Turkish Forum

Category: Southern Caucasus

  • Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister: Turkey’s position on Karabakh problem will continue as before, nothing has changed

    Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister: Turkey’s position on Karabakh problem will continue as before, nothing has changed

    Baku – APA. “The United States and Turkey have common targets on a number of issues, including Caucasus,” Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister, former Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan Ahmet Unal Chevikoz, who ended his visit to Washington, said in his interview to Turkish service of the Voice of America, APA reports.

    Chevikoz had high-level meetings with the U.S. officials in Washington and discussed President Barack Obama’s forthcoming visit to Ankara.
    “Obama’s visit is very important. The relations between the two countries were discussed during the recent visit of the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Ankara. We saw that the two countries had very significant foreign policy targets. We have a common agenda on a number of issues, including our relations with Iraq, Afghanistan, Caucasus and Russia,” he said.

    Commenting on Turkey’s policy with respect to Armenia Chevikoz said the whole world witnessed everything.

    “After September 6 visit of President Abdullah Gul to Yerevan, high-level warm relations were formed between the two countries. Foreign Ministers met seven times. The ways to improve Turkey-Armenia relations were discussed at the meetings. We hope the relations will normalize soon and it will be continuous. There are some preparations in this respect and these preparations will be realized with support of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries,” he said.

    Ahmet Unal Chevikoz also commented on Azerbaijan’s attitude towards Ankara-Yerevan relations.


    “Being our nearest neighbor in the region Azerbaijan is attentively observing normalization of the relations between Turkey and Armenia. On the other hand, there is unsolved Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is normal that Azerbaijan is observing these processes. But Azerbaijan need not worry or doubt anything. Turkey’s position on Karabakh problem will continue as before, nothing has changed. Of course, normalization of the relations between Turkey and Armenia is parallel to the process of settlement of Nagorno Karabakh problem,” he said.

    Turkish diplomat said his country was not mediator, but played an easing role in the settlement of the conflicts in the region.

    Ankara has offered opportunities for contacts between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Israel and Palestine and played an easing role in Israel-Syria and Syria-Lebanon dialogues and European Union’s contacts with Iran.
    “All this is sourced from everybody’s confidence in Turkey,” he said.

    Source:  en.apa.az, 16 Mar 2009

  • 2009 ANNUAL DUES, DONATIONS and Book Sales

    2009 ANNUAL DUES, DONATIONS and Book Sales

    2009 MEMBERSHIP DUES AND YOUR DONATIONS ARE NEEDED TO CONTINUE OUR POSTED PROGRAMS WITH OUT INTERUPTION

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    ÜYE AİDATLARI, BAĞIŞLAR VE KİTAP SATIŞLARI

    Dear Friends,

    The Turkish Forum (TF) is the GLOBAL organization with branches and working groups COVERING 5 CONTINENTS, working with many regional Organizations in the America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Turkey.  TF’s mission is to represent the Turkish Community in in the best way possible, to empower the people of Turkish origin and friends of Turkey to be active and assertive in the political and civic arenas, to educate the political establishments, media and the public on issues important to Turks, and cultivate the relations between the working groups located an five continents, serving the Turkish Communities needs.

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  • Fiasco for the Azeri propaganda in the EP

    Fiasco for the Azeri propaganda in the EP

    Stomach sickening example of murdered democracy and freedom of speech

    From: SS Aya [[email protected]]

    From: European Armenian Federation [mailto:[email protected]]
    Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:11 PM


    EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION

    B-1000 Bruxelles
    Tel/ Fax: +32 2 732 70 27/26
    Website :Eafjd

    PRESS RELEASE

    For immediate release

    Wednesday 11 March 2009

    Contact : Varténie ECHO

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

    FIASCO FOR THE AZERI PROPAGANDA IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

    – The anti-Armenian Pogroms in Sumgait were evoked at the Azerbaijani commemoration of Khojalu

    – The ambassador of Azerbaijan prohibited to speak

    The “commemoration” of the Khojalu events that was for Azerbaijan the pinnacle moment of its ongoing misinformation campaign turned to a fiasco on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, in the European Parliament.

    Alerted by the European Armenian Federation and other voices of European public opinion, the MEP Mrs. Gisela Kallenbach (Greens, Germany) which initially had sponsored the exhibition of the “Aliev Foundation”, became aware that she was the object of the Azeri attempt of manipulation. Consequently, she surprised the participants, primarily the Azeris by declaring that she was there only “because it was too late to cancel the exhibition”.

