Flights from Van to Yerevan to ease transportation
Friday, February 25, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey’s Van Way Airlines is set to launch flights to Armenia from the eastern city of Van to provide transportation opportunities for businesspeople from both countries.
The flights will feature private airplanes rented by Arslan Bayram, a businessman from Van province. Bayram aims to accelerate the trade relations between businesspeople from Van and Armenia.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Bayram said flights between Van and Yerevan will contribute to cultural, economic and faith tourism.
Turkish airline AtlastJet and Armenia’s national carrier Armavia regularly operate flights from Istanbul and the northern city of Trabzon to Armenia’s capital city Yerevan two times a week in the winter season. In the summer season, the companies also operate flights from Turkey’s Antalya and Bodrum to Yerevan.
“In addition to Armenia flights, we aim to expand our flight network to include Iraq and Iran. There are only a few procedures to achieve this goal,” Bayram said.
Noting that a possible friendship atmosphere with Armenia would please them, Bayram said, “Opening the border and establishing a peace environment will provide a boom for trade in both countries,” he said.
“Van is physically close to Armenia, but due to the closed borders, highway transportation is impossible. Trade between Armenia and the eastern cities of Turkey is provided through Georgia,” Bayram told the Daily News.
The border between the both countries was closed by Turkey unilaterally due to the Nagorno-Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1993.
Increase in number of tourists
Bayram is also the owner of the Bayram Otel and Bestvan Tur, a tourism agency, in Van.
“We have been in the tourism sector for many years and we wanted to meet the demands of our passengers. The development of Van and its opening to the world is the mission of businesspeople from Van.”
“Interest in Van’s cultural and historical values has increased in the recent years. The number of tourists coming to Van is increasing,” Bayram told the Daily News.
Noting that they have experienced positive changes in Van in recent years, Bayram said, “New hotels are opening and the tourism in Van is growing.”
The historic Surp Haç Church on Akdamar Island in Van was restored and opened as a museum in 2007 by former Culture Minister Atilla Koç. The museum has a great impact on increasing the number of tourists. The church recently offered its first religious ceremony after being closed for 95 years.
In accordance with demands, international flights on private planes may begin, Bayram said, adding that it is early for such an enterprise
25 Şubat 2011 Cuma
Nişanyan donates houses in Şirince to Turkish foundation
Thursday, February 24, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
The houses in Şirince have been the center of debate recently. DHA photo
Linguist and academic Sevan Nişanyan has donated his much-debated houses in the Şirince village of the Aegean province of İzmir to an educational foundation.
Nişanyan on Thursday handed over the title deeds of his 22 buildings – some serving as boutique hotels – to the Nesin Foundation, headed by Professor Ali Nesin, son of prominent Turkish intellectual Aziz Nesin.
Some buildings – including the ones owned by Nişanyan – in Şirince, seven kilometers from Selçuk, were set to be demolished last week on the grounds that they had been illegally restored but the demolition was delayed with a last-minute decision from the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
“I will continue to manage the hotels in the name of the foundation,” Nişanyan told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review over the phone Thursday.
Nişanyan said the recent developments regarding the houses made him realize that “the property limits my freedom.”
“I am in debt to tens of thousands of people who have supported me for these houses,” he added. “I am paying my debt to those people by donating these houses to the Nesin Foundation, which plays a very important role in helping children.”
The Nesin Foundation owns a house in Istanbul’s Çatalca district, where it provides aid and shelter to low-income children.
Nişanyan said his fight against the demolition decision was considered by some people as a struggle to keep his possessions. “But the fight was not for money, it was for Şirince, to which I’m committed with love and passion.”
He said the donation was not a move to stop the demolitions, either. “But now no one can demolish these buildings,” said Nişanyan. “If they do, the state will remain under the ruins.”
Thursday, February 24, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
The houses in Şirince have been the center of debate recently. DHA photo
Linguist and academic Sevan Nişanyan has donated his much-debated houses in the Şirince village of the Aegean province of İzmir to an educational foundation.
Nişanyan on Thursday handed over the title deeds of his 22 buildings – some serving as boutique hotels – to the Nesin Foundation, headed by Professor Ali Nesin, son of prominent Turkish intellectual Aziz Nesin.
Some buildings – including the ones owned by Nişanyan – in Şirince, seven kilometers from Selçuk, were set to be demolished last week on the grounds that they had been illegally restored but the demolition was delayed with a last-minute decision from the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
“I will continue to manage the hotels in the name of the foundation,” Nişanyan told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review over the phone Thursday.
Nişanyan said the recent developments regarding the houses made him realize that “the property limits my freedom.”
“I am in debt to tens of thousands of people who have supported me for these houses,” he added. “I am paying my debt to those people by donating these houses to the Nesin Foundation, which plays a very important role in helping children.”
The Nesin Foundation owns a house in Istanbul’s Çatalca district, where it provides aid and shelter to low-income children.
Nişanyan said his fight against the demolition decision was considered by some people as a struggle to keep his possessions. “But the fight was not for money, it was for Şirince, to which I’m committed with love and passion.”
He said the donation was not a move to stop the demolitions, either. “But now no one can demolish these buildings,” said Nişanyan. “If they do, the state will remain under the ruins.”
24 Şubat 2011 Perşembe
Armenia's bloody March 2008 events remain a mystery
Thursday, February 24, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
The committees investigating post-election violence in Armenia are struggling to continue their work, with international human rights organizations pressing for an immediate resolution to the dispute. Although some political prisoners have been released, the nine people who are being held responsible for the events of March 1, 2008, are still under arrest.
It has been three years since the bloody events of March 2008, when riot police clashed with thousands of people demonstrating in the streets of the capital Yerevan against what they perceived as Armenia’s rigged presidential elections two weeks before, leaving several dead. Much of the violence occurred in Yerevan’s Liberty Square.
Of the nine people accused of being responsible for the riots, there are three prominent names: Sarkis Hazspanian, Nikol Pashinian and Sasun Mikaelian.
A citizen of France, Hazspanian had a leading role during the events at Liberty Square. Pashinian is editor-in-chief of one of the country’s prominent newspapers, Haygagan Jamanag (Armenian Times). Mikaelian was a deputy from President Sarkisian's party, Hanrabedagan Gusagzsutyun (Republican Party).
Hazspanian, under arrest in Vardashen Prison a few kilometers outside of Yerevan, Pashinian's wife and Pashinian’s attorney recently responded to questions from the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review by e-mail. Although Pashinian wanted to answer questions himself, he could not since he was kept in a cell and was not allowed to send out any written document, even by means of his attorney. Mikaelian abstained from responding to the Daily News’ questions.
Pashinian in danger
Pashinian’s lawyer, Vahe Grigorian, and his wife, Anna Hakopian-Pashinian, spoke to the Daily News about the editor’s situation what they said were unjust limitations on his visiting hours. Grigorian said the case against his client openly violates the 34th article of the Human Rights Declaration and the 18th article of the Armenian Constitution.
"I am not even allowed to see my client alone to discuss the course of the trial. This is an open violation of human rights,” said Grigorian.
Hakopian-Pashinian claimed that her husband has been assaulted several times in the last two months by some “masked people” at the Artig prison, where he is kept, adding that she fears for his life.
Haygagan Jamanag, Pashinian’s newspaper, is the one of the best-selling newspapers in the country, known for its support of Armenia’s first president Levon Der Bedrosian. Pashinian has written severely critical articles about Armenian President Sarkisian and his predecessor, Robert Kocharian.
Pashinian is under trial for “causing public mayhem” under the 225th article of the Armenian Criminal Law. A separate case regarding how Armenia has treated Pashinian’s case was taken to the European Court of Human Rights at the end of November.
