Tag: Apology

  • Caribbean states demand reparations from European powers for slave trade

    Caribbean states demand reparations from European powers for slave trade

    Most of the Caribbean nations have adopted a single plan to solicit from former slaving nations an apology, more aid and damages for 300 years of slavery, which they say have hobbled their economies and public health

    slavery
    Sugar Plantation Slaves 1858 engraving of slaves in the British West Indies working the sugar cane Photo: Lordprice Collection/ Alamy

    By Philip Sherwell, New York

    A coalition of Caribbean countries has unveiled its demands for reparations from Britain and other European nations for the enduring legacy of the slave trade.

    The leaders of 15 states adopted a wide-ranging plan, including seeking a formal apology from former colonial powers, debt cancellation, greater development aid as well as unspecified financial damages for the persisting “psychological trauma” from the days of plantation slavery.

    The series of demands to be made of former slaving nations such as Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and The Netherlands were agreed at a closed-door meeting of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

    The Atlantic slave trade took place from the 16th through to the 19th centuries.

    The group hired Leigh Day, the British law firm, to push their claims after the company secured a £20 million compensation award for Kenyans who were tortured by colonial authorities during the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s.

    The reparations debate has long simmered in the Caribbean where many blame slavery for modern ills, ranging from economic weakness to health epidemics such as diabetes and hyper-tension allegedly caused by their ancestors’ poor diets.

    Caricom is pushing for increased technological assistance as it says European powers shackled the region during the world’s industrialisation by confining it to producing and exporting raw materials such as sugar.

    The plan also demands an increase of aid for public health and educational and cultural institutions such as museums and research centres.

    And it calls for the creation of a “repatriation programmes” to help resettle members of the Rastafarian movement in Africa. Repatriation to Africa has long been a central belief of Rastafarians.

    Martin Day, of Leigh Day, said he would request a meeting with European officials to seek a negotiated settlement, but would pursue a legal complaint if Caribbean nations are not satisfied with the outcome of any talks.

    It has been 180 years since Britain abolished slavery but the demand for an unqualified apology remains as controversial as the calls for financial damages.

    In 2007, Tony Blair, the then prime minister, expressed “deep sorrow and regret” for the “unbearable suffering” caused by Britain’s role in slavery but stopped short of a formal apology. His words angered many in the Caribbean as inadequate and resonating of legal caution.

    The British government, which currently contributes about £15million a year in development to the Caribbean, said that it has not been presented with the demands, but has consistently signalled opposition to financial reparations.

    “The UK has been clear that we deplore the human suffering caused by slavery and the slave trade,” a Foreign Office spokesman said. “However we do not see reparations as the answer. Instead, we should concentrate on identifying ways forward with a focus on the shared global challenges that face our countries in the twenty-first century.”

    But Professor Verene Shepherd, the chairman of Jamaica’s reparations committee, told The Daily Telegraph last month that British colonisers had “disfigured the Caribbean”, and that their descendants should now pay to repair the damage.

    “If you commit a crime against humanity, you are bound to make amends,” she said. “The planters were given compensation, but not one cent went to the freed Jamaicans”.

    The Caricom nations highlighted the region’s enduring troubles as well the suffering of the victims of the trade in humanity and the profits made by the slaving powers.

    “The transatlantic slave trade is the largest forced migration in human history and has no parallel in terms of man’s inhumanity to man,” their claim reads. “This trade in enchained bodies was a highly successful commercial business for the nations of Europe.”

    www.telegraph.co.uk, 11 Mar 2014

  • Israel could apologize to Turkey, deputy FM says

    Jerusalem is prepared to mend ties with Ankara, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Thursday, going so far as to express willingness to write a letter of apology to the Turkish government.

    Danny Ayalon Photo: Screenshot

    “I see some kind of improvement and opportunities” regarding Israel’s relationship with Turkey, which deteriorated following the Mavi Marmara raid in 2010, Ayalon told the Turkish daily Hurriyet.

    There is a way to ease the ongoing tension between the countries and rebuild relations, the outgoing deputy minister said, pointing at an “American-Pakistani formula” that “could be a good platform to clear away the issue.”

    Ayalon was referring to an incident in which American forces accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, an event that strained the relationship between the countries.

    “The Americans sent a letter that was accepted in Pakistan,” Ayalon said, noting that the same idea could be used to mend Israel-Turkey ties.