    In her inaugural speech, Gisela Kallenbach did not hesitate to say that she regretted that the exhibition did not include pictures of the anti-Armenian pogrom that was committed in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait in 1988, before taking one minute of silence in memory of the victims of all the conflicts of the South Caucasus. She criticised implicitly the Azeri attempt of misinformation and stated that she learnt that this exhibition “could be used in order to destroy the promising and recent process of reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan” and  “that was absolutely not” her intention.

    The short speech that Mrs. Kallenbach delivered on this occasion is available here.

    Mrs. Kallenbach quickly put an end to her participation while the ambassador of Azerbaijan was prevented from expressing himself and distributing his false propaganda.

    According to various sources, Mrs. Kallenbach had been deceived by officers of her political group directly financed by the Aliev Foundation.

    “We congratulate Mrs. Kallenbach for her courage and her perspicacity” declared Hilda Tchoboian, the chairperson of the European Armenian Federation; “it is clear that the commemorations of Khojalu organized everywhere in Europe and in the United States form part of the political warmongering of the leaders of Azerbaijan; they aim to prevent the settlement of the conflict by prohibiting any concession to its public opinion, while masking its own crimes” she continued.

    Within the framework of a worldwide campaign of disinformation, the Baku regime intends to make the international institutions acknowledge that the events which would have occurred in Khojalu in 1992 at the time of Artsakh liberation war (formerly Nagorno Karabakh) would have constituted war crimes – even a “genocide”. These events – presented as such using photos taken in Kosovo were never clarified but several sources – in particular Azeri – tend to prove that they would have been caused by the Aliev clan to destabilize the Azeri regime of Mutalibov which was at that time in power.

    The massacres and pogroms of Armenians in Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad, recalled by Mrs. Kallenbach, are on the other hand, attested as having constituted the response of Azerbaijan to the peaceful process by which the Armenian populations of Karabakh had requested their unification to Armenia, in accordance with the Soviet constitution which was into force at that time. These pogroms caused the Artsakh liberation war to begin.

    At that time, the European Parliament strongly criticised the actions of Azerbaijan towards its Armenian population, pointing out “the blockade and the aggression of Azerbaijan”, “the 300,000 Armenian refugees who fled the pogroms”, the murders of Armenians perpetrated “in horrific circumstances”, “the economic blockade of Armenia”, “the unprecedented attack against the Armenians of Karabakh” and their “right to self-determination”.

    These resolutions of the European Parliament are available on the European Armenian Federation website.

    “Taking into consideration the serious incriminations that the European Parliament and the International community charged against Azerbaijan, for the first time, the machine of Azeri misinformation failed to use the European Assembly as a springboard to spread its falsified interpretation of the history” commented Hilda Tchoboian.

    “The abusive exploitation by Azerbaijan of the Karabakh conflict to justify the warmongering and racist speech of his leaders towards Armenia and the Armenians, will have to be condemned by the European Union which carries a real interest with the establishment of a durable peace in the area” continued the Chair of the European Armenian Federation.

    The European Armenian Federation recalls that for several years, the Azeri power has tried repeatedly to discredit the OSCE Minsk group who is in charge of the peace negotiations in order to move their framework. In spite of these attempts, the European Parliament constantly affirmed its confidence in the Minsk group which takes into account the right to self-determination of the Karabakh people in compliance with the principles of the International law.

    Fiasco for the Azeri propaganda in the European Parliament

    Stomach sickening example of murdered democracy and freedom of speech

    From: SS Aya [[email protected]]

    From: European Armenian Federation [mailto:[email protected]]
    Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:11 PM

    EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION

    For Justice & Democracy

    Avenue de la Renaissance 10
    B-1000 Bruxelles
    Tel/ Fax: +32 2 732 70 27/26
    Website :Eafjd

    PRESS RELEASE

    For immediate release

    Wednesday 11 March 2009

    Contact : Varténie ECHO

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

    FIASCO FOR THE AZERI PROPAGANDA IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

    – The anti-Armenian Pogroms in Sumgait were evoked at the Azerbaijani commemoration of Khojalu

    – The ambassador of Azerbaijan prohibited to speak

    The “commemoration” of the Khojalu events that was for Azerbaijan the pinnacle moment of its ongoing misinformation campaign turned to a fiasco on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, in the European Parliament.

    Alerted by the European Armenian Federation and other voices of European public opinion, the MEP Mrs. Gisela Kallenbach (Greens, Germany) which initially had sponsored the exhibition of the “Aliev Foundation”, became aware that she was the object of the Azeri attempt of manipulation. Consequently, she surprised the participants, primarily the Azeris by declaring that she was there only “because it was too late to cancel the exhibition”.