‘The world just watches’
Hazspanian, a French citizen whose country is working for his release, was imprisoned after he gave an interview in November 2008, published in the Haygagan Jamanag, in which he said some people might be planning to assassinate Sarkisian. For his interview, he was prosecuted for “false information” under Article 333 of Armenian Criminal Law.
“I talked about possibilities, an event that was enough for my arrest,” Hazspanian told the Daily News.
Hazspanian holds former Armenian President Robert Kocharian responsible for the events of March 2008. Hazspanian says he was once in close contact with Kocharian.
"Kocharian held his office for ten years. During those feudal years, reminiscent of Mediaeval Europe, the parliament was raided twice and the country was led into chaos,” said Hazspanian.
He said the presidential elections were tampered with and “they started to put people under arrest who were only using their constitutional rights, attending meetings and causing no disarray. On election day, the members of the opposition, embassy employees, diplomats and journalists were assaulted.”
"We fought for justice and democracy. Random people were assaulted during the events, and Liberty Square was the stage of many a violent act,” said Hazspanian.
He also said the investigation committees do not do much in the case investigation, and they were abolished by President Sarkisian himself as the truth started to surface. He also said he believes international public opinion has been callous toward the events, adding that he, along with the others, is being kept in jail despite his innocence.
“The world just watches it. Nothing makes sense anymore,” said Hazpanian.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
The committees investigating post-election violence in Armenia are struggling to continue their work, with international human rights organizations pressing for an immediate resolution to the dispute. Although some political prisoners have been released, the nine people who are being held responsible for the events of March 1, 2008, are still under arrest.
It has been three years since the bloody events of March 2008, when riot police clashed with thousands of people demonstrating in the streets of the capital Yerevan against what they perceived as Armenia’s rigged presidential elections two weeks before, leaving several dead. Much of the violence occurred in Yerevan’s Liberty Square.
Of the nine people accused of being responsible for the riots, there are three prominent names: Sarkis Hazspanian, Nikol Pashinian and Sasun Mikaelian.
A citizen of France, Hazspanian had a leading role during the events at Liberty Square. Pashinian is editor-in-chief of one of the country’s prominent newspapers, Haygagan Jamanag (Armenian Times). Mikaelian was a deputy from President Sarkisian's party, Hanrabedagan Gusagzsutyun (Republican Party).
Hazspanian, under arrest in Vardashen Prison a few kilometers outside of Yerevan, Pashinian's wife and Pashinian’s attorney recently responded to questions from the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review by e-mail. Although Pashinian wanted to answer questions himself, he could not since he was kept in a cell and was not allowed to send out any written document, even by means of his attorney. Mikaelian abstained from responding to the Daily News’ questions.
Pashinian in danger
Pashinian’s lawyer, Vahe Grigorian, and his wife, Anna Hakopian-Pashinian, spoke to the Daily News about the editor’s situation what they said were unjust limitations on his visiting hours. Grigorian said the case against his client openly violates the 34th article of the Human Rights Declaration and the 18th article of the Armenian Constitution.
"I am not even allowed to see my client alone to discuss the course of the trial. This is an open violation of human rights,” said Grigorian.
Hakopian-Pashinian claimed that her husband has been assaulted several times in the last two months by some “masked people” at the Artig prison, where he is kept, adding that she fears for his life.
Haygagan Jamanag, Pashinian’s newspaper, is the one of the best-selling newspapers in the country, known for its support of Armenia’s first president Levon Der Bedrosian. Pashinian has written severely critical articles about Armenian President Sarkisian and his predecessor, Robert Kocharian.
Pashinian is under trial for “causing public mayhem” under the 225th article of the Armenian Criminal Law. A separate case regarding how Armenia has treated Pashinian’s case was taken to the European Court of Human Rights at the end of November.
‘The world just watches’
Hazspanian, a French citizen whose country is working for his release, was imprisoned after he gave an interview in November 2008, published in the Haygagan Jamanag, in which he said some people might be planning to assassinate Sarkisian. For his interview, he was prosecuted for “false information” under Article 333 of Armenian Criminal Law.
“I talked about possibilities, an event that was enough for my arrest,” Hazspanian told the Daily News.
Hazspanian holds former Armenian President Robert Kocharian responsible for the events of March 2008. Hazspanian says he was once in close contact with Kocharian.
"Kocharian held his office for ten years. During those feudal years, reminiscent of Mediaeval Europe, the parliament was raided twice and the country was led into chaos,” said Hazspanian.
He said the presidential elections were tampered with and “they started to put people under arrest who were only using their constitutional rights, attending meetings and causing no disarray. On election day, the members of the opposition, embassy employees, diplomats and journalists were assaulted.”
"We fought for justice and democracy. Random people were assaulted during the events, and Liberty Square was the stage of many a violent act,” said Hazspanian.
He also said the investigation committees do not do much in the case investigation, and they were abolished by President Sarkisian himself as the truth started to surface. He also said he believes international public opinion has been callous toward the events, adding that he, along with the others, is being kept in jail despite his innocence.
“The world just watches it. Nothing makes sense anymore,” said Hazpanian.
18 Şubat 2011 Cuma
Historic film for Armenians, Kurds making Istanbul debut
Thursday, February 17, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian director Hamo Beknazarian’s film ‘Zare’ holds a unique place in history as the first film for both Armenian and Kurdish cinema. The silent film from 1926, which features a tragic love story in a Yezidi village, will be screened as part of the !f Istanbul International Film Festival Saturday and will be accompanied by Kurdish harpist Tara Jaff
The silent love story 'Zare' will be screened Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at AFM Fitaş Movie Theater in Beyoğlu.
The first Armenian and Kurdish film in cinematic history, “Zare,” will play at Turkey’s most prestigious independent film festival this weekend in Istanbul.
Directed by legendary Armenian director Hamo Beknazarian, “Zare” was produce on 35mm black-and-white film in 1926 and is set in an Armenian Yezidi village. Although the director is Armenian and the country is Armenia, the film was financially sponsored by members of the Kurdish community.
“Zare” was the first Kurdish film, according to young Kurdish director Müjde Arslan, who directed “Ölüm Elbisesi: Kumalık” (A Fatal Dress: Polygamy).
“After this film, Kurdish cinema remained silent until 1991. Kurds have become the subject of social films made by realistic Kurdish directors in Turkish cinema but the word ‘Kurd’ has not been highlighted,” Arslan recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
The festival is featuring 85 independent films in 17 categories this year. The films will also be screened in Ankara from March 2 to 6.
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Here, the expression ‘cinema is the mirror of a society’ is corroborated because both Kurdish people and the word ‘Kurd’ were banned in [Turkish] cinema, just like in [Turkish] society,” he said.
The film, a silent love story, will be screened Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at AFM Fitaş Movie Theater in Beyoğlu as part of the !f Istanbul International Film Festival. The film screening will be accompanied by Kurdish harpist Tara Jaff.
Because Beknazarian was an Armenian director, there have been occasional discussions about the cultural ownership of the film, said Arslan.
“This film is the only example. Even though its director is from Armenia, it tells the lifestyle, traditions and customs of Yezidi and Kurdish villages.”
She said that there were parallels between “Zare” and her film, “A Fatal Dress: Polygamy.” “We see woman as a second-class citizen in both films.”
‘Zare’ first of its type
Echoing Arslan, international award-winning Kurdish director Kazım Öz also defined “Zare” as the first film in Kurdish cinema history:
“Of course the identity of the director is important. We know that Aram Tigran is Armenian, too, but he is regarded as the best Kurdish musician of all times because he made great contributions to Kurdish art and culture,” Öz told the Daily News.
Öz said it was a tragedy that no Kurdish film was made after Zare until the 1990s. “This shows how Kurdish culture and cinema is under pressure.”
New generation of Kurdish cinema
He said that against all odds, Kurdish cinema had made its name in recent years thanks to award-winning directors.
