Eight Turkish police officers were killed in a mine attack by the PKK in Bingöl

September 17, 2012 By administrator

BİNGÖL – Hürriyet Daily News

Eight Turkish police officers were killed in a mine attack by the PKK in Bingöl, bringing the total number of killed security officers to 30 since the beginning of September

Eight policemen were killed and nine more were wounded yesterday in the eastern province of Bingöl’s Karlıova district in a mine blast that occurred as police vehicles were passing through the area, Doğan news agency reported.
The mine was detonated by remote control by suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The police officers killed in the attack were identified as Gökhan Kuzu, Fatih Celayir, Cuma Mercimek, Samet Kırcalı, Ümit Yıldırım, Murat Toprak, Osman Küçükdilan and Şeyhmus Karakut. One civilian, a teenage girl, was also wounded amid the chaos by a canister shot in the area.
Clashes continued in the area afterwards as security forces sought to locate the militants responsible for the attack.
Turkish President Abdullah Gül and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu condemned the strike and said such attacks would not shake Turkey’s will in its fight with terror. Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek also said they would not allow the attack to drag Turkey into chaos and terror.
Meanwhile, four Turkish soldiers were killed and five more were wounded Sept. 15 in a suspected PKK attack during the passing of a military convoy, Doğan news agency reported.
Explosives were detonated remotely by suspected PKK members as the military convoy was passing through a village 35 kilometers from the town center of the eastern province of Hakkari at around 2 p.m.
Operations followed the blast, as armored vehicles and helicopters were sent to the area immediately. Meanwhile, the Hakkari Governor’s Office announced in a written statement that 28 PKK militants were killed in the area yesterday. Some 123 militants have been caught in the area in the last 10 days, the statement also said.
High numbers
At least 30 Turkish security personnel have been killed by PKK militants in the eastern part of Turkey since the beginning of September, while more than 150 PKK militants have also been killed, according to reports. Ten Turkish soldiers were killed and seven were injured in attacks by PKK in the southeastern province of Şırnak on Sept. 2. Some 373 PKK militants have been killed in operations carried out over five months, while 88 Turkish soldiers have also lost their lives in the last nine months, the army was quoted as saying Sept. 9.

Arsine Khanjyan: Turkey will recognize Armenian Genocide when it is able to look at its own “bloody” history

September 17, 2012 By administrator

11:21, 17 September, 2012

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS:

Turkeywill recognize the Armenian Genocide only when it finds strength in itself to look at its own “bloody” history and realizes that their actions were nothing but a crime. It is necessary also that the members of the Turkish society ask themselves, who am I in reality with my bad and good qualities and genetic memory. This was reported to Armenpress by the Canadian Armenian famous actress and producer Arsine Khanjyan. According to her, this all will come true, when the Turkish people themselves begin clarifying the history and exert pressure.

“They should understand that they have lived in lie for so many years and each of them will feel that in their families there is a part of that “crime”, that their grandfather was one of the implementators of the crime of the year of 1915”, – said Arsine Khanjyan. The actress is certain that the denial policy is to the detriment of the current generation. “This very denial makes them a part of that continuous crime”, – said the actress.Armeniashould pay a great attention to the Armenians living inTurkey, notwithstanding the fact if they are still Christians or forcibly made Muslims. They should join the other minorities living inTurkeyand make concrete actions. “I hope that we will come to a certain result in that case. At least, I hope”, – said Arsine.

In this issue the actress highlights the role of the international community as well. “The international community is responsible for the denial as Turkey. The international community should cease all the discussions and negotiations on this issue and look at this problem without political interest”, – said Arsine emphasizing that not only Armenians should cry about it but also the allies. According to her, notwithstanding that Holocaust was recognized byGermany, the Turkish cannot find strength in them to accept the reality. There is only one reason,Turkeylacks civilized society. “People never forget about a crime, genocide. The further generations ofArmeniaandTurkeywill always face this part of the history of their countries and it will never be forgotten. And for the sake of the Armenian and Turkish generations the international structures should exert pressure to settle the issue”, – said Arsine.

In the years of 1892-1923 the Turkish government organized the Armenian Genocide, during which mass deportation and massacre of more than 1.5 million people from the Western Armenia, Cilicia andOttoman Empirewas carried out. Conditionally the beginning of the Genocide is considered to be the April 24 1915, when 600 Armenian intellectuals were arrested and then killed inConstantinople.

