Two more historic churches open for mass in Turkey
Friday, July 29, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Hundreds of people from the diaspora will be attending religious services in various churches all around Turkey in the next few months. Annual services will be held at Sümela Monastery in Trabzon and at the Surp Haç Armenian Church in Van for the second time, following permission granted last year by the Culture and Tourism Ministry
Hagia Voukolas Church in the Aegean province of İzmir
Two more long-dormant churches in Turkey have been opened for annual mass, adding to a number across the country that will host impressive ceremonies for the Greek and Armenian diaspora later this year.
Hagia Voukolas Church in the Aegean province of İzmir and the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır will become the two latest churches to be opened up for an annual mass ceremony. Mass has not been conducted in the Hagia Voukolas Church since 1923 and at Surp Giragos since 1915.
A commencement ceremony will be held Oct. 23 at Surp Giragos, while annual services will also be held at Sümela Monastery in the Black Sea province of Trabzon and at the Surp Haç Armenian Church in the eastern province of Van for the second time, following permission granted last year by Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay.
“Direct flights from Moscow to Trabzon have been planned. It is expected that there will be an impressive service like last year. We have informed Ankara about the service,” Father Dositheos Anagnastopoulos told the Hürriyet Daily News on behalf of the Fener Greek Patriarchate, adding that high-ranking clerics from Greece and Russia would also attend the ceremony.
The service at Sümela will again be held on Annunciation Day on Aug. 15, in accordance with Orthodox Christian tradition, while the mass at Surp Haç will be held Sept. 11.
“Unless there is peace between religions, it is more difficult for there to be peace between states,” Anagnastopoulos said, inviting everyone to join the ceremony. The Virgin Mary is considered a sacred figure in the Muslim faith just as in Christianity, he added.
Surp Giragos has been closed to mass service since 1915 when the German army used it as an arms depot, while it was later used by the Turkish bank and holding company, Sümerbank.
Istanbul’s Greek Orthodox community also reserves the right to hold annual services in İzmir’s Efes Church and two other rundown historical churches in the provinces of Niğde and Nevşehir near Cappadocia.
“The initiative [taken by] the Turkish government in restoring and opening up Sümela and Akdamar as museums with permission for limited religious services by Greeks and Armenians was a very positive step, mainly because it was a change in direction,” said Raffi Bedrosyan, an Istanbul-born Canadian Armenian.
Bedrosyan has been involved in worldwide fundraising efforts for the renovation of Surp Giragos and is recognized as a moderate voice in the Armenian diaspora.
“After negative efforts in the willful destruction [through] neglect of the Christian minority’s churches, [and] not even allowing minor repairs to minority institutions, of course this initiative is a positive step. However, this is only a very tiny first step on a long path and the expectations [we have,] especially outside [of] Turkey, in reversing past injustices are very high and cannot be easily satisfied,” Bedrosyan said.
Akdamar has been a sacred place of worship for Armenians for thousands of years, Bedrosyan said.
“[The] Turkish state [kept] it as a state museum... The decision to keep it as a state museum, and not give it back to the rightful owner, the Armenian Church, disappointed both Armenia and the diaspora,” he said.
“The issue of having a cross installed or not just became an excuse to express the disappointment. Unfortunately, the overall disappointment by Armenians did not diminish even after the cross was installed and the considerable efforts of the Turkish state in trying to demonstrate to the outside world that it has a new positive initiative went to waste,” he said in relation to the squabbles that appeared in the Turkish press last year over the installment of a cross on Surp Haç’s roof.
Hundreds of people from the diaspora will attend the service in Diyarbakır, Bedrosyan said, adding that they were also planning to visit Istanbul, Kars, Van, Kayseri and Malatya.
Surp Giragos, which can hold 3,000 people for mass, is considered to be the largest church in the Middle East and dates back to the 15th century, according to Bedrosyan.
31 Temmuz 2011 Pazar
29 Temmuz 2011 Cuma
Grants to support minority newspapers
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Representatives from newspapers run by Turkey’s minorities are positive about the future of their publications following a meeting with the Press Bulletin Authority
The Press Bulletin Authority to support minority newspapers.
Representatives from newspapers run by Turkey’s minorities are positive about the future of their publications following a meeting with the Press Bulletin Authority, or BİK, that was convened following a directive by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Preliminary work was underway for minority newspapers to take a share of official bulletins – announcements that official authorities pay publications to print – Yasin Aras, the communication advisor for BİK, told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the meeting had been very effective.
“Necessary measures will be taken from now on so as to prevent the abuse of [financial grants.] [Fake] publications could appeal for aid; the grants must go to the right channels,” Aras said.
“The reports deal with the [question] of how to make local media [more] vigorous. The reports have been translated. The work in question will be brought up in the board meeting of the Press Bulletin Authority in August,” he said.
The BİK had already been conducting research in a variety of countries across the world to support minority journals even before the Greek daily Apoyevmatini created a recent public stir when it faced the possibility of closure due to financial constraints, Aras added.
Meeting favorable
The chief editors of Jamanag (Time), Apoyevmatini and Shalom said the meeting took place in a very positive atmosphere. “They listened to our views, they had conducted preliminary studies anyway,” said Ara Koçunyan, the chief editor of the daily Armenian Jamanag,one of the oldest journals of the Turkey, with 100 years of history.
