Letters

Dec 18th 2008
From The Economist print edition

SIR – Your report on Turkey’s prime minister contradicted the real situation (“The worrying Tayyip Erdogan”, November 29th). No one can question the dependability of Turkey as a Western ally. Relations between Turkey and the United States are based on a strategic partnership and for more than half a century Turkey and America have enjoyed ever-strengthening co-operation based on shared values and mutual trust.

On the Kurdish issue, the government has invested $12 billion in the region, and has announced a major economic package to complete the south-eastern development project (GAP). And having passed laws that for the first time allow the Kurdish language to be spoken on radio and television, the Turkish state broadcaster (TRT) will start airing Kurdish programmes on January 1st. The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Justice and Development (AK) Party have formed the most reformist and liberal government in Turkish history and represent the true face of modern Turkey, where individual freedoms need to be respected for all and where all citizens enjoy an advanced democracy.

A biased argument based on a rumour about a deal between Mr Erdogan and the chief of staff, Ilker Basbug, does not reflect the truth and misleads your readers. Moreover, labelling the AK Party as “Islamist” is groundless. The AK Party is not Islamist, but a centrist-conservative, democratic political party.

Egemen Bagis
AK Party vice-chairman in charge of foreign affairs
Turkish Parliament
Ankara

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12811605

Azerbaijani Diaspora intensified its activity in recent years and the process is still underway, said Nazim Ibrahimov, Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Diaspora, APA reports.

Reuters

Turkey’s powerful generals on Friday stepped into a deepening controversy over an apology by Turkish intellectuals for the mass killings of Armenians in World War One, saying the campaign had “harmful consequences”.

The Internet initiative, which has drawn criticism from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and nationalists, coincides with a diplomatic rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia to end almost 100 years of hostility. Nearly 14,000 people have signed the apology.

“We definitely think that what is done is not right. Apologizing is wrong and can yield harmful consequences,” Brigadier General Metin Gurak, spokesman for the General Staff, told a news conference.

On Wednesday, Erdogan said the campaign had no other benefit than “stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken”.

President Abdullah Gul has distanced himself from those comments, hailing the initiative as proof of Turkey’s democratic health. He became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia in September as Turkey sought to improve ties.

Turks, including Nobel prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk, have been prosecuted in the European Union candidate country for affirming that the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 amounted to genocide.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians were killed during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, but strongly reject Armenian assertions it was genocide, saying that Muslim Turks also died in inter-ethnic conflicts. Western historians have backed Armenian arguments that the killings amounted to genocide.

Turkey-A campaign initiated by several intellectuals to apologize for the events of 1915 — which Armenians claim constituted genocide — continued to be discussed very vividly yesterday, with opposing groups issuing strong statements against one another.

In Parliament, on the street and on TV programs, the subject took center stage, with some critics attacking personalities such as President Abdullah Gül and the intellectuals who initiated the campaign.

“My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my part, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers. I apologize to them,” the campaign statement says.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Canan Arıtman called the organizers of the campaign traitors. “The false scientists signing it should apologize to Turkey,” she said, claiming that President Gül — because of his “ethnic origins” — was not reacting to the campaign. “We see that the president supports this campaign. Abdullah Gül should be the president of the entire Turkish nation, not just of those sharing his ethnicity. Investigate the ethnic origin of the president’s mother and you will see,” she said. There have been rumors that Gül’s family has Armenian roots.

When Gül was asked for his opinion on the campaign, he said the state’s attitude is to improve relations with its neighbors. “We believe dialogue to be the solution for problems we have with our neighbors. Perpetuating problems is not useful to anyone,” he said.

Arıtman also suggested that that Gül was encouraged by his visit to Armenia. Gül visited Yerevan in September upon the invitation of his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, to watch the World Cup qualifying game between the two countries’ national soccer teams.

Another attack came from Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). “I want to say that I am ashamed of the persons who initiated the campaign. We as the Turkish nation should be ashamed of them,” he said, adding that the campaign should be stopped.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee, deputies from opposition parties, including the MHP, offered to make a statement condemning supporters of the campaign. The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), however, objected to this. Following discussion, a decision was made for deputies to condemn the apology campaign on an individual basis.