Fars news agency: Turkish Airline Flying Al-Qaeda from Pakistan to Syrian Borders

September 16, 2012 By administrator

News number: 9106240242 17:25 | 2012-09-15

by: Iran’s Fars news agency

Turkish Airline Flying Al-Qaeda from Pakistan to Syrian Borders

TEHRAN (FNA)- Turkey’s national air carrier, Turkish Air, has been transiting Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants from North Waziristan in Pakistan to the Turkish borders with Syria, sources revealed on Saturday, mentioning that the last group were flown to Hatay on a Turkish Air Airbus flight No. 709 on September 10, 2012

“The Turkish intelligence agency sent 93 Al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists from Waziristan to Hatay province near the border with Syria on a Turkish Air Airbus flight No. 709 on September 10, 2012 and via the Karachi-Istanbul flight route,” the source told FNA on Saturday, adding that the flight had a short stop in Istanbul.

The 93 terrorists transited to the Turkish border with Syria included Al-Qaeda militants from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and a group of Arabs residing in Waziristan, he added.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of his information, further revealed that the Turkish intelligence agency is coordinating its measures with the CIA and the Saudi and Qatari secret services.

FNA dispatches from Pakistan said new al-Qaeda members were trained in North Waziristan until a few days ago and then sent to Syria, but now they are transferring their command center to the borders between Turkey and Syria as a first step to be followed by a last move directly into the restive parts of Syria on the other side of the border.

The al-Qaeda, backed by Turkey, the US and its regional Arab allies, had set up a new camp in Northern Waziristan in Pakistan to train Salafi and Jihadi terrorists and dispatched them to Syria via Turkish borders.

“A new Al-Qaeda has been created in the region through the financial and logistical backup of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and a number of western states, specially the US,” a source told FNA earlier this month.

Ali Mahdian told FNA that the US and the British governments have been playing with the al-Qaeda through their Arab proxy regimes in the region in a bid to materialize their goals, specially in Syria.

He said the Saudi and Qatari regimes serve as interlocutors to facilitate the CIA and MI6 plans in Syria through instigating terrorist operations by Salafi and Arab Jihadi groups, adding that the terrorists do not know that they actually exercise the US plans.

“Turkey has also been misusing extremist Salafis and Al-Qaeda terrorists to intensify the crisis in Syria and it has recently augmented its efforts in this regard by helping the new Al-Qaeda branch set up a camp in Northern Waziristan in Pakistan to train Al-Qaeda and Taliban members as well as Turkish Salafis and Arab Jihadis who are later sent to Syria for terrorist operations,” said the source.

He said the camp in Waziristan is not just a training center, but a command center for terrorist operations against Syria.

Yet, the source said the US and Britain are looking at the new Al-Qaeda force as an instrument to attain their goals and do not intend to support them to ascend to power, “because if Salafi elements in Syria ascend to power, they will create many problems for the US, the Western states and Turkey in future”.

“Thus, the US, Britain and Turkey are looking at the Al-Qaeda as a tactical instrument,” he said, and warned of the regional and global repercussions of the US and Turkish aid to the Al-Qaeda and Salafi groups.

“Unfortunately, these group of countries have just focused on the short-term benefits that the Salafis and the Al-Qaeda can provide for them and ignore the perils of this support in the long run,” he said.

“At present, the western countries, specially Britain which hosts and controls the Jihadi Salafi groups throughout the world are paving the ground for these extremists to leave their homes – mostly in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Untied Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as those who live in Europe and the US – for Waziristan,” the source added.

In relevant remarks, Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi last week blamed certain states, the Salafis and the Al-Qaeda for terrorist operations which have claimed the lives of thousands of people in his country, and said terrorist groups supported by certain foreign actors are misusing differences in his country to bring Syria into turmoil.

Addressing the 16th heads-of-state summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) here in Tehran on Thursday, the Syrian premier noted terrorist attacks on his nation, and said the “terrorists are backed up by certain foreign states”.

“Many countries allege to be supporting peaceful solutions in Syria, but they oppose Annan’s plan in practice,” he said, and cautioned, “The responsibility for the failure of this plan lies on their shoulder as they strove to keep the Syrian crisis going and falsified events.”

“The world should know that the Syrian crisis, in fact, rises from foreign meddling. Certain well-known countries from inside and outside the region are seeking instability of Syria,” the Syrian prime minister complained.

Elaborating on the recent developments in Syria, al-Halqi said, “It has been proved that foreign-backed terrorist groups have been misusing events and killing the innocent people.”

“These terrorists include Salafis and Al-Qaeda Takfiri groups,” he reiterated, and added, “Those states that support terrorism and oppose talks should be given moral and economic punishments as they are part of the problem in Syria.”

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of stirring unrests in Syria once again.

The US and its western and regional allies have long sought to topple Bashar al-Assad and his ruling system. Media reports said that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad’s government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

Opposition activists who several months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons – most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past – has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9106240242

Special Thanks to: FNA Bureau in Islamabad, FNA Bureau in Kabul, FNA Bureau in Damascus

Kurdish historian on 1915 Armenian Genocide

September 14, 2012 By administrator

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

September 14, 2012 By administrator

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.

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

September 12, 2012 By administrator

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: