Turkey Archives

Armenian Organization Backs Turkey’s Presidential Challenger Demirtas

July 17, 2014 By administrator

ANKARA—A Turkish-Armenian organization, Nor Zartonk (New Renaissance), has declared its support for Selahattin Demirtas in the presidential elections to be held on Aug. 10.

Issuing a written statement, Nor Zartonk said: “The people, workers, and all the excluded have an alternative in these elections against the conservative, nationalist, and statist tradition,” pointing to Demirtas.

Nor Zartonk emphasized that the candidate of the ruling party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been a person continuing to pursue a century-old state policy of denial, adding that the joint candidate of CHP-MHP Ekmeleddin İhsanoglu is “a candidate to be the new face of the moderate Islam project”.

Nor Zartonk added:

“The people of Turkey are not condemned to these two right wing candidates, one being an exact copy of the other despite their being promoted in that way. The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Selahattin Demirtas, as ‘the candidate of the people and of change’ is the hope of all the working people in the August elections.

“Against the two self-same candidates who are in favor of the continuation of the statist policies and the policies of denial, our presidential candidate is Selahattin Demirtas, who marches hand in hand with the people from Sivas to Lice, who exclaims the reality of the Armenian genocide in parliament, has struggled against all kinds of discrimination throughout his life and who defends the rights of the workers, LGBTI individuals and all the oppressed.”

Nor Zartonk (Renaissance) is an Armenian organization defining itself as the “self-organization” of the Armenian people. Having as their point of focus the Armenian people living in Turkey, Nor Zartonk says they struggle for the co-existence of all the peoples of Turkey and the world in equality, peace and fraternity. Nor Zartonk also declares that they have no hierarchical structure or administrative positions amongst themselves.

Dink’s murder ‘not probed efficiently’: Turkey’s top court

July 17, 2014 By administrator

ANKARA

A group named ‘Friends of Hrant’ gathers in front of the Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse, demanding justice for the late Turkish-Armenian journalist. (AA photo)

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was not efficiently probed and the rights of his family were therefore violated.

The unanimous verdict came after an individual application to the Court from Hrant Dink’s family, Anadolu Agency reported. The family had applied to the court on the grounds that they had not been adequately informed about the investigation and that the probe was neglected.

The ruling came just days after an Istanbul court opened the path for the investigation of key officials regarding Dink’s murder on accusations of either intent or negligence. The Istanbul court lifted a previous decision that ruled there was no need for sanctions against the former deputy governor of Istanbul, Ergun Güngör, Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, former Istanbul Police Department

Intelligence Head Ahmet İlhan Güler and six police officers regarding the 2007 assassination.

The local court recommended an investigation into nine officials following a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision. A lawyer for the Dink family, Hasan Bakırcıoğlu, confirmed that it was now legally possible for a probe against Güngör, Cerrah, Güler and the six police officers.

Dink, the highly esteemed former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was murdered in broad daylight in front of his newspaper’s building on Jan. 19, 2007, by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. The triggerman, Ogün Samast, was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 22 years and 10 months of prison after a two year-trial, but lawyers representing the Dink family have repeatedly expressed their dismay over the way the investigations and the trial were conducted.

His assassination sent shockwaves through Turkey and grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that the security forces knew of a plot to kill Dink, but failed to act.

Backing up widespread accusations of a state conspiracy, another key figure in the trial, Erhan Tuncel, claimed in December 2013 that he had informed the police of the plan, but that his warnings went unheeded.

There have been suggestions that the killing was a result of “deep state” work, but the court said there was no organization behind the murder. According to reports, Dink was called to a police department and “warned” about the plot against him, fueling belief that the murder was known by some institutions within the state beforehand.

Top court’s decision came as an Istanbul court has once again postponed the hearing of the case, despite Dink’s lawyer’s calling for an urgent and just verdict.

The hearing was postponed from July 17 to Oct. 30 on the absence of Ahmet İskender, one of the main suspects in the case, and the other 18 suspects who did not appear at hearing.

July/17/2014

Erdogan playing “an Armenian card” blackmails Baku with opening Armenia border

July 17, 2014 By administrator

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pressing Azerbaijan to close Gulen schools, Turkish media reported.