“Grants that will be handed to minority journals must be correctly explained to the public. There is a process of reform in Turkey; reforms made for minorities ought not to be perceived as lending support to ‘foreigners,’” Koçunyan said, and added they had not attended the meeting with any special expectations about obtaining results.
Both the president, as well as the prime minister, had presented a sensitive attitude toward the subject, he added.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Representatives from newspapers run by Turkey’s minorities are positive about the future of their publications following a meeting with the Press Bulletin Authority
The Press Bulletin Authority to support minority newspapers.
Representatives from newspapers run by Turkey’s minorities are positive about the future of their publications following a meeting with the Press Bulletin Authority, or BİK, that was convened following a directive by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Preliminary work was underway for minority newspapers to take a share of official bulletins – announcements that official authorities pay publications to print – Yasin Aras, the communication advisor for BİK, told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the meeting had been very effective.
“Necessary measures will be taken from now on so as to prevent the abuse of [financial grants.] [Fake] publications could appeal for aid; the grants must go to the right channels,” Aras said.
“The reports deal with the [question] of how to make local media [more] vigorous. The reports have been translated. The work in question will be brought up in the board meeting of the Press Bulletin Authority in August,” he said.
The BİK had already been conducting research in a variety of countries across the world to support minority journals even before the Greek daily Apoyevmatini created a recent public stir when it faced the possibility of closure due to financial constraints, Aras added.
Meeting favorable
The chief editors of Jamanag (Time), Apoyevmatini and Shalom said the meeting took place in a very positive atmosphere. “They listened to our views, they had conducted preliminary studies anyway,” said Ara Koçunyan, the chief editor of the daily Armenian Jamanag,one of the oldest journals of the Turkey, with 100 years of history.
“Grants that will be handed to minority journals must be correctly explained to the public. There is a process of reform in Turkey; reforms made for minorities ought not to be perceived as lending support to ‘foreigners,’” Koçunyan said, and added they had not attended the meeting with any special expectations about obtaining results.
Both the president, as well as the prime minister, had presented a sensitive attitude toward the subject, he added.
Grants to support minority newspapers
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Representatives from newspapers run by Turkey’s minorities are positive about the future of their publications following a meeting with the Press Bulletin Authority
The Press Bulletin Authority to support minority newspapers.
Representatives from newspapers run by Turkey’s minorities are positive about the future of their publications following a meeting with the Press Bulletin Authority, or BİK, that was convened following a directive by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Preliminary work was underway for minority newspapers to take a share of official bulletins – announcements that official authorities pay publications to print – Yasin Aras, the communication advisor for BİK, told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the meeting had been very effective.
“Necessary measures will be taken from now on so as to prevent the abuse of [financial grants.] [Fake] publications could appeal for aid; the grants must go to the right channels,” Aras said.
“The reports deal with the [question] of how to make local media [more] vigorous. The reports have been translated. The work in question will be brought up in the board meeting of the Press Bulletin Authority in August,” he said.
The BİK had already been conducting research in a variety of countries across the world to support minority journals even before the Greek daily Apoyevmatini created a recent public stir when it faced the possibility of closure due to financial constraints, Aras added.
Meeting favorable
The chief editors of Jamanag (Time), Apoyevmatini and Shalom said the meeting took place in a very positive atmosphere. “They listened to our views, they had conducted preliminary studies anyway,” said Ara Koçunyan, the chief editor of the daily Armenian Jamanag,one of the oldest journals of the Turkey, with 100 years of history.
“Grants that will be handed to minority journals must be correctly explained to the public. There is a process of reform in Turkey; reforms made for minorities ought not to be perceived as lending support to ‘foreigners,’” Koçunyan said, and added they had not attended the meeting with any special expectations about obtaining results.
Both the president, as well as the prime minister, had presented a sensitive attitude toward the subject, he added.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Representatives from newspapers run by Turkey’s minorities are positive about the future of their publications following a meeting with the Press Bulletin Authority
The Press Bulletin Authority to support minority newspapers.
Representatives from newspapers run by Turkey’s minorities are positive about the future of their publications following a meeting with the Press Bulletin Authority, or BİK, that was convened following a directive by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Preliminary work was underway for minority newspapers to take a share of official bulletins – announcements that official authorities pay publications to print – Yasin Aras, the communication advisor for BİK, told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the meeting had been very effective.
“Necessary measures will be taken from now on so as to prevent the abuse of [financial grants.] [Fake] publications could appeal for aid; the grants must go to the right channels,” Aras said.
“The reports deal with the [question] of how to make local media [more] vigorous. The reports have been translated. The work in question will be brought up in the board meeting of the Press Bulletin Authority in August,” he said.
The BİK had already been conducting research in a variety of countries across the world to support minority journals even before the Greek daily Apoyevmatini created a recent public stir when it faced the possibility of closure due to financial constraints, Aras added.
Meeting favorable
The chief editors of Jamanag (Time), Apoyevmatini and Shalom said the meeting took place in a very positive atmosphere. “They listened to our views, they had conducted preliminary studies anyway,” said Ara Koçunyan, the chief editor of the daily Armenian Jamanag,one of the oldest journals of the Turkey, with 100 years of history.
“Grants that will be handed to minority journals must be correctly explained to the public. There is a process of reform in Turkey; reforms made for minorities ought not to be perceived as lending support to ‘foreigners,’” Koçunyan said, and added they had not attended the meeting with any special expectations about obtaining results.
Both the president, as well as the prime minister, had presented a sensitive attitude toward the subject, he added.
