Turkey-EU rights gap widening: Timmermans

April 28, 2016 By administrator

Turkey’s crackdown on the media and reported human rights abuses are pushing the country further away from Europe even as it hopes to join the European Union, a senior official for the bloc has said.

“The distance between us and Turkey is not decreasing; it is increasing because of human rights, the media and what is happening in civil society,” European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans told EU lawmakers April 28, according to Reuters.

“If they want to come close to the European Union so badly let them prove that they can,” the former Dutch foreign minister said.

Human rights and media freedom groups have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the limited tolerance of dissent shown by authorities in Turkey.

Timmermans noted concerns raised by lawmakers during the session at the European Parliament about curbs on media freedoms and human rights in Turkey but argued that opening further discussions on eventual Turkish membership of the EU – an element of a Turkey-EU migrant deal – would be a way to engage Ankara and convince it to change tack.

Timmermans is a key negotiator of the widely criticized EU-Turkey agreement to stem the flow of migrants to Greece, where Turkey started taking migrants back from Greece after March 20 in exchange for the EU taking the same amount of Syrian refugees from Turkey. Turkey was also given pledges that its citizens will obtain the right to visa-free travel inside the bloc if it meets necessary criteria, as well as promises of accelerated accession talks and a total of 6 million euros of funds to be used for Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Meanwhile, the EU’s humanitarian aid commissioner, Christos Stylianides, said April 28 that the highly contested EU deal with Turkey may not be ideal, but it was the only solution to stem the migration crisis.

“I know this deal remains controversial. I would like to say that there is no solution without Turkey. There is no other solution than having a deal with Turkey,” Stylianides said in Paris, according to Agence France-Presse. “We need them, they need us, that is all.”

The EU commissioner appeared in front of the French Senate where lawmakers expressed “critical doubts” about the dangers posed to the 28-member bloc which is facing the worst migration crisis in its history.

He was grilled with questions over the Turkey deal after a week in which Ankara threatened to ditch its side of the bargain if the EU failed to keep its word on the visa deal.

Stylianides described the threat as “unfortunate.”

On the same day, U.S.’ POLITICO reported that France and Germany wanted to build an “emergency brake” into future visa-free travel agreements with non-EU countries, including Turkey.

Paris and Berlin put forward a joint proposal “on a mechanism to suspend visa-free travel,” dated April 27, the newspaper reported, saying it had obtained the document.

The “current migration and refugee trends make it necessary to have an efficient mechanism in place to suspend visa liberalization,” the document was quoted as saying by POLITICO.

It said the measure would come into effect not only when too many Turks make use of arrangements but also too many Georgians, whose government is also discussing visa-free travel with the EU.

“We are looking into it. There has been much news about this topic. We will see if there really is a document but this – for us – will be changing the rules of the game afterwards. We abided by the deal. Now the ball is in their [EU’s] court,” a senior Turkish diplomatic official told the Hürriyet Daily News on April 28.

US human rights report slams Turkey over freedoms, justice system and security

April 14, 2016 By administrator

n_97821_1 The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released annually by the U.S. State Department, has provided a snapshot of the deteriorating human rights environment in Turkey, stressing that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government’s interference with freedom of expression, arbitrary application of laws and inadequate protection of civilians in the country’s southeast pose great threats to civil rights and liberties.

Pressure against the exercise of free speech was listed as one of the direst problems of Turkish democracy, as the report cited some 30 journalists charged under anti-terror laws, raids on media companies and the forceful takeover of five media outlets affiliated with the Fethullah Gülen movement through government-appointment trustees.

“At least one journalist was physically attacked and injured in the wake of threats incited by a pro-government member of parliament,” the report said, apparently referring to daily Hürriyet columnist Ahmet Hakan, who was beaten after former AKP Istanbul deputy Abdurrahim Boynukalın delivered a fiery speech addressing hundreds of protesters who attacked the aforementioned newspaper. Boynukalın was later appointed deputy minister of youth and sports.

The report also emphasized the increased number of indictments against individuals, including journalists and minors, who have been accused of “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. While the Justice Ministry reported receiving 331 complaints in the first six months of 2015 under the controversial law that criminalizes insults against the Turkish nation and its leaders, the EU progress report claimed the ministry in fact received 962 requests over the same period, up from 397 in all of 2014.
The report said “impunity and weak administration of justice” was another issue of concern, as certain laws were applied too broadly and inconsistently.

