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  • #41
    Turkey event on Armenians blocked

    Thursday 22 September 2005, 21:11 Makka Time, 18:11 GMT


    There is EU pressure on Turkey to acknowledge genocide


    A Turkish court has blocked an unprecedented conference that was to have questioned the country's official line on the massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.


    The planned university conference, entitled Ottoman Armenians of an Empire in Decline, was to have opened on Friday. It already had been aborted once after Justice Minister Cemil Cicek in May branded such discussion as "treason" and a "stab in the back of the Turkish nation".

    Thursday's court order followed a complaint by a non-governmental organisation of lawyers opposing the three-day event.

    "We received an order from the court, asking us to supply the court with information on the case within 30 days and ordering us to suspend our activities during this period," Nukhet Sirman, an academic on the organising committee, told AFP.

    EU concerned?

    Sirman said the organisers had received a telephone call from the governor of Istanbul, Muammer Guler, "who apologised but said he had to implement the law".

    The nature of the complaint against the conference was not immediately clear.


    Armenians say 1.5 million of
    their kin were killed


    Cicek's outburst raised eyebrows in European diplomatic circles about Ankara's commitment to democratic reforms, a requirement for the 3 October negotiations over its adhesion to the European Union.

    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan then distanced himself from the minister's remark, calling it "a personal statement" and said he encouraged researchers to carry out their work.

    The Armenian massacres constitute one of the most controversial periods of Turkish history.

    Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered in mass killings under the Ottoman Empire, forerunner to the present-day Turkish republic.

    Increased importance

    Ankara categorically rejects claims of genocide and argues that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife during World War I, when the Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian troops invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

    The issue has taken on increased importance as some European politicans have pressed Turkey to address the genocide claims in what Ankara sees a politically motivated campaign to impede its bid to become a member of the European Union.


    Erdogan previously said he
    encouraged academic research


    Much to Ankara's anger, the killings have already been acknowledged as genocide by a number of countries, including France, Canada and Switzerland.

    "Our aim is simply to bring together Turkish intellectuals in an appropriate setting for the discussion of a subject that until now has been carefully avoided," said historian Edhem Eldem, who was to have participated in the conference.

    "It is not a question of setting up a tribunal or reaching definitive conclusions," he told AFP.

    Several nationalist groups expressed outrage over the planned conference. The Hur party called it a "perfidy" and the small left-wing Workers' Party called for demonstrations outside the Bogazici University, where the conference was to have been held.

    The meeting had been expected to bring together about 60 researchers, including critical intellectuals, to examine events in eastern Anatolia between 1915 and 1917, as well as genocide denials made by the Turkish state since that time.

    Threats

    Any questioning of the official line that a genocide did not occur has proved dangerous to writers and intellectuals.

    "Our aim is simply to bring together Turkish intellectuals in an appropriate setting for the discussion of a subject that until now has been carefully avoided"

    Historian Edhem Eldem


    Orhan Pamuk, the widely translated author of such internationally renowned works as The White Castle and Snow, is set to go on trial in December for telling a Swiss newspaper in February that "one million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it".

    Pamuk said he subsequently received several death threats and a local official ordered the seizure and destruction of his works.

    In Switzerland, where holocaust denial is a crime, the leader of the Workers' Party, Dogu Perincek, is under investigation for calling the genocide claim "a historical lie".
    "All truth passes through three stages:
    First, it is ridiculed;
    Second, it is violently opposed; and
    Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

    Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

    Comment


    • #42
      Bosphorus Conference On The Armenian Question Postponed Again

      BOSPHORUS CONFERENCE ON THE ARMENIAN QUESTION POSTPONED AGAIN

      Armenian News Network / Groong
      September 22, 2005


      Zaman, Hurriyet report that the Bosphorus conference "Armenians in the
      Late Ottoman Empire: Scientific Responsibility and Democracy Problems"
      at the Bogazici University, set to begin tomorrow has been halted by
      decision of Istanbul 4th Administrative Court by a vote of 2-1, in
      response to a petition by the Lawyers' Association, in order to
      examine the expertise of participants.
      "All truth passes through three stages:
      First, it is ridiculed;
      Second, it is violently opposed; and
      Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

      Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

      Comment


      • #43
        Un_____ing believable...
        And they think they can hold a candle to Europe. HAHAHA

        Comment


        • #44
          Turkish gay group faces closure

          Turkish gay group faces closure Ben Townley, Gay.com U.K.
          Thu Sep 22, 8:24 PM ET



          SUMMARY: Turkish authorities are attempting to shut down one of the country's few LGBT organizations, complaining that the group violates morality laws.

          Authorities in Turkey are attempting to shut down one of the country's few LGBT advocacy organizations, complaining that the group violates morality laws.