    Ayalon answered “yes” when asked if such a letter was an apology. Based on the text of the letter sent by the US, “I think that should be clear to everyone,” he said.

    The deputy foreign minister has been seen as having played a substantive role in Jerusalem’s deteriorating ties with Ankara, after he apparently attempted to publicly shame Turkey’s ambassador to Israel by seating him on a low chair and failing to display a Turkish flag in the room during a 2010 meeting in which he rebuked the envoy for an anti-Israel television series screened in Turkey.

    While communication between Ankara and Jerusalem hasn’t been as open and comprehensive as before, the deputy foreign minister said, there were still “lower-level [talks]” and “back channels” being used by the countries.

    via Israel could apologize to Turkey, deputy FM says | The Times of Israel.

  • Will Turkey Demand an Apology From Iran?

    Will Turkey Demand an Apology From Iran?

    Michael Rubin | @mrubin1971 01.09.2012 – 11:45 AM

    Iranian border guards reportedly shot two Turks crossing illegally into Iran from Turkey. Perhaps this can be the moment of truth for Turkey and its prime minister. When Israeli forces warned and then fired on Turks attempting to run Israel’s lawful blockade of Gaza, Turkish authorities demanded apologies, compensation, and a complete end to the blockade of Hamas’ administration in Gaza. Yet when Iranians kill Turks without warning, Turkey’s response is silence. Perhaps Turkey’s problem isn’t the protection of its citizens after all.

    via Will Turkey Demand an Apology From Iran? « Commentary Magazine.

  • Archbishop Aykazian: Turkey will apologize for Genocide

    Archbishop Aykazian: Turkey will apologize for Genocide

    Washington – Archbishop Vicken Aykazian is the Washington-based Legate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church and a prominent figure in international inter-faith dialogue. The Armenian Reporter’s Emil Sanamyan submitted questions to Archbishop Aykazian soon after his most recent trip to Turkey; the answers were then returned by e-mail.

    b bf30af3dcfcb56ee55871693058456deAR: What was the significance of the Surb Giragos re-consecration last October compared to the earlier renovation at Aghtamar?

    VA: Let me begin by saying that the October pilgrimage to Anatolia was a spiritual mission, which had no political goals whatsoever. The Diocese led a group of Diocesan leaders on a pilgrimage to the city of Diyarbakir (Dikranakert), in Turkey, where they took part in the October 22 re-consecration of the historic St. Giragos Armenian Church. Again, it was a spiritual mission, and the goal was to support the Armenian community of Turkey in celebrating this important milestone.

    St. Giragos is the first Armenian Church in Anatolia to be re-constructed by the Armenian people after 1915. It was an all-Armenian effort to which Diaspora Armenians contributed. The Turkish government did not provide financial support.

    This is one of the biggest Armenian churches in the Middle East, and right in the center of Anatolia, so I thought it was important to be present for the consecration there. As we saw, there are many people there who are ready to proclaim their Armenian heritage.

    By contrast, Aghtamar was renovated entirely by the Turkish government and it’s not used as a sanctuary except once a year. It is mostly used as an ancient monument and tourist attraction site.

    AR: There was a Turkish media report that about a dozen of Turks who are of Armenian descent were baptized at Surb Giragos. How significant is this?

    VA: It is indeed a very significant development in Turkey. I think if there was a priest appointed to St. Giragos Church that number would grow.

    During our time in Dikranagerd people from young children to the very elderly approached us and said they were Armenians, or someone in their family was Armenian – something that you never heard in the past. I believe this is going to be a first step, and a very important step.

    AR: The size of the Istanbul community is estimated at 40,000 people. Is there an estimate for the Armenian population of Anatolia, including the “hidden” segment?

    VA: Nobody knows about the exact number of the Armenians in Turkey. According to some Turkish intellectuals there are more than two million. However it is very difficult to know the number.

    The property issue

    AR: What does the recent Turkish government decision on return of some of the previously confiscated properties to minority foundations mean as far as the Istanbul patriarchate?

    VA: The decision of the Turkish government on the return of properties to minorities does not only apply to Armenians, but also for example, Greeks, Assyrians, Syrians, and Jews. We hope we will benefit from this.