“It is possible to talk about a newborn Kurdish cinema. A young generation of Kurdish directors is producing films in various countries. The stories are multi-lingual and colorful. Kurdish cinema will make a leap beyond expectations in the next 20 years,” he said.
“Significant works of art have been created during transition processes or after big social changes,” Arslan said. “This is the same for Kurds. The society had a big trauma and will see a return in cinema.”
Öz expressed his happiness that “Zare” would be screened as part of !f Istanbul as said he had not had a chance to see it before. “This film will be a very special screening for me, like for other audiences.”
About the film
Hamo Beknazarian was born in Yerevan in 1891 and moved to Georgia right after the 1917 Russian Revolution. He made his first film “Honor” in 1925 before making “Zare.”
The film, a classic silent film and a tragic love story, takes place in a Yezidi village. Its backdrop is the start of the collapse of Russia’s Czarist regime and the approach of the 1917 revolution.
Zare, a Kurdish girl, and Seydo, a young shepherd, live in the same village and love each other, but are faced with problems when village chief Temur wants to take Zare as his second wife.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian director Hamo Beknazarian’s film ‘Zare’ holds a unique place in history as the first film for both Armenian and Kurdish cinema. The silent film from 1926, which features a tragic love story in a Yezidi village, will be screened as part of the !f Istanbul International Film Festival Saturday and will be accompanied by Kurdish harpist Tara Jaff
The silent love story 'Zare' will be screened Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at AFM Fitaş Movie Theater in Beyoğlu.
The first Armenian and Kurdish film in cinematic history, “Zare,” will play at Turkey’s most prestigious independent film festival this weekend in Istanbul.
Directed by legendary Armenian director Hamo Beknazarian, “Zare” was produce on 35mm black-and-white film in 1926 and is set in an Armenian Yezidi village. Although the director is Armenian and the country is Armenia, the film was financially sponsored by members of the Kurdish community.
“Zare” was the first Kurdish film, according to young Kurdish director Müjde Arslan, who directed “Ölüm Elbisesi: Kumalık” (A Fatal Dress: Polygamy).
“After this film, Kurdish cinema remained silent until 1991. Kurds have become the subject of social films made by realistic Kurdish directors in Turkish cinema but the word ‘Kurd’ has not been highlighted,” Arslan recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
The festival is featuring 85 independent films in 17 categories this year. The films will also be screened in Ankara from March 2 to 6.
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Here, the expression ‘cinema is the mirror of a society’ is corroborated because both Kurdish people and the word ‘Kurd’ were banned in [Turkish] cinema, just like in [Turkish] society,” he said.
The film, a silent love story, will be screened Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at AFM Fitaş Movie Theater in Beyoğlu as part of the !f Istanbul International Film Festival. The film screening will be accompanied by Kurdish harpist Tara Jaff.
Because Beknazarian was an Armenian director, there have been occasional discussions about the cultural ownership of the film, said Arslan.
“This film is the only example. Even though its director is from Armenia, it tells the lifestyle, traditions and customs of Yezidi and Kurdish villages.”
She said that there were parallels between “Zare” and her film, “A Fatal Dress: Polygamy.” “We see woman as a second-class citizen in both films.”
‘Zare’ first of its type
Echoing Arslan, international award-winning Kurdish director Kazım Öz also defined “Zare” as the first film in Kurdish cinema history:
“Of course the identity of the director is important. We know that Aram Tigran is Armenian, too, but he is regarded as the best Kurdish musician of all times because he made great contributions to Kurdish art and culture,” Öz told the Daily News.
Öz said it was a tragedy that no Kurdish film was made after Zare until the 1990s. “This shows how Kurdish culture and cinema is under pressure.”
New generation of Kurdish cinema
He said that against all odds, Kurdish cinema had made its name in recent years thanks to award-winning directors.
“It is possible to talk about a newborn Kurdish cinema. A young generation of Kurdish directors is producing films in various countries. The stories are multi-lingual and colorful. Kurdish cinema will make a leap beyond expectations in the next 20 years,” he said.
“Significant works of art have been created during transition processes or after big social changes,” Arslan said. “This is the same for Kurds. The society had a big trauma and will see a return in cinema.”
Öz expressed his happiness that “Zare” would be screened as part of !f Istanbul as said he had not had a chance to see it before. “This film will be a very special screening for me, like for other audiences.”
About the film
Hamo Beknazarian was born in Yerevan in 1891 and moved to Georgia right after the 1917 Russian Revolution. He made his first film “Honor” in 1925 before making “Zare.”
The film, a classic silent film and a tragic love story, takes place in a Yezidi village. Its backdrop is the start of the collapse of Russia’s Czarist regime and the approach of the 1917 revolution.
Zare, a Kurdish girl, and Seydo, a young shepherd, live in the same village and love each other, but are faced with problems when village chief Temur wants to take Zare as his second wife.
10 Şubat 2011 Perşembe
Turkish high court rules against lay Armenians' election request
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey’s Council of State rejected an appeal Tuesday from lay representatives of the country’s Armenian community to allow the minority to conduct an election to replace its incapacitated patriarch.
In its ruling, the high court said the issue fell outside of its jurisdiction.
An initiating committee consisting of lay representatives of the Armenian community is at odds with the patriarchate over who should succeed the gravely ill Patriarch Mesrop II as spiritual leader of the community. The lay members have been seeking to annul the Istanbul Governor’s Office’s decision to name Archbishop Aram Ateşyan as “deputy patriarch” and give him administrative authority over the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul. The move, which was also supported by the Interior Ministry, has effectively split into two on the issue.
Sabouh Aslangil, an attorney for the lay members, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that the process was “open-ended and uncertain.”
Observing the rules
Speaking to the Daily News in an interview, Ateşyan said there would be no election for a new patriarch as long as Mesrop II was alive. “This is the rule of the Armenian Apostolic Church,” he said. “I am occupying this post for a temporary period. [Those who oppose] this are stretching the limits without respect and are weakening the patriarchate. One has to be patient.”
Patriarch Mesrop II reportedly suffers from frontal dementia. Ateşyan said doctors were “not hopeful” about his health but “we will continue to believe in a miracle.”
Ateşyan criticized the lay members’ initiating committee for creating turmoil by petitioning the Istanbul Governor’s Office to allow for a patriarchal election separate from the church’s spiritual committee’s application to elect a “co-patriarch.”
Last month Ateşyan attempted to appoint Tatul Anusyan as an archbishop, but his request was not accepted by the Armenian Church’s Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in Armenia.
“Our request was not denied but postponed until after the patriarchate elections,” Ateşyan told the Daily News. “There is no friction there.”
Etchmiadzin is regarded as the mother church for Armenians, but the patriarchate in Turkey, which founded with the permission of Mehmed the Conqueror, is “first among equals” among the four apostolic central seats worldwide. Thus, it has a degree of autonomy from the Etchmiadzin, which cannot intervene in the patriarchate’s internal affairs nor in its election of a patriarch.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey’s Council of State rejected an appeal Tuesday from lay representatives of the country’s Armenian community to allow the minority to conduct an election to replace its incapacitated patriarch.
In its ruling, the high court said the issue fell outside of its jurisdiction.
An initiating committee consisting of lay representatives of the Armenian community is at odds with the patriarchate over who should succeed the gravely ill Patriarch Mesrop II as spiritual leader of the community. The lay members have been seeking to annul the Istanbul Governor’s Office’s decision to name Archbishop Aram Ateşyan as “deputy patriarch” and give him administrative authority over the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul. The move, which was also supported by the Interior Ministry, has effectively split into two on the issue.
Sabouh Aslangil, an attorney for the lay members, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that the process was “open-ended and uncertain.”
