual, anti-Zionist, anti-Christian and anti-Kurd and called on Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, to cancel the Turkish prime minister’s visit scheduled for next Thursday.

Another issue that came up ahead of Erdoğan’s visit was about a Turkish boy, identified only by his first name “Yunus,” who was placed in the care of a lesbian couple in the Netherlands when he was a baby. The issue recently drew ire from Turkish officials, who accused the Dutch administration of not respecting the values and sensitivities held dear by Turkish families.

Yunus’ biological mother, Nurgül Azeroğlu, had said during a televised interview earlier this month that she was scheduled to ask for help from Erdoğan before he leaves for Holland.

In response to reactions from Turkey, Lodewijk Asscher, the Dutch deputy prime minister, told reporters last Friday that the issue is an internal Dutch matter and that political interference from Turkey is “inappropriate.”

“I find it presumptuous of a foreign power, whoever it might be, to have such a viewpoint, based on the views or religion of the adoptive parents,” Asscher told journalists.

“Selection is not done based on race or religion. It doesn’t fit the Netherlands and the values we have,” Asscher also added. He also said Rutte would discuss the issue with his Turkish counterpart during Erdoğan’s one-day official visit to the country.

In the midst of the exchange of criticism between Turkish and Dutch officials, Dutch media recently reported that the lesbian family has gone into hiding after the boy’s biological parents said on a Turkish television program that they objected to a lesbian couple taking care of their child.

Mark Verheijen, a member of the Dutch parliament, also commented on reactions from Ankara to the issue, saying some countries want Turkey’s EU accession talks to gather speed, but for the Netherlands, Turkey’s objection to adoptive parents complicated the process. “Some countries want Turkey’s accession process to be taken out of the deep freezer, but for us that freezer has just gotten colder,” he was quoted as saying by the Turkish media on Sunday.

Turkey has become third largest arms importer in the Middle East despite huge arms order by oil- and gas-rich Gulf Arab states, a Swedish think tank said on Monday.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its report that arms imports by states in the Middle East decreased by 7 per cent between 2008–12 and 2003–2007. During 2008–12, the report claimed, 19 per cent of all major arms transfers to the Middle East went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), followed by Saudi Arabia (18 per cent), Turkey (17 per cent) and Iraq (10 per cent).

The volume of arms imports by Eastern Europe increased by 21 per cent between 2003–2007 and 2008–12. However, this increase is entirely due to Azerbaijan, which was the only state in the region to increase its volume of imports. Azerbaijan increased its imports by 155 per cent and rose from 48th to 35th largest importer. These imports are connected to the ongoing dispute with Armenia over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. In 2012 deliveries continued of Aerostar and Hermes-450 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Israel, Mi-24 combat helicopters from Russia, and Matador and Marauder armored vehicles from South Africa built under licence in Azerbaijan.

The report also said China bypassed Britain as the world’s fifth largest arms exporter.

The volume of Chinese weapons exports rose by 162 percent in the five years 2008-2012, compared to the previous five-year period. That means China’s share of all international arms exports increased to 5 percent from 2 percent, and the country climbed to fifth from eighth in the rankings.

The largest buyer of Chinese weapons was Pakistan, which accounted for 55 percent of the country’s exports, followed by Myanmar with 8 percent and Bangladesh with 7 percent, SIPRI said.

“China’s rise has been driven primarily by large-scale arms acquisitions by Pakistan,” said Paul Holtom, director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme. “However, a number of recent deals indicate that China is establishing itself as a significant arms supplier to a growing number of important recipient states.”

Such deals include the sale of three frigates to Algeria, eight transport aircraft to Venezuela and 54 tanks to Morocco, SIPRI said.

The US remains the world’s top arms exporter during the 2008-2012 period, with 30 percent of the global volume. Russia is second with 26 percent, Germany third with 7 percent, and France fourth with 6 percent, SIPRI said.

China’s move into the top-five means Britain (now in sixth place) dropped off the list of the top five for the first time since at least 1950, the earliest year covered by SIPRI data.

The institute said Asia dominated the global imports of weapons, with the top five importers all located in that region.

Here’s SIPRI’s list of the top 5 arms exporters in 2008-2012 (share of international exports in parenthesis):

1. United States (30 percent).

2. Russia (26).

3. Germany (7).

4. France (6).

5. China (5).

The top 5 arms importers in 2008-2012 (share of international imports in parenthesis):

1. India (12 percent).

2. China (6).

3. Pakistan (5).

4. South Korea (5).

5. Singapore (4)

Several members of the Azerbaijani opposition party “Musavat” were detained while crossing the Georgian-Azerbaijani border, the Azeri information portal “Haqqin.az” reports referring to “Azadlig” newspaper.

They stopped Akif Mamedli, the Chairman of organization of “Musavat” party in Balakan district, and party activists Ahmed Osman and Azizov Garzalieva, with no apparent reason and started asking questions, and later started to insult,” said the senior Customs Lieutenant Elchin Rahmanly.

After that, according to the source, Musavat members were searched. Not finding anything they caviled at a pack of cigarettes “VIP” that were purchased in Georgia, which were allegedly made in Armenia. “Bickering and insults to Musavat members, accompanied by insulting words, continued up to the prosecution of Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP) members and Musavat members which as if cooperate with the Armenian side,” reports the portal.

Ahmed Garzaliev said that recently the negative attitude of the population to the current government of Azerbaijan has increased; people prefer to be with the opposition.

“For this reason, the district administration gave curtain directions to some structures to watch us and to blackmail us. Black PR is carried out against local activists openly. And for any unpleasant incidents that may occur, the district administration will carry the responsibility,” said a member of the party.