Turkish Forum

Category: Armenian Question

“The great Turk is governing in peace twenty nations from different religions. Turks have taught to Christians how to be moderate in peace and gentle in victory.”Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary

  • Senate Set To Confirm New U.S. Envoy To Armenia

    Senate Set To Confirm New U.S. Envoy To Armenia

     

     

     

     

     

    By Emil Danielyan

    The Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate paved the way late Tuesday for congressional approval of President George W. Bush’s nominee to serve as the new U.S. ambassador to Armenia.

    The diplomatic post has been vacant since the last U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, John Evans, had his tour of duty in Armenia cut short by the Bush administration last year for publicly describing World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide. While acknowledging the deaths of more than one million Ottoman Armenians in 1915-1918, Washington has avoided using the politically sensitive term for fear of antagonizing Turkey, a key U.S. ally.

    Richard Hoagland, another career diplomat nominated to replace Evans, saw his Senate confirmation blocked by one of the senators, Robert Menendez, after sticking to the administration’s policy during committee hearings last year. The White House had to withdraw Hoagland’s nomination as a result.

    Menendez, whose New Jersey constituency is home to a large number of ethnic Armenians, joined other Foreign Relations Committee members in recommending Marie Yovanovitch’s endorsement by the full Senate despite her refusal to call the 1915 massacres a genocide. His decision not to place a “hold” on Bush’s new ambassadorial nominee was in line with the position of at least one of the two main Armenian-American lobbying groups and Armenia’s government.

    While deploring Washington’s reluctance to explicitly recognize the genocide, the Armenian Assembly of America has argued over the past year that the absence of a U.S. ambassador in Yerevan is hampering the development of U.S.-Armenian relations. In a statement issued ahead of the committee vote, Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian reiterated official Yerevan’s hopes that Yovanovitch will secure congressional approval and assume her ambassadorial duties “soon.”

    Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, was the only member of the Senate panel to vote against Yovanovitch’s candidacy, having already delayed the confirmation process last month. Boxer, Menendez and the committee chairman, Joseph Biden, wrote to the State Department last week, demanding further clarifications of the U.S. policy on the issue.

    In a written reply sent just hours before the committee vote, the acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, Mathew Reynolds, said the Bush administration “recognizes that the mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and forced deportations of over one and a half million Armenians were conducted by the Ottoman Empire.”

    The letter was welcomed by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). “Today’s State Department letter, although clearly falling short of America’s moral responsibility and national interest in recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide, did mark a step in the direction of distancing U.S. policy from the dictates of the Turkish government,” Aram Hamparian, ANCA’s executive director, said in a statement.

    Yovanovitch, who has until now served as U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, is now expected to be confirmed by the Senate before its August recess.

     

  • PRESS RELEASE: The European Armenian Federation inquires the EU French Pres

    PRESS RELEASE: The European Armenian Federation inquires the EU French Pres

    From: European Armenian Federation [mailto:contact@eafjd.eu]
    Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 2:13 PM
    To: grassroots@turkishforum.com grassroots@turkishforum.com
    Subject: The European Armenian Federation inquires the EU French Pres

     

    PRESS RELEASE

    For immediate release

     

    Monday, 21 July 2008

    Contact : Varténie ECHO

    Tel. / Fax. : +32 (0) 2 732 70 27

     

    THE EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION INQUIRIES THE EU FRENCH PRESIDENCY

    Turkey’s application for membership and genocide denial focused among the threats that « protective Europe » fostered by the French presidency should address.

    The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy said that it took the opportunity of the EU French presidency (July to December 2008) to draw the attention of M. Sarkozy, the French president and the new President of the EU, on the expectations and concerns of the European Armenian citizens.

    In a letter sent on the 3rd July, the European Armenian Federation addressed the big EU policies toward Turkey and the South Caucasus (Enlargement, European Neighbourhood Policy, and Black Sea Synergy) and, on the other hand, those related to genocide denial and racial hatred in the EU member States and in the applicant countries.

    About the Turkish problem, the Federation noticed in its mail that “the well-lubricated accession process steps forward without discontinuation, in contempt of the sovereign will of the European People as despite the refusal by Turkey to reform itself” and that this gives evidence of “a given leniency of the EU institutions towards the severe shortcomings of this candidate country”.

    Therefore, the Federation calls upon the new EU President to « shape its opposition to Turkey’s accession in clearly stating the unavoidable conditions that this country must fulfil”, among which the requisite acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide.

    Terming this recognition a “moral, juridical and political” obligation, the Federation said that such a momentum would be “emblematic” and would give evidence that Turkey can break her “aggressive State doctrine stemming from an ideology which disappeared in Europe since the end of World War II”.