26 Temmuz 2011 Salı
Karabakh Airport built with Turkish machinery
Monday, July 25, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
Turkey’s Demirci Makina has provided metal raw materials for the ongoing construction of a Nagorno-Karabakh airport, according to Dmitri Atbashian, the president of Armenia’s national airliner, Demirci has no direct sales to both Nagorno-Karabakh or Armenia, says the head of the Turkish company
An opening of the Nagorno-Karabakh airport, which was supposed to take place in May, was postponed earlier as the construction work was not finalized, according to officials. The opening may take place in upcoming months, they say.
The machinery used in shaping metal components at a newly constructed airport in the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh were manufactured by an Ankara-based firm that has denied making any direct sales to either Armenia or Karabakh.
“We have not directly sold any products to Karabakh. We cannot make any direct sales to Armenia because we have to register [any] products that we would be exporting there with the Ministry of State in charge of foreign trade. One of the countries that we have sold our products to may have later sold those products to Armenia,” Muhammed Demirci, one of the owners of Demirci Machinery, whose products were used in the airport’s construction, told the Hürriyet Daily News by phone.
Iran example
“A similar event also occurred with regard to Iran. A product sold to Dubai was sent off to Iran. Our company, on the other hand, cannot conduct direct trade with Iran due to the sacntions [enacted] by the United States” due to the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, he said.
There is no political reason as to why Turkish products were selected for the construction of the airport apart from suitable prices, the president of Armenia’s national airliner, Dmitri Atbashian, recently told the Daily News by email.
“We bought materials not just from Turkey but also from many other countries to construct the airport in accordance with international standards. We have yet to understand why Demirci Machinery is so frequently brought up and why the subject has acquired a political dimension. We bought those products because we thought their prices were suitable, that is all,” said Atbashian, who is also the president of the Karabakh administration’s airline, adding that disputes over Karabakh’s new airport are caused by Azerbaijan’s belligerent attitude.
Atbashian, who is also an experienced pilot, said the machines produced by the firm were bought from a company based in Armenia.
The airport is due to open in May.
Traveling is a right
The airport’s construction has prompted anger in Azerbaijan, which subsequently threatened to shoot down any civilian planes using the airport. In response to Azerbaijan’s threats, Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said he would board the first flight to Karabakh.
“The international community should give an appropriate response to Azerbaijan regarding such threats to civilian flights,” he said.
Everyone in the world reserves the right to freely travel from one place to another, and this right has been enshrined by international treaties, Atbashian said, adding that the people of Karabakh should also be able to take advantage of this right.
“Before everything else, there is a matter of conscience here. We cannot conduct any such trade while the rights of our kin are being trampled upon. They have also come to visit our firm from the Azerbaijan Embassy to obtain information, and we have also communicated to them what we have told you. We have humanitarian concerns, not commercial ones,” Demirci said.
Turkey unilaterally closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of its close ally Azerbaijan in the conflict. New protocols that were signed in 2009 to re-establish relations between Turkey and Armenia have yet to go into effect.
Atbashian also rebuffed claims that the airport had not yet opened up due to international pressure. “We are not facing up against any [form] of pressure. We are only making the final touches to open our airport to service in accordance with international standards,” he said.
“The flights will be conducted between Karabakh and Armenia first. We believe that the Stepanakerd Airport [in Karabakh] could also be granted international status in the future, as in the example of northern Cyprus. International flights are conducted to Azerbaijan and many other countries from Ercan Airport [in northern Cyprus,]” Atbashian said.
Monday, July 25, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
Turkey’s Demirci Makina has provided metal raw materials for the ongoing construction of a Nagorno-Karabakh airport, according to Dmitri Atbashian, the president of Armenia’s national airliner, Demirci has no direct sales to both Nagorno-Karabakh or Armenia, says the head of the Turkish company
An opening of the Nagorno-Karabakh airport, which was supposed to take place in May, was postponed earlier as the construction work was not finalized, according to officials. The opening may take place in upcoming months, they say.
The machinery used in shaping metal components at a newly constructed airport in the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh were manufactured by an Ankara-based firm that has denied making any direct sales to either Armenia or Karabakh.
“We have not directly sold any products to Karabakh. We cannot make any direct sales to Armenia because we have to register [any] products that we would be exporting there with the Ministry of State in charge of foreign trade. One of the countries that we have sold our products to may have later sold those products to Armenia,” Muhammed Demirci, one of the owners of Demirci Machinery, whose products were used in the airport’s construction, told the Hürriyet Daily News by phone.
Iran example
“A similar event also occurred with regard to Iran. A product sold to Dubai was sent off to Iran. Our company, on the other hand, cannot conduct direct trade with Iran due to the sacntions [enacted] by the United States” due to the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, he said.
There is no political reason as to why Turkish products were selected for the construction of the airport apart from suitable prices, the president of Armenia’s national airliner, Dmitri Atbashian, recently told the Daily News by email.
“We bought materials not just from Turkey but also from many other countries to construct the airport in accordance with international standards. We have yet to understand why Demirci Machinery is so frequently brought up and why the subject has acquired a political dimension. We bought those products because we thought their prices were suitable, that is all,” said Atbashian, who is also the president of the Karabakh administration’s airline, adding that disputes over Karabakh’s new airport are caused by Azerbaijan’s belligerent attitude.
Atbashian, who is also an experienced pilot, said the machines produced by the firm were bought from a company based in Armenia.
The airport is due to open in May.