“Wide leeway granted to prosecutors and judges contributed to politically motivated investigations,” the report alleged, suggesting authorities manipulated laws to arrest members of opposition parties or persons accused of having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party or the purported Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ)/ Parallel State Structure (PDY) led by U.S.-based Islamic scholar Gülen, the AKP’s ally-turned-foe.

It was noted that five Koza İpek Holding media outlets were placed under trusteeship, only to reopen with a pro-government editorial perspective. The report also added that Gülen-affiliated television channels were under financial pressure, as five out of six digital pay-television platforms dropped the channels by Nov. 16, 2015.

The third category of common human rights violations cited by the U.S. State Department was the inadequate protection of civilians during operations against the PKK in a number of Turkey’s southeastern provinces, where long curfews were put in place, depriving civilians of access to basic needs like food, water or shelter.

“The government did not sufficiently protect vulnerable populations, with the result that both PKK fighters, and, at times, government security forces reportedly killed and injured civilians,” it said, adding that dozens of civilians and at least 20 children were killed in clashes.

The report also claimed that government dragged its feet on investigating and prosecuting members of the security forces who were accused of human rights abuses.

April/14/2016

EU: Game Changing’ Snowden Resolution Protects Rights of All EU Citizens

November 1, 2015 By administrator

Edward Snowden’s legal representative in Hong Kong told Sputnik that last week’s resolution from the European parliament to prevent Snowden’s extradition is a progressive step to protect the rights of citizens in the EU.

The approval by the European Union parliament of a resolution that calls on member states to prevent Edward Snowden’s extradition to the US marks a “natural progression” to ensure greater protection for the rights of EU citizens, lawyer Robert Tibbo told Radio Sputnik on Sunday.

Despite the vote having no legal force, the resolution to offer protection from extradition to Snowden “definitely falls into a game-changing set of resolutions,” said Tibbo, who represented Edward Snowden in Hong Kong.
“The EU has resolved to recognize that from its 2014 EU parliament report, necessary changes need to be made relating to electronic mass surveillance by government.”

The report identified issues such as a lack of transparency and government oversight, and deficiencies in policies and legislation that should ensure the privacy rights and human rights of EU citizens are not violated by surveillance programs, said the lawyer.
“The European Union in 2014 also mentioned the necessity to provide policy legislation and mechanisms to protect whistleblowers,” explained Tibbo.
“That was a year and a half ago, and the resolution last week by the European Parliament was a recognition that European Union members have not done enough so far in terms of bringing about those changes.”
The resolution that was passed on October 29 was a “very significant step,” said Tibbo, which follows a previous resolution in 2013, the 2014 report and a report from the UN rapporteur on human rights as early as 2009, which warned about a lack of protection for civilians’ privacy and human rights.
“With Snowden’s revelations, there was a significant drop in trust between the European Union and the United States, and the European Union is simply moving forward, building up that trust again with the United States government.”
“This is a natural progression, the European Union, based on evidence, based on law and policy, they are making rational decisions on how to move forward to protect European Union citizen’s rights.”

Who is behind Syrian Observatory for Human Rights? Nimrod Kamer investigates for RT VIDEO

October 2, 2015 By administrator

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has been the prime source for MSM-aired news from the Syrian battlefield. But how much does one truly know about this UK-based organization and its director? Journalist and prankster Nimrod Kamer went to find out.

The organization has been one of the sources for the mainstream media to build their reports on Syria since the start of the civil war four years ago. The organization claims to have a wide network of contacts in the region who feed their information to the head office, where it is processed and later posted on the website, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Since the start of the Moscow anti-ISIS campaign Russia has started featuring in its reports as well – and it was quickly picked up by major Western media outlets. One of the latest wires from the Observatory that “Russian warplanes [killed] 30 civilians in Homs including women and children” quickly made it into major news sources.

“To the degree people choose to believe social media, they can be my guest. But quite contrary to what [US Secretary of State John Kerry] has said, it is a notoriously unreliable tool upon which to base judgments,” former CIA officer, Ray McGovern told RT.

‘I am not a media organization’ – Rami Abdel Rahman

RT decided to investigate who the man behind the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is and why the media outlet is so popular with MSM. Well-known journalist and prankster Nimrod Kamer took up the job.

The two-bedroom Coventry home of Syrian immigrant Rami Abdel Rahman has been the organization’s base and the source of information for major mainstream media on anything Syria-related from the past four years, including the death toll.

Nobody quite knows who Abdel Rahman has on the ground in Syria, but information just keeps flowing on and on, usually in a dramatic fashion and with little detail.

Kamer walked around the English city of Coventry, approaching people with questions on Abdel Rahman and how he could be located. No one seemed to have a clue they had the prime source of news from the Syrian frontline living right there in their quaint British neighborhood.

