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Turkey court orders arrest of six human rights activists

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Turkey court ,human rights activistsAn Istanbul court on July 18 ordered that six human rights activists including Amnesty International’s Turkey director be arrested for aiding a terror group, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Turkey director Idil Eser was detained on July 5 along with seven other activists and two foreign trainers during a digital security and information management workshop on Büyükada, an island south of Istanbul.

“Six were remanded in custody and four released on judicial control,” Amnesty International’s Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner told AFP.

Prosecutors accuse them of “committing a crime in the name of a terror organization without being a member,” he said.

The ruling came a day after the activists gave statements to prosecutors for the first time since their detention.

Eight of those detained were Turkish rights activists, including Ilknur Ustun of the Women’s Coalition and Veli Acu of the Human Rights Agenda Association. Four of those have now been released, Gardner said.

Two foreigners – a German and a Swedish national who were leading the digital information workshop – remain in pre-trial detention.

“It is politically motivated targeting not just of these six human rights defenders who have been remanded in pre-trial prison custody but it is taking aim at Turkey’s entire human rights movement,” Gardner told AFP.

“What we’ve learnt today is that defending human rights has become a crime in Turkey,” Gardner added.

“After this decision none of us who defend human rights in Turkey, whether it is Amnesty International or other organizations, are safe in this country. This decision cannot be allowed to stand.”

Gardner earlier said the meeting on Büyükada had been a “routine” workshop and there was nothing suspicious about it.

“What is absolutely crystal clear, one hundred percent clear is this was a routine human rights workshop – the sort of workshop that happens all over Turkey, in fact the sort of workshop that happens all over the world,” he said.

Race for Cyprus gas and oil sparks tensions in the Mediterranean

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Race for Cyprus gasAfter years of fiscal gloom, Cyprus’ government is pressing ahead with its drilling plans. But potential instability looms as Turkey talks tough and sends battleships to the region

It’s deja-vu all over again. Just six years after Turkey threatened Cyprus to pull the plug on a controversial energy project, Ankara is now warning of new reprisals, and has sent warships to shadow drilling vessels exploring for oil and gas off the coast of the war-divided Mediterranean island.

Turkey doesn’t want the drilling to proceed before securing a deal that would give the island’s Turkish Cypriot community an equal share of the revenue. Yet faced with such prospects, a potential agreement went amiss this month as United Nations-sponsored talks to reunite the island’s Greek and Turkish sides collapsed amid anger and recriminations, marking the end of a process seen as the most promising in recent years to resolve one of Europe’s most intractable ethnic conflicts.

Countless attempts to stitch Cyprus back together have failed since 1974 when Turkey invaded the island in the wake of a coup staged by nationalists supporting union with Greece. Since then Ankara has retained a 30,000-strong standing army on the island. How it will react to Cyprus’ new drilling project following the latest breakdown in peace talks remains unclear.

A divided island

So what’s different in this latest energy showdown in the eastern Mediterranean? For starters, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Back in 2011, when Ankara made similar military threats in the wake of Cyprus’ first major attempts at oil drilling, concerns ran much deeper for Greece and its ethnic kin on Cyprus. The then Turkish prime minister was seen as a darling of the West; Turkey, a cherished ally of Washington. But since then, Mr. Erdogan – now the president of Turkey – has abandoned democracy, and built a strongman cult of personality.

What’s more, his increasingly aggressive behavior has put him on a collision course with key allies including Israel, Egypt and the European Union. And, his somewhat mercurial role in the conflict in neighboring Syria has seriously diminished the clout he once held in Washington.

While Western officials concede they cannot entirely ignore the populist and popular Turkish leader because of his country’s geostrategic importance, Washington has waded into the emerging energy standoff, supporting the right of the recognized government of Cyprus – a member of the European Union – to drill in its water.

That backing risks emboldening Greek Cypriot unwillingness to share oodles of cash that untapped oil and gas reserves may potentially yield. It could also enflame Turkey’s displeasure, sparking a regional crisis. But don’t bet on it.

Playing tough

For now at least many experts are dismissing Turkey’s latest sabre rattling as nothing more than theatrics.