Traveling is a right
The airport’s construction has prompted anger in Azerbaijan, which subsequently threatened to shoot down any civilian planes using the airport. In response to Azerbaijan’s threats, Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said he would board the first flight to Karabakh.
“The international community should give an appropriate response to Azerbaijan regarding such threats to civilian flights,” he said.
Everyone in the world reserves the right to freely travel from one place to another, and this right has been enshrined by international treaties, Atbashian said, adding that the people of Karabakh should also be able to take advantage of this right.
“Before everything else, there is a matter of conscience here. We cannot conduct any such trade while the rights of our kin are being trampled upon. They have also come to visit our firm from the Azerbaijan Embassy to obtain information, and we have also communicated to them what we have told you. We have humanitarian concerns, not commercial ones,” Demirci said.
Turkey unilaterally closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of its close ally Azerbaijan in the conflict. New protocols that were signed in 2009 to re-establish relations between Turkey and Armenia have yet to go into effect.
Atbashian also rebuffed claims that the airport had not yet opened up due to international pressure. “We are not facing up against any [form] of pressure. We are only making the final touches to open our airport to service in accordance with international standards,” he said.
“The flights will be conducted between Karabakh and Armenia first. We believe that the Stepanakerd Airport [in Karabakh] could also be granted international status in the future, as in the example of northern Cyprus. International flights are conducted to Azerbaijan and many other countries from Ercan Airport [in northern Cyprus,]” Atbashian said.
25 Temmuz 2011 Pazartesi
Armenian diaspora to hold congress in Sevres
Friday, July 22, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Leading diaspora Armenians will meet in the historical French city of Sevres in December for the Congress of Western Armenians to draft a series of demands from Turkey in relation to the events of 1915.
“Western Armenians have demands from Turkey. A people and a country were annihilated at the beginning of the 20th century,” Jean-Varoujan Gureghian, a French citizen of Armenian descent and a member of the congress, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News by e-mail.
Some 200 prominent individuals from the Armenian diaspora are expected to attend the congress, which was first held 90 years ago.
Armenians from all corners of the world will be attending the congress, Gureghian said, adding that their demands were going to be presented through lawyers first to Turkey, as well as to the rest of the world, in accordance with international law.
“The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of ‘Mezs Yeghern’ [the name Armenians give to the mass killing of their Ottoman kinsmen in 1915] will undoubtedly be as ostentatious as the commemoration of its 50th anniversary held in 1965,” Gureghian said.
The 100th anniversary of Mezs Yeghern in 2015 will also be on the congress’s agenda, he added.
The city of Sevres is best known in Turkey for the treaty that bears its name. The Sevres Treaty, which would have left Turkey mainly as a rump state, was signed between the ailing Ottoman government and the Allied powers shortly after World War I in 1920 but never went into effect. Instead, it was later replaced in 1923 by the much more generous Treaty of Lausanne, which roughly determined Turkey’s present-day borders.
“Turkish and Armenian peoples lived in peace during the Ottoman era until the time of the genocide. In fact, many Turks saved thousands of people by putting their own lives on the line during the bitter events. [Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant] Dink was like a symbol of that friendship. The enemies of friendship killed him,” Gureghian said.
Dink, the chief editor of the weekly Agos, a newspaper in both Armenian and Turkish, had been working to re-establish ties between Turks and Armenians until he was shot in the back and killed on Jan. 19, 2007. His assassination provoked widespread sympathy in the country and brought together people from different backgrounds to demand that all those involved in the murder be brought to justice.
Differentiating the diaspora issue and Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, Gureghian said: “Armenia is an independent republic. As such, it must consider the future of its own people and establish good relations with its neighbors, including Turkey.”
Friday, July 22, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Leading diaspora Armenians will meet in the historical French city of Sevres in December for the Congress of Western Armenians to draft a series of demands from Turkey in relation to the events of 1915.
“Western Armenians have demands from Turkey. A people and a country were annihilated at the beginning of the 20th century,” Jean-Varoujan Gureghian, a French citizen of Armenian descent and a member of the congress, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News by e-mail.
Some 200 prominent individuals from the Armenian diaspora are expected to attend the congress, which was first held 90 years ago.
Armenians from all corners of the world will be attending the congress, Gureghian said, adding that their demands were going to be presented through lawyers first to Turkey, as well as to the rest of the world, in accordance with international law.
“The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of ‘Mezs Yeghern’ [the name Armenians give to the mass killing of their Ottoman kinsmen in 1915] will undoubtedly be as ostentatious as the commemoration of its 50th anniversary held in 1965,” Gureghian said.
The 100th anniversary of Mezs Yeghern in 2015 will also be on the congress’s agenda, he added.
The city of Sevres is best known in Turkey for the treaty that bears its name. The Sevres Treaty, which would have left Turkey mainly as a rump state, was signed between the ailing Ottoman government and the Allied powers shortly after World War I in 1920 but never went into effect. Instead, it was later replaced in 1923 by the much more generous Treaty of Lausanne, which roughly determined Turkey’s present-day borders.
“Turkish and Armenian peoples lived in peace during the Ottoman era until the time of the genocide. In fact, many Turks saved thousands of people by putting their own lives on the line during the bitter events. [Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant] Dink was like a symbol of that friendship. The enemies of friendship killed him,” Gureghian said.
Dink, the chief editor of the weekly Agos, a newspaper in both Armenian and Turkish, had been working to re-establish ties between Turks and Armenians until he was shot in the back and killed on Jan. 19, 2007. His assassination provoked widespread sympathy in the country and brought together people from different backgrounds to demand that all those involved in the murder be brought to justice.