    In her inaugural speech, Gisela Kallenbach did not hesitate to say that she regretted that the exhibition did not include pictures of the anti-Armenian pogrom that was committed in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait in 1988, before taking one minute of silence in memory of the victims of all the conflicts of the South Caucasus. She criticised implicitly the Azeri attempt of misinformation and stated that she learnt that this exhibition “could be used in order to destroy the promising and recent process of reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan” and  “that was absolutely not” her intention.

    The short speech that Mrs. Kallenbach delivered on this occasion is available here.

    Mrs. Kallenbach quickly put an end to her participation while the ambassador of Azerbaijan was prevented from expressing himself and distributing his false propaganda.

    According to various sources, Mrs. Kallenbach had been deceived by officers of her political group directly financed by the Aliev Foundation.

    “We congratulate Mrs. Kallenbach for her courage and her perspicacity” declared Hilda Tchoboian, the chairperson of the European Armenian Federation; “it is clear that the commemorations of Khojalu organized everywhere in Europe and in the United States form part of the political warmongering of the leaders of Azerbaijan; they aim to prevent the settlement of the conflict by prohibiting any concession to its public opinion, while masking its own crimes” she continued.

    Within the framework of a worldwide campaign of disinformation, the Baku regime intends to make the international institutions acknowledge that the events which would have occurred in Khojalu in 1992 at the time of Artsakh liberation war (formerly Nagorno Karabakh) would have constituted war crimes – even a “genocide”. These events – presented as such using photos taken in Kosovo were never clarified but several sources – in particular Azeri – tend to prove that they would have been caused by the Aliev clan to destabilize the Azeri regime of Mutalibov which was at that time in power.

    The massacres and pogroms of Armenians in Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad, recalled by Mrs. Kallenbach, are on the other hand, attested as having constituted the response of Azerbaijan to the peaceful process by which the Armenian populations of Karabakh had requested their unification to Armenia, in accordance with the Soviet constitution which was into force at that time. These pogroms caused the Artsakh liberation war to begin.

    At that time, the European Parliament strongly criticised the actions of Azerbaijan towards its Armenian population, pointing out “the blockade and the aggression of Azerbaijan”, “the 300,000 Armenian refugees who fled the pogroms”, the murders of Armenians perpetrated “in horrific circumstances”, “the economic blockade of Armenia”, “the unprecedented attack against the Armenians of Karabakh” and their “right to self-determination”.

    These resolutions of the European Parliament are available on the European Armenian Federation website.

    “Taking into consideration the serious incriminations that the European Parliament and the International community charged against Azerbaijan, for the first time, the machine of Azeri misinformation failed to use the European Assembly as a springboard to spread its falsified interpretation of the history” commented Hilda Tchoboian.

    “The abusive exploitation by Azerbaijan of the Karabakh conflict to justify the warmongering and racist speech of his leaders towards Armenia and the Armenians, will have to be condemned by the European Union which carries a real interest with the establishment of a durable peace in the area” continued the Chair of the European Armenian Federation.

    The European Armenian Federation recalls that for several years, the Azeri power has tried repeatedly to discredit the OSCE Minsk group who is in charge of the peace negotiations in order to move their framework. In spite of these attempts, the European Parliament constantly affirmed its confidence in the Minsk group which takes into account the right to self-determination of the Karabakh people in compliance with the principles of the International law.

    Fiasco for the Azeri propaganda in the European Parliament (11 March 2009)

    The anti-Armenian Pogroms in Sumgait were evoked at the Azerbaijani commemoration of Khojalu

    The ambassador of Azerbaijan prohibited to speakerdit de parole

    The anti-Armenian Pogroms in Sumgait were evoked at the Azerbaijani commemoration of Khojalu
    The ambassador of Azerbaijan prohibited to speakerdit de parole
    The “commemoration” of the Khojalu events that was for Azerbaijan the pinnacle moment of its ongoing misinformation campaign turned to a fiasco on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, in the European Parliament.
    Alerted by the European Armenian Federation and other voices of European public opinion, the MEP Mrs. Gisela Kallenbach (Greens, Germany) (…)

  • U.S. Lawmakers Pressure Obama On Armenian Issue

    U.S. Lawmakers Pressure Obama On Armenian Issue


    By Susan Cornwell, Reuters

    Several U.S. lawmakers have written to President Barack Obama urging him to follow up on campaign statements and label the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide.