          The deputy governor of Ankara, Selahattin Ekremoglu, has refused to officially recognize the group, Kaos GL. According to the group, Ekremoglu has called for legal action against Kaos.


          The move for closure came after Kaos approached Turkey's Ministry of Interior requesting nongovernmental organization (NGO) status.


          Kaos says it offers an invaluable support network to lesbian and gay people in the country, as well as a challenging force to ongoing discrimination throughout Turkey.


          But Ekremoglu reportedly says the group is in breach of "morality laws" and may face an immediate shutdown.


          A closure will undoubtedly anger advocates within Turkey and may lead many outside the country to question whether Turkey should be allowed to continue efforts to join the European Union.


          Concerns over the country's human rights record have already been raised by some groups, who want to see examples of real change before the country is allowed EU membership.


          A spokesperson for Kaos told Gay.com that the threat of legal action is the latest in a string of attacks on lesbian and gay people in the country.


          "Although being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is legal in Turkey, discrimination and persecution are prevalent," he said.


          "There is still massive discrimination in both the public and private sector."


          However, he said talks about EU accession should continue.


          "Despite these difficulties, the prospect of EU membership has had a tremendously positive impact to the daily lives of all Turkish people, including the LGBT community," he said.


          The European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association called for Turkish authorities to apologize and retract the decision as soon as possible.


          "We are seriously concerned about the statement by the deputy governor of Ankara and the beginning of the process to close down the Turkish LGBT organization," Patricia Prendiville said.


          She warned that similar cases have been crushed in courts, where judges have consistently ruled that barring gay groups was discriminatory.


          Kaos' spokesperson said the case could well be the setting for the push toward the future of democracy in Turkey.


          "Turkey has always been somewhere between the West and the East. Its culture includes both Western and Eastern values, and those values sometimes clash with each other," he said.

          "Providing solutions to the problems of the Turkish LGBT community will be one of the litmus tests for the future of the democracy in Turkey, as well as inclusion in the European Union."


          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          If you'd like to know more, you can find stories related to Turkish gay group faces closure.
          "All truth passes through three stages:
          First, it is ridiculed;
          Second, it is violently opposed; and
          Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

          Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

          Comment


          • #45
            Istanbul court suspends Armenian conference hours ahead of start

            Istanbul court suspends Armenian conference hours ahead of start
            Friday Sept.23rd


            ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


            A court in Istanbul suspended yesterday an international conference on the Armenian issue, which was expected to reflect Turkey's readiness for discussing its taboo issues on a free platform.

            The conference was originally slated for May but postponed after politicians criticized the conference and its participants for having ideas and beliefs counter to Turkey's official stance on Armenian genocide allegations.

            Earlier this month, organizers of the conference at Istanbul's prestigious Boğaziçi and Sabancı universities announced that it would be rescheduled for Sept. 23-25.

            The suspension decision by Istanbul's 4th Administrative Court came late afternoon only hours ahead of the conference.

            The decision was taken upon appeal from a lawyer, a member of the Lawyers' Union Foundation, the Anatolia news agency reported without elaborating on the legal grounds.

            “Now is not the time to say anything. Now is the time to be quiet and reflect on what has happened,” Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of the bilingual (Armenian-Turkish) Agos weekly Hrant Dink, told the Turkish Daily News when asked about his views on the suspension.

            Unlike his disappointed tone of yesterday, following an announcement earlier this month that the conference was to take place in September, Dink expressed hope that the conference would reflect a true image of Turkey, a country that has taken significant steps towards democratization.

            “The cost of the postponement [of the conference] is high and unfair to Turkey because the anti-democratic image reflected by the debates at the time was not a true reflection of Turkey,” Dink told the TDN at the time.

            The postponement of the conference originally scheduled for May 25 consequently turned out to be a diplomatic issue for Turkey after Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek delivered harsh remarks on the domestic initiative, which dared question Turkey's official position on the Armenian issue. Çiçek said in Parliament that the conference of Turkish historians was a “stab in the back of the Turkish people.”

            “We must end this treason, the spreading of propaganda against Turkey by the people who are a part of it,” Çiçek had said.

            Çiçek's remarks, delivered in Parliament in his capacity as justice minister and government spokesman, were described by European diplomats as “shooting himself in the foot” and would “kill any support for Turkey's EU drive in Europe.”

            A Turkey-based EU diplomat said, following Çiçek's remarks, the Turkish government could well have a hard time explaining to the bloc that reforms for broadening freedom of expression in the country are still priorities.

            Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül's remarks last month welcoming the September conference came as an exemplification of tolerance, when compared to fellow Cabinet member Çiçek's remarks, which are cited as the main reason that led to postponing the May conference.

