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Turkish Prim minister Erdoğan tells Turkish journalists: don’t cover conflict with Kurds

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By Özgür Öğret and Nina Ognianova/CPJ Europe and  Central Asia Program Staff

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey  is known to lash out publicly at journalists of whose coverage he disapproves. He  has called on media owners and editors to discipline reporters and columnists critical  of his policies, particularly when it comes to the sensitive Kurdish issue. In  more than a few cases, to avoid trouble, newsroom managers have listened and  dismissed the staffers in question.

But Erdoğan’s most recent televised message to  the media crosses from reprimanding into directly instructing journalists to  stop covering the long-standing conflict between the Turkish Armed Forces and  the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). This is unthinkable.

At a live TV debate on August 31, the prime  minister told journalists: “This [news about the conflict] must be ignored;  there is no other way.” He proceeded to claim that U.S., French, and British  media do not cover military action in Afghanistan. (This, of course, is untrue.  A simple Google news search of the keywords “coalition forces in Afghanistan”  returns 21,000 hits.)

Erdoğan brought up the recent kidnapping by the PKK of an opposition member of parliament, who was released two days  later in southeastern Turkey. The prime minister said he believed the  kidnapping had been staged and, by covering the incident, Turkish media served  as a propaganda platform for the PKK. “I really expect the media [to act] as  one hand, one heart,” Erdoğan said. “I want to come to an understanding with  you on this subject. This is a message to all the media. There are soldiers of  all the coalition forces in Afghanistan. There were 158 losses in the last  month, I received the numbers today. However, you cannot see this in either a  British newspaper or in a French one. However, when it is us, print media  covers it all.

“What are they [Turkish media] doing?” the  prime minister said. “The most important target of terrorism is propaganda.  [Terrorism] gets it done for free here. On whose side will the media be?”

Propaganda of terrorism is an umbrella term in  Turkey, where the legal system provides authorities with ample opportunity to  prosecute and imprison journalists, publishers, academics, activists, and  demonstrators on the vaguely defined charge. Dozens of journalists are in  prison in Turkey for their work, the vast majority of them on PKK and  terrorism-related charges.

The prime minister has publicly claimed a  commitment to freedom of the press and freedom of expression as pillars of a  democratic society, including in last week’s exclusive interview  with CNN journalist and CPJ board member Christiane Amanpour. But when he  equates media coverage with abetting terrorism, he sends a message to Turkey’s  judiciary and prosecutors to keep going after members of the press who cover  the sensitive Kurdish story.

In his August 31 statements, Erdoğan  specifically told the media to stop reporting on fallen Turkish soldiers, who  are officially recognized as “martyrs” by the Turkish state. When a journalist  pointed out that readers demand coverage of the issue, the prime minister was  straightforward: “Here, I believe that covering it even in small ways should be  put aside. It should not be covered at all.”

It’s of little surprise, then, that  pro-Kurdish local television station Gün TV is banned from broadcasting its  evening news programs for a week starting tomorrow. The program’s hosts were  also banned from appearing on air–not only on Gün TV but on any station–for the  same period. An astronomy documentary series will be aired instead of news,  local reports said. The ban was ordered by the High Board of Radio and  Television (RTÜK)–the state media regulator–on a complaint made by Mustafa  Toprak, the governor of Diyarbakir province, on request of local police. The  complaint reportedly said that Gün TV was involved in terrorist propaganda by  praising the PKK and its leaders, according to the local press.

Meanwhile, the  trial of more than 40 Kurdish journalists, charged with supporting  terrorism, continued for a third consecutive day in Istanbul today. The  accusations stem from media coverage of PKK activities.

Özgür Öğret is a Turkish freelance journalist and CPJ’s Istanbul correspondent.

Nina Ognianova is coordinator of CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program. A native of Bulgaria, Ognianova has led CPJ advocacy missions to Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.

Kurdish historian on 1915 Armenian Genocide

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September 14, 2012 | 00:04

ANKARA. – Turkish Taraf newspaper correspondent took an interview from a Kurdish famous historian and writer Naci Kutlay. Armenian News-NEWS.am presents an extract from the interview, where Kutlay speaks of Kurds and their role in the Armenian Genocide.

Slaughters of the Armenians were perpetrated during the nationalist boom?