Kamer had no luck catching the director at home. Calling him on the phone, he found out Abdel Rahman went out to a shop. The journalist went about explaining that he had hoped to catch the organization’s director to quiz him on his “media organization” – but that term was met with hostility on the part of Abdel Rahman.

“I am not a media organization. I work from my home, my private home.”

The director of the Observatory seemed very distressed, talking about the dangers of meeting up for daytime interviews because “they are trying to kill me.” It was difficult to identify who “they” were, but Abdel Rahman clearly wasn’t in the mood. He asked Kamer to send him his name and details, which Abdel Rahman would then send to the police.

“When you run a media organization you should expect journalists to come and ask questions, especially if it’s such a shady and unsourced media organization… I had a great time.”

Armenian Government to Unveil Plan to Reclaim Rights of Armenian People

September 25, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN (ARMENPRESS)—A committee formed within the Armenian state commission on the coordination of events for the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is reportedly preparing a file on the legal claims of property and other rights and interests of the Armenian people in the aftermath of the Genocide.

Gagik Harutyunyan, president of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, heads the committee, and will discuss the file and future processes during a meeting of the state commission on September 26.

Vigen Sargsyan, President Serzh Sarkisian’s chief of staff and coordinator of events dedicated to the Genocide centennial, told Armenpress that the process of restoring the rights of the Armenian people has just begun.

“You know, we already have the first legal claims filed by [the] Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia. I think that the process will continue, people will start re-evaluating documents, the heritage, the evidence they possess. The ‘Share Your Story’ project greatly contributes to the latter, which we realized on the official website of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, where young people especially [have] posted their family stories, memories, arousing demand in them,” Sargsyan said.

The provisions of the Pan-Armenian Declaration on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, adopted on January 29, 2015, expresses the united will of Armenia and the Armenian people to achieve worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and the elimination of the consequences of the Genocide. To this end, the file being prepared on the Armenian people’s legal claims is a point of departure in the process of restoring individual, communal and pan-Armenian rights and legitimate interests.

Sargsyan said that the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and especially its emblematic Forget-Me-Not flower, have served their purpose. The events held on April 22-24 in Armenia were broadcast by the world media, reaching 1.3 billion people worldwide.

“Taking into account that all the international channels ensured live broadcasting, it provided the possibility for large masses to get familiarized with the events in a way we wanted them to,” Sargsyan said.

In practical terms, according to Sargsyan, the events dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide created new models of cooperation between Armenia and the Diaspora.

“All of us worked together; the success of the 100th anniversary events proves the immense power of cooperation. I think that Armenia became home to the Armenians spread all over the world where they would like to return to as a place for uniting their ideas, achieving professional success, [and] implementing projects,” emphasized Sargsyan.

The most inspiring and modest result of the centennial events and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute is the daily visit of Turkish tourists to the museum. Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan said during a meeting with journalists that more Turks visited the museum in the last month than during the 15 years of the museum’s existence.

“Turks’ visits to the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute have become regular. The greatest and the most impressive thing for us is their silence. If earlier they used to come with certain skepticism, made inquiries, cast doubts, today they do not have reasons for questioning,” Demoyan stated, adding that to some extent they had reached the goal: to reach Turkish society so that Turks can begin understanding why a new chain of events occurred in terms of international recognition of the Genocide all over the world.

“Why are exhibitions organized on [the governmental] level in Paris and [in] over 40 cities of France? Why [did] state officials visit Tsitsernakaberd? This complex of “why’s” will lead to an important objective, so that we become able to change approaches among future generations [of Turks], so that they understand that their authorities distort the reality,” noted Demoyan.

A forum of experts gathered today in Yerevan under the slogan, “I remember and Demand,” to discuss the results of Armenian Genocide centennial events held this year.

The number of countries which have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide has reached twenty four, deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said today.

According to Kocharyan, five counties recognized the Armenian Genocide between 2014 and 2015. Kocharyan said that another important point is that the number of countries that have criminalized the denial of the Armenian Genocide has increased from two to four.

“Extremely important are the reactions of various international organizations, the resolutions they adopted, including the European Council, which not only condemn the Armenian Genocide, but also call on Turkey to come to terms with its history,” Kocharyan said.

Kocharyan emphasized also the recognition by Armenia of the Greek and Assyrian genocides in the Ottoman Empire as an important step.