            “We will not step back from explaining our thesis and opinions on all platforms with our heads held high. We don't have any hesitations nor do we have a complex within this context. I believe there is no point in evading the topic as if we were guilty,” Gül had said.



            Brussels hosts ‘timely' conference:

            Earlier in the same day with Istanbul court's decision, the European Parliament hosted a conference on the same issue in Brussels.

            The conference, titled “December 2004-October 2005: Has Turkey Changed?” was organized under the auspices of the center-right European People's Party (EPP) and the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD).

            European Parliament Vice President Ingo Friedrich has described the conference as “just on time,” as the conference came only days ahead of the crucial start of Turkey's negotiations with the EU.

            Friedrich focused in a keynote speech on Turkey's EU process rather than on the Armenian issue, saying that the EU has already been suffering through a crisis and thus would not be able to absorb major countries like Turkey.

            Letting a big country like Turkey in would be dangerous for the bloc itself, Friedrich said. He added that the EU was based on Christianity and lent support to the idea of offering Turkey a special status -- so-called privileged partnership -- instead of full EU membership.
            "All truth passes through three stages:
            First, it is ridiculed;
            Second, it is violently opposed; and
            Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

            Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

            Comment


            • #46
              Armenian Conference to be held at Bilgi University on Saturday

              Published: 9/23/2005
              Latest wire from AFP
              Latest world news



              ISTANBUL - Rector of Istanbul`s Bilgi University Prof. Dr. Aydin Ugur has indicated today that they accepted a proposal of organizers to hold the suspended conference titled ``Ottoman Armenians During the Fall of the Empire,`` at Bilgi University on Saturday, September 24th.

              Dr. Ugur noted that Bilgi University will open its doors for the conference for the sake of freedom of thought, research and expression.

              The Istanbul Administrative Court no:4 decided yesterday to suspend the Armenian conference.
              "All truth passes through three stages:
              First, it is ridiculed;
              Second, it is violently opposed; and
              Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

              Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

              Comment


              • #47
                Originally posted by Gavur
                The conference was originally slated for May but postponed after politicians criticized the conference and its participants for having ideas and beliefs counter to Turkey's official stance on Armenian genocide allegations.
                This speaks volumes!

                Comment


                • #48
                  Suspension Of Academic Conference On Armenian Issue

                  Suspension Of Academic Conference On Armenian Issue
                  Published: 9/23/2005
                  Latest wire from AFP

                  ISTANBUL - Several groups held demonstrations in front of Istanbul's Bogazici University on Friday to protest an academic conference on the Armenian issue which was suspended by the court.

                  Members of the Culture & Ethics Association hang photographs of women and children who were killed by Armenian gangs during the World War I on fences surrounding the university campus.

                  Meanwhile, members of the National Power Platform held another protest to support decision of the court.

                  Kemal Kerincsiz, chairman of the Platform and a member of the Executive Board of the Lawyers' Association, said, ''yesterday, the Armenian issue was debated at the European Parliament and a parliamentarian said, 'they (Turkish authorities) gave us a promise. How could they suspend the conference now?' Now we want to know who has given those promises? Was it the prime minister or the foreign minister? We expect Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to make a statement.''

                  ''The conference is not scientific at all. It aims to explain biased views of the Armenian diaspora,'' he said.

                  Kerincsiz kept on saying, ''Turkish nation has the most honorable and cleanest history of the world. There is nothing to be ashamed of in our history including relocation of Armenians in 1915 due to security reasons. Turkey has already opened its archives to researches. According to documents in those archives, 527 thousand Turkish people were massacred by Armenian gangs.''

                  Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the Patriotic Movement, Bedri Baykam, a prominent Turkish painter, said, ''some circles wanted to organize this conference with extremely biased, antidemocratic and misleading mentality.''

                  In another part of Istanbul, members of the Association of Retired Officers held a demonstration to protest the conference.

                  Riza Kucukoglu, chairman of the Association said, ''we respect decision of the court. We believe that the Bogazici University was saved from an Armenian occupation after the decision of the court.''

                  A court in Istanbul ordered the suspension of the academic conference on ''Armenians in the Late Ottoman Empire: Scientific Responsibility and Democracy Problems''. The conference was originally scheduled for May but was postponed as a result of severe criticisms. The case to cancel the conference was brought by lawyers who are members of the Foundation of Turkish Lawyers' Union.
                  "All truth passes through three stages:
                  First, it is ridiculed;
                  Second, it is violently opposed; and
                  Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

                  Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

                  Comment


                  • #49
                    Bogazici And Sabanci Universities To Object Decision Of Court

                    Bogazici And Sabanci Universities To Object Decision Of Court
                    Published: 9/23/2005
                    Latest wire from AFP


                    ISTANBUL - Istanbul's Bogazici and Sabanci Universities will object to decision of a court to suspend an academic conference on ''Armenians in the Late Ottoman Empire: Scientific Responsibility and Democracy Problems'', it was announced.