    « About the EU policy toward the South Caucasus, the Federation commends the “ever-increasing integration” of Armenia and its region in the European multilateral cooperation structures. It calls upon the French presidency to support the “Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy” (ENP-Est) and the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly project. It terms as a “good strategic choice for the EU” the direct dialog with the South Caucasus states rather than “through structures involving other regional players”.

    Tackling the EU Home policies, the Federation recalls the written pledge of presidential candidate Sarkozy (letter sent at the Federation on the 13 mars 2007) “to foster the emergence of a European consensus” on the pan European penalization of genocides denials, in the agenda of the then-to-be-adopted EU Framework-Decision fighting “against racism and xenophobia”.

    “During the elaboration period of this project, we worked with the European Commission, Council and Parliament to promote the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the final wordings of this Framework Decision; Nowadays, we have succeeded”, revealed Hilda Tchoboian, the chairperson of the European Armenian Federation.

    Recalling the French draft law on penalising denial « pending in the Senate”, the Federation urges President Sarkozy to keep this provision of the Framework Decision without restricting its scope, when it will be transposed in the French legislation, and to promote during the French presidency, a similar attitude for the transposition in the legislations of the 26 other member States.

    “In a nutshell, we ask the French Presidency to give a political and juridical content to its “Protective Europe” concept, in reinforcing the prevention and penalization measures against the genocide denial proliferation threat in European” concluded Tchoboian.

  • ‘Ottoman Turco-Armenian War Tragedy’ presented at Edinburgh City Council

    ‘Ottoman Turco-Armenian War Tragedy’ presented at Edinburgh City Council

    The Federation of British Turkish Associations and the British Turkish Committee for Dialogue

    A symposium, jointly organised by the Federation of British Turkish Associations and British Turkish Committee for Dialogue, entitled ‘Ottoman Turco-Armenian War Tragedy’ has been presented at Edinburgh City Council on the 24th October 2005. . . .

    In the symposium, the two-sided nature of the Ottoman Turco-Armenian War Tragedy has been presented to the participants, amongst whom were Edinburgh City Council leader Donald Anderson and Edinburgh Councillors.

    Prof. Norman Stone (Professor of History) and Retired Ambassador Gunduz Aktan presented the incidents’ historical, political and legal aspects to the audience.

    In the symposium, it was explained that the clashes between the Turkish/Muslim community and the armed Armenian groups and resulting migrations in the declining stages of the Ottoman Empire, cost many lives to both sides. The speakers suggested that this should be called a tragedy in which both sides suffered.

    Enforcing Turkey to define this tragedy as a genocide that only affected the Armenian population has been the main leverage to block Turkey’s EU membership path by anti-Turkish factions in the past.

    The speakers answered questions from the audience, including those from the City Council leader Donald Anderson.

    As British Turkish Committee for Dialogue and the Federation of British Turkish Associations we declare that it was upsetting that the CDs and DVDs necessary to present the two-sided nature of the tragedy has been obstructed and delayed at customs, preventing that part of the symposium from taking place.

    As BTCD and FBTA, we suggest that the vote on the declared motion by Edinburgh council aiming at defining this tragedy as ‘genocide’ should be cancelled, for the sake of preserving impartiality of Edinburgh Council as a third party. Both organisations have agreed that Edinburgh council has done enough to enlighten the true nature of this tragedy, allowing both parties to present their cases.

    Sincerely,
    The executive committees of BTCD and ITDF

    Background:
    The clashes between the Turkish/Muslim community and the armed Armenian groups and the resulting migrations in the declining stages of the Ottoman Empire cost many lives to both sides. (At least 523,000 Turkish lives – documented so far -, and hundreds of thousands of Armenian lives from among the 1,050,000 Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire at the time)

    The Armenian Diaspora describes this two-sided Tragedy as genocide committed against them. However, many scholars, including Prof. Dr Bernard Lewis, Prof. Dr. Stanford Shaw, Prof.Dr.Heath Lowry support the view that in these clashes both sides suffered and it is scientifically wrong to call the tragedy as ‘genocide’. There is no decision given by an International Court to this effect.

    The Turkish Diaspora in-large maintains the opinion that giving precedence to any side of the victims is unhelpful and they propose to commemorate the victims of both sides. The Turkish government has recently proposed to set up a joint committee between Armenia and Turkey to investigate the events in more detail, based on historical archives.