According to Rotahaber website, the PM is threatening Azerbaijan to open border with Armenia. The author says the evidence is an article published by Taraf newspaper suggesting that Erdogan plans to open Armenia-Turkey border in September.

Interestingly, U.S. President Barack Obama has been recently refusing to communicate with Erdogan, while the latter is trying to revive relations with Washington by playing “an Armenian card”.

“If necessary, after settling relations with Washington, he will resume relations with Armenia, thus abandoning his promise in return for closing Gulen schools in Azerbaijan,” the article reads.

Turkey: Main opposition leader calls on Erdoğan to return ‘medal of courage’ given by Jewish lobby

July 17, 2014 By administrator

ANKARA

The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party has called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to return the “medal of courage” given to him by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in 2004, in reaction to Israel’s offensive against Palestinians.

“Be a man of your word for once: Take it off from your neck and return it!” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said in a written statement on July 17, responding to Erdoğan’s allegations that Kılıçdaroğlu had condemned neither Israel nor Syria.

“I have condemned all who oppressed the people whoever they are. I have not applied a double standard like you,” the CHP leader added, recalling that Erdoğan and Bashar al-Assad had once gone on holiday together with their families.

Kılıçdaroğlu also claimed that the jet fuel of Israeli warplanes was provided by Turkey and asked Erdoğan to cut this supply.

The prime minister has frequently slammed the opposition for allegedly siding with Israel and Syria, while the opposition recalls the government’s past deals with the leaderships of both countries.

Kılıçdaroğlu again returned to the fact that Erdoğan has had to postpone his planned visit to Gaza three times in the last two years. “Remember what you said on April 14, 2013 about visiting Gaza. You won’t remember because remembering will not suit your work. You can’t dare to remember. Because U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told you not to go to Gaza on April 21, 2013. What did you do? You said Kerry’s statement was ‘not good,’” he said, adding that it had been two years since Erdoğan first vowed to go to Gaza.

“What you did was just lying and deceiving the people as usual. And after all that you want to be the president?” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

U.S. ambassador-designate to Turkey denies Armenian Genocide (video)

July 17, 2014 By administrator

John Bass, President Barack Obama’s nominee for the post of US Ambassador to Turkey, during his confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee denied the Armenian Genocide and stumbled on characterizing the widely documented abuses and freedom violations by official Ankara, Asbarez reports.

In his written statement to the committee, Bass, who is a former U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, opted to use the now infamous and denialist “condolence” statement that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made on April 23 as the basis for his forthcoming work as the U.S. envoy to Ankara vis-à-vis the Armenian Genocide issue.

“On this year’s Remembrance Day, Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan expressed his condolences to the grandchildren of those Armenians killed during World War I. That gesture and other positive efforts by the Turkish government in recent months indicate that the space for dialogue is opening. But more can be done, and we encourage both sides to pursue a full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts surrounding the tragic events of 1915,” Bass told committee members.

While there have been endorsements for the Erdogan announcement by the State Department, Bass’s statement sheds light on the tenor of his possible tenure regarding the Armenian Genocide and sheds further light on the Obama Administration’s views on the matter on the eve of the Armenian Genocide’s centennial.

Asbarez says this reinforces a column by Harut Sassounian, who asserted that the White House and Ankara are in collusion when drafting statements regarding the Armenian Genocide.

The tone of the hearing took an abrupt turn when Bass was unwilling to properly characterize the widespread and documented abuses by the Erdogan regime of democratic principles and freedoms, such as banning YouTube and Twitter in Turkey.

When Senator John McCain asked about authoritarianism in Turkey and Erdogan’s style of government, Bass stumbled.

“Are you concerned about Prime Minister Erdogan’s desire to change the Constitution and other actions that we have seen on the part of Erdogan as a drift towards authoritarianism?” McCain asked.

“The prime minister is the leader of the democratically elected parliamentary democracy. We’ll obviously look closely at whatever steps he takes,” responded Bass.