    The church in Dikranakert is in the process of receiving some of the lands that belonged to it. The Patriarchate is working this out now. And more importantly, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has a lot of land and property in Turkey, so they too are trying to get back their properties.

    But I think it’s too early to say how successful this will be. Time will show. But I hope that this law won’t only be on paper. I hope it will be put into action.

    AR: Is there an inventory list of Armenian Church properties in Anatolia that the church hopes to get back? How many Armenian churches now operate in Anatolia?

    VA: I am not aware about the inventory of the entire Armenian Church property. There are now a total of four operational churches in Anatolia: in Diyarbakir, Kayseri, Iskenderun and in nearby Vakifkoy.

    Too early for business as usual

    AR: Turkish media reported that the Diocese delegation met with executives at Çal?k Holding, a government-connected business conglomerate. Were you in that meeting and what was its purpose?

    VA: I was present during the meeting with Çal?k. There was no conversation about doing business at all. It was about the relationship between our two peoples [Armenians and Turks].

    AR: What is your view of Diaspora Armenian businessmen investing in Turkey?

    VA: Any Armenian who does business with Turkey will not ask for permission. I personally would not do it.

    AR: But as Turkish government is moving away from its previously uniformly hostile attitude towards Armenians, should Armenians also begin to change their attitude towards Turkey and if so, how?

    VA: I personally believe that there should be a dialogue between the government of Armenia and the government of Turkey. No problems could be solved without dialogue. I believe that Armenians should consider rethinking some positions, but without giving up our demands.

    I recently spoke with the Hürriyet newspaper in Turkey. They asked me if the Armenian Genocide would be part of the dialogue. I said that the Armenian Genocide is not a negotiable issue, but when we speak about the dialogue everything should be put on the table.

    AR: What is the significance of Erdogan’s apology over Dersim massacres of 1930s? Could this become a precedent for an apology over the Armenian Genocide?

    VA: It’s very interesting the evolution that is taking place in Turkey. The approach of Prime Minister Erdogan is even more interesting. The most recent thing he did was to apologize for the massacres of the 1930s. I believe it is possible that Turkey is trying to approach the decision to apologize to Armenia and the Armenian people.

    via Armenian Reporter:.

  • Can Turkey and Israel reconcile their differences?

    Can Turkey and Israel reconcile their differences?

    12/12/2011

    Despite reaching new lows in their relations, some question whether instability and changing dynamics in the Middle East could push Turkey and Israel to settle their differences.

    By Alakbar Raufoglu for for Southeast European Times — 12/12/11

    ALAKBARphoto1

    Turkey demands an apology from Israel, compensation for the families of the flotilla victims, and the removal of the Gaza blockade. [Reuters]

    Yildirim Tugrul Turkes wonders what the Middle East would be like today if Israel and Turkey, two longtime allies in the region, hadn’t experienced the tragic May 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla raid.

    “It’s hard to see how our nations are about to lose their 50-year friendship in front of our eyes,” Turkes, an MP from the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), widely known as the son of the MHP’s founder Alparslan Turkes, told SETimes.

    For many years, Israel and Turkey co-operated to deal with regional security challenges, brought together by their relationship with the United States and common threat perceptions towards Syria and Iran, instability in Lebanon, and terrorism.

    However, over the past decade, Turkish security perceptions shifted in line with regional dynamics and the foundations upon which Turkish-Israeli relations were built in the 1990s began to unravel. Under Ankara’s much touted “zero-problems” neighbourhood policy, relations with Iran and Syria improved, driven by economic relations and common concerns over Kurdish nationalism.

    Regional dynamics in Iran, Iraq, and Syria left Israel less important in Turkish security perceptions. If anything, from Ankara’s perspective, the inability of Israel to come to terms with the Palestinians was becoming a threat to regional peace and security.

    However, the ongoing Arab Spring, especially the regime of Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on demonstrators in his country, and rising tensions between Ankara and Tehran over Iran’s support for Syria, has again altered regional dynamics and security perceptions.

    This has prompting some to question whether there is a chance to get Turkey-Israel relations out of their lowest point in the two countries’ history.

    Like many in Israel, some Turkish politicians believe that to enhance regional stability, the two former allies must find a way to mend their relations.

    “But how?” asks Turkes. “Israeli officials should think about that. I wish the Gaza incident, which caused the death of nine of our citizens, hadn’t happened at all.”

