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Hundreds protested Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım who held a rally in Oberhausen, Germany today.

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German Left Party (Die Linke), Left Party Youth Organization and ‘No’ Platform of Europe have organised a demonstration in the German city of Oberhausen where Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım held a meeting today afternoon.

Demonstrators who gathered at the Oberhausen Central Train Station Haupteingang at 11:00 called for a ‘No’ organisation in European cities for the upcoming referendum against the genocidal policies of the Turkey’s ruling AKP government.

Speakers pointed out that Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP intended to cause a polarization of the migrants, and protested the Turkish state’s political genocide and policies of elimination and annihilation.

Demonstrators later staged a march to the area of Yıldırım’s rally where they united with the demonstration of German Greens (Grüne), chanting “Together against fascism” and “No to fascism, no to dictatorship in Turkey”.

Istanbul: Paylan Question Deputy Prime Minister On His ‘Infidel’ Remarks

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paylan

Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament

Istanbul—Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) on Monday took issue with recent comments by Turkey’s deputy prime minister, who used a derogatory term to describe non-Muslims living in Turkey as a hindrance to independence, prompting Paylan to raise the issue in parliament, reported Agos.

On December 3, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said, “For us, independence means to stand against the giavurs (infidels or non-believers) and to be able to call them ‘giavurs.’”

In his inquiry to parliament, Paylan urged Kurtulmus to personally take responsibility for his statement and provide a response.

Paylan said that according to Turkish Language Association (TDK), giavur means “1. a nonbeliever person, 2. non-Muslim.” He also cited linguist Sevan Nisanyan, who defined the term to mean “1. Zoroastrian, fire-worshiper, 2. non-Muslim, heretic.”

“Do you think that you insulted the Christians and non-Muslim people of Turkey by using the word of ‘giavur,’ which is used in a derogatory manner in many Turkish idioms and proverbs and which people often use to insult or defame certain groups or individuals?” asked Paylan in his parliamentary inquiry.

“Given that hate speech is defined as ‘speaking in an insulting or threatening manner on the basis of attributes such as gender, ethnic origin, religion, race, disability or sexual orientation,’ do you think that your statement is a form of hate speech?” added Paylan.

“Regarding the fact that such statements often lead to hate crimes, do you think that your statement may cause hate crimes?” said Paylan.

Last month, Paylan, in a similar question, appealed to Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim about the rise of hate crimes against Armenians and other minorities, suspects who threatened the Agos newspaper by placing black wreaths in front of its offices. That inquiry has yet to be answered.

France Republican: Armenians condemn the participation of Turkish Prime Minister

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Davutoglu-France-ISIS(Belga) The coordination of several Armenian organizations in France on Saturday condemned the announced participation of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to the “republican march” organized in Paris on Sunday after the deadly attack against Charlie Hebdo.

“Participation in this event of representatives of a State which holds the record number of journalists in prison is a disgrace and an insult to the spirit of Charlie Hebdo,” said the National Office of Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France , in a statement. “All the more so with Turkey to the jihadist movement (Al Qaeda and Daech) which exported terror in Paris is now an open secret,” also accuses the organization. Organizations defending human rights regularly denounce arrests of journalists in Turkey. Turkish police launched during December 1st punch operation against supporters of the Islamist imam Fehtullah Gullen, a former ally of power, especially to the Zaman newspaper, one of the major Turkish dailies. Thirty people, mostly journalists, were arrested. The European Union has denounced these operations, saying they violated “European values” that Turkey, which aspires to join the EU, is supposed to follow. (Belga)

With 97 imprisoned journalists, Turkey was designated “biggest prison for journalists ahead of Iran, Eritrea and China,” the Committee to Protect Journalists for (CPJ). According to Le Monde Diplomatique, “the power (Turkish) does not hesitate to use the entire arsenal of repression: arrests, seizure of equipment and hard drives …. Journalists are then locked in medieval conditions. “And the Prime Minister Davutoglu dare come to Paris defend freedom of the press!