“For years, Turkey and Mr. Erdogan have been building up the image of a regional superpower,” says Professor Contantinos Filis, Director of Research at the Institute of International Relations in Athens. “By not being engaged in this key project, Turkey feels upset, isolated and rejected. And while it knows that it only has itself to blame, Mr. Erdogan is trying to save face before his domestic audience by flexing his muscle and playing tough with Cyprus.”

Although both are members of NATO, Greece and Turkey have been at odds over airspace and sea rights for decades.

In 1996, the age-old foes came to the brink of war with the US pulling both sides back from conflicting claims to a remote Aegean outcrop inhabited only by goats, rabbits and sheep.

Turkey strikes a fire every time it feels secure enough to do so,” says Filis. “Nowadays it has no solid alliances to fall back on.”

However reassuring this may seem, Athens isn’t taking any chances. The country’s military is already on alert, watching two warships and a submarine which Turkey has dispatched to Cyprus to monitor drilling operations at the Onesiphoros West 1 well, and Block 11, off the island’s southern shore. The EU and Washington have warned Ankara to refrain from any hostile actions.

A lot of energy at stake

After years of financial gloom, Cyprus now has the potential of becoming a key energy player in the eastern Mediterranean. The size of potential gas and oil exports remain unclear. Still, the promising prospects alone have global energy and production companies abuzz.

Earlier this year as exploration got underway, Graham Bliss, senior energy analyst with IHS Markit billed the Block 11 well as “one of the most critical drillings” to be made this year. The Cyprus government has commissioned French energy giant Total and Italy’s ENI to help with the project.

While gas is the primary target of the drilling, experts hope to hit oil, too – a discovery that would rocket Total into the ranks of the leading exploration and production players including BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and ENI in the greater region.

Drilling, which is due to be completed by September, is expected to reach a maximum depth of around 4.25 kilometers (2.6 miles) below sea level, or 1.6 kilometers beneath the sea bed.

“Ultimately,” says Professor Filis, “Mr. Erdogan may have to prove more predictable than the unpredictable force he is perceived to be. If he wants a piece of the action, he will have to find a way into the action.”

“It’s not simple and it won’t happen overnight, but it’s the only realistic option left for him in this energy race.”

Joe Berlinger says his film will help Turkey to reckon with its past #ArmenianGenocide

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Joe Berlinger Film Armenian GenocideThe screening of the film by American documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger “Intent to Destroy” took place on Sunday during the closing ceremony of the 14th Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival. The documentary, telling about the Armenian Genocide was premiered during Tribeca film festival.  Before initiating the work, the author had numerous meetings with historians and academicians to spread light on the topic of the Armenian Genocide and Turkey’s denialist policy.

On Sunday, Joe Berlinger was awarded with a special Master prize granted by the Golden Apricot festival, that was handed over by General Director of the Golden Apricot festival Harutyun Khachatryan. 

“Joe Berlinger made serious work for the Armenian people, its history,” Khachatryan stated, while handing over the award to the author.

The American filmmaker who lives in New York said he has always shared strong ties with the Armenians.

“I am a Jewish who suffered horrendous genocide as the Armenian people. The difference is that the perpetrator of our genocide accepted it guilt, while the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide has been refusing to recognize and vehemently denying it. That was the reason for me to film this documentary. I hope much this film will help Turkey to come to terms with the crime it committed,” Berlinger said.

The scriptwriter also thanked the organizers of the festival.
“The several days I had the opportunity to spend in Yerevan reinstated my love and affection with your country I have always admired,” the filmmaker added.

 

Source Panorama.am

Breaking: Reports Indicate Sevan Nişanyan Has Escaped Prison and Fled Turkey

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Sevan Nişanyan

By Armenian weekly.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)—According to reports, jailed Turkish-Armenian intellectual, travel writer, entrepreneur, and researcher Sevan Nişanyan has escaped prison and fled Turkey.

Nişanyan was jailed on Dec. 2, 2014 for “construction infractions.” “The bird has flown. Wish the same for 80 million left behind,” Nişanyan said in a Tweet on July 14.