    In the immediate aftermath of the details leaked from the UN report on the flotilla incident in September, Turkey reduced diplomatic ties, ended all military agreements, took steps to secure freedom of navigation in the Eastern Mediterranean, and announced it would support the flotilla victims in pursuing justice in international courts.

    As a precondition for normalising relations, Turkey demands an apology from Israel, compensation for the families of the flotilla victims, and the removal of the Gaza blockade.

    Echoing the sentiment of analysts and policy makers in Turkey, Turkes says Israel’s recent contribution of humanitarian aid to Turkey in response to the earthquake that hit Van in late October was “a very warm gesture”, but not enough to restore diplomatic relations.

    Even so-called “football diplomacy” has failed, as neither Turkish nor Israeli officials participated in the December 1st football match between Besiktas and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.

    “We have nothing to talk about with the Israelis unless they accept their responsibility [for the flotilla incident],” Yahya Akman, MP from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) who resigned from the Turkey-Israel Friendship Group a day after the Gaza incident, told SETimes.

    “Our problem is not with the Israeli people; the problem is with the non-peaceful Israeli administration,” he adds, saying that relations could substantially improve if the Israeli side apologises for the flotilla incident.

    However, International Crisis Group’s Turkey project Director Hugh Pope thinks there will be no real warmth in the relationship until Turkish public opinion is convinced that Israel is working whole-heartedly towards a settlement with the Palestinians.

    “Turkey is very keen to normalise relations with Israel,” he told SETimes. “Such normalisation would clearly reduce tensions in the region, although perhaps it is not the top priority in the context of the Arab revolts, given that embassies are still open in both countries and basic contacts continue.”

    For Caroline Glick, deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post, the countries can reconcile only if Turkey decides it is interested in reconciliation.

    In Israel, she says, “We have already moved on from our relationship with Turkey and have built strong strategic ties with Greece, Cyprus and other states, to counterbalance Turkey’s increased belligerence and irresponsible behaviour.”

    However, the two countries still share certain interests, she says, adding, “as a result, it is possible that we will see co-operation on specific issues where such co-operation serves the interests of both countries.”

    “That co-operation, however, will not serve as a basis for rebuilding the former relations so long as Turkey remains committed to its current anti-Israel and anti-Western policies,” she said.

    However, Israel’s budding relationship with Cyprus and Greece has only aggravated policy makers in Ankara, further pushing Turkey and Israel apart. To many analysts, Israel’s relationship with third tier states that are facing economic crisis and are geographically distant from Israeli security interests in the Middle East is no substitute for Turkey.

    Alon Liel, former Israeli ambassador to Turkey, thinks that as long as Israel does not apologise for the Mavi Marmara casualties, official contact can only be at the intelligence level between the Mossad and the MIT.

    “This contact now has a real chance to develop because of the Syrian civil war and its possible implications on both Israel and Turkey,” he told SETimes, arguing that if Turkish-Israeli relations were good, then Syria would approach its relations with Turkey differently today.

    In Ankara, politicians are still wary of talking about possible Israel-Turkey co-operation at this stage and some believe the Arab uprisings and Israel’s increasing international isolation could prompt Israeli officials to accept Turkey’s conditions regarding the flotilla accident.

    “The geopolitical changes might bring more difficulties to Israel’s interest, rather than Turkey,” says Sukru Elekdag, a veteran Turkish diplomat, explaining that the Arab uprisings may result in “a pool of Sunni regimes in the region, based on Sharia”.

    “This situation doesn’t provide any hope to Turkey, which was seeking a modern democracy in the region. But for Israel, it creates a suffocating political atmosphere,” he adds.

    Ali Balci, an analyst at the Sakarya University, agrees that unless Israel apologises for the Gaza flotilla, Turkey “will try to solve problems, such as the PKK, Syria and others by not relying on Israel”.

    “For example, Turkey has worked together with the Arab League to solve the Syrian problem. It also gets help from American drones and the Iraqi government in fighting against the PKK,” he argues.

    However, Balci adds, in the event that Israel accepts Turkey’s conditions, “this will not bring the two countries back to a security-oriented foreign policy as in the 1990s.”

    “The honeymoon in the 1990s has already been history [for a while]. Israel should first accept this. A new rapprochement should grant that Turkey and Israel have joint interests to build on, but also differences to work out,” Balci notes.