    The scholars that support the view that the incidents can be best described as a two-sided tragedy, in which both sides suffered, have been the target of extremist Armenian organisations in the past, which deny the two-sided nature of the war tragedy so far.

    July 16, 2008

    Source: Armeniatruth

  • PKK-Armenian Relations

    PKK-Armenian Relations

    Changing their tactics after the ’80s as they encountered adverse reactions from the world. Now, it was time for PKK to carry on the mission. Their first terrorist act started at Eruh and Semdimli in 1984 while the ASALA-Armenian terror receded to the background. Some of the tangible proofs of the ties between Armenians and PKK are the following: . . .

    The terrorist organisation PKK announced the period from 21 to 28 April 1980 as the “Red Week” and started to organise meetings on April 24 as the anniversary of the alleged genocide against Armenians.

    The PKK and ASALA terror organisations held a joint press conference on 8 April 1980 at the City of Sidon in Lebanon where they issued a declaration. Since this drew a considerable reaction, they decided that their relations should be maintained on a clandestine basis. The responsibility of the attacks launched against the Turkish Consulate General in Strasbourg on 9 November 1980 and the Turkish Airline office in Rome on 19 November 1980 were undertaken jointly by the ASALA and PKK.

    Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the separatist terror organisation, was elected to the honorary membership of the Armenian Authors’ Association for “his contributions to the idea of Greater Armenia”.

    A Kurdistan Committee was formed within the Armenian Popular Movement like in many European countries.

    On 4 June 1993, a meeting was held at the headquarters of PKK terrorist organisation at West Beyrouth with the participation of representatives from the Armenian Hinchak Party, ASALA and PKK.

    Another striking example of the Armenian-PKK ties are the following resolutions adopted in meetings held at two separate churches from 6 to 9 September 1993 with the participation of Lebanese Armenian Orthodox Archbishop, officials of the Armenian Party and about 150 youth leaders:

    A somewhat sedate attitude should be reserved toward Turkey for the time being.

    The Armenian community is on the way to growth and better economic strength.

    The propaganda activities have started to make the genocide claims better understood in the rest of the world.

    The newly founded Armenian State with a constantly growing territory will definitely avenge the ancestors of its citizens.

    The Western powers and particularly the United States side with and favour the Armenians in the combat for Nagorno Karabakh. This opportunity should be well exploited as more and more Armenian young men join the ranks in this fight.

    The perpetual terrorist attacks in Turkey (meaning the PKK’s actions) will continue and eventually collapse the country’s economy, leading to an uprising by the entire population.

    Turkey will be abolish and a Kurdish State will be formed.

    Armenians will hold good relations with the Kurds and support their fight.

    Territories presently held by the Turks will the Armenian’s tomorrow.

    PUBLICATION ORGANS OF TERRORIST ORGANISATION PKK IN ARMENIA

    The newspapers Reya Taze and Bota Redaksiyon are published in Armenia in Cyrillic alphabet under the control of terrorist organisation PKK with the help of PKK members coming from Turkey and Europe and carries out propaganda for the PKK.

    PKK-ASALA RELATIONS

    The Armenian terrorism at international first started basis in 1973 and began to gain impetus after the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation with attacks or terrorist nature against Turks and Turkish representations abroad with sabotages and outright assaults.

    Upon resurrection of the Kurdish terrorist movement that began to show itself in a variety of legal political entities from ’70s onward, the Armenian terror organisation ASALA ceded its place in 1984 to the PKK that killed without distinction of Turk or Kurd in a bloodthirsty manner under the guidance of Abdullah Öcalan.

    Yet in prior to that date, of the co-operation between terrorist organisations ASALA and PKK was known manifesting in the training of ASALA militants at PKK’s trannie camps, the joint operations and declamations by them both and training support provided at the PKK camps by Armenian experts, not to mention the organic ties between the terrorist organisation PKK and Armenian Tashnak Sutyun Party.

    The common goal of the co-operation between the terrorist organisations PKK and ASALA is to establish States in Turkey’s Southeastern and Eastern under the Marxist-Leninist ideology. Since, however, an overview of the areas on which both organisations had schemes, it may be deduced that one of these organisations acts as the other’s mercenaries.

    An examination of the discovered documents revealed that the militants of ASALA and PKK terrorist organisations underwent training at the Bekaa and Zeli camps.