Differentiating the diaspora issue and Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, Gureghian said: “Armenia is an independent republic. As such, it must consider the future of its own people and establish good relations with its neighbors, including Turkey.”
Turkish-Armenian dialogue a must, says archbishop
Friday, July 22, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
It is absolutely essential that dialogue be established between Turks and Armenians to achieve understanding, a top Armenian-American spiritual leader has said, adding that Turkey’s foreign minister solicited his views on increasing such discussion.
“Turkish and Armenian people are members of the same family,” Archbishop Khajag Barsamyan, the primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), told the Hürriyet Daily News during a brief visit to Istanbul last week. “We ought to view history with courage and [learn] to apologize if we have been in the wrong. We need to be able to draw lessons from history’s negative and positive aspects in the name of humanity.”
A planned international gathering to celebrate the opening of the Surp Giragos Armenian church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır will present a chance to establish such dialogue, Barsamyan said.
During the World Political Forum in mid-March, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu spoke favorably regarding the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, Barsamyan said, adding that he was ready for any steps taken in the direction of establishing dialogue.
Barsamyan said Davutoğlu had asked him for suggestions about how to establish dialogue with the diaspora.
“I highlighted the significance of opening the sealed Turkish-Armenian border and instituting trade [ties] with Armenian business people from the diaspora,” he said, adding that he had also spoken to President Abdullah Gül about the same issues back when Gül was foreign minister.
“Mr. Gül requested advice from me about how to put Turkish-Armenian relations in order. I told him that Armenians have deep-running sorrows, and that these sorrows must be listened to without denial, or going on the defensive,” Barsamyan said.
“Davutoğlu said Turkish and Armenian people lived together for centuries. [He added that] vexing events have occurred in history and touched upon the significance of putting an end to these and looking forward. He said the diaspora Armenians are the people of this land,” Barsamyan said.
“I reminded him that the Armenian President Serge Sarkisyan took great risks in signing the [2009 Turkish-Armenian normalization] protocols despite all the reaction both from within [Armenia,] as well as from the diaspora, and I asked him why the protocols were not realized. Mr. Davutoğlu said there was need for a process, and that steps taken [in this direction] must produce solutions, not new problems,” the archbishop said.
The Turkish-Armenian border has remained sealed since 1993 when Turkey unilaterally closed the border due to the Nagorno-Karabakh War that broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Even though new protocols were signed in 2009 to re-establish relations between the two countries, the process has come to a grinding halt.
Opening of Armenian church a chance for dialogue
Barsamyan is arranging for more than 200 people from various Armenian associations in the United States to participate in a ceremony marking the reopening of the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Oct. 22.
The reopening is an important step for dialogue, Barsamyan said, adding that it was important that many people were going to be coming to Turkey.
‘1915 must be put to scrutiny’
Touching upon the sensitive issue of the World War I-era killings of Ottoman Armenians, Barsamyan said: “The problems need to be put to debate and scrutiny. Clerics, historians, politicians and everyone [else] can claim their own roles; this is a must for the future. Unfavorable voices will surely arise from both societies. It is necessary to work in good sense. Open minded people who think straight are needed for this. I am ready as a cleric to take over the role that falls to me.”
The 20th century was a bitter one not just for Armenians, but for all the peoples of the world, the archbishop said, adding that he had roots in the eastern province of Malatya.
“We lost a big portion of my family during the bitter events. My grandmother was saved by a Turkish family; there was never any hatred in my family toward Turks. My grandmother continued seeing the family that saved her until she passed away. I also got to meet them,” he said.
Recent efforts to renovate Armenian cultural assets in Turkey represent a favorable development, according to Barsamyan, who also drew attention to the historical Surp Haç Armenian Church that was reopened for the Divine Liturgy on Akdamar Island in the eastern province of Van last year.
“It is extremely important that the traces of each culture in Anatolia, and not just those of Armenian culture, be maintained, for they all represent the common legacy of humankind,” Barsamyan said.
Friday, July 22, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
It is absolutely essential that dialogue be established between Turks and Armenians to achieve understanding, a top Armenian-American spiritual leader has said, adding that Turkey’s foreign minister solicited his views on increasing such discussion.
“Turkish and Armenian people are members of the same family,” Archbishop Khajag Barsamyan, the primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), told the Hürriyet Daily News during a brief visit to Istanbul last week. “We ought to view history with courage and [learn] to apologize if we have been in the wrong. We need to be able to draw lessons from history’s negative and positive aspects in the name of humanity.”
A planned international gathering to celebrate the opening of the Surp Giragos Armenian church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır will present a chance to establish such dialogue, Barsamyan said.
During the World Political Forum in mid-March, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu spoke favorably regarding the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, Barsamyan said, adding that he was ready for any steps taken in the direction of establishing dialogue.
Barsamyan said Davutoğlu had asked him for suggestions about how to establish dialogue with the diaspora.
“I highlighted the significance of opening the sealed Turkish-Armenian border and instituting trade [ties] with Armenian business people from the diaspora,” he said, adding that he had also spoken to President Abdullah Gül about the same issues back when Gül was foreign minister.
“Mr. Gül requested advice from me about how to put Turkish-Armenian relations in order. I told him that Armenians have deep-running sorrows, and that these sorrows must be listened to without denial, or going on the defensive,” Barsamyan said.