                    Releasing a statement, the Bogazici University indicated that they would object to the decision later in the day. But some of the guests who arrived in Turkey from the United States, France and the Netherlands to assist the conference, have already departed from Turkey.

                    Meanwhile, members of the Union of Turkish NGOs held a demonstration in front of the Bogazici University campus, to protest the conference. Speaking on behalf of the group, Ramazan Bakkal, secretary-general of the Union, said, ''we call on organizers of the conference to hire a hall in Yerevan and hold the conference there.''

                    A court in Istanbul ordered the suspension of the academic conference overnight.
                    "All truth passes through three stages:
                    First, it is ridiculed;
                    Second, it is violently opposed; and
                    Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

                    Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

                    Comment


                    • #50
                      Protesters Denounce Conference in Turkey

                      By BENJAMIN HARVEY
                      Associated Press Writer

                      ISTANBUL, Turkey — Scholars held the first-ever public discussions in Turkey on Saturday about the early 20th-century massacre of Armenians, choosing words carefully, avoiding emotional language and picking apart history year by year at a gathering that nationalists denounced as traitorous.

                      The European Union called the academic conference a test of freedom of expression in Turkey, which is hoping to begin talks for membership in the bloc next month.
                      Turkish nationalists chant slogans during a protest outside Bilgi University in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005, where the Armenian Conference takes place. A twice-canceled conference on the massacre of Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire began in Istanbul, a test of Turkey's willingness to allow an open discussion of its painful past. The conference deals with one of the most sensitive issues of Turkey's history, the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks at around the time of World War I. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)
                      The academic conference had been canceled twice, once in May after the justice minister said organizers were "stabbing the people in the back," and again on Thursday when an Istanbul court ordered the conference closed and demanded to know the academic qualifications of the speakers.

                      "This is a fight of 'can we discuss this thing, or can we not discuss this thing?'" Murat Belge, a member of the organizing committee, said at the conference opening. "This is something that's directly related to the question of what kind of country Turkey is going to be."

                      The Armenian issue stirs deep passions among Turks, who are being pushed by many in the international community to say that their fathers and grandfathers carried out the first genocide of the 20th century.

                      "There are so many documents in hand with respect to the destruction of Armenians," said Taner Akcay, a Turkish-born professor at the University of Minnesota, and author of books on the subject including, "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility."

                      Dozens of officers in riot gear kept hundreds of shouting protesters at bay. Some protesters pelted arriving panelists with eggs and rotten tomatoes.

                      Inside, the audience of more than 300 people was restrained, as only those invited by the organizing committee and preapproved members of the media were allowed past security.

                      The issue has been a taboo for many years in Turkey, with those who speak out against the killings risking prosecution by a Turkish court. But an increasing number of Turkish academics have called for a review of the killings in a country where many see the Ottoman Empire as a symbol of Turkish greatness.

                      The panelists, all Turkish speakers, carefully avoided any emotional language during the first day of the two-day conference.

                      "Everyone waits for you to pronounce the genocide word — if you do one side applauds and the other won't listen," Halil Berktay, program coordinator of the history department at Sabanci University, said at the conference Saturday.

                      Several governments around the world have recognized the killings of as many as 1.5 million Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire as genocide.

                      Turkey vehemently denies the charge, admitting that many Armenians were killed, but saying the death toll is inflated and that Armenians were killed along with Turks in civil unrest and intercommunal fighting as the Ottoman Empire collapsed between 1915 and 1923.

                      After the conference was shut down Thursday, Turkey drew condemnation from the European Commission.

                      Organizers skirted the court order by changing the venue of the conference.

                      The court-ordered cancellation Thursday was an embarrassment for the country's leaders, who are set to begin EU negotiations on Oct. 3.

                      Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul lamented that "there's no one better at hurting themselves than us," and sent a letter wishing the organizers a successful conference. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also condemned the court's decision, saying it did not befit a democratic country.

                      The participants were all Turkish speakers and included members of Turkey's Armenian minority like Hrant Dink, the editor in chief of Agos, a weekly Armenian newspaper in Istanbul. There are some 70,000 Armenians living in Istanbul.


                      ___

                      September 24, 2005 - 1:05 p.m. PDT

                      Copyright 2005, The Associated Press.
                      "All truth passes through three stages:
                      First, it is ridiculed;
                      Second, it is violently opposed; and
                      Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

                      Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

                      Comment

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