Observing the rules
Speaking to the Daily News in an interview, Ateşyan said there would be no election for a new patriarch as long as Mesrop II was alive. “This is the rule of the Armenian Apostolic Church,” he said. “I am occupying this post for a temporary period. [Those who oppose] this are stretching the limits without respect and are weakening the patriarchate. One has to be patient.”
Patriarch Mesrop II reportedly suffers from frontal dementia. Ateşyan said doctors were “not hopeful” about his health but “we will continue to believe in a miracle.”
Ateşyan criticized the lay members’ initiating committee for creating turmoil by petitioning the Istanbul Governor’s Office to allow for a patriarchal election separate from the church’s spiritual committee’s application to elect a “co-patriarch.”
Last month Ateşyan attempted to appoint Tatul Anusyan as an archbishop, but his request was not accepted by the Armenian Church’s Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in Armenia.
“Our request was not denied but postponed until after the patriarchate elections,” Ateşyan told the Daily News. “There is no friction there.”
Etchmiadzin is regarded as the mother church for Armenians, but the patriarchate in Turkey, which founded with the permission of Mehmed the Conqueror, is “first among equals” among the four apostolic central seats worldwide. Thus, it has a degree of autonomy from the Etchmiadzin, which cannot intervene in the patriarchate’s internal affairs nor in its election of a patriarch.
9 Şubat 2011 Çarşamba
Church in Turkey's Southeast preparing for religious ceremony
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
After the church on Akdamar Island in Van, the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır is now preparing for a religious ceremony. The Istanbul Armenian Foundation undertook the restoration of the church, bringing together Turkey and the Armenian diaspora. ‘This church is the common heritage of humanity,” says the foundation's chairman, Ergün Ayık
The restoration of the Surp Giragos Church in Diyarbakır has been coordinated by the Istanbul Armenians Foundation and Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality.
Resurrecting memories of the Armenian presence in Southeast Anatolia, workers in Diyarbakır are putting the finishing touches on a $3.5 million restoration on what was once one of the largest churches in the Middle East, Surp Giragos.
Officials from Turkey, Armenia and the Armenian diaspora are expected to attend a Divine Liturgy to celebrate the church’s reopening, which is scheduled for later this year.
“After the restoration process, we are planning to draw faith tourists from around the world,” Surp Giragos Armenian Church Foundation Chairman Ergün Ayık recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
The coming Armenian religious service marks a second for the region after the Divine Liturgy was held last September at the Surp Haç Armenian Church on Van’s Akdamar Island, drawing top Turkish officials, Turkish-Armenians and members of the diaspora.
Unlike Surp Haç, however, Surp Giragos will remain in the possession of the Armenian community after restoration is complete. The Istanbul Armenian Foundation coordinated the church’s restoration, drawing funds from diaspora Armenians, as well as Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, which is expected to meet one-third of the restoration budget. The Turkish government, meanwhile, has promised to provide 25,000 Turkish Liras toward the church’s refurbishment.
The church is the first in Anatolia to be restored by Armenians, Ayık said, adding that they initially had problems with the country’s Culture Ministry.
“Right before the restoration we asked for support from the ministry but we were told to hand over the ownership of the church to the ministry in return for support. If we had accepted it, Surp Giragos would have opened as a museum like [Surp Haç] in Van,” the chairman said.
Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay visited Diyarbakır to examine the restoration process at the church a few months ago, Ayık said. “He said he would provide a budget of 25,000 liras for the restoration, but we have not received it yet.”
Only family in Diyarbakır
According to some art historians, the church is the largest in the Middle East. The complex sprawls over 3,200 square meters and includes priests’ houses, chapels and a school. The church was seized by the German army in 1913 and served as their local headquarters until 1918, when it was converted into a fabric warehouse.
Ayık also said Surp Giragos had several unique architectural features. “Churches normally have one altar but Surp Giragos has seven altars. Its original roof was covered with the earth from around the region. We will do it again. The earth has been stripped of seeds to prevent the growth of plants. It should also be vented regularly, every year.”
The chairman, whose family is originally from the southeastern province, said the church was handed over to the foundation by the General Directorate of Foundations in the 1950s and continued providing church services until 1980.
By the 1980s, there were only five Armenian families left in the province; now, however, there is just one.
“In accordance with the law of foundations, people had to live in the cities where they worked for foundations in Anatolia, but there was no Armenian society in the city. This is why the church was left alone, without a society, and looted by treasure hunters,” he said, adding that only the Hatay-Vakıflıköy, Kayseri and Diyarbakır churches survived today among the 2,000 churches and monasteries that once dotted Anatolia.
“These churches do not just belong to us; they are the cultural heritage of Turkey. We should preserve them,” Ayık said.
Ayık also said he had asked for help from diaspora Armenians living in different countries throughout the world.
“They ask why we are restoring a church that does not even have a society and whether it will be turned into a museum,” he said. “I have explained to them the importance of protecting these structures and have tried to persuade them that it will not become a museum [out of the control of Armenians].”
The chairman, however, said the foundation planned to turn one of the chapels into a museum.
“We will display the lifestyle of Diyarbakır’s Armenians. There will also be concerts and exhibitions. In this way, the church will be able to finance itself,” Ayık said.
Ultimately, the chairman said conduction such restoration would not have been so possible 10 years ago. “Turkish society and Turkey is changing. People want to know about the societies that they live with.”
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
After the church on Akdamar Island in Van, the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır is now preparing for a religious ceremony. The Istanbul Armenian Foundation undertook the restoration of the church, bringing together Turkey and the Armenian diaspora. ‘This church is the common heritage of humanity,” says the foundation's chairman, Ergün Ayık
The restoration of the Surp Giragos Church in Diyarbakır has been coordinated by the Istanbul Armenians Foundation and Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality.
Resurrecting memories of the Armenian presence in Southeast Anatolia, workers in Diyarbakır are putting the finishing touches on a $3.5 million restoration on what was once one of the largest churches in the Middle East, Surp Giragos.
Officials from Turkey, Armenia and the Armenian diaspora are expected to attend a Divine Liturgy to celebrate the church’s reopening, which is scheduled for later this year.
“After the restoration process, we are planning to draw faith tourists from around the world,” Surp Giragos Armenian Church Foundation Chairman Ergün Ayık recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
The coming Armenian religious service marks a second for the region after the Divine Liturgy was held last September at the Surp Haç Armenian Church on Van’s Akdamar Island, drawing top Turkish officials, Turkish-Armenians and members of the diaspora.
Unlike Surp Haç, however, Surp Giragos will remain in the possession of the Armenian community after restoration is complete. The Istanbul Armenian Foundation coordinated the church’s restoration, drawing funds from diaspora Armenians, as well as Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, which is expected to meet one-third of the restoration budget. The Turkish government, meanwhile, has promised to provide 25,000 Turkish Liras toward the church’s refurbishment.
The church is the first in Anatolia to be restored by Armenians, Ayık said, adding that they initially had problems with the country’s Culture Ministry.
“Right before the restoration we asked for support from the ministry but we were told to hand over the ownership of the church to the ministry in return for support. If we had accepted it, Surp Giragos would have opened as a museum like [Surp Haç] in Van,” the chairman said.
Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay visited Diyarbakır to examine the restoration process at the church a few months ago, Ayık said. “He said he would provide a budget of 25,000 liras for the restoration, but we have not received it yet.”
Only family in Diyarbakır
According to some art historians, the church is the largest in the Middle East. The complex sprawls over 3,200 square meters and includes priests’ houses, chapels and a school. The church was seized by the German army in 1913 and served as their local headquarters until 1918, when it was converted into a fabric warehouse.
Ayık also said Surp Giragos had several unique architectural features. “Churches normally have one altar but Surp Giragos has seven altars. Its original roof was covered with the earth from around the region. We will do it again. The earth has been stripped of seeds to prevent the growth of plants. It should also be vented regularly, every year.”