McCain continued by asking whether the Turkish government’s “suppression of social media, YouTube and Twitter and restrictions on the freedom of the media” represented “a drift toward authoritarianism,” and added that Bass was “jeopardizing his nomination” by not giving a succinct response to his question. “It is a pretty simple straight forward question … Do you believe that the oppression of social media, the desire to change the Constitution to be a more powerful president, which he obviously will be, is a drift towards authoritarianism?” McCain asked.

When Bass again faltered in answering the question, McCain shot back saying: “Mr. Chairman, I am not going to support this nomination, and I will hold it until I get a straight answer. I think it is a fairly straightforward question, Mr. Bass. Is it a drift toward authoritarianism?”

“It is a drift in that direction, yes,” Bass replied. “Thank you. It took 3 minutes and 25 seconds,” McCain said in response.

The Armenian National Committee of America’s Executive Director Aram Hamparian expressed disdain at Bass’s complicit approach to Turkey’s human rights violations. “Sugar-coating Ankara’s growing domestic intolerance and increasingly anti-U.S. regional approach only serves to embolden Turkey’s leaders to escalate their open challenges to American interests and values,” said Hamparian.

“The painful extent to which Turkey’s leadership has succeeded in gaming our Department of State was spotlighted by Senator McCain, who had to repeatedly press Ambassador-Designate Bass — even to the point of threatening a ‘hold’ on his nomination — to secure even the mildest U.S. criticism of Turkey’s unrelenting and highly public crackdown on social media.”

Turkish counter-efforts help publicize Genocide Centennial

July 16, 2014 By administrator

By Harut Sassounian
TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Armenians in the US and around the world were needlessly alarmed by a recent article in the Turkish Hurriyet newspaper, titled: “Turkish Americans prepare ‘master plan’ for 2015.”

No one should be surprised that the Turkish government and affiliated organizations worldwide have been earnestly planning to counter commemorative activities being organized by the Armenian government and the Diaspora for the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2015.

Tolga Tanis reported in Hurriyet’s July 5 issue that the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) will invite Turkish-American groups to Washington in September to plan “proactive and active responses” to Armenian Centennial events.

ATAA reportedly will form Turkish “activist committees” to visit “lawmakers in each state, conduct social media campaigns, keep in touch with traditional media outlets, prepare online courses, and organize countrywide networking meetings for Americans.” Hurriyet also reported that ATAA will organize “at least 20 day-long conferences in partnership with local universities and with the participation of famous Turkish-Americans like Dr. Mehmet Oz and Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent.”

As part of its “reactive responses,” ATAA allegedly plans to counter:

— Articles, books and films on the Armenian Genocide;
— Panels, conferences and exhibitions organized by Armenians;
— “Anti-Turkish bills” in Congress.

Before Armenians get too excited about these purported Turkish schemes, the following questions must be asked:

— Is Hurriyet accurately reporting ATAA’s plans? The Turkish media is notorious for distorting facts and making up stories. Interestingly, no such announcement is found on ATAA’s website;
— If Hurriyet’s article is fully or even partly true, is it certain that ATAA will actually carry out any of its announced plans or is this simply a propaganda ploy or fundraising effort?

As a starter, it has come to our attention that at least one critical part of Hurriyet’s story is a falsehood! Ara Khachatourian, English Editor of Asbarez newspaper, reported that a spokesman for the prominent TV personality has denied that Dr. Oz is involved in any way in Turkish denialist activities. Likewise, I am trying to confirm if the alleged report about Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent’s involvement in genocide denial is accurate. It is noteworthy that Hurriyet has already amended its initial report, adding a disclaimer, possibly after complaints from Dr. Oz and Mr. Kent about the unauthorized and inaccurate use of their names: “The two individuals whose names are mentioned in the article above (Dr. Mehmet Oz and Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent) are two prominent figures on a long list of accomplished Turkish Americans who will be invited to speak at community events. They have no knowledge of or involvement in ATAA’s plans.”

I wish Dr. Oz and Mr. Kent were actually involved in Turkish denialist efforts, which would have triggered a worldwide boycott of Dr. Oz’s TV show and Coca Cola products. This would have provided Armenians a golden opportunity for publicity on the Armenian Genocide Centennial that no amount of money could buy!