We should know one thing – the Armenians established their party in 1889 and moved into the phase of bourgeoisie, while the Kurds were not even aware of the developed feudal system. In this period all started to be cautious of the Armenians. And the Young Turks started to scare the Kurds by the Armenians.

Did the Kurds play a role in perpetrating Armenian slaughters?

They did play a great role, as majority of the Armenians were slaughtered by the Kurds.

Following those events almost no Armenian was left in Anatolia, while those who stayed hid their identity. Why the Kurds are still afraid of the Armenians?

I am afraid but the issue is still up to date. The Young Turks have told the Kurds if they will not cooperate with Young Turks in their liberation struggle, Armenians will come back and establish their country. It sounded like a verdict for the Kurds.

Is it possible that continuous silence of Turks and Kurds about the Armenian slaughters is related to the robbery of the Armenians’ property?

It is a very huge factor. If you ever happen to be a guest in any home in Diyarbakir, you will be served exclusively with Armenian plates.

The Turks are great in Taking care of their murders, soon to be released Hrant dink murder Yasin Hayal

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Hrant Dink murder instigator may be released soon

September 14, 2012 – 16:50 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net –  Yasin Hayal, who is currently serving a life sentence for his role in the assassination of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, could be released in four months due to a legal loophole, according to a lawyer for the Dink family.

The court that issued the sentences in the Dink murder trial failed to properly send the file to the Supreme Court of Appeals, Hürriyet Daily News reported citing weekly Agos, of which Hrant Dink was editor-in-chief when he was murdered in January 2007,.

“All of the suspects were acquitted by the court on charges of being a member of an organization, so the maximum time Hayal could serve [if the sentence is not approved by the Appeals Court] is six years,” Fethiye Çetin, a lawyer for the Dink family, was quoted as saying. “It is almost impossible for the Supreme Court of Appeals to announce its ruling in the next four months.”

A recent amendment to the Turkish Penal Code has limited the maximum time to be spent in prison to five years, except on organized crime or terrorism charges, with the Supreme Court of Appeals having the authority to extend this for one year.

Bahri Belen, another lawyer for the Dink family, said the issue was controversial. “We can’t know for sure if the verdict was sent to the appeals court properly,” he told the HDN. “But as long as a sentence is approved by the Supreme Court of Appeals, any convict could be released on such legal grounds.”

The 14th Court of Serious Crimes sent the verdict to the Supreme Court of Appeals on June 6, but it was sent back to the court because some intervening parties were not officially informed about it. The court wrote a notice to Istanbul police on Aug. 10 demanding addresses and contact information for the intervening parties, showing that it still was not ready to re-send the verdict, Agos said.

The verdict will first be submitted to the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Çetin said, and he will inform both parties of his opinion. Then the appeal will be checked. The suspects’ lawyer will probably ask for a hearing date, further delaying a verdict.

The instigator of the Dink murder, Yasin Hayal, was sentenced on Jan. 17 to aggravated life imprisonment, while the triggerman, Ogün Samast, had earlier been sentenced to 22 years in prison by a juvenile court.

In its ruling, the court argued that there was not enough evidence indicating the existence of a conspiracy behind the crime, despite lingering doubts. A prosecutor then appealed the ruling in the trial on March 30, arguing that the crime was an organized hit.

Azerbaijan oil money in full force in US Gongress, U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) now under Azeri belly too.

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September 14, 2012 – 17:36 AMT

According to PanARMENIAN.Net report said Rohrabacher (R-CA). “If the people on the ground don’t want to be ruled by the mullah dictatorship in Iran, then we should support their right to determine their future through a referendum. Mr. Rohrabacher (R-CA). Now becoming the champion of the Azeri people. Will my question to Mr. Rohrabacher is how about the a referendum in Turkey occupied Kurdistan, Armenia, Greek… no that will not happen because they do not have oil money like Azerbaijan???

U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) has introduced a House Concurrent Resolution that states the “Azeri people, currently divided between Azerbaijan and Iran, have the right to self-determination and to their own sovereign country, if they so choose.”

“The Azeri people have an innate right to choose their own political structure and to choose their country,” said Rohrabacher. “It is not up to bureaucrats in Washington or the mullah dictatorship in Iran. The ethnic Azeri’s in Azerbaijan enjoy sovereignty and independence; there is no reason why the Azeri population in Iran should not be able to make that same choice. This principle holds true for all the people who live in Iran.”