The chairman, whose family is originally from the southeastern province, said the church was handed over to the foundation by the General Directorate of Foundations in the 1950s and continued providing church services until 1980.
By the 1980s, there were only five Armenian families left in the province; now, however, there is just one.
“In accordance with the law of foundations, people had to live in the cities where they worked for foundations in Anatolia, but there was no Armenian society in the city. This is why the church was left alone, without a society, and looted by treasure hunters,” he said, adding that only the Hatay-Vakıflıköy, Kayseri and Diyarbakır churches survived today among the 2,000 churches and monasteries that once dotted Anatolia.
“These churches do not just belong to us; they are the cultural heritage of Turkey. We should preserve them,” Ayık said.
Ayık also said he had asked for help from diaspora Armenians living in different countries throughout the world.
“They ask why we are restoring a church that does not even have a society and whether it will be turned into a museum,” he said. “I have explained to them the importance of protecting these structures and have tried to persuade them that it will not become a museum [out of the control of Armenians].”
The chairman, however, said the foundation planned to turn one of the chapels into a museum.
“We will display the lifestyle of Diyarbakır’s Armenians. There will also be concerts and exhibitions. In this way, the church will be able to finance itself,” Ayık said.
Ultimately, the chairman said conduction such restoration would not have been so possible 10 years ago. “Turkish society and Turkey is changing. People want to know about the societies that they live with.”
7 Şubat 2011 Pazartesi
Turkish minority foundations entering a new stage
Monday, February 7, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
A representative for all minority foundations in the General Directorate of Foundations is working toward a better future for minorities in Turkey. Laki Vingas, of Greek-Turkish origin, is the spokesperson for all minority communities in Turkey at the directorate. There are 161 foundations in total under his responsibility
A Greek-Turkish man is leading an assembly representing all minority foundations under the General Directorate of Foundations, in a bid to provide a united voice for minorities in Turkey.
Laki Vingas was elected to the post with a majority of the votes from representatives of the Greek-Turkish, Armenian-Turkish and Syriac foundations.
Vingas is an advocate in the general directorate for the problems of not only the foundations of these three communities but also the Apostolic, Catholic, Protestant, Armenian and Bulgarian foundations.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Vingas spoke about some of the projects he plans to pursue in the near future.
"It is high time that we, as the minority foundations, undertake some social projects,” he said. “We can no longer afford to think only about our own communities. Our target should be joint efforts for cultural and educational issues as well as for the future of foundations.”
Vingas said it has not been easy to come to the current situation. “We saw the days when it was not even allowed to drive a nail into a foundation property. I am the first to hold this post [head of the minority foundations’ assembly] through the whole history of the republic and I know others will follow me.”
Vingas said the minority communities used to be scared of even entering the door of the General Directorate of Foundations, but thanks to European Union harmonization laws that problem was overcome.
Harutyun Şanlı, a member of the coordination committee of the Armenian Foundations Solidarity Platform, or VADIP, told the Daily News that the Armenian community was readying to gather its 40 foundations, 36 in Istanbul and the rest in Anatolian cities, under one roof.
Kenan Altınışık, chairman of the Istanbul Syriac Orthodox Community Foundation, said, “We have chronic problems dating back 90 years, but our meetings with Ankara have been very fruitful.”
Şanlı and Altınışık both agree that Vingas will do an invaluable job in his new post.
‘Greek community in danger’
The minorities with the highest number of foundations in Turkey are the Greek Turks and Armenian Turks. According to data provided by Vingas, the 2,500 Greeks in Turkey have 75 foundations and according to figures by Şanlı 60,000 Armenians in the country have 40 foundations.
Syriacs, who have a total population of 25,000, have only 19 foundations. A great majority of them are in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır and Mardin.
Vingas said he had been a foundation chairman in the past, noting that the biggest problem of the Greek-Turkish foundations was the administrations.
"Due to old-fashioned mentalities, the administrative boards are never changing,” he said. “The same people have been administering these foundations for decades without giving an account of anything they have done. We cannot get over the problems and corruption if this continues.”
Vingas said the Greek-Turkish population was getting older and their numbers were decreasing day by day. "If a new restructuring is not implemented, the future of the Greek-Turkish community is at stake. The foundations need to receive professional aid and learn how to incorporate.”
Armenians active, Syriacs hesitant
Turkey’s biggest minority community, with a population of 60,000, the Armenian-Turks have recently made some acquisitions in foundations and a renewed sense of movement has begun.
A shopping mall and skyscraper construction project is ongoing on the premises of the Karagözyan Orphanage Foundation in Istanbul’s Şişli neighborhood. The luxury Lotus houses’ construction recently finished on a 45,000-square-meter area on a hill by the Bosphorus.
"If we could formalize the umbrella organization [VADIP], then all our revenue will be collected in a single bank account and this will prevent corruption,” said Şanlı.
Altınışık said Syriacs were not very keen about coming together. "Every foundation has a different mission and is of different importance,” he said. “A uniformist attitude could cause administrative problems.”
Monday, February 7, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
A representative for all minority foundations in the General Directorate of Foundations is working toward a better future for minorities in Turkey. Laki Vingas, of Greek-Turkish origin, is the spokesperson for all minority communities in Turkey at the directorate. There are 161 foundations in total under his responsibility
A Greek-Turkish man is leading an assembly representing all minority foundations under the General Directorate of Foundations, in a bid to provide a united voice for minorities in Turkey.
Laki Vingas was elected to the post with a majority of the votes from representatives of the Greek-Turkish, Armenian-Turkish and Syriac foundations.
Vingas is an advocate in the general directorate for the problems of not only the foundations of these three communities but also the Apostolic, Catholic, Protestant, Armenian and Bulgarian foundations.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Vingas spoke about some of the projects he plans to pursue in the near future.
"It is high time that we, as the minority foundations, undertake some social projects,” he said. “We can no longer afford to think only about our own communities. Our target should be joint efforts for cultural and educational issues as well as for the future of foundations.”
Vingas said it has not been easy to come to the current situation. “We saw the days when it was not even allowed to drive a nail into a foundation property. I am the first to hold this post [head of the minority foundations’ assembly] through the whole history of the republic and I know others will follow me.”
Vingas said the minority communities used to be scared of even entering the door of the General Directorate of Foundations, but thanks to European Union harmonization laws that problem was overcome.
Harutyun Şanlı, a member of the coordination committee of the Armenian Foundations Solidarity Platform, or VADIP, told the Daily News that the Armenian community was readying to gather its 40 foundations, 36 in Istanbul and the rest in Anatolian cities, under one roof.
Kenan Altınışık, chairman of the Istanbul Syriac Orthodox Community Foundation, said, “We have chronic problems dating back 90 years, but our meetings with Ankara have been very fruitful.”
Şanlı and Altınışık both agree that Vingas will do an invaluable job in his new post.
‘Greek community in danger’
The minorities with the highest number of foundations in Turkey are the Greek Turks and Armenian Turks. According to data provided by Vingas, the 2,500 Greeks in Turkey have 75 foundations and according to figures by Şanlı 60,000 Armenians in the country have 40 foundations.
Syriacs, who have a total population of 25,000, have only 19 foundations. A great majority of them are in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır and Mardin.
Vingas said he had been a foundation chairman in the past, noting that the biggest problem of the Greek-Turkish foundations was the administrations.
"Due to old-fashioned mentalities, the administrative boards are never changing,” he said. “The same people have been administering these foundations for decades without giving an account of anything they have done. We cannot get over the problems and corruption if this continues.”
Vingas said the Greek-Turkish population was getting older and their numbers were decreasing day by day. "If a new restructuring is not implemented, the future of the Greek-Turkish community is at stake. The foundations need to receive professional aid and learn how to incorporate.”