On the other hand, the Turkish government has decided to support the jihadists from Syria, even those who spread terror in northern Iraq practicing a true ethnic cleansing in August, including summary executions and mass systematically kidnapping against minorities, including Christians, Shia Turkmen, Yazidis …. They raise the same racist and obscurantist ideology that those who committed the crime against Charlie or against Jewish shop Porte de Vincennes.

MRAP also condemns the presence of Avigdor Lieberman, founder and leader of the far-right party “Israel Beiteinu.” Customary racist remarks of unprecedented violence and incitement to racial hatred, Avigdor Lieberman called “bombing the Gaza Strip as the United States did with the Japanese.” In addition, it displays ultra-nationalistic and fascist, advocated the expulsion of Israeli Arab citizens, and openly rejects international law and the principle of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

No, gentlemen Davutoglu and Lieberman, Netanyahu, Naftali Bennet who “has no problem killing Arabs,” Sergei Lavrov, Petro Poroshenko (and others), your place is not in the Marche citizen of Paris but before international courts. This participation guaranteed by the French government, is an insult to Charlie journalists who have always fought all fascism whether nationalist or religious. We do not defend freedom with the enemies of freedom! “Sometimes laughter is choking but it’s our only weapon,” said Cabu today our laughter chokes face this diversion of citizen momentum.

Sunday, January 11, 2015,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Hundreds stage protest against Turkish PM in Lyon

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Hundreds of people staged a protest against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the French city of Lyon as he visited Europe ahead of an expected bid for the BoZwfojIAAAQ6dc.jpg-largeTurkish presidency.

Organisers said 1,000 people took part in the protest organised by pro-democracy and minority groups near a local government office, where Mr Erdogan met regional officials.

Police said there were about 500 protesters.

“His government is authoritarian. It scorns democracy by violently repressing peaceful demonstrations and minorities,” said Mehmet Demirbas, head of a local cultural centre for the Alevi community in Lyon.

The community, which follows a moderate form of Islam and accounts for 10-15 million of Turkey’s 76 million citizens, has frequently clashed with Mr Erdogan’s government.

Mr Erdogan is touring European countries with large Turkish populations ahead of a widely expected run for the presidency in August. As many as 10,000 people demonstrated in Vienna when he visited Austria earlier this week.

The prime minister has been accused of autocratic tendencies in Turkey, but faces little opposition for the presidency.

Mr Erdogan later met members of Lyon’s Turkish community, calling on them to maintain their identities.

He urged them not to forget their “culture, traditions, identity and especially faith” while integrating in France.

Touching on Turkey’s long talks with the European Union on membership, Mr Erdogan said it was only a matter of time before the country was admitted.

“The EU needs Turkey… the EU needs Turkey because of its young and dynamic population,” he said. “Turkey is not a country that will be kept at the door forever.”

German police launch probe into poster depicting Turkish PM with Nazi symbol

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An investigation has been opened into a banner depicting Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan with a Nazi symbol during the Turkish leader’s rally in Cologne PM Nazi Symbolon May 24, the Hurriyet Daily News reports. 

Cologne police released a statement over the probe, saying “peaceful demonstrations” were held during Erdoğan’s rally at Lanxess Arena.

But a legal process against one person has been launched regarding the poster which carried Erdoğan’s photo along with a National Socialist symbol at the protest organized by the Federation of Alevi Communities in Germany (AABF), police stated.

Four people were also detained after attempting to block the way of Erdoğan’s official convoy at Ottoplatz.

Legal action has been taken against the four on charges of damaging property and injuring people during a protest held by far right Pro-NRW, the statement said.

Turkish PM hosts Istanbul-Armenian patriarch

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has received the Armenian patriarch of Istanbul, Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, and several local Armenians.

Turkish PM hosts Istanbul-Armenian patriarchAccording to the Turkish-Armenian publication Agos, the meeting, attended by Turkish Vice Premier Bulent Arinc, FM Ahmet Davutoglu, Board Chairman of the Holy Savior Hospital Bedros Shirinoglu and others, lasted an hour and a half.