Moreover, my fervent hope is that Hurriyet’s article would turn out to be totally accurate and that ATAA would carry out fully all of the promised activities. The more often Turkish denialists raise the Armenian Genocide issue trying to counteract the established historical facts, the more they would be inadvertently publicizing the Genocide Centennial, and thereby disgrace themselves in the eyes of the world!

While Armenians are unable to make their voices heard loudly in the international arena, in an ironic twist, Turkey’s influential public relations firms in Washington would be of tremendous assistance! Equally helpful are the public pronouncements of Turkish leaders, such as the one by Prime Minister Erdogan on April 23, 2014, despite their denialist content. As an unintended consequence, ATAA’s anti-Centennial efforts would prompt the international media to pay ever greater attention to the continuing injustice suffered by Armenians, by providing more coverage to the planned Armenian commemorations.

Although Turkish counter-strategies should receive adequate scrutiny, Armenians should pay more critical attention as to whether they are preparing themselves appropriately to observe the Centennial in the global arena, given the immense loss of the 1.5 million martyrs of the Armenian Genocide. By being overly obsessed with the sinister actions of Turkish denialists, Armenians may not be focusing sufficiently on their own obligation to honor the sacred memory of the victims and demand justice!

Hamshen Armenian Publication Planned in Turkey

July 16, 2014 By administrator

A view of Çamlıhemşin, a district of Turkey’s Rize Province mostly populated by Hamshen Armenians. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

RIZE, Turkey—Hamshen Armenians in Turkey have announced plans for a periodical publication in the Hamshen Armenian dialect in Turkey, Akunq.net reports. The purpose of the publication, according to its planners, is to maintain the Hamshen Armenian language and culture and ensure its continuation in the future generations.

The publication, to be printed bi-annually at first, will be named “Gor,” Hamshen Armenian for “volunteer work.” The organizers of the periodical have called on all Hamshen Armenians in Turkey and abroad to contribute to the publication, Akunq.net says, citing Turkey’s Dicle newspaper.

According to Dicle, the magazine’s publishers — comprised of writers, journalists, researchers, students, and artists – aim to publish the first issue of Gor in September. The organizers plan on publishing the periodical every six months at first and on creating opportunities for participation from the wider community in the magazine’s publication.

The publishers say the magazine will consist mostly of stories concerning Hamshen Armenians and their communities. In this regard, Gor’s publication will be unprecedented in Turkey.

Turkish state found responsible for 1993 Sivas massacre (Surprise-Surprise)

July 15, 2014 By administrator

ISTANBUL
A top official audit board report into the 1993 Sivas Massacre has declared that the Turkish state is responsible for the arson attack on the Madımak Hotel, in which 35 people were burnt alive and two assailants died, as well as for deficiencies in the subsequent prosecution that has lagged for over 20 years.

The State Audit Board (DDK) of the presidency, which started inspecting the attack upon an order by President Abdullah Gül in 2012, stated in its report issued July 15 that the Governor’s Office in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas showed “serious negligence and failures” in preventing the massacre.

The report accused the state of remaining a “spectator” of the attack, which eventually resulted in the killing of renowned Alevi intellectuals such as the poets Metin Altıok and Behçet Aysan, writer Asım Bezirci, and popular musician Muhlis Akarsu.

Noting that the torching of the Madımak Hotel on July 2, 1993 was the result of a gradual escalation of tension following the organization of a conference by an Alevi association that started a day earlier, the report said officials could have taken more safety measures to prevent the massacre.

“Despite the obvious social crisis developing [in Sivas] … the incident was caused after serious negligence and failures of the governorship to take preventive measures such as the cancelation of the event, the dispersal of the crowd, the evacuation of the participants from the hotel, or the implementation of a curfew,” said the report, adding that “all the state dignitaries” at the time were responsible.

“For the [responsibilities] of its administrative and political organs, all the state dignitaries and their approach were just as responsible as the behaviors that caused the perception of provocation in the Sunni collective memory,” the report stated.

Turkey’s legendary short story writer Aziz Nesin, who had become a public target at the time for translating Salman Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses” into Turkish, also attended to the event, and his presence was used by radical Islamists to spread anger before the attack. Nesin eventually survived the fire.