Armenians active, Syriacs hesitant
Turkey’s biggest minority community, with a population of 60,000, the Armenian-Turks have recently made some acquisitions in foundations and a renewed sense of movement has begun.
A shopping mall and skyscraper construction project is ongoing on the premises of the Karagözyan Orphanage Foundation in Istanbul’s Şişli neighborhood. The luxury Lotus houses’ construction recently finished on a 45,000-square-meter area on a hill by the Bosphorus.
"If we could formalize the umbrella organization [VADIP], then all our revenue will be collected in a single bank account and this will prevent corruption,” said Şanlı.
Altınışık said Syriacs were not very keen about coming together. "Every foundation has a different mission and is of different importance,” he said. “A uniformist attitude could cause administrative problems.”
Christians in Egypt safe amid violent uprising
Monday, February 7, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
After being a target of several deadly attacks in recent months, the Christian community in Egypt is feeling safe and reports no security problems during the popular uprising in the protest-ridden country, according to Christian clerics. Christians, meanwhile, held a mass and thousands of Muslims joined in on Sunday
Before mass demonstrations broke out in Egypt in late January, the country’s Christian community was angry and frightened. Twenty-one of their number had been killed in a suicide bombing of a church in Alexandria during a New Year’s service. But on Sunday, Muslim-Christian unity was one of the main themes in Tahrir Square.
But as the streets of Cairo and other cities filled with protesters, Christian clerics and community members in Egypt said they are safe – if nervous – and have experienced no threats to their security during the ongoing popular uprising.
“We have seen in the foreign media reports claiming Christian churches have been attacked by the protesters. These reports do not represent the truth at all,” priest Krikor Muratyan, the religious head of the Sourp Bedros Armenian Apostolic Church, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “As a man of God, I can confidently say there is no Christian-Muslim conflict in Egypt. We are all concerned about the clashes; that’s all.”
Christians held a mass Sunday in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the recent protests, in memory of the victims of the uprising, with Muslims standing alongside in solidarity. Some of the worshippers broke down and cried as the congregation sang, “Bless our country, listen to the screams of our hearts,” the Associated Press reported. “In the name of Jesus and Mohammed we unify our ranks,” Father Ihab al-Kharat said in his sermon. “We will keep protesting until the fall of the tyranny.”
Christian congregations at regular church services have been peaceful and relaxed during Sunday mass, said both Muratyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church and Andreas Andonidis, a representative of the Greek community in Cairo. He also agreed with the priest that Christians have been safe during the anti-regime protests shaking Egypt.
Still, Armenians living in the country are feeling tense and keeping a close eye on developments, Bishop Ashod Mnazsaganyan, the congregation head of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Egypt, told the Daily News “Some of them are even considering going to Armenia, but there has not yet been any assault on the holy shrines,” he said.
‘The public has had enough’
Zaven Lilozyan, the editor in chief of daily Housaper, an Armenian newspaper in Cairo, told the Daily News that he supported the protesters. “The people have been stampeded by the state’s pressure for decades and they finally said, ‘Enough is enough.’ Now they are claiming their rights,” he said.
Lilozyan added, however, that citizens had witnessed a great deal of plundering Friday and Saturday. Following the clashes in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, he said he was worried a civil war might break out, though he agreed with the clergy members that there had been no incident of violence targeting the country’s Christian communities.
“A few stores of Christians were plundered during the clashes at Tahrir Square, but not because they were owned by [Christians], just randomly as the protesters were raiding around,” he said. “Therefore we cannot really say that the attacks targeted the Christian population.”
The Christian community in Egypt is safe, according to Konstantin Katropoulous, a Turkish-Greek living in Cairo, who said he believed security within the country would soon be restored. “For now we are leaving the house only to shop for basic needs, due to safety concerns, but there is nothing particularly targeting us,” he said.
Christians in Egypt, who make up more than 10 percent of the country’s 80 million-strong population, have in the past been targets of sectarian attacks and have charged that authorities were not doing enough to protect them. Two week after the New Year’s bombing in Alexandria, Muslim gunmen shot dead six Coptic Christians in the nearby town of Nagaa Hammadi.
There are many churches around Tahrir Square, but none of them have been attacked despite the severe clashes in the vicinity, said Suren Bayramyan, who is of Armenian origin and based close to the square.
According to Bayramyan, both Muslim and Christian clergy made joint efforts to maintain peace between different religious groups in order to prevent conflicts. “They are making calls emphasizing the brotherhood of man. For now, everything is going well for us, the Christians, and I do not think that anything bad will happen later,” Bayramyan said.
Monday, February 7, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
After being a target of several deadly attacks in recent months, the Christian community in Egypt is feeling safe and reports no security problems during the popular uprising in the protest-ridden country, according to Christian clerics. Christians, meanwhile, held a mass and thousands of Muslims joined in on Sunday
Before mass demonstrations broke out in Egypt in late January, the country’s Christian community was angry and frightened. Twenty-one of their number had been killed in a suicide bombing of a church in Alexandria during a New Year’s service. But on Sunday, Muslim-Christian unity was one of the main themes in Tahrir Square.
But as the streets of Cairo and other cities filled with protesters, Christian clerics and community members in Egypt said they are safe – if nervous – and have experienced no threats to their security during the ongoing popular uprising.
“We have seen in the foreign media reports claiming Christian churches have been attacked by the protesters. These reports do not represent the truth at all,” priest Krikor Muratyan, the religious head of the Sourp Bedros Armenian Apostolic Church, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “As a man of God, I can confidently say there is no Christian-Muslim conflict in Egypt. We are all concerned about the clashes; that’s all.”
Christians held a mass Sunday in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the recent protests, in memory of the victims of the uprising, with Muslims standing alongside in solidarity. Some of the worshippers broke down and cried as the congregation sang, “Bless our country, listen to the screams of our hearts,” the Associated Press reported. “In the name of Jesus and Mohammed we unify our ranks,” Father Ihab al-Kharat said in his sermon. “We will keep protesting until the fall of the tyranny.”
Christian congregations at regular church services have been peaceful and relaxed during Sunday mass, said both Muratyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church and Andreas Andonidis, a representative of the Greek community in Cairo. He also agreed with the priest that Christians have been safe during the anti-regime protests shaking Egypt.
Still, Armenians living in the country are feeling tense and keeping a close eye on developments, Bishop Ashod Mnazsaganyan, the congregation head of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Egypt, told the Daily News “Some of them are even considering going to Armenia, but there has not yet been any assault on the holy shrines,” he said.
‘The public has had enough’
Zaven Lilozyan, the editor in chief of daily Housaper, an Armenian newspaper in Cairo, told the Daily News that he supported the protesters. “The people have been stampeded by the state’s pressure for decades and they finally said, ‘Enough is enough.’ Now they are claiming their rights,” he said.
Lilozyan added, however, that citizens had witnessed a great deal of plundering Friday and Saturday. Following the clashes in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, he said he was worried a civil war might break out, though he agreed with the clergy members that there had been no incident of violence targeting the country’s Christian communities.
“A few stores of Christians were plundered during the clashes at Tahrir Square, but not because they were owned by [Christians], just randomly as the protesters were raiding around,” he said. “Therefore we cannot really say that the attacks targeted the Christian population.”
The Christian community in Egypt is safe, according to Konstantin Katropoulous, a Turkish-Greek living in Cairo, who said he believed security within the country would soon be restored. “For now we are leaving the house only to shop for basic needs, due to safety concerns, but there is nothing particularly targeting us,” he said.
Christians in Egypt, who make up more than 10 percent of the country’s 80 million-strong population, have in the past been targets of sectarian attacks and have charged that authorities were not doing enough to protect them. Two week after the New Year’s bombing in Alexandria, Muslim gunmen shot dead six Coptic Christians in the nearby town of Nagaa Hammadi.