Nişanyan confirmed the reports to Turkish Habertürk news agency by phone but declined to give details of when and how managed his escape. According to some reports, Nişanyan was allowed to leave prison for one day every three months and simply did not return after his latest sanctioned leave.

‘The bird has flown. Wish the same for 80 million left behind,’ Nişanyan said in a Tweet on July 14.

Nişanyan was sentenced to a total of 17 years in a number of cases, Agos news reported.

“If Nişanyan really has escaped from prison, I would like to congratulate him,” said Turkish-Armenian journalist Hayko Bağdat, who has been living in exile in Germany, in a tweet.

Nişanyan came to public attention in Turkey in January, when he announced that Turkey’s Justice Ministry had banned all newspapers and books from prisons except for the Quran as of Jan. 9.

 

Cyprus to continue gas exploration despite Ankara’s warning

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Nicosia, 14 Jul 2017 (AFP) – Cyprus said on Thursday it will continue exploration of gas deposits off the island despite Ankara’s warning this week against carrying out projects in this area.

Yesterday, earlier in the day, the Turkish Foreign Minister said that his country would take action against the exploration of gas by the Cypriot authorities, without giving further details.

Monday, a few days after the failure of the last round of negotiations on the reunification of the Mediterranean island, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had warned international companies against possible gas projects in Cyprus.

The following day, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had supported him “the sovereign rights” of Cyprus to the exploitation of its gas fields. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 and the invasion of the Turkish army of the northern third of the island in reaction to a nationalist coup aimed at linking it to Greece. The Turkish Cypriot entity installed in the north is recognized only by Ankara.

In 2011, the American firm Noble Energy was the first to discover gas off the coast of Cyprus, in the Aphrodite field, whose reserves are estimated at 127.4 billion cubic meters of gas. Its operation has not yet begun.

Cyprus hopes to eventually become a major energy player in the eastern Mediterranean and build a terminal on land to export gas to Europe and Asia by 2022. But it needs to find more gas reserves.

Greek Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis said on Thursday that he remained unmoved by Turkey’s position. “We are prepared for different scenarios,” he told public radio. “Our perception is that Turkey will continue to challenge us in one way or another.”

This rise in tensions comes as the French and Italian energy giants, Total and ENI, could start Friday a drilling test off Cyprus. The two companies signed a hydrocarbon exploration contract in April.

Friday, July 14, 2017,
Ara © armenews.co

Suspects in Turkey attempted coup face 37 life terms each Martyrs Bridge activities in Istanbul

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Turkey,gulen,supporterThe investigation into the events that unfolded during the July 15 coup attempt on the July 15 Martyrs Bridge has been completed, with prosecutors seeking 37 aggravated life sentences each for all 143 suspects, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Some 34 people, including two police officers, were killed on the bridge that was blocked by soldiers participating in the coup attempt, widely believed to have been masterminded by the followers of the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.

Erol Olcok, who was the owner of an advertising agency, and his son, Abdullah Tayyip Olçok, were among those killed on the bridge, which was called the “Bosphorus Bridge” before the thwarted attempt.

According to the indictment prepared by prosecutors Hikmet Pak and Bülent Başar from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Terror and the Organized Crime Investigation Bureau, the suspects, of whom 135 are under arrest, are accused of “attempting to remove the Turkish Parliament or preventing it from carrying out its duties,” “attempting to remove the government of the Turkish Republic or preventing it from carrying out its duties,” “attempting to remove the constitutional order” and “intentional killing.”

Eight suspects without arrest, including privates, left the bridge after “understanding the gravity of the situation,” said the indictment from 318 complainants.

Moreover, the indictment said the first deaths on July 15 occurred on the bridge after a tank used by coup soldiers made artillery shooting and the soldiers opened fire with long-barreled weapons starting at around 12:40 a.m. on July 16.

New security camera footage was also featured in the indictment, which showed that soldiers blocked the roads starting from 9:45 p.m. on July 15.

While the crowds were seen gathering on the bridge at around 12:40 a.m. on July 16, the number of people resisting the coup soldiers were increasing at around 2:00 a.m.

The footage showed people walking towards the bridge from the European side at around 2:45 a.m.