Rep. Rohrabacher wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton previously that “the Azeri homeland was split between Imperial Russia and the Persian Empire in 1828 without the consent of the Azeri people.” Inspired by political discussions currently ongoing within Azerbaijan’s Parliament, Rep. Rohrabacher stated that,

“My resolution puts the US on the side of the Azeri people and with the people within Iran,” said Rohrabacher. “If the people on the ground don’t want to be ruled by the mullah dictatorship in Iran, then we should support their right to determine their future through a referendum. It is disconcerting to me that the State Department and Tehran agree that the people of Iran should be forced to live within the borders and under the same jurisdiction no matter how the majority of the Azeris believe. I am calling on the government of Iran to provide its Azeri population with a referendum to determine their own future state.”

Rep. Rohrabacher is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Audits for 3 Georgia Schools Tied to Turkish Movement, New York Times

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New York Times

By STEPHANIE SAUL

Published: June 5, 2012

A group of three publicly financed charter schools in Georgia run by followers of Fethullah Gulen, a prominent Turkish imam, have come under scrutiny after they defaulted on bonds and an audit found that the schools improperly granted hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to businesses and groups, many of them with ties to the Gulen movement.

The audit, released Tuesday by the Fulton County Schools near Atlanta, found the schools made purchases like T-shirts, teacher training and video production services from organizations with connections to school officials or Gulen followers. Those included more than $500,000 in contracts since January 2010 with the Grace Institute, a foundation whose board has included school leaders. In some cases the awards skirted bidding requirements, the audit said.

“I would just question how those vendors were selected when price in many instances wasn’t part of the decision making,” said the Fulton County superintendent, Robert Avossa, who criticized the schools for conflicts of interest. “And those are public dollars.”

Gulen followers run more than 120 charter schools nationwide, making the loosely affiliated network one of the nation’s largest public charter school operators. Despite clear connections, the schools generally deny any affiliation with the Gulen movement, a powerful religious and political force in Turkey whose leader, Mr. Gulen, views establishing schools as part of his mission. While some of the charter schools have been praised for their academic performance, their business practices have raised questions.

The New York Times reported last year that the group’s 36 Texas schools had granted millions of dollars in construction and renovation contracts to firms run by Turkish-Americans with ties to the movement, in some cases bypassing lower bids from firms with no connections to the movement. The Texas schools also awarded deals for cafeteria food, after-school programs and teacher training to organizations affiliated with Gulen followers.

The Georgia audit, posted to the Fulton County Schools Web site Tuesday evening, focused on the Fulton Science Academy Middle School in Alpharetta, Ga., a 500-student school that was recently denied a renewal of its public charter. The school, which had received $32 million in public funds over the past 10 years, said it would operate as a private school. While the audit does not lay out all of the relationships between contractors and the movement, a chart shows connections between the people running the schools, some of the vendors and Gulen-connected groups.

Dr. Avossa said that the audit’s findings had raised concerns about the group’s two other public charter schools in his district: Fulton Science Academy High School and Fulton Sunshine Academy, an elementary school.

He said a full audit would be conducted of those schools “to gauge whether similar wrongdoing is taking place.”

The three schools have enrolled 1,200 students representing a cross section of students in the Fulton County district.

Wells Fargo Bank, trustee of a $19 million bond issue by the schools, told investors on May 15 that the three schools were in default on those bonds. The bank said the default was caused by the group’s failure to disclose in its bond offering last year that its middle school charter renewal might have been in jeopardy. “The failure to disclose the ongoing concerns with Fulton Science Academy’s charter renewal petition constituted an omission of material facts in the public statement,” Wells Fargo said.

A default gives the bondholders the right to demand immediate payment, possibly requiring a liquidation of some school assets. The bonds are trading at about 70 percent of face value.

Concerns about governance and transparency were partly behind the district’s rejection of the Fulton Science Academy Middle School’s demand for a 10-year charter renewal. The school was named a “blue-ribbon” school last year by the federal government for its performance and appealed unsuccessfully to the state.

Kenan Sener, the school’s principal, said that the audit contained significant inaccuracies and that the school would issue a statement on Wednesday, after fully reviewing the document.