    The pressure on Obama comes ahead of an expected presidential trip to Turkey, which has warned that such declarations by the United States would damage relations. Turkey denies that up to 1.5 million Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War One. Turkey accepts many Armenians were killed, but denies they were victims of a systematic genocide.

    Ronald Reagan was the only U.S. president to publicly call the killings genocide. Others avoided the term out of concern for the sensitivities of Turkey, an important NATO ally.

    Four members of the House of Representatives urged Obama to make a statement ahead of the 94th anniversary of the killings on April 24. “As a presidential candidate, you were … forthright in discussing your support for genocide recognition, saying that ‘America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides.’ We agree with you completely,” the letter said.

    It was signed by Democrats Adam Schiff of California and Frank Pallone of New Jersey, and Republicans George Radanovich of California and Mark Kirk of Illinois.

    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a visit to Turkey last week, said Obama would visit “within the next month or so” in his first trip as president to a Muslim country. During Clinton’s visit, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Turkey would consider mediating between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program.

    The foreign minister also said in a recent television interview that he saw a risk that Obama would describe the Armenian deaths as genocide, because Obama had done this during his campaign. But Babacan said the United States needed to understand the sensitivities in Turkey.

    Another consideration for Obama will be that both Turkey and Armenia say they are close to normalizing relations after nearly a century of hostility.

    Other members of the administration, including Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden, have in the past supported calling the Armenian killings genocide. Democratic aides said they also expected several lawmakers to reintroduce a resolution branding the massacre of Armenians as genocide. Armenian-Americans have been pushing for passage of similar proposals in Congress for years.

    Two years ago, a resolution was approved in committee but dropped after Turkey denounced it as “insulting” and hinted at halting logistical support for the U.S. war effort in Iraq.

  • All problems will be solved as a whole

    All problems will be solved as a whole

    Istanbul. Mayis Alizadeh-APA. Turkish MP from National Movement Party (MHP), Professor Midhad Melen’s exclusive interview with APA Turkish Bureau

    – Are you satisfied with the meetings in Washington? What is Washington’s reaction towards so-called “Armenian genocide”?

    – The congressmen were more restrained. Armenian Diaspora also takes proper steps. As a matter of fact, Armenian Diaspora tries to keep Armenia under pressure not to establish relations with Turkey. In spite of Obama’s pre-election promises to Armenians, I could say that the Congress does not approach this question as closer as it was before.

    – What is the reason of this?

    – 70 members of the Congress have signed a bill on recognition of “Armenian genocide”. I don’t believe that these signatures will be enough. The US new government started a new cooperation stage with Turkey in the region. Everything will be solved as a whole. That’s why, Turkey will never retract from Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh problem for normalization of relations with Armenia. As the problems will be solved entirely in the regions, solution of Karabagh conflict cannot be left aside either. Furthermore, the United States is very busy with the economic crisis at present. I don’t believe that so-called “Armenian genocide” issue may assume importance in such crisis days.

    – May the opening of borders be realized on the government’s initiative only? Will this issue be on the parliament’s agenda in the end?

    – I don’t believe that the government will take any steps secretly from the people and the parliament. In one of the meetings in Washington, our Azerbaijani brother said if Turkey opened its borders with Armenia I would break all the windows of Turkish Embassy in Baku. This objection is his just right. But I want everybody to be sure that such issue is not on the agenda. We are brothers and Turkey will never sacrifice Azerbaijani brothers for its personal interests.


  • ARMENIA: HEADING TOWARDS CRISIS?

    ARMENIA: HEADING TOWARDS CRISIS?

    By Alexander Jackson, Caucasian Review of International Affairs (www.cria-online.org),
    Caucasus Update No. 24, March 9, 2009
    Caucasus Update can also be viewed at

    On March 3, Armenians scrambled to the shops to stock up on supplies as the government declared that Armenia’s currency would no longer be pegged to the dollar. Within a single day, the dram lost up to 30% of its value. The Central Bank made the move in an effort to preserve its shrinking currency reserves, which it had been spending in an attempt to stabilise the dram.  But the multiple effects of the financial crisis are now beginning to bite, and the costs of the fixed exchange rate became greater than the benefits. The dram has now stabilised, and some analysts think that the price readjustment was necessary, if painful.

    As well as relieving pressure on Armenia’s reserves, the decision has also opened the way for a bailout by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF had been insisting that Armenia float its currency in exchange for financial assistance, and Yerevan could now be on track to receive up to $540 million. However, the bailout is not guaranteed, and the IMF is allegedly concerned by Yerevan’s plans to privatise its pension funds, arguing that not only does Armenia lack the administrative capacity, but that the middle of a severe recession is a dangerous time to do so.