“Davutoğlu said Turkish and Armenian people lived together for centuries. [He added that] vexing events have occurred in history and touched upon the significance of putting an end to these and looking forward. He said the diaspora Armenians are the people of this land,” Barsamyan said.
“I reminded him that the Armenian President Serge Sarkisyan took great risks in signing the [2009 Turkish-Armenian normalization] protocols despite all the reaction both from within [Armenia,] as well as from the diaspora, and I asked him why the protocols were not realized. Mr. Davutoğlu said there was need for a process, and that steps taken [in this direction] must produce solutions, not new problems,” the archbishop said.
The Turkish-Armenian border has remained sealed since 1993 when Turkey unilaterally closed the border due to the Nagorno-Karabakh War that broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Even though new protocols were signed in 2009 to re-establish relations between the two countries, the process has come to a grinding halt.
Opening of Armenian church a chance for dialogue
Barsamyan is arranging for more than 200 people from various Armenian associations in the United States to participate in a ceremony marking the reopening of the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Oct. 22.
The reopening is an important step for dialogue, Barsamyan said, adding that it was important that many people were going to be coming to Turkey.
‘1915 must be put to scrutiny’
Touching upon the sensitive issue of the World War I-era killings of Ottoman Armenians, Barsamyan said: “The problems need to be put to debate and scrutiny. Clerics, historians, politicians and everyone [else] can claim their own roles; this is a must for the future. Unfavorable voices will surely arise from both societies. It is necessary to work in good sense. Open minded people who think straight are needed for this. I am ready as a cleric to take over the role that falls to me.”
The 20th century was a bitter one not just for Armenians, but for all the peoples of the world, the archbishop said, adding that he had roots in the eastern province of Malatya.
“We lost a big portion of my family during the bitter events. My grandmother was saved by a Turkish family; there was never any hatred in my family toward Turks. My grandmother continued seeing the family that saved her until she passed away. I also got to meet them,” he said.
Recent efforts to renovate Armenian cultural assets in Turkey represent a favorable development, according to Barsamyan, who also drew attention to the historical Surp Haç Armenian Church that was reopened for the Divine Liturgy on Akdamar Island in the eastern province of Van last year.
“It is extremely important that the traces of each culture in Anatolia, and not just those of Armenian culture, be maintained, for they all represent the common legacy of humankind,” Barsamyan said.
22 Temmuz 2011 Cuma
Wonderkid seeks to win Olympic berth
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Hailed as one of the most promising athletes in his generation, 18-year-old Toros Pilikoğlu wants to duplicate the determination of his Armenian ancestors and represent Turkey at the 2012 Olympics in London
Toros Pilikoğlu, a Turkish athlete of Armenian descent, has many records in the short long jump and sprint races in youth categories.
Toros Pilikoğlu wants to represent Turkey in the Olympics, just like his Armenian ancestors did a century ago.
The 18-year-old sprinter and long jumper, a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, has set his sights on the 2012 Olympic Games in London. If he can win a berth at the biggest event in world sports, he will being following in the footsteps of two Armenian athletes who competed in the 1912 Swedish Olympics to represent the Ottoman Empire.
Pilikoğlu has several national records to his name and has been called one of the hottest athletes of his generation. He plays down the accolades, however, saying he is only getting started.
“I have done nothing yet; I am aiming for more. It is [a source of] great pride for me to represent Turkey. My entire family was born on this land; I feel I belong to this land,” the athlete told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Turkey was represented by two Ottoman citizens of Armenian descent during the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. Athletes Vahram Papazyan and Mıgırdiç Mıgıryan, however, had little support from the state and participated in the Olympics through their own means.
“I am also trying to do what they did 100 years ago,” said Pilikoğlu, who holds numerous national and international titles and has been dubbed the “Flying Man.”
Also like his predecessors, though, Pilikoğlu faces financial challenges. He said state grants provided to successful athletes in Turkey are insufficient, making it more difficult for them to compete in international contests.
Pilikoğlu’s achievements are backed by Aram Kalender, an Armenian businessman, according to the trainer and school teacher who had been working with the young athlete for the past 11 years.
“Toros has attained incredible achievements despite his young age. There has never been a track and field athlete who participated in the Olympics at the age of 18 in Turkey’s history. We are expecting support from the state,” said trainer Hakan Günartan.
He added that the government provides 500 Turkish Liras worth of grants each month to successful athletes for their dietary needs, a figure the trainer said was insufficient.
“Each athlete has [to follow] a special dietary procedure; that is a great expenditure. Health expenses are another important issue. Our athletes are unfortunately deprived of this right,” Günartan said.
“I cannot cover my physiotherapy expenses. I try to heal myself at home. The health expenditures of successful athletes around the world are taken care of by their countries,” Pilikoğlu said.
The athlete’s track titles include first place in the 23rd Junior Games in Finland, where he completed the 100-meter event in 11.88 seconds, and a Balkan championship where he finished the 100-meter event in 10.77 seconds.
“Toros was quite different than other students; he was full of beans, he was ambitious. I used to think this kid could make it big, and that’s what happened. He became the Turkish champion with 12.0 seconds in the 100-meter race for [runners] 15 years old and under, the first competition he entered,” Günartan said.
Pilikoğlu was barely 12 years old when he won that title.
Günartan discovered Pilikoğlu at the age of seven, while he was working at the Kalfayan Private Primary School owned by the Armenian community in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district.