There are many churches around Tahrir Square, but none of them have been attacked despite the severe clashes in the vicinity, said Suren Bayramyan, who is of Armenian origin and based close to the square.
According to Bayramyan, both Muslim and Christian clergy made joint efforts to maintain peace between different religious groups in order to prevent conflicts. “They are making calls emphasizing the brotherhood of man. For now, everything is going well for us, the Christians, and I do not think that anything bad will happen later,” Bayramyan said.
6 Şubat 2011 Pazar
Turkish parties offer deputy nominations to Armenian leaders
Sunday, February 6, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
With the June general elections approaching, Turkish political parties are offering deputy nominations to leading figures in the Armenian community, which has not been represented in Parliament since the 1960s. '[My running] is kind of a challenge. I want people to stick to their promises,' says Arev Cebeci, a candidate from the main opposition
The Armenian community is generally indifferent to politics due to painful past events, says Arev Cebeci, who has thrown his hat into the ring as a candidate from the main opposition.
Seven members of Istanbul’s Armenian community are seeking parliamentary deputy posts, holding out the promise that the June general elections may see the group represented in Parliament for the first time in five decades.
“I am an Armenian, but I am also a part of the whole. If I join Parliament, of course I will bring my community’s problems to the fore. But I would like to represent the whole [country] as well,” Arev Cebeci, who has thrown his hat into the ring as a candidate from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
“[My running] is kind of a challenge. I want some people to stick to their promises,” said Cebeci.
A total of seven Armenian figures are currently seeking parliamentary posts; six have been offered nominations by political parties, while one is likely to join the chase as an independent deputy nominee.
According to Cebeci, the Armenian community in Turkey has typically shied away from politics due to painful events in its past. “We have always been scared by our families,” he said. “They did not want us to be at the forefront. We have always led low-profile lives.”
The murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist and daily Agos Editor-in-Chief Hrant Dink in 2007 was a turning point, Cebeci said. “In the aftermath of the killing, a group of Armenians become more silent, believing that if you speak out, you die. Others, in large numbers, have begun to claim their rights.”
The election of Armenian-Turkish figures to Parliament would be a first since the 1960s, according to Ayhan Aktar, a professor at Istanbul Bilgi University who is known for his research on minorities in Turkey. Noting that members of minority groups were not allowed to become civil servants in the Turkish Republic until 1937, Aktar said: “In the Civil Code dated 1926, the most important qualification for a civil servant candidate was to be of Turkish descent. Therefore, with this law, non-Muslims were clearly denied from civil service. The relevant article was amended in 1946 to include all ‘citizens of the Republic of Turkey.’”
With Turkey still pursuing European Union membership, the country’s Armenian community sees an opportunity to voice its concerns and find solutions to them, Cebeci said. “Our community, unfortunately, is not even aware of its rights granted in the Lausanne Treaty,” he said. “They have adopted a stance of ‘let sleeping dogs lie.’ But I think this is very wrong.”
The Lausanne Treaty of 1923 defined three legally established minorities in Turkey: Greeks, Armenians and Jews. This definition was made at the behest of Western powers and obligated the new Turkish Republic to acknowledge the special status of these groups.
Though the CHP is currently courting some Armenian figures in the run-up to the elections, relations between the party and the community have not always been warm. Just prior to the local elections in 2009, CHP deputy Canan Arıtman issued a statement that infuriated both Armenians in Turkey and the broader public. Arıtman claimed that President Abdullah Gül supported an Armenian apology petition campaign and that he is of Armenian descent on his mother’s side. Armenian-Turkish Raffi A. Hermon, now the acting mayor from the CHP of Istanbul’s Princes’ Islands, was also criticized for his involvement with the party following Arıtman’s statement.
Launched in December 2008, the “I apologize” campaign has drawn harsh criticism within Turkey, even as some 30,000 people, including many intellectuals and journalists, have signed the petition, which reads in part: “My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Armenians were subjected to in 1915.” Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed in 1915 under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies this, saying that any deaths were the result of civil strife that erupted when Armenians took up arms for independence in Eastern Anatolia.
Non-Muslims and politics
According to Aktar, Turkey’s minorities have suffered discrimination throughout the history of the Republic. “In 1935, the CHP formed a group called the ‘Independent Group,’ which also included non-Muslims. But they did not have a say on any issue,” he said, adding that the group normally had the task of serving as an opposition during the one-party period at the Parliament.
The professor also said non-Muslims were not represented in Parliament after 1960, though they reappeared in politics in 1999 with the election of Cefi Jozef Kamhi, who is of Jewish descent, to Parliament from the True Path Party, or DYP.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
With the June general elections approaching, Turkish political parties are offering deputy nominations to leading figures in the Armenian community, which has not been represented in Parliament since the 1960s. '[My running] is kind of a challenge. I want people to stick to their promises,' says Arev Cebeci, a candidate from the main opposition
The Armenian community is generally indifferent to politics due to painful past events, says Arev Cebeci, who has thrown his hat into the ring as a candidate from the main opposition.
Seven members of Istanbul’s Armenian community are seeking parliamentary deputy posts, holding out the promise that the June general elections may see the group represented in Parliament for the first time in five decades.
“I am an Armenian, but I am also a part of the whole. If I join Parliament, of course I will bring my community’s problems to the fore. But I would like to represent the whole [country] as well,” Arev Cebeci, who has thrown his hat into the ring as a candidate from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
“[My running] is kind of a challenge. I want some people to stick to their promises,” said Cebeci.
A total of seven Armenian figures are currently seeking parliamentary posts; six have been offered nominations by political parties, while one is likely to join the chase as an independent deputy nominee.
According to Cebeci, the Armenian community in Turkey has typically shied away from politics due to painful events in its past. “We have always been scared by our families,” he said. “They did not want us to be at the forefront. We have always led low-profile lives.”
The murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist and daily Agos Editor-in-Chief Hrant Dink in 2007 was a turning point, Cebeci said. “In the aftermath of the killing, a group of Armenians become more silent, believing that if you speak out, you die. Others, in large numbers, have begun to claim their rights.”
The election of Armenian-Turkish figures to Parliament would be a first since the 1960s, according to Ayhan Aktar, a professor at Istanbul Bilgi University who is known for his research on minorities in Turkey. Noting that members of minority groups were not allowed to become civil servants in the Turkish Republic until 1937, Aktar said: “In the Civil Code dated 1926, the most important qualification for a civil servant candidate was to be of Turkish descent. Therefore, with this law, non-Muslims were clearly denied from civil service. The relevant article was amended in 1946 to include all ‘citizens of the Republic of Turkey.’”
With Turkey still pursuing European Union membership, the country’s Armenian community sees an opportunity to voice its concerns and find solutions to them, Cebeci said. “Our community, unfortunately, is not even aware of its rights granted in the Lausanne Treaty,” he said. “They have adopted a stance of ‘let sleeping dogs lie.’ But I think this is very wrong.”
The Lausanne Treaty of 1923 defined three legally established minorities in Turkey: Greeks, Armenians and Jews. This definition was made at the behest of Western powers and obligated the new Turkish Republic to acknowledge the special status of these groups.
Though the CHP is currently courting some Armenian figures in the run-up to the elections, relations between the party and the community have not always been warm. Just prior to the local elections in 2009, CHP deputy Canan Arıtman issued a statement that infuriated both Armenians in Turkey and the broader public. Arıtman claimed that President Abdullah Gül supported an Armenian apology petition campaign and that he is of Armenian descent on his mother’s side. Armenian-Turkish Raffi A. Hermon, now the acting mayor from the CHP of Istanbul’s Princes’ Islands, was also criticized for his involvement with the party following Arıtman’s statement.