In addition, Major Ahmet Taştan was seen ordering coup soldiers to open fire on civilians, while former Lt. Col. Turgay Ödemiş was also present.

According to the footage, the coup soldiers opened fire on civilians and the recordings stop with civilians walking towards the soldiers, as the tanks fired artillery shots at 6:35 a.m.

ARMENIAN CAUCUS CO-CHAIR DAVE TROTT’S AMENDMENT ON GUN SALE TO TURKEY ADOPTED

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Dave Trott’s (R-MI)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of H.R. 2810, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Representative Dave Trott’s (R-MI) amendment on a proposed gun sale to Turkey was adopted as part of the overall bill, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). The amendment stated: “It is the sense of Congress that the proposed sale of semiautomatic handguns for export to Turkey should remain under scrutiny until a satisfactory and appropriate resolution is reached,” in light of the Turkish security guards attack against peaceful protesters in our nation’s capital.

“Over the past few months, we’ve seen our NATO allies take extraordinary steps against Turkey, and it’s time for the State Department to do the same. We need to block this arms sale and once and for all point a finger in Erdogan’s chest and tell him that a strategic location does not place Turkey above the law,” Rep. Trott said. “Just two months ago, Erdogan’s henchmen, with him complacently observing just feet away, launched a brutal attack on peaceful protestors exercising their first amendment rights. A notorious oppressor of basic human rights and freedom, Erdogan imported his nefarious attitudes to our nation’s capital. While Erdogan’s thugs may run unchecked in Ankara, this is the United States of America and this is totally unacceptable,” he added.
 
Rep. Trott’s amendment to H.R. 2810 highlighted concerns that “the security force that participated in this violence may be the recipient of arms exported from the United States under a proposed deal.” The amendment builds on the unanimous passage last month of H. Res. 354, which condemned the violence that took place outside the Turkish Ambassador’s residence on May 16 and called on the perpetrators to be brought to justice under U.S. law. 
 
In its letter to the House Rules Committee this week, the Assembly strongly supported the Congressman’s amendment and urged its adoption. Approval by the Rules Committee paved the way for its adoption by the full House of Representatives. 

“The Armenian Assembly commends Rep. Trott for his ongoing efforts to hold Turkey accountable for its actions. Adoption of this amendment sends a strong message that the United States will not let its democratic values be trampled upon by a foreign government,” said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.
 
In addition to his amendment, Rep. Trott spearheaded a bi-partisan letter last month with 36 Members of Congress to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson opposing an anticipated gun sale to Turkey. “We can no longer enable Turkey to compromise our democratic values, and this proposed arms sale is nothing short of an endorsement of the actions of President Erdogan’s security force. As such, we strongly urge you to reject this proposed sale and any potential weapons transfer to President Erdogan’s security detail,” the letter stated.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

 

Turkey wishes to turn blind eye to dark chapters of history, says Armenian parliamentarian

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Garo Paylan, armenian Genocide

By enforcing restrictions on its parliamentarians’ right to express their opinion freely, Turkey is seeking to turn a blind eye to the dark chapters of its own history, according to Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Majilis (People’s Democratic Party).

In an interview with Tert.am, Paylan shared his concerns over the recently proposed legislative measure envisaging fines and other sanctions for the use of “genocide” in the country’s chief lawmaking body.

He also referred to the sanctions against him after what was perceived as a controversial speech at a constitutional debate last year. “Last year, they restricted my freedom of expression as I spoke about the Armenian Genocide. Now they are trying to do it legitimately by adopting a law which will bar me from speaking about the dark pages of Turkey’s history, including the Armenian Genocide,” he said.

 

Paylan, who repeatedly before faced persecutions for Genocide remarks in parliament and was suspended from three sessions in late 2016, noted that against the backdrop of Turkey’s silence, other countries are often vocal about the issue.

 

“Other parliaments make decisions concerning Turkey’s history, and discuss and condemn its dark chapters. I always propose my colleagues that we too, address those chapters, but they will not accept that,” he said.

The Turkish-Armenian MP said he sees high chances that the package, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development party and backed the nationalist opposition National Movement party, wil pass the parliament’s vote.