    1987 AGREEMENT BETWEEN PKK AND ARMENIANS

    An agreement was concluded between the separatist terror organisation PKK and Armenians in 1987. Following are the highlights of this agreement:

    1. Armenians will be involved in training activities within the PKK terror organisation.

    2. Five thousand American Dollars per annum will be paid to the PKK terror organisation per capita by the Armenian side.

    3. The Armenians will participate in the small-scale operations.

    As the Armenian component began to acquire a significantly elevated position within the organisation as a result of this agreement, the following resolutions were adopted in a meeting held on 18 April 1990 with a person named Hermes Samurai, reported to be the official responsible for the PKK-ASALA relations:

    1. The PKK and ASALA terrorist organisations will be under a joint command from that date on.

    2. The Armenians will undertake intelligence work on the Turkish security forces.

    3. Territories gained through the expected revolution will be equally shared between the parties.

    4. Seventy-five percent of training camp expenses will be borne by the Armenians.

    5. Operations will be conducted at the metropolitan cities in Turkey.

    The terrorist organisation PKK that moved its bases into Northern Iraq after because of very heavy blows dealt in the transborder operations and lost all possibilities of sheltering there is known to have entered into arrangements for shifting some of its cadres to Iran and Armenia where it started an active subversive operation toward Turkey.

    It has also been learned that a group of European representatives of the terrorist organisation PKK paid a visit to Armenia where they concluded an agreement with the Armenian leaders for the unhindered ingress to and egress from Kars region by their militants, that Armenia offered sheltering, monetary and equipment support to the Kurdish settlements in that country following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formal proclamation of the Armenian Republic. Similarly, a group of militants of the terrorist organisation PKK left Urmiah for Armenia on three vehicles on 19 and 20 May 1992 for fighting against Azerite Turks together with the Armenians.

    ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS: Myth and Reality

    karabakh.gen.az

    Source: Armeniatruth

  • MCCAIN ATTACK ON OBAMA GENOCIDE POLICY

    MCCAIN ATTACK ON OBAMA GENOCIDE POLICY

    MCCAIN ATTACK ON OBAMA GENOCIDE POLICY

    armradio.am
    24.07.2008 11:29

    Armenian Americans – a community of one a half million citizens that
    has experienced the horrors of genocide and continues to endure the
    pain of its denial -defended Senator Barack Obama against Senator
    John McCain’s unfounded and starkly hypocritical charges that the
    presumptive Democratic nominee is not serious about preventing future
    genocides.

    Senator McCain’s presidential campaign issued a press statement
    attacking Senator Obama as lacking sincerity in his calls of
    “never again,” even as the Illinois Senator personally traveled
    to Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial to honor the millions slaughtered
    in the Holocaust. Senator Obama has been a consistently strong and
    effective leader on issues of genocide, leading Congressional efforts
    to stop the Genocide in Darfur, and fighting vigorously against the
    Bush Administration’s complicity – enthusiastically backed by John
    McCain – in the Turkish government’s denial of the Armenian Genocide.

    “Armenian Americans, a community with a long and painful experience of
    genocide, know that John McCain lacks the standing to lecture anyone –
    especially a genocide-prevention leader of the stature of Barack Obama
    – regarding America’s compelling national interest and moral obligation
    in opposing all genocides, past or present,” said Armenians for Obama
    Chairman Areen Ibranossian. “Barack Obama has led the fight=2 0against
    the Darfur Genocide, and publicly taken on the Bush White House’s
    obstruction of recognition of the Armenian Genocide, while John McCain
    has done little more than to meekly accept the gag-rule imposed by the
    Turkish government on the discussion of this crime against humanity.”

    “John McCain, who has outsourced U.S. genocide policy to the
    Turkish government, really hit bottom by launching such an obviously
    hypocritical attack against Barack Obama, who is so far out in front of
    him in fighting for real U.S. leadership to end the cycle of genocide,”
    added Ibranossian.

    On January 19th, 2008 Senator Barack Obama issued a forceful and
    passionate statement on the topic of genocide, which reads, in part:
    “Genocide, sadly, persists to this day, and threatens our common
    security and common humanity.

    Tragically, we are witnessing in Sudan many of the same brutal tactics
    – displacement, starvation, and mass slaughter – that were used by
    the Ottoman authorities against defenseless Armenians back in 1915. I
    have visited Darfurian refugee camps, pushed for the deployment of
    a robust multinational force for Darfur, and urged divestment from
    companies doing business in Sudan. America deserves a leader who
    speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully
    to all genocides. I intend to be that President.”

    Armenians for Obama is a nationwide voter registration, education
    and mobilization effort dedicated to electing Ba rack Obama
    President. Based in Los Angeles, and with chapters and affiliates
    in all 50 States, Armenians for Obama will harness the energy and
    enthusiasm for Barack Obama’s candidacy to ensure record high Armenian
    American turnout in critical battleground states

  • TURKEY AND ARMENIA: FROM SECRET TALKS TO “SOCCER DIPLOMACY”?