Nationwide, the charter schools have pursued an aggressive expansion plan, much of it financed by public bond issues, with the Texas schools borrowing more than $200 million through bond offerings.

In Texas, the group’s spending has been the focus of investigations by the State Legislature and the Texas Education Agency. The federal Department of Education is also investigating the Texas schools, apparently focusing on allegations of discrimination against Hispanic special education students in enrollment. The schools have denied wrongdoing.

One criticism of the schools involves their reliance on teachers imported from Turkey while teacher unemployment in the United States remains high. The audit said the Fulton Science Academy Middle School had paid $75,000 in immigration-related expenses for such employees.

Although the schools are inspired by Mr. Gulen and teach Turkish language and culture, they do not teach religion.

Read More about on boiling frogs web site Turkish Imam’s US Operations:

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/tag/imam-gulen/

Turkey supports Assad toppling to increase regional influence – expert

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September 12, 2012 – 16:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net –  From the very onset, Turkey supported toppling of Syria’s Assad regime as a means of boosting its regional influence, a Turkologist believes.

As Hakob Chakryan told a September 12 news conference, “With Turkey having a hand in toppling of Assad, as pro-Turkish forces become included in the new government, Ankara’s regional influence is sure to soar.”

Arab studies expert Hayk Kocharyan, in turn, shared his views on reaching a settlement in Syria crisis.

“First solution would be a Libyan scenario, with a protracted war. The second one is a Somalia scenario, where the country is divided between a number of armed groups, with anarchy reigning.

However, Syria’s system of values makes the 1st scenario unlikely,” the expert said.

Commenting on Turkey’s remarks, suggesting Ankara’s readiness to welcome Syrian Armenians, the expert noted, “Turkey is interested in the collapse of Armenian communities as inheritors of Genocide legacy.”

“I’m confident, however, that Syrian Armenians would never agree to live in Turkey,” he concluded

Owen, Cemal and 1915

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By: Orhan-Kemal-Cengiz

The article was quite interesting for a number of reasons. The first was obvious: A country known as a bastion of democracy is being invited to face its past. And from this article we understood that “facing history is still a hot debate,” even in a place like the UK.Owen started his article with a few quotes from British Foreign Secretary William Hague: “We have to get out of this post-colonial guilt. … Be confident in ourselves.” Jones’s article is a challenge to the “lets forget everything and reach eternal peace” mentality. Hague’s way of relating to the past is quite popular in Turkey, as you probably know. Interestingly, Owen was criticizing Hague’s approach to history by making a comparison with British expectations of Turkey. Owen said, “A foreign country such as Turkey can rightly be berated for failing to come to terms with an atrocity like the Armenian Genocide, but the darkest moments of our own history are intentionally forgotten.”

After reading Owen’s piece in The Independent, I came across a few interviews with Hasan Cemal in different newspapers, all of which were about his new book titled “1915: Armenian Genocide.” The book has not yet been published, but it is already quite famous in Turkey. Some criticize Cemal while some praise him for his soon-to-be-published book.

Cemal is quite a well-known figure in Turkey. He is a journalist and writer, writing a regular column for the Milliyet daily. He is the grandson of Cemal Paşa, one of the three leaders of İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti (Committee of Union and Progress [CUP]), which organized the massacres of the Armenians in 1915.

I think his book is quite timely and meaningful. So far I have only seen the cover of the book and read a few sentences from its preface. On the cover, Cemal’s photo appears; in it, he lays flowers at the site of the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan. Obviously, the book will spark quite an intense debate in the coming days, and the discussion has already begun.

Like Owen, Cemal emphasized the importance of facing the past in the interviews he gave. He said: “We cannot move forward without confronting and taking into consideration the events of the past. We cannot keep an eye on the anguish of the past. Moreover, the pain of 1915 is not a story, it is a current day issue.”