    Among the differences to work out, he says, is Israel’s “aggressive policy”, which is viewed by Turkey as one of the main reasons behind the region’s instability.

    However, Nildag Gizem Hatayoglu, a researcher at the Ankara-based Centre for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies, argues that the problem between the two countries could be resolved if Islamism in Turkey, and nationalism in Israel, were not in power.

    “I have lots of friends in Israel. We all agree that our nations can’t be enemies or easily give up on their friendship,” she told SETimes, adding that the people in both countries could overcome their difficulties, if they ignore official propaganda.

    “People don’t know if there are any options to get together because the local media in both countries doesn’t talk about that, except spreading negative propaganda,” she says.

    This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
  • Alan Dershowitz: Apology won’t improve relations with Turkey

    Alan Dershowitz: Apology won’t improve relations with Turkey

    “Israeli media are overly critical; when you read an op-ed column in an Israeli paper, you think that Israel will be Iran within months.”

    12 December 11 13:02, Adi Ben-Israel

    Adv. Alan Dershowitz, who is known as the state of Israel’s attorney, and who defends Israel’s positions in the US, attacked the Israeli press today, claiming that senior commentators are overly critical of the government. Dershowitz also spoke about the wave of legislation that allegedly limits the media’s freedom of speech.

    “When you read an op-ed column in an Israeli publication, you immediately think that Israel will be like Iran within six months, and that women will sit in the back of the bus like in Alabama, and that the government is fascist. The Israeli media exaggerate. You must understand that there is no such thing as an internal Israeli matter; everything that happens in Israel ends up on the cover of the “New York Times” and around the world. If Israel has a problem at the Mugrabim bridge in Jerusalem, it turns into an international issue.”

    Dershowitz called for calm to be restored and for the criticism to be toned down. “Israel is not going to become fascist. I oppose all forms of censorship and limiting freedom of speech, but” Dershowitz said, “I suggest that people take responsibility for the exaggerations they are reporting in the media.”

    Dershowitz criticized the phenomenon of excluding women, and certain rabbinical rulings that he claims deviate from the path of Judaism, and exist “only in the minds of a few demented rabbis,” and suggested: “Let’s fight them using their own framework of ideas.”

    Dershowitz also criticized the bill that calls for the volume of muezzin speakers in mosques be lowered, and said that the fact that Israel is a Jewish state, “raises the bar for sensitivity on every issue, for better or worse.” On hatred of Israel, Dershowitz said that it ran deep, and that it was connected with anti-Semitism.

    Dershowitz claims that it is easy for him to defend Israel throughout the world, and explained why: “Every time that I speak about Israel and I turn to the audience and say: I want you to name one country in the world that faces the kind of threats that Israel faces, and has such an impressive record of upholding human rights, and the rule of law. Not one person has ever been able to think of such a country.”

    Dershowitz criticized the Palestinians, saying that they were not ready to hold political negotiations without preconditions, and complimented Netanyahu: “He wants to be tough on security issues, and to bring about a stable peace with security. I was at the UN in September when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen) gave a speech that Arafat would have been proud of. Both sides need to be ready for painful compromises. Netanyahu is ready.”

    In his comments about the Iranian issue, Dershowitz said that President Barack Obama was committed to preventing Iran from achieving nuclear weapons, and said that he hoped that Israel would not take unilateral military action. However, if Israel has to do so for security reasons, “As an international lawyer, I will defend Israel.”

    Dershowitz also said that Israel did not need to apologize to Turkey. “I do not believe that an Israeli apology to Turkey will improve relations between the two countries. Turkey has altered its approach, and is turning to the Muslim world after being rejected by Europe. It is using the apology as an excuse, and I do not think that Israel needs to apologize to Turkey.

    “Turkey never apologized for the Armenian genocide. That takes nerve! Turkey is asking someone to apologize? They have never apologized for murders that they committed!”

    When asked about the possibility that Turkey would sue IDF soldiers who participated in the takeover of the Marmara, Dershowitz answered: “Let’s see Turkey do that. I am ready to form a team of experts that would defend IDF officers against any country seeking to sue them overseas.”

    Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on December 12, 2011

    © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011

    via Alan Dershowitz: Apology won’t improve relations with Turkey – Globes.