    TURKEY AND ARMENIA: FROM SECRET TALKS TO “SOCCER DIPLOMACY”?

     

     

    TURKEY AND ARMENIA: FROM SECRET TALKS TO “SOCCER DIPLOMACY”?

    By Gareth Jenkins

    Friday, July 25, 2008

     

    On July 24, the presidents of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan formally inaugurated the Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, which will eventually provide the first ever rail link between the three countries. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Turkish President Abdullah Gul declared, in an unmistakable reference to Armenia, that “this project is open to all countries in the region who wish to contribute to good, neighborly relations, peace and prosperity” (NTV, CNNTurk, July 24).

    Armenia and Turkey do not have any official diplomatic relations and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993, following the war in Nagorno Karabakh between ethnic Armenians and the Azeri government in Baku. In recent years, hopes of an improvement in relations between Turkey and Armenia have been frustrated by continuing differences over the status of Nagorno Karabakh and—more intractably—the treatment of ethnic Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, culminating in 1915-16 in the massacre and deportation of virtually the entire Armenian population of Anatolia.

    As a result, Ankara has consistently excluded Armenia from its plans to make Turkey into an energy and transportation hub. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) natural gas pipeline both pointedly circumvent Armenia. The 76 kilometer (48 mile) Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad is currently expected to be completed in late 2010 or early 2011 at a total cost of $241 million. The initial target is for the railroad to carry 1.5 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight in the first year after it comes into service (Today’s Zaman, July 25).

    In addition to connecting Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Ankara hopes that the railroad will form another link in a rail network that will eventually connect, via Turkey, China and Central Asia to western Europe. The Marmaray Project to bore a rail tunnel under the Bosporus and connect the Asian and European shores of Istanbul is currently scheduled for completion in 2011.

    Armenia opposed the building of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, pointing out that there is already a railway running from Tbilisi to Kars via the Armenian town of Gyumri, although it has been out of use since the closure of the Turkish-Armenian border in 1993.

    It is currently unclear what concessions Gul envisaged when he apparently made Armenian participation in the new rail project conditional on Yerevan making a contribution to “good, neighborly relations, peace and prosperity.” For the moment at least, the respective positions of Turkey and Armenia on issues such as Nagorno Karabakh and the massacres and deportations of ethnic Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire appear so far apart as to be irreconcilable. Even if the two countries could reach some form of understanding over the latter, a solution to the problem of Nagorno Karabakh is beyond Turkey’s control as it depends on an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There is currently no indication that one is imminent.

    Nevertheless, there have recently been signs of a slight thaw between Turkey and Armenia. Even though the border between the two countries remains closed, there are now regular flights between Turkey and Armenia by both the privately-owned Turkish Atlas Jet and the Armenian state-owned carrier Armavia.

    On July 18, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan appeared to confirm rumors in the Turkish media that diplomats from Turkey and Armenia had met in Switzerland for several days of informal talks about ways of improving ties. “Such talks are held from time to time,” said Babacan. “We have problems about current issues and disagreements about the events of 1915. It is essential that these problems are handled through dialogue” (Today’s Zaman, July 19).

    The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) also issued a statement admitting that in recent years there had been occasional informal contacts between Turkey and Armenia and noting that Turkey had been one of the first countries to recognize Armenia when it declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. “Meetings between members of the foreign ministries of the two countries are part of these contacts. We believe that no different meaning should be attributed to these meetings,” said the MFA statement (Today’s Zaman, July 19).

    A previous series of informal discussions in 2005 failed to produce any result. In recent years, hopes of an improvement in relations have been complicated by events such as the motion brought before the U.S. Congress in fall 2007 calling on the United States to recognize what happened to the Armenians in 1915 as a genocide and the racist murder in Istanbul in January 2007 of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

    But, even if diplomats from Turkey and Armenia remain reluctant to be seen meeting with each other, the two countries will come together in the most public of ways later this year. On September 6, the Turkish and Armenian national soccer teams are due to meet in Yerevan in the first ever match between the countries after they were both drawn in the same group in the qualifying stages for the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has already invited Gul to Yerevan to watch the match. Gul has yet to reply to the invitation. Given the often extreme mutual antagonism between nationalists in both countries, traveling to Yerevan would require Gul to display both personal and political courage; as it would for Sarksyan to attend the return match in Istanbul. But there is also little doubt that, even if it did not produce any immediate results, such “soccer diplomacy” could contribute to a further easing of tensions and perhaps lay the foundations for an eventual reconciliation.