“I, too, was a skilled athlete, but I could not transcend Turkey’s borders as I lacked a guide, and my achievements have remained at a national level. I am transmitting all my experience unto him, I am showing him the way,” Günartan said. “I want him to succeed where I could not succeed myself – something he has already done. Now our goal is the Olympics.”
Pilikoğlu said running is his passion and that he takes great care in his personal life not to fall out of form, refraining from drinking alcohol and partaking in nightlife as many of his peers do and instead leading a life full of sports.
“This is a matter of choice, I do not feel as if I am missing anything. Running is the only important thing for me,” he said. “I become completely severed from life when I am running; I hear no sounds. I lock on my goal, head on. I would not succeed if I heard or thought about [anything else].”
Participating in international competitions and winning titles there has boosted Pilikoğlu’s self-confidence. “I would like to reach overseas in the future,” he added. “I would like to receive training abroad. This will develop my skills in many respects.”
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Hailed as one of the most promising athletes in his generation, 18-year-old Toros Pilikoğlu wants to duplicate the determination of his Armenian ancestors and represent Turkey at the 2012 Olympics in London
Toros Pilikoğlu, a Turkish athlete of Armenian descent, has many records in the short long jump and sprint races in youth categories.
Toros Pilikoğlu wants to represent Turkey in the Olympics, just like his Armenian ancestors did a century ago.
The 18-year-old sprinter and long jumper, a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, has set his sights on the 2012 Olympic Games in London. If he can win a berth at the biggest event in world sports, he will being following in the footsteps of two Armenian athletes who competed in the 1912 Swedish Olympics to represent the Ottoman Empire.
Pilikoğlu has several national records to his name and has been called one of the hottest athletes of his generation. He plays down the accolades, however, saying he is only getting started.
“I have done nothing yet; I am aiming for more. It is [a source of] great pride for me to represent Turkey. My entire family was born on this land; I feel I belong to this land,” the athlete told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Turkey was represented by two Ottoman citizens of Armenian descent during the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. Athletes Vahram Papazyan and Mıgırdiç Mıgıryan, however, had little support from the state and participated in the Olympics through their own means.
“I am also trying to do what they did 100 years ago,” said Pilikoğlu, who holds numerous national and international titles and has been dubbed the “Flying Man.”
Also like his predecessors, though, Pilikoğlu faces financial challenges. He said state grants provided to successful athletes in Turkey are insufficient, making it more difficult for them to compete in international contests.
Pilikoğlu’s achievements are backed by Aram Kalender, an Armenian businessman, according to the trainer and school teacher who had been working with the young athlete for the past 11 years.
“Toros has attained incredible achievements despite his young age. There has never been a track and field athlete who participated in the Olympics at the age of 18 in Turkey’s history. We are expecting support from the state,” said trainer Hakan Günartan.
He added that the government provides 500 Turkish Liras worth of grants each month to successful athletes for their dietary needs, a figure the trainer said was insufficient.
“Each athlete has [to follow] a special dietary procedure; that is a great expenditure. Health expenses are another important issue. Our athletes are unfortunately deprived of this right,” Günartan said.
“I cannot cover my physiotherapy expenses. I try to heal myself at home. The health expenditures of successful athletes around the world are taken care of by their countries,” Pilikoğlu said.
The athlete’s track titles include first place in the 23rd Junior Games in Finland, where he completed the 100-meter event in 11.88 seconds, and a Balkan championship where he finished the 100-meter event in 10.77 seconds.
“Toros was quite different than other students; he was full of beans, he was ambitious. I used to think this kid could make it big, and that’s what happened. He became the Turkish champion with 12.0 seconds in the 100-meter race for [runners] 15 years old and under, the first competition he entered,” Günartan said.
Pilikoğlu was barely 12 years old when he won that title.
Günartan discovered Pilikoğlu at the age of seven, while he was working at the Kalfayan Private Primary School owned by the Armenian community in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district.
“I, too, was a skilled athlete, but I could not transcend Turkey’s borders as I lacked a guide, and my achievements have remained at a national level. I am transmitting all my experience unto him, I am showing him the way,” Günartan said. “I want him to succeed where I could not succeed myself – something he has already done. Now our goal is the Olympics.”
Pilikoğlu said running is his passion and that he takes great care in his personal life not to fall out of form, refraining from drinking alcohol and partaking in nightlife as many of his peers do and instead leading a life full of sports.
“This is a matter of choice, I do not feel as if I am missing anything. Running is the only important thing for me,” he said. “I become completely severed from life when I am running; I hear no sounds. I lock on my goal, head on. I would not succeed if I heard or thought about [anything else].”
Participating in international competitions and winning titles there has boosted Pilikoğlu’s self-confidence. “I would like to reach overseas in the future,” he added. “I would like to receive training abroad. This will develop my skills in many respects.”
17 Temmuz 2011 Pazar
Scholars to sue historian for singling out names
Friday, July 15, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL- Hurriyet Daily news
Leading Turkish historian on controversial Turkish-Armenian history, Taner Akçam is being taken to court in the US for singling out several Turkish and American academics for Armenian nationalist attack. “Armenian genocide issue is an extremely political field, yet I didn’t share any explicit names,” Akçam says
Akçam holds the chair in Armenian Genocide Studies in the history department at Clark University, Massachusetts.
Several academics have filed a U.S. lawsuit against Turkish historian Taner Akçam, who is known for his research on the Armenian issue, alleging that the scholar put them at risk of an Armenian nationalist attack following a speech last month.