The MHP initiated this campaign yesterday and Bahçeli is expected to be the first to sign the statement condemning the intellectuals whose campaign, the MHP claims, aims to defame Turkish history. “There is no single crime or anything to be ashamed of in the honorable history of the Turkish nation. It is no one’s right and no one is entitled to demand an apology by distorting history and defaming our ancestors.”

Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin said civil society organizations can approach the situation differently and that it is up to them, but that he shares the view of the state. “I am in favor of the continuation of the policy, view and the stance of the Turkish Republic regarding Armenian claims of genocide,” Şahin underlined.

Professor Erol Kürkçüoğlu, manager of the Turkish-Armenian Relations Research Center, part of Erzurum’s Atatürk University, and known for his research into 185 mass graves of Turks allegedly killed by Armenians, also commented on the campaign. He claimed that “Turkish, Russian and French archives show the real victims of those years were Turks.”

He repeated the official view of the state in his interview with the Anatolia news agency and claimed that the law of forced migration was issued after the uprising of Armenians in Van. “The forced migration law definitely does not amount to genocide or massacre. With this law the state tried to protect the life, property and honor of its citizens,” he suggested.

He added that during his research into mass graves, he even found the elderly and women holding their babies. “In those days our people were exposed to massacres and we lost thousands. These things happened yesterday while some journalists and academics today organize an apology campaign,” he said.

He added that the aim of the campaign is to confuse people. “Everyone should take into account what we, historians, are saying. We know best. If anyone defends the opposite, he should come and see the mass graves,” he added.

Süleyman Çiğdem, a professor at Atatürk University and chairman of the Erzurum branch of the Association Fighting Groundless Claims of Genocide (ASİMED), said the campaign was organized without taking into consideration the facts. “We apologize to our martyrs for not remembering them,” he said.

Meanwhile, Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) Executive Director Bryan Ardouny defined the campaign as the start of an irreversible trend. “Over 12,000 people in Turkey want history to be recorded truthfully, having already signed the Internet-based petition apologizing for what they call the ‘Great Catastrophe’ that befell the Armenians of Ottoman Turkey in 1915. This public apology is a first step in that direction and will inevitably lead to Turkey coming to grips with its genocidal past.”

http://anspress.com/nid97334.html

Ankara – APA. Turkish General Staff took a stance on the internet campaign launched for apologizing to Armenians.

APA reports quoting Turkish news agencies that the army regarded the campaign as an act that may harm the country. Official of the General Staff, General Metin Gurak said at the traditional weekly meeting with media representatives that it was wrong to apologize.
“We do not consider this campaign right,” he said.

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=94055

Moscow – APA. “We want the court to assess the book “The last march to the south” by Vladimir Zhirinovsky and publicly apologize to Azerbaijani people.

We can not allow anyone to stir up national and religious conflicts,” says the article written by Soyun Sadikhov, president of “AzerRos” National-Cultural Autonomy of Azerbaijanis in Russia, member of Public Council of Russian Regional Development Ministry.