Human Rights Watch: Baku games to begin amid widespread repression

June 11, 2015 By administrator

The first European Games will open inAzerbaijan on June 12, 2015, in an atmosphere of government repression unprecedented in the post-Soviet era, Human Rights Watch said today.
The authorities have detained dozens of critics of the government and failed to allow several journalists from major European outlets to enter the country to cover the games. They have also barred the human rights organization Amnesty International from releasing a report in Baku, the capital.
“Government repression is making the European Games historic for all the wrong reasons,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The European Olympic Committee still has the chance to prevent the Games from being tarnished by the Azerbaijani government’s abuses, but time is running out.”
Azerbaijan is hosting the inaugural European Games, a multi-sport event for over 6,000 athletes from 50 European nations, in Baku from June 12 to 28. The European Olympic Committees (EOC), an association of 50 National Olympic Committees, owns and regulates the games. Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, is also the president of the country’s National Olympic Committee, and has strong ties with the sports world.
In recent weeks Azerbaijani authorities denied or failed to provide required press accreditation and visas to at least three foreign journalists with European media outlets. A reporter with a leading European television station said he has yet to receive accreditation despite following all of the procedures. The authorities denied accreditation to Regis Gente, a journalist with Radio France Internationale who has been based in the South Caucasus reporting news stories on Azerbaijan since 2002. A third journalist denied accreditation works for a major European news media outlet.
Also on June 10, Azerbaijani border police at the airport in Baku refused entry to and deported Emma Hughes, an activist with the London-based group Platform who was accredited to cover the Games as editor of Red Pepper magazine. Hughes has advocated the release of government critics wrongly imprisoned by the Azerbaijani authorities, and her book criticizing the Azerbaijani government is scheduled for publication on June 12.
“Media freedom is a central pillar of the Olympic movement,” Denber said. “By denying visas to reporters covering the games, Azerbaijan and President Aliyev are rejecting one of the basic rules for hosting the event. The EOC and International Olympic Committee should demand a full explanation and reversal of these actions.”

Turkish rights groups demand recognition, apology for Genocide

April 20, 2015 By administrator

Human rights organizations in Turkey, under the umbrella group “100th Year – Stop Denialism,” have issued a statement on the threshold of the Armenian Genocide centenary, the Armenian Weekly reports.

The statement says:

“An indelible, massive crime was committed in these lands, 100 years ago—a crime that will remain irreversible, irremediable, and unforgivable. During the genocide of 1915, Armenians and other Christian peoples of Asia Minor, among them Assyrians and Rums, were targeted by a systematic politics of extermination, and destroyed along with their social organizations, economy, arts and crafts, and historical and cultural heritage.

Our initiative “100th Year – Stop Denialism” was established to commemorate the genocide on April 24, in Istanbul and Diyarbakır. The initiative brings together (in alphabetical order) the Anatolian Cultures and Research Association (Aka-Der), Human Rights Association (HRA) – Committee against Racism and Discrimination, Nor Zartonk, Platform for Confronting History, Turabdin Assyrians Platform, and Zan Foundation for Social, Political, and Economic Research. Our initiative is also supported by the Gomidas Institute (London), the Armenian Council of Europe, and Collectif Van (Paris), whose representatives will be joining us.

Shame and responsibility are the basis of the “100th Year – Stop Denialism Initiative’s” conceptualization of the commemoration. We believe that any commemoration of the crime of genocide on these lands will have to express the responsibility of genocide denial itself, and the shame felt by the descendants of the peoples who have had the opportunity for growth, development, and enrichment in the absence of–due to the absence of–the peoples who fell victim to genocide.

While this understanding constitutes the ethical core of our acts of commemoration on April 24, our concrete demands are for recognition, apology, compensation, and restitution.

Our initiative’s commemorations begin at 11 a.m. on April 24, in front of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts on Sultanahmet Square, where we will hold a moment of silence in memory of the victims. This building was known as the central prison in 1915; individuals from the Istanbul Armenian community, including intellectual leaders, were arrested in their homes, detained here, and then sent off to the Haydarpaşa train station.

After the moment of silence, we will begin our “Genocide March,” walking in silence from Sultanahmet to Eminönü, and then crossing over to Haydarpaşa by sea. The detainees of April 24, 1915, were deported from Haydarpaşa to the depths of the country—in actual fact, to their deaths. Here, our “Genocide March” will end with another commemoration.

From Haydarpaşa, we will proceed to the Şişli Armenian Cemetery to commemorate Sevag Şahin Balıkçı, who fell victim to a ethnic-hate murder on April 24, 2011, while on mandatory military duty in Batman, and express our support to the Balıkçı family in their pursuit of justice.

