Local businessmen visit Yerevan to develop new trade relations
Monday, November 21, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL
A delegation of Turkish businessmen will convene in Armenia today for a series of closed-door discussions regarding trade relations. The conference will last until Nov. 25.
Although business between Armenia and Turkey has always existed, business ethics have become the only aspect regulating the relationship in the absence of more concrete trade laws between two countries, businessman Arthur Ghazaryan recently told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Ghazaryan, president of Armenia’s Manufacturers and Businessmen Union (UMBEA), said both countries would “doubtlessly” benefit from the opening of borders as that would significantly increase trade between Armenia and Turkey. This would subsequently contribute to the economic growth of eastern Turkey, Ghazaryan added.
Although the borders between the countries may be closed physically, they have remained open psychologically, Ghazaryan said, adding that the Turkish government was now looking for an economic response to the problems in eastern Turkey rather than a military one.
The conference is being organized with the support of UMBEA, the Eurasia Partnership Foundation, the Yerevan Press Club, the International Council for Human Development and the Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC).
The Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce has sent official letters to all neighboring countries, including Armenia, to expand trade volume with these economies, according to Galip Esnarioğlu. A former deputy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the current chairman of Diyarbakır’s Trade and Industry Chamber, Ensarioğlu will also participate in the conference.
Ensarioğlu said trade relations had developed at a “sluggish” rate for political reasons.
Countries typically conduct about 60 percent of their trade with their neighbors but this figure was “unfortunately” only 30 percent for Turkey, he said, adding that such trade relations were a reflection of bilateral relations.
Meanwhile, Gaffur Türkay, a Diyarbakır-based businessman active in the transportation and insurance sectors, said he would seek business opportunities while in Yerevan. Businessmen willing to trade with Armenia face many difficulties due to closed borders, and many Turkish firms active in Armenia operate with hidden identities, he added.
According to Turkish statistics, the trade volume between Turkey and Armenia is currently zero, although Armenian sources put the volume in excess of $200 million.
22 Kasım 2011 Salı
20 Kasım 2011 Pazar
Turkish-Armenians protest foundation board
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
A group of Turkish-Armenians participate in a demonstration in Istanbul. Around 100 people called for the resignation of the board of the Üç Horan Church Foundation.
A group of Turkish-Armenians staged a demonstration after a religious service yesterday to protest fraud allegations leveled against foundation’s board elections.
Around 100 people called for the resignation of the board of the Üç Horan Armenian Church Foundation, who they claimed were occupying the post illegally.
Garo Paylan, a leading figure among the protesters, told the Hürriyet Daily News the protest was a class action.
“The current administration labels Armenians from eastern Turkey as ‘Kurds’ and does not want them to be on the board. These foundations belong to the whole community and the administration method of the Armenian community should change.”
The board members of the foundation did not attend the religious service, reportedly to avoid facing the protesters.
The Turkish-Armenian community owns 42 foundations, all of them based in Istanbul. Üç Horan has the largest amount of revenue among them.
In May 2009, the foundation applied to the General Directorate of Foundations to elect their administrative board. However, reports said that after the polls the administrative board had conducted an unlawful election for its own ends. The election was canceled and the issue was taken to court.
The General Directorate of Foundations demanded a new election, which was scheduled for Nov. 21 last year. However, the same administrative board was found to have unlawfully prepared an election list and the election was postponed again.
Paylan said the foundation board has filed complaints against 603 members of the Armenian community. “They have been resisting change for 35 years, such practice cannot survive without the state’s support,” he added.
Sarkis Arık, from the southeastern province of Batman, said he was sad to be labeled a Kurd by the foundation’s board. “The Armenians of the east survived despite killings and pressure, but we are not allowed to take responsibility in the foundation,” he said. “We have been fighting against the system in the east and struggling against our own community, which does not want to accept us in the west.”
Varujan Turaç, a protester from the Central Anatolian province of Sivas, said he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about the situation. “The Armenians in Istanbul do not want to include in the foundation’s administration the Armenians from the east, who are mostly working class, but we will not give up,” he said.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
A group of Turkish-Armenians participate in a demonstration in Istanbul. Around 100 people called for the resignation of the board of the Üç Horan Church Foundation.