“I merely shared a piece of information, which I had picked up [earlier,] during a speech I was delivering on the current state of affairs in Armenian genocide studies. I did not name any names and explicitly stated I did not want to leave anyone under suspicion,” Associate Professor Akçam from Clark University’s Department of History recently told the Hürriyet Daily News by email.
Akçam gave a speech at a conference at Arizona’s Glendale Public Library on June 14 during which a number of academics claim the historian singled them out as targets for extreme Armenian nationalists.
A Turkish political science expert from Utah University, Professor Hakan Yavuz, will be leading the suit on behalf of Professor Guenter Lewy from Massachusetts University, Associate Professor Edward Erickson from Virginia Marine Corps Command and Staff College and Associate Professor Jeremy Salt, who is currently working at Turkey’s Bilkent University.
During the speech, Akçam said he shared information given to him in December 2010 by a person who asked to remain anonymous that alleged that the Turkish Foreign Ministry was handing out hefty sums to academics to convince them to produce arguments to counter Armenian genocide claims stemming from World War I.
“I merely shared a piece of information; I wanted to provide a sample of how politics interferes in the academic sphere. Frankly, I have yet to understand [on what charges] they will be suing [me,]” Akçam said.
“My source said the documents received [by certain academics] in return for the money paid by the Turkish Foreign Ministry are [located] in the archives. I repeat once more; it is a journalist’s task to research this matter. I only transmitted the information. A journalist who was present at the conference made news out of [this] subject,” Akçam said.
Yavuz did not respond to questions posted by the Daily News via email.
Taner Akçam said he thought the information passed on to him by his source was safe, a factor which persuaded him to share it with his audience.
“Hakan Yavuz is a person with dubious credibility. I have yet to understand why he took [my words] upon himself. What he has said is so lowly as to not even warrant a reply,” he said. “The Armenian genocide is an extremely political field; politics is directly interfering with academic work. Armenian genocide studies have to cope with two distinct problems: One is about questions and problems [raised by] academic research itself, while the other [concerns] problems that emerge due to direct intervention by politics. The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s intervention is among the samples I have cited for this second category,” he said, adding that all he did was to repeat an ordinary fact that was already known to everyone else.
“One needs to rethink about things if the information supplied to me by my source is correct,” he said.
“I say it is necessary to re-examine because the activities undertaken in the U.S. by the Turkish Foreign Ministry must seriously be re-examined,” he added.
Friday, July 15, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL- Hurriyet Daily news
Leading Turkish historian on controversial Turkish-Armenian history, Taner Akçam is being taken to court in the US for singling out several Turkish and American academics for Armenian nationalist attack. “Armenian genocide issue is an extremely political field, yet I didn’t share any explicit names,” Akçam says
Akçam holds the chair in Armenian Genocide Studies in the history department at Clark University, Massachusetts.
Several academics have filed a U.S. lawsuit against Turkish historian Taner Akçam, who is known for his research on the Armenian issue, alleging that the scholar put them at risk of an Armenian nationalist attack following a speech last month.
“I merely shared a piece of information, which I had picked up [earlier,] during a speech I was delivering on the current state of affairs in Armenian genocide studies. I did not name any names and explicitly stated I did not want to leave anyone under suspicion,” Associate Professor Akçam from Clark University’s Department of History recently told the Hürriyet Daily News by email.
Akçam gave a speech at a conference at Arizona’s Glendale Public Library on June 14 during which a number of academics claim the historian singled them out as targets for extreme Armenian nationalists.
A Turkish political science expert from Utah University, Professor Hakan Yavuz, will be leading the suit on behalf of Professor Guenter Lewy from Massachusetts University, Associate Professor Edward Erickson from Virginia Marine Corps Command and Staff College and Associate Professor Jeremy Salt, who is currently working at Turkey’s Bilkent University.
During the speech, Akçam said he shared information given to him in December 2010 by a person who asked to remain anonymous that alleged that the Turkish Foreign Ministry was handing out hefty sums to academics to convince them to produce arguments to counter Armenian genocide claims stemming from World War I.
“I merely shared a piece of information; I wanted to provide a sample of how politics interferes in the academic sphere. Frankly, I have yet to understand [on what charges] they will be suing [me,]” Akçam said.
“My source said the documents received [by certain academics] in return for the money paid by the Turkish Foreign Ministry are [located] in the archives. I repeat once more; it is a journalist’s task to research this matter. I only transmitted the information. A journalist who was present at the conference made news out of [this] subject,” Akçam said.
Yavuz did not respond to questions posted by the Daily News via email.
Taner Akçam said he thought the information passed on to him by his source was safe, a factor which persuaded him to share it with his audience.
“Hakan Yavuz is a person with dubious credibility. I have yet to understand why he took [my words] upon himself. What he has said is so lowly as to not even warrant a reply,” he said. “The Armenian genocide is an extremely political field; politics is directly interfering with academic work. Armenian genocide studies have to cope with two distinct problems: One is about questions and problems [raised by] academic research itself, while the other [concerns] problems that emerge due to direct intervention by politics. The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s intervention is among the samples I have cited for this second category,” he said, adding that all he did was to repeat an ordinary fact that was already known to everyone else.
“One needs to rethink about things if the information supplied to me by my source is correct,” he said.
“I say it is necessary to re-examine because the activities undertaken in the U.S. by the Turkish Foreign Ministry must seriously be re-examined,” he added.
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