Before and after the events of the “100th Year – Stop Denialism Initiative,” the constituents of the initiative will participate in two other events. Representatives of the Armenian Council of Europe, who were invited to Istanbul by the HRA Committee Against Racism and Discrimination, will hold a commemoration on Beyazıt Square at 10 a.m. on the same day, April 24. Members of the HRA Committee Against Racism and Discrimination, human rights defenders, and activists against genocide denial will participate in the commemoration of 20 Henchak Party leaders and members who were executed by hanging on June 15, 1915–yet another mass execution, of symbolic import, during the period of the Armenian Genocide.

A protest march organized by Nor Zartonk will start out at 6:30 p.m., from Galatasaray Lycée and head toward Taksim Square, followed by a 100th year commemoration event led by the Platform for Commemorating the Armenian Genocide, at 7:15 p.m., at the Taksim end of Istiklal Street.

Concurrently, in Diyarbakır, the Human Rights Association Diyarbakır branch and the Gomidas Institute are jointly organizing a commemoration of Armenian and Assyrian victims in the ruins of Surp Sarkis Church at noon on April 24, with support from the Diyarbakır Bar Association and the Zan Foundation.

The struggle for genocide recognition and against denialism will end neither on April 24, 2015, nor on Dec 31, 2015. Until the state of the Republic of Turkey and the majority following official ideology recognize the crime and take steps toward compensation for the irreversible and irremediable losses, we will persevere in our pursuit of justice for the genocide victims of Asia Minor and for their descendants, who are dispersed around the world or who continue to live under the conditions of genocide perpetuated by denial.”

NYTimes: Armenian Leaders Establish Rights Award to Commemorate Centenary of Genocide

March 9, 2015 By administrator

By RICK GLADSTONE
March 10, 2015

Leaders in the Armenian diaspora, preparing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, have collaborated with Hollywood celebrities and human rights advocates to create a prize to be awarded annually to those who put themselves at risk to ensure that others survive. NYT

The humanitarian prize, to be announced on Tuesday in New York, is part of an expansive effort by prominent Armenians to ensure that the history of the genocide by Turkish Ottoman troops, which is still disputed by Turkey’s government, is documented and archived through the stories of survivors and their saviors, in ways similar to the chronicling of the Jews’ suffering in the Holocaust.

The effort, the Armenian sponsors said, will emphasize how survivors of the genocide — people who in some cases were protected by sympathetic Turks — went on to lead successful lives as they and their descendants spread throughout the world, many of them relocating to Russia and the United States.

About 1.5 million Armenians died from 1915 to 1923 in what is widely acknowledged as the 20th century’s first genocide. About 500,000 survived, many because of interventions by foreign individuals and institutions. The official commemoration of the genocide in Armenia begins next month.

“The humanity, generosity, strength and sacrifice shown by those who saved so many Armenians compels us to tell these stories,” said Ruben Vardanyan, an Armenian investment banker and philanthropist who grew up in Russia and is a co-sponsor of the commemoration effort, known as the 100 Lives Initiative.

“My grandfather was saved by a missionary,” Mr. Vardanyan said in an interview, crediting his existence today to that event.

Along with commemorating the survivors and those who saved them, the effort will establish a $1 million award, to be called the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, to be given starting next year. The winners will not keep the money, instead presenting it to the organizations that they identify as the inspirations for their work.

The award is named after a survivor of the genocide, Aurora Mardiganian, who as a child was forced to witness the deaths of family members. She devoted her life to raising awareness of the genocide and starred in a 1919 film called “Ravished Armenia.”

Mr. Vardanyan and his associates collaborated with Not On Our Watch, an organization founded by George Clooney and other celebrities — including Don Cheadle, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt — that seeks to prevent mass atrocities. Its principal undertaking in the past few years has been to document, through satellite imagery, evidence of possible atrocities in parts of Africa; the effort is known as the Satellite Sentinel Project.

In a statement, Mr. Clooney said his group shared a common goal with the Armenian sponsors, “to focus global attention on the impact of genocide as well as putting resources toward ending mass atrocities around the world.”

Members of the selection committee for the prize, which has yet to be finalized, resembles a Who’s Who of personalities in human rights advocacy and Armenian success. They include Mr. Clooney as well as the Nobel Peace Prize winners Elie Wiesel and Óscar Arias; Mary Robinson, a former United Nations high commissioner for human rights; Gareth Evans, an adviser to the United Nations on genocide prevention; and Vartan Gregorian, an Iranian-born American academic who is president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Mr. Clooney is to award the inaugural prize at a ceremony to be held in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, on April 24, 2016, the sponsors said in a statement.