AzerRos sued Vladimir Zhirinovsky grounding that Azerbaijanis people were insulted in the above-mentioned book. The article says that the book written by Vladimir Zhirinovsky insults Islamic world and Azerbaijani people.
“Separation of Muslim world is to the advantage of the entire humanity. The danger coming from the Islamic world should be prevented. Other religions are not able to conduct large-scale religious wars. We should realize finally who has brought civilization? Who conquered space and invaded other countries? Who plundered other nations, turned them into slaves, turned Christian churches into mosques? What culture did the Turks bring to the Central Asia? There is no such a notion as Turkish culture, those riding horses with swords in their hands can not have culture. Janissaries forming the basis of the Turkish army are Slavonic children captured together with their parents. They killed their parents and brought up their children in Turkish, Muslim spirit, and strengthened their army. Slavonic children killed Slavonic peoples under the Turkish flag, this is horrible. Who will answer for this? Who will answer for the humiliation of Byzantine culture, Slavonic peoples?”
Zhirinovsky’s unique ideas about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict were also involved in the article. “How long will the confrontation between Azerbaijanis and Armenians continue? Will it continue until the liquidation of all Armenian people by not the Turks already, but by Azerbaijanis, the another Turkic-speaking people? The Turks and Azerbaijanis are the same people in substance. The Turks killed one and half million Armenians in 1915 and Azerbaijanis started to do it in 1988. The Turks committed it within three days, but Azerbaijanis are doing it for almost 15 years. They intend to wipe out both Armenian people and state. Why? because, they are Christians. Armenians tackled uniting of Turks and Azerbaijanis. What is Nakhchivan? It is an artificial institution, the place in Armenian lands populated by Azerbaijanis, the territory set for direct links with Turks. Those lands always belonged to Armenia, the great Armenia from sea to sea. What is Armenia today? It is only small piece remained after the Urartu, a powerful state with a great culture. The civilization began there and moved to other territories. Azerbaijanis are the Persian tribe revived by the way of conquest. Seldjug Turks moved from the East in that time and made this Persian tribe the Turks. Who are the Azerbaijanis? It is a tribe lived in the Caspian cost. It is a country equaled to the territory of one district of Moscow. Can you imagine the Sokolniki is the state and people living there are Sokolniki nation. Azerbaijan is like this, the populated region in the Caspian cost”.

Soyun Sadikhov said many offensive phrases were used in the book against Azerbaijani and Turkish peoples and made some refreshers for Zhirinovsky: “I would like to remind Mr. Zhirinovsky that Azerbaijan’s history and culture have very ancient roots. Unfortunately Vladimir Zhirinovsky doesn’t know Ismayil bin Yassar, Musa Shehevat, Abdul Faraj Isfahani, Khatib Tabrizi, Ibn Sina’s student Bahmanyar, genius poets Nizami, Fuzuli, Molla Panah Vagif, great dramatist Mirza Fathali Akhundov, or their names are not interesting for him. A list of Azerbaijani world-known doctors, philosophers, writers, poets, musicians, architects can be extended more and more. But if you consider it not as culture, but barbarism, there is no need to extend this list. I believe that any person not depending on his nationality and religion must secure the national solidarity. The government officials have to take responsibility for these issues, because these persons are heard. We asked the court to evaluate the Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s book “Attack toward the South” and demanded the author to apologize demonstratively to the Azerbaijani people. We cannot allow the building up a fire in the ethnic and religious conflicts”.

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=94070

Ankara – APA. “I do not judge, humiliate president in connection with his ethnic origin, on the contrary I express my respect. I criticize president for not seeing or ignoring the dangers of Turkey and not taking necessary measures,” member of Republican People’s Party (CHP), MP Janan Aritman told journalists in the parliament, APA reports. She said that new strategy of Armenia and Armenian Diaspora is to make Turkish people to admit the Armenian genocide. Aritman also touched on assessment of her statement as disgrace in media and political circles. She said those who say it do not know the meaning of the word disgrace.

The parliamentarian said she received many calls and e-mails from people.
“People say “we support you, you are the voice of the nation”. My assistants and I do not find time to answer the calls and e-mails,” she said.

Janan Aritman also said she was threatened.
“I have never been afraid of anyone. I do not pay attention to these threats. I am happy to be the lawyer of the nation. I will continue it,” she said.

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=94096

Baku. Ulkar Gasimova – APA. “I do not accept the internet campaign launched in Turkey for apologizing to Armenians for the so-called Armenian genocide,” famous Turkish singer Chelik told APA exclusively. He underlined that it was obvious whose interests the campaign served.
“Those who ignored the actions against Turks in Bosnia, Turkmens in Iraq, occupation of Nagorno Karabakh by Armenia are now collecting signatures. When something happens in favor of Turkish people, a group of people who call themselves “intellectuals” begin to compete in order to harm the people. These people back the Armenian apology campaign,” he said.

Chelik said Turkish Armed Forces had openly expressed its position on this issue.
“I watched it on TV. If I am not mistaken the government also objected to the campaign. I also support the position of my Army and government. This competition will have a final. Patriots will be waiting in the finish,” he said.

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=94100