Calling it ‘massacre’

The DDK also stressed that what marks one of the worse cases of civil violence in Turkey’s recent history should legitimately be defined as a “massacre,” saying no signs of “conspiracy” or “provocation” were noted during the inspections and thus ruling out similar implications in former reports.

“The incidents that took place in Sivas … resulted in the death of 35 people inside an hotel by mobs of people who were out of control, who had lost their sense and who acted with feelings of hate … and should be defined as a ‘massacre,’” the report said.

It also said two of the assailants who died while participating in the attack were killed by gun shots by the security forces, while nine others were injured. It accused prosecutors of failing to inspect these incidents which breached regulations, but noted that the Sivas Governor’s Office also approved an internal inspection into the issue. The two assailants’ deaths increased the total death toll to 37.

‘No public officer investigated’

The report also pointed to difficulties faced during its compiling, saying evidence and information gathered during the 20-year-long investigation was “insufficient.”

The Ankara court overseeing the trial had dropped the case on March 2012, ruling that the charges against the suspects exceeded the statute of limitations of 20 years, stirring outcry. Up to that poin the case had gone back and forth, and there have been many calls for a re-trial.

The report also stressed that the lack of investigation into any public official was unacceptable.

“Unfortunately, due to the lack of any efficient judicial or administrative investigation against public officials, the [lack] of a perception of political responsibility, as well as our insufficient democratic standards, everyone preferred the convenience of pinning the crime on the mobs and society,” the report said.

It also criticized politicians’ attitude for having created rifts that “led to otherization within society.”
The Madımak Hotel has since become a symbol of discrimination faced by Turkey’s Alevi community, which has long demanded that the state turn the building into a memorial museum. The hotel was initially reopened after repair works, before eventually being turned into a science museum after it was expropriated in 2010. Victims’ families continued to demand that it be converted into a “museum of shame.”

July/15/2014

Turkey Death of prisoner who pulled Turkish flag down is ‘suspicious’

July 14, 2014 By administrator

STANBUL – Anadolu Agency

Ali Uçkun was found hanged in a cell at Istanbul’s Metris prison July 9. AA Photo

The death of the man imprisoned for attempting to pull down a Turkish flag should be investigated, Turkish human rights activists said July 14.

Ali Uçkun, 28, was found hanged in a cell at Istanbul’s Metris prison July 9, 10 days after he had been arrested while trying to pull down a flag at a police station.

Uçkun was charged with “propagating a terrorist organization,” “committing crime on behalf of a terrorist organization” and “publicly humiliating the Turkish national flag.”

“We do not condone the incident [of June 28]. However, Uçkun was diagnosed with schizophrenia [80 percent] and should have been hospitalized for treatment instead of being put in jail,” Turkey-based Human Rights Association’s chairman Abdulbaki Boga told reporters on July 14, before filing a criminal complaint about the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor.

“The issue of an arrest order for a schizophrenic, instead of hospitalization, constitutes a crime on the part of the prosecutor and judge, who had succumbed to rage,” the letter states, adding Uçkun’s death appears suspicious and the incident hints the signs of murder as a result of neglect on the part of prison guards.

The group called on all perpetrators to be tried for premeditated murder, criminal abuse of duty, and torture.

Initial police reports stated Uçkun had committed suicide by hanging himself and the corpse was transferred to the Forensic Medicine Institute for further examination and an autopsy.

Group of Cypriots files war crimes complaint against Turkey

July 14, 2014 By administrator

July 14, 2014 – 15:31 AMT

A group of Cypriots has filed a war crimes complaint against Turkey at the International Criminal Court over what they say is its policy of settling Cyprus’ breakaway north with mainland Turks.

Cyprus split into a Turkish-speaking north and an internationally recognized Greek-speaking south in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup that aimed to unite the island with Greece. A Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence is recognized only by Turkey, which maintains 35,000 troops there.

Cypriot European Parliament member Costas Mavrides, who filed the complaint on the group’s behalf, said Monday, July 14, that settlement activity contravenes international law and has significantly altered the demographics of northern Cyprus.

An Israeli-based rights organization, the Shurat HaDin Law Center, helped the group, which calls itself Cypriots Against Turkish War Crimes, draft the complaint.