In his words, the move aims to not only put an end to genocide debates but also silence the Kurdish issue.

“We have been elected by people who cast their votes in our favor, so we, the parliamentarians, must be free to raise their voices in parliament. But the parliament blocks all our chances to raise the voices of the Armenians, Kurds and Alevis, and to speak about the Armenian Genocide and the Kurdish problems,” he said, not ruling out the possibility that the Genocide issue might be a taboo even after enforcing a corresponding legislation.

 

In the face of the Syrian immigrants, the West did not exert and is still not exerting considerable efforts to influence Turkey’s authoritarian regime, Paylan said.

 

He added that despite the real chances of the proposed bill’s success, all the members of their party will fight its passage. Paylan said he hopes that the People’s Republican Party will also join the campaign.

‘Barbaric’ murders highlight plight of Syrians in Turkey

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'Barbaric' murders highlight plight of Syrians in TurkeyRock-wielding attackers have raped and bludgeoned to death a Syrian refugee in Turkey just days before she was due to give birth and strangled her 10-month-old baby.  

The brutal double murder amid a groundswell of public hatred and racist attacks has raised new worries about the safety of refugees in Turkey which is one of the key players in the Syria crisis.

Turkish authorities have detained two men who reportedly confessed to the barbaric attack, Dogan news agency reported.

The attackers, it said, broke into the home where the young woman and her baby boy lived, taking them to a forest in the western city of Sakarya where villagers found their bodies Thursday.

The woman was reportedly due to give birth Friday. The victim’s husband reportedly worked at a factory with the two assailants and they had an argument a few days earlier.

The attack came in the wake of racist hashtags on Twitter including #SuriyelilerEvineDonsun (Syrians should go home) and #SuriyelilerSinirdisiEdilsin (Syrians should be deported) which went viral in Turkey.

Authorities denounced the campaign and pledged to punish the perpetrators of the “brutal massacre”.

Turkish media reports and postings have been blaming Syrians for an alleged escalation in crime in Turkey.

Earlier this week, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu was forced to dismiss the claims, saying the annual rate of Syrians involved in crimes between 2014 and 2017 was just over 1 percent.

Turkey is reportedly home to nearly three million Syrian refugees who have fled a brutal war in their country. Many foreign militants fighting in Syria have mostly used Turkey to cross into the Arab country.

Ankara was one of the main supporters of a campaign to topple the Syrian government although it has moderated its stance recently after seeing the threat of a US-backed Kurdish insurgency on its borders.

Last year, Human Rights Watch said Turkish border guards were shooting at and beating Syrian refugees trying to cross into Turkey, calling on the country to investigate abuses.

According to the New York-based rights group, in one incident troops opened fire on a group of Syrians trying to enter Turkey, killing five people, including a child, and injuring 14 others.

Later that year, the guards killed nine members of a Syrian family as they were trying to cross the frontier.

In April, a mob of around 300 Turks, armed with knives and clubs, stormed into a makeshift camp accommodating Syrian refugees in the western province of Izmir and set fire to tents. Some 500 Syrian refugees were consequently forced to flee the camp.

Source: http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/07/09/527887/Turkey-Syria-Sakarya

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Terrorist State of Turkey Parliament adopt a resolution to prohibit the words “Armenian genocide” and “Kurdistan”

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Armenian GenocideThe AKP party and its extreme right-wing allies in the Turkish Parliament agreed to adopt a resolution tabled on Friday that would ban the use of the words “Armenian genocide” and “Kurdistan” by Members of Parliament.

In the draft resolution on parliamentary procedure written by the AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), legislators demand that the use of expressions such as “the provinces of Kurdistan”, “the capital of Kurdistan Amed” Condemned by a fine.

Amed is an ancient name of the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, often used by Kurdish nationalist political groups including the HDP Party.

he bill also prohibits terms such as “genocide” in relation to 1915 and the systematic extermination and deportation of the Armenian people by the Ottoman government, or “massacre” in reference to the many military campaigns against the Kurds since the beginning of the 20th century.

In addition to a fine, the Speaker of Parliament could temporarily oust legislators.

Saturday, July 8, 2017,
Stéphane © armenews.com