I want to conclude this piece with some words I underlined in the preface to Cemal’s new book:

“I cannot forget that Yerevan morning in September 2008. In the first sunlight of the morning, the peak of Mount Ağrı [Ararat] would emerge and then vanish in the fog. ‘The hand of history,’ I had written that morning, ‘will show the way for those who wish to see.’ In 1919, the colonial army of England had opened fire on people in India, committing a crime against humanity by bloodying its hands with the Amritsar Massacre. In 1997, Queen of England Elizabeth II, while apologizing to the people of India, had said that what happened in Amritsar was a tragedy, but ‘history cannot be rewritten, however much we might sometimes wish otherwise.’ Surely we cannot change history; however, facing history is in our hands. Without facing the grim realities of the past, how can we ever move forward? We cannot remain silent in the face of pain! We cannot allow yesterday to take today hostage. … Real peace and democracy can unfortunately only be arrived at by passing through intolerable pain, as in the case of Hrant Dink, through paying a big price. It is evident that some stones in the lives of certain societies don’t happen without the paying of a price, or they don’t sit where they are supposed to.”

While Muslim Turks where using Islam for massacring millions of Armenians, on the other hand Muslims of the Arab Countries where opening their homes to the Armenian Orphans and refugees.

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Our great appreciation to GARO Yogurtjian of Costa Mesa CA. for providing these pictures.

While Muslim Turks where using Islam for massacring millions of Armenians on the other hand Muslims of the Arab countries where opening their homes to the Armenian Orphans and refugees. Photos showing General Austins interest in the welfaer of the Orphons, click on the image to see all the pictures and expend the video to see the full pictures.
You will see View of the 17000 Armenian Orphanage at Baqubah Iraq refugee Camp.

The promising future generations of Armenians, one battalion of Armenian Orphans, who being eye-witnesses of their parents massacre, can never forget what they have been allowed to enjoy under the auspices of the British,

His grace Moushegh Seropian, Archbishop Prelate of Mesopotamia Diocese, discussing with sheikh Fehed bay of Enezch Tribe, the liberation of the Armenian Orphans and refugees.

You will see photo showing General Austin’s interest in the welfare of the Orphans.  The photos showing the deplorable pitiful state of newly rescued refugees and the Orphans.

Also A group of Armenians Refugees and Orphans transferred to Port Said, on the 25th August 1918. And photos of Armenian refugees leaving Mosul for Baqubah, Iraq.

It is the same orphans who, if given a fair chance, will be able to raise our small but victories flag and hoist it upon the other unredeemed part of our fatherland, which, although demolished but still beautiful, embittered but sweet, razed to the ground but is still charming home of our greater Armenian.

 

Cemal Pasha Grandson publishes a book about Armenian Genocide

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13:15, 7 September, 2012

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS:   Hasam Cemal, the grandson of one of Armenian Genocide perpetrators Cemal Pasha is publishing a book in coming week entitled ”1915. Armenian genocide”.  As Armenpress reports citing Istanbul based ”Agos” Armenian weekly newspaper, the author stated ”We cannot move forward without confronting and taking into consideration the events of past. We cannot keep an eye on the anguish of the past. Moreover the pain of  1915 is not a story, it is current day issue” .

The first chapter of the book runs how Hasan comes to know 1915 events. Then the author dwells on how he became to be called ”parricide” after coming forth with his obtained   information and statements  in the course of Hrant Dink assassination  hearings in 2006. The second chapter of the book tells the author’s way of thinking before reveal of  1915 events  and reportedly how  it  changed in the course of the time.The most interesting part of the book is the third chapter entitled ”Pasha Grandfather or Cemal Pasha family”. This chapter tells about  1915 Armenian Genocide  organizer Cemal Pasha and his  family. Hasan Cemal has repeatedly stated he recognizes 1915 events Genocide. He visted Tsitsernakeberd and laid a wreath at the Genocide Memorial in 2008

France is to study the new draft law criminalizing Genocides denial

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19:30, 7 September, 2012

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS: France is examining the new draft law criminalizing Genocides denial. This was declared by the director of France’s presidential office Pier Benour from the name of Francois Hollande as a response to French Armenian Arman Mkhitaryan’s letter who tried to clarify the readiness of Hollande to keep his campaign promises concerning the new draft law criminalizing the denial of Armenian Genocide.

AS reports Armenpress citing French Nouvelle d’Armenie the director of France’s presidential office Pier Benour highlighted in the letter that ,, Francois Hollande is to fulfill his commitment” and that the text of the draw is being examined.

As you know, France’s Constitutional Commission has decided that the project presented in the form of a draft law does not comply with the Constitution. Therefore, it is necessary to find another solution which corresponds to “duty of memory” and to the laws of republic so that it will not be denied by the Constitutional committee again”.