Speaking to reporters after the talks, the Armenian patriarch addressed the region’s tragic historical past. “Nobody can deny that the offsprings of tens and thousands of families lost their mothers, fathers, children and siblings. These lands have seen enough of blood. All that happened in this country. There now seems to be a corpse which has started stinking, the smell stirring up trouble in all. The two societies have to sit close next to each other. Let them read any prayer they need but the corpse must be buried until in starts decaying,” he said.

Commenting on Mr Erdogan’s April 23 address on the “shared pain”, he compared it with Patriarch Noah’s dove whose olive branch symbolized the the Holy Spirit. “We do not want that branch to get dry. We want to plant it and see the fruit. We miss the days when the two peoples lived side by side like friends,” he said.

Ateshyan said he wished Erdogan’s “message” and their visit to the future to lay the foundations of the bridge to be built between the Turks and Armenians.

Gülen under probe as Turkish PM increases pressure

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n_65777_1U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. CİHAN Photo

A fierce rivalry between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and the Gülen community acquired a new dimension with the announcement of legal action against U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen on charges of attempting to overthrow the government and the constitutional order.

The investigation against Gülen was launched by the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office on charges of “attempting to annul the government of the Republic of Turkey; or attempting to partially or entirely block the government from performing its duties,” according to private broadcaster CNNTürk.

Those who are accused of staging, planning or supporting military coups d’état are commonly charged with this crime.

The investigation was disclosed by Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik on April 30 during a live interview with news channel NTV, a day after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he would ask the United States to extradite Gülen, whom he accuses of plotting to topple him and undermine Turkey with allegedly concocted graft accusations and secret wiretaps.

“The investigation’s result is important for the survival of Turkey. This should be investigated as a problem of national security,” Çelik was quoted as saying by several news portals, citing NTV.

A prosecutor’s office which is in charge of “Crimes committed against the Constitution” will conduct the investigation, according to reports.

In addition to “attempting to annul the government of the Republic of Turkey; or attempting to partially or entirely block the government from performing its duties,” the investigation is also based on the crime of “founding and directing an organization,” the same reports said.

“There are serious allegations that concern espionage activities as well. We have observed leakages of the state’s most confidential meetings and efforts to create a nucleus within the state,” Çelik said.

The leakage Çelik refers to was about the release of a voice recording of a key Syria meeting at the Foreign Ministry with the participation of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, head of intelligence Hakan Fidan and other senior civilian and military officials. An Ankara prosecutor launched a separate investigation into the leakage, but the government officials put the blame on what they call the “parallel structure,” meaning the Gülen community, although speculation is continuing as to who actually taped the meeting, during which the officials discussed possible false-flag operations to drag Turkey into Syria’s war.

The government and the Gülen community have been engaged in a harsh struggle following the launch of a massive corruption and graft operation against government officials on Dec. 17, 2013. Phone conversations of Erdoğan and other governmental officials were posted on social media on a nearly daily basis on the eve of local polls on March 30, with the government accusing Gülenists in the police and judiciary of conducting a plot.

MGK meets

On the day news broke about the judicial probe against Gülen, the National Security Council (MGK) convened under the leadership of President Abdullah Gül. The Gülen community was discussed at a MGK meeting in January in which it took up the issue of some organizations and structures which pose serious threats to national security – the first indirect reference to the community at the body.

Yesterday’s MGK was still continuing in the late afternoon as the Hürriyet Daily News went to print.

Gov’t to demand Gülen’s extradition

With the launch of legal action against Gülen, the government could consider filing an appeal to the U.S. for the extradition of Gülen to Turkey in line with the 1979 Treaty on Extradition and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. The treaty obligates contracting parties to surrender to each other all persons who are being “prosecuted for or have been charged with an offense or are sought by the other party for the enforcement of a judicially pronounced penalty for an offense committed within the territory of the requesting party.”

If the requested party considers the offense for which extradition is requested to be of a political character then it may refuse to extradite the requested person. However, any offense committed or attempted against a head of state or a head of government or against a member of their families shall not be deemed to be an offense of a political character, the treaty reads.

Gülen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, when secularist authorities raised accusations of Islamist activity against him. He was acquitted of all charges in 2008.

Turkish PM says 30,000 of 2,000,000 Armenians living in Turkey proves there was no ‘genocide’

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ISTANBUL

n_65734_1A woman places a lit candle on portraits of Armenian intellectuals who were killed and deported under the Ottoman rule during the World War I, on April 24, during a commemorative march on the Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul. AFP Photo

Only a week after expressing condolences for the 1915 deportation and killings of Armenians, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said the small Armenian community still living in Turkey was proof that there was no genocide in the past.

Speaking in an interview with Charlie Rose from PBS, Erdoğan said what happened in 1915 could not be described as a “genocide.”

“This is not possible. Because if there were a genocide, [there would not be] Armenians still living in Turkey,” Erdoğan said, reiterating that Ankara was ready to open its historical archives. 

“We see genocide as a crime against humanity. We will never shut our eyes to it. We are ready to open our archives. Armenia and other third party countries should do it too,” he said, adding if documents prove it, then Turkey would apologize.

“These events did not happen under the Turkish Republic, but the Ottoman Empire. If the documents show it, then we will not avoid apologizing and accepting the consequences,” he said. 

In an unexpected statement issued April 23, Erdoğan had stressed the common pain endured by the two peoples, expressing condolences for the descendants of the mass killings in 1915. 

“The incidents of World War I are our shared pain. To evaluate this painful period of history through a perspective of just memory is a humane and scholarly responsibility,” his statement said. 

The remarks had a widely positive response, with Washington describing them as “historic” and many commentators noting that they constituted a major step for confronting the past.

Turkish PM blasts court ruling to lift Twitter ban

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April 4, 2014 – 12:37 AMT

177654Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, April 4, criticized a Constitutional Court ruling that lifted his government’s ban on Twitter, according to AFP.

“We are of course bound by the Constitutional Court verdict, but I don’t have to respect it,” said the PM, a day after the U.S.-based social media site went live again in Turkey. “I don’t respect this ruling.”

Erdogan’s government has been rattled by the twin crises of street protests since last June and, since December, a torrent of online leaks on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube which appeared to implicate the premier’s inner circle in corruption.

YouTube remains banned since it was also used to leak an audio recording that was purportedly of a conversation of top government, military and spy officials weighing possible military action inside neighboring war-torn Syria.

Erdogan said on the Twitter case, that “the Constitutional Court should have rejected” the application to lift the block on the site which had been brought by an opposition lawmaker and two academics.

“All our national, moral values have been put aside,” he said about the spate of anonymously posted recordings. “Insults to a country’s prime minister and ministers are all around.”

The Internet crackdown has sparked protests from Turkey’s NATO allies and human rights groups, who have deplored it as curbing the right to free speech — a notion Erdogan dismissed.

“This is a commercial company which has a product,” he said of the San Francisco-based micro-blogging service. “It is not only Twitter. YouTube and Facebook are also commercial companies. It is everyone’s free will whether or not to buy their product. This has nothing to do with freedoms.”

Students detained following protest against Turkish PM

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ISTANBUL

when Turkish PM Erdoğan  attended the ceremony with 105 guard cars, 20 armored cars, one intervention tank and 2,500 police officers.

Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) students are being taken into custody in increasing numbers following clashes that occurred during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent visit to the school, daily Hürriyet has reported.

Twelve students have been detained so far, but the number will reportedly increase in the coming hours.

Police forces launched raids at students’ housing units early in the morning, terming the action “DHKP/C operation” in reference to the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C).

A group of ODTÜ students had protested the Dec. 18 visit of Erdoğan, who came to the university to attend a ceremony for the launch of Turkey’s Göktürk-2 satellite.

Police used pepper gas and water cannon against the protesting students, who were not allowed to approach the ceremony hall.

A total of 26 students were detained while five were injured due to police’s use of tear gas.

Erdoğan reportedly attended the ceremony with 105 guard cars, 20 armored cars, one intervention tank and 2,500 police officers.

The Dec. 18 action against the students has drawn widespread condemnation, including reaction from ODTÜ’s rector. One student, Barış Barışık, remains in serious condition in hospital after being struck at close range by a police gas canister.