    Armenia is, clearly, not the only country in financial difficulty right now. But few other countries are in the middle of a domestic political stalemate and a delicate geopolitical peace process, as well as relying on remittances from a scattered diaspora and migrant workers who are rapidly losing their jobs. These elements could, given a certain set of circumstances, combine to lead Armenia to the edge of crisis.

    March 1 saw the one-year anniversary of clashes which left ten dead, dozens wounded, and hundreds detained. The violence, between police and opposition supporters, followed a disputed presidential election in which Levon Ter-Petrosian, Armenia’s first post-independence president, came second to Serzh Sarkisian, the protégé of President Robert Kocharian. Claiming fraud, Mr. Ter-Petrosian and tens of thousands of supporters camped out in Yerevan until, after ten days, they were attacked by security forces. Since then, Armenian politics has been divided and fractious: Mr. Ter-Petrosian continues to lambast the government. However, at the anniversary rally he disappointed supporters by denouncing ‘radical action’ and the possibility of a revolution. He cited the financial crisis as a reason to hang back, claiming that the government would soon crumble anyway and ask his Armenian National Congress (ANC) to form ‘a national rescue government’.

    Is this confidence real, or a bluff to hide fading support? Similar questions were asked after he halted his street protests in October 2008, declaring that the government, whatever its shortcomings, needed support in its discussions with Turkey and Azerbaijan over Karabakh. Then, as now, Mr Ter-Petrosian may simply feel that his opposition lacks the energy to force President Sarkisian into a showdown, especially when people are more concerned with exchanging currency than exchanging governments. The Sarkisian administration has been reaching out to the opposition in recent months, partly to avoid sanctions by the EU and the Council of Europe over political prisoners held since the March demonstrations.

    However, it is plausible that Mr Ter-Petrosian genuinely expects the country’s government to collapse as the economic crisis intensifies, and is anticipating a wave of popular anger which he can appropriate. That depends on how badly you think the prospects for the economy are. In late 2008, Armenian officials repeatedly insisted that the country’s relative isolation from world financial markets was an asset, shielding it from the worst of the credit crunch. But with Russia -Armenia’s biggest trade partner – sliding deeper into economic turmoil, the slump in commodity prices slashing revenue from mining exports, and remittances from the diaspora and migrant workers heading for a decline, Armenia’s recent economic growth looks very fragile. GDP growth is likely to be stagnant this year, and unemployment is set to rise considerably – a major blow in an economy with such a small labour force (just 1.2 million in 2007).

    Yerevan’s economic hopes rest on three things. Firstly, the IMF bailout and additional assistance from the World Bank. Secondly, an anticipated $500 million loan from Russia, announced in February. The nature of this loan remains murky, and some observers expect it to come with strings attached: similar financial assistance from Moscow in the past has involved the takeover of Armenian state assets by Russian companies. There is, however, no guarantee that Russia can even afford to help Armenia, as its own economic situation declines almost weekly. 

    Thirdly, there is hope that negotiations with Turkey could lead to the opening of the land border between the two countries, which would give Armenia a major new export route and trading partner. The formal re-opening of the border is expected to take place, according to this week’s Economist, sometime in late April or early May. However, it is plausible that new obstacles to the border opening could crop up between now and then, and in any case the restoration of ties with Ankara will not solve Yerevan’s problems. Turkey’s own economy is slowing, and Armenia may have very little to sell by that time, especially if commodity prices remain low.

    The conflict with Azerbaijan over Karabakh remains an unpredictable quantity in Armenian politics. Concessions in the peace talks by Armenia, which look likely, will embolden nationalists and give the opposition another stick with which to beat the government. But if the gamble pays off – leading towards a durable peace, with tangible benefits for Armenia – the Sarkisian administration may be able to defuse some of the popular anger by arguing that political turmoil would undo all the delicate work of the negotiations and that, whilst the government may have been unable to stop economic turmoil, it can at least let Armenians live in peace.

    Mr. Ter-Petrosian will no doubt be watching carefully. His next move could make all the difference: seizing on popular anger and nationalist disaffection, he could be able to re-mobilise the opposition and provoke political turmoil. Although he has rebuffed calls for revolution for now, he may soon start to feel that the government is not collapsing quickly enough for his liking. President Sarkisian, for his part, is relying on his gambles – with Turkey, with Azerbaijan, with the economy – paying off. If they do not, Armenia could be facing a serious crisis.

    www.cria-online.org