Launched in December 2008, the “I apologize” campaign has drawn harsh criticism within Turkey, even as some 30,000 people, including many intellectuals and journalists, have signed the petition, which reads in part: “My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Armenians were subjected to in 1915.” Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed in 1915 under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies this, saying that any deaths were the result of civil strife that erupted when Armenians took up arms for independence in Eastern Anatolia.
Non-Muslims and politics
According to Aktar, Turkey’s minorities have suffered discrimination throughout the history of the Republic. “In 1935, the CHP formed a group called the ‘Independent Group,’ which also included non-Muslims. But they did not have a say on any issue,” he said, adding that the group normally had the task of serving as an opposition during the one-party period at the Parliament.
The professor also said non-Muslims were not represented in Parliament after 1960, though they reappeared in politics in 1999 with the election of Cefi Jozef Kamhi, who is of Jewish descent, to Parliament from the True Path Party, or DYP.
2 Şubat 2011 Çarşamba
Shuttle traders between Turkey, Armenia decry cargo price hike
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian traders, Turkish bus companies and stores in the heart of the shuttle-trade business in Istanbul are suffering from a price hike by a leading road freight company operating on the Yerevan-Istanbul route over Georgia. The dispute also reflects in prices in Armenia. Traders and bus companies are worried the continued prices could affect business
A 100 percent increase in cargo prices by the main Armenian transportation firm operating between the capital city of Yerevan and Istanbul has caused a halt in the shuttle trading between the two countries, sources said.
Armenians held demonstrations last month to protest Karlen Cargo-Transportation, a local monopoly, for raising per-kilogram cargo prices from $4 to $8 at the beginning of the year, said Maya Y., the executive of an Armenian company who declined to give his full name due to security concerns.
Armenian shuttle traders transport goods to Istanbul on buses owned by nearly 20 Turkish bus companies on a 36-hour route over Georgia due to border disputes between Turkey and Armenia. They purchase goods in Istanbul to bring back to Armenia, for which they then arrange cargo truck transport in Istanbul before they return home via the passenger buses.
Traders with budgets varying from $500 to $2,000 were able to send goods to Turkey twice a week before the price hike by the company, the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learnt.
“Armenians are worried and waiting for a resolution,” Maya Y. told the Daily News in an online interview.
“The mafia in Armenia has turned into a monopoly that restricts our lives,” he said. “Armenians cannot afford these high customs costs. They can hardly make a living. Life has almost stopped in the second big city of Gyumri [as the goods from the shuttle trading are not arriving].”
Textile prices have particularly skyrocketed, Maya Y. said.
Along with Karlen, three more Armenian transporters – Azad, Kaya and Çınar – also have offices at the Aksaray international bus and cargo terminal but the Daily News observed that their operations had halted.
Ruzanna Harutyunyan, an Armenian trader, said: "We cannot afford the price-per-kilogram they demand. The market suffers from the monopoly of the mafia.”
The passenger fare for buses from Istanbul to Armenia, which cooperate with the cargo carriers, is between $50 and $70.
Not only Armenian traders are affected by the price hike. Turkish bus firms and traders in Istanbul’s Beyazıt and Laleli neighborhoods, the heart of shuttle trading in Istanbul, said they have experienced great losses.
Executives of the Turkish bus firms declined to name their companies or their own identities.
Noting that he has been driving passengers to Armenia for 18 years, Ali, a driver, told the Daily News that the cargo terminal in Aksaray has turned into a “ghost town” since the price hike.
“Like the Armenians, we also suffer from the problem,” he said. “We are worried.”
According to data from the terminal officials, there were 1 million Armenian shuttle trade visits arrived in Turkey last year. Driver Ali said Armenians whose visas have expired were being sent back to their countries via Tbilisi with Georgian buses under very difficult conditions.
More than 50 trucks carry 17 tons of cargo to Armenia from Istanbul via Georgia each week, the officials told the Daily News.
Some 20 Turkish bus firms may go bankrupt if the transport dispute continues much longer. “We will be forced to close our stores if the Armenians do not keep on trading,” said Mustafa Kamiloğlu, a shop owner.
“The merchants in Laleli make their living from trading with Armenians. If this situation continues, it is inevitable that we will go into a crisis.”
Calling on the two governments to open their mutual border gates, Kamiloğlu said, “The mafia is making the use of an authority gap, and we suffer from this.”
Karlen Mıgırdiçyan, manager of Karlen, declined to respond to the Daily News on the issue.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian traders, Turkish bus companies and stores in the heart of the shuttle-trade business in Istanbul are suffering from a price hike by a leading road freight company operating on the Yerevan-Istanbul route over Georgia. The dispute also reflects in prices in Armenia. Traders and bus companies are worried the continued prices could affect business
A 100 percent increase in cargo prices by the main Armenian transportation firm operating between the capital city of Yerevan and Istanbul has caused a halt in the shuttle trading between the two countries, sources said.
Armenians held demonstrations last month to protest Karlen Cargo-Transportation, a local monopoly, for raising per-kilogram cargo prices from $4 to $8 at the beginning of the year, said Maya Y., the executive of an Armenian company who declined to give his full name due to security concerns.
Armenian shuttle traders transport goods to Istanbul on buses owned by nearly 20 Turkish bus companies on a 36-hour route over Georgia due to border disputes between Turkey and Armenia. They purchase goods in Istanbul to bring back to Armenia, for which they then arrange cargo truck transport in Istanbul before they return home via the passenger buses.
Traders with budgets varying from $500 to $2,000 were able to send goods to Turkey twice a week before the price hike by the company, the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learnt.
“Armenians are worried and waiting for a resolution,” Maya Y. told the Daily News in an online interview.
“The mafia in Armenia has turned into a monopoly that restricts our lives,” he said. “Armenians cannot afford these high customs costs. They can hardly make a living. Life has almost stopped in the second big city of Gyumri [as the goods from the shuttle trading are not arriving].”
Textile prices have particularly skyrocketed, Maya Y. said.
Along with Karlen, three more Armenian transporters – Azad, Kaya and Çınar – also have offices at the Aksaray international bus and cargo terminal but the Daily News observed that their operations had halted.
Ruzanna Harutyunyan, an Armenian trader, said: "We cannot afford the price-per-kilogram they demand. The market suffers from the monopoly of the mafia.”
The passenger fare for buses from Istanbul to Armenia, which cooperate with the cargo carriers, is between $50 and $70.
Not only Armenian traders are affected by the price hike. Turkish bus firms and traders in Istanbul’s Beyazıt and Laleli neighborhoods, the heart of shuttle trading in Istanbul, said they have experienced great losses.
Executives of the Turkish bus firms declined to name their companies or their own identities.
Noting that he has been driving passengers to Armenia for 18 years, Ali, a driver, told the Daily News that the cargo terminal in Aksaray has turned into a “ghost town” since the price hike.
“Like the Armenians, we also suffer from the problem,” he said. “We are worried.”
According to data from the terminal officials, there were 1 million Armenian shuttle trade visits arrived in Turkey last year. Driver Ali said Armenians whose visas have expired were being sent back to their countries via Tbilisi with Georgian buses under very difficult conditions.
More than 50 trucks carry 17 tons of cargo to Armenia from Istanbul via Georgia each week, the officials told the Daily News.
Some 20 Turkish bus firms may go bankrupt if the transport dispute continues much longer. “We will be forced to close our stores if the Armenians do not keep on trading,” said Mustafa Kamiloğlu, a shop owner.
“The merchants in Laleli make their living from trading with Armenians. If this situation continues, it is inevitable that we will go into a crisis.”
Calling on the two governments to open their mutual border gates, Kamiloğlu said, “The mafia is making the use of an authority gap, and we suffer from this.”
Karlen Mıgırdiçyan, manager of Karlen, declined to respond to the Daily News on the issue.
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