A group of Turkish-Armenians staged a demonstration after a religious service yesterday to protest fraud allegations leveled against foundation’s board elections.
Around 100 people called for the resignation of the board of the Üç Horan Armenian Church Foundation, who they claimed were occupying the post illegally.
Garo Paylan, a leading figure among the protesters, told the Hürriyet Daily News the protest was a class action.
“The current administration labels Armenians from eastern Turkey as ‘Kurds’ and does not want them to be on the board. These foundations belong to the whole community and the administration method of the Armenian community should change.”
The board members of the foundation did not attend the religious service, reportedly to avoid facing the protesters.
The Turkish-Armenian community owns 42 foundations, all of them based in Istanbul. Üç Horan has the largest amount of revenue among them.
In May 2009, the foundation applied to the General Directorate of Foundations to elect their administrative board. However, reports said that after the polls the administrative board had conducted an unlawful election for its own ends. The election was canceled and the issue was taken to court.
The General Directorate of Foundations demanded a new election, which was scheduled for Nov. 21 last year. However, the same administrative board was found to have unlawfully prepared an election list and the election was postponed again.
Paylan said the foundation board has filed complaints against 603 members of the Armenian community. “They have been resisting change for 35 years, such practice cannot survive without the state’s support,” he added.
Sarkis Arık, from the southeastern province of Batman, said he was sad to be labeled a Kurd by the foundation’s board. “The Armenians of the east survived despite killings and pressure, but we are not allowed to take responsibility in the foundation,” he said. “We have been fighting against the system in the east and struggling against our own community, which does not want to accept us in the west.”
Varujan Turaç, a protester from the Central Anatolian province of Sivas, said he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about the situation. “The Armenians in Istanbul do not want to include in the foundation’s administration the Armenians from the east, who are mostly working class, but we will not give up,” he said.
18 Kasım 2011 Cuma
Suspect’s father reveals new info on Dink murder
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
The father of one of the suspected conspirators in journalist Hrant Dink’ murder, Bahattin Hayal says his son Yasin Hayal was used as a pawn in the murder case. “The true criminals must be revealed,” Hayal says.
The father of one of the suspected conspirators in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink has released new information on his son’s connections with police informants and said the real people behind the assassination must be revealed.
“We learned that my son had gone off to Azerbaijan before the murder, even though he had no passport or money,” suspected instigator Yasin Hayal’s father, Bahattin Hayal, told the Hürriyet Daily News on Nov. 16.
The case will never be illuminated unless police informant Erhan Tuncel’s connections are revealed in full first, he said, adding that his son was used as a pawn.
“They stayed at a luxury hotel in Akçaabat [a district in the Black Sea province of Trabzon]. My son was introduced to two persons in the hotel. Erhan Tuncel had told [him] that one of these was the Chechen chief of staff,” Bahattin Hayal said, adding that his son’s trip to the Akçaabat with Tuncel constituted yet another point that needed to be further investigated.
“I am deeply saddened by this murder. I have no courage to venture near Rakel Dink [Hrant Dink’s widow]. This case will not come to light unless Erhan Tuncel’s connections are found. The true criminals must be revealed,” he added.
Bahattin Hayal said he attempted to meet with the Dink family’s lawyers several times, and added that they had told him to convince his son to reveal the truth. However, one of Dink family’s lawyers, Bahri Belen, said he had not been previously aware of the father’s statements.
“I do not know how serious Tuncel’s statements are. I do not know whether he was specifically selected to issue such statements either. He gave us no information regarding Azerbaijan or Akçaabat,” Belen told the Daily News.
“I am not bluffing; my son was used. He is being tried for life imprisonment, while Erhan Tuncel may possibly be released. I damn the day they met,” Bahattin Hayal said, adding that he had earlier testified to the prosecutor’s office but later changed his testimony due to the threats he received.
According to the father’s testimony, Yahya Öztürk, who was the chief of police in Trabzon at the time of the incident, told Hayal that his son was serving the country and that matters would be arranged so that he would not have to serve a long sentence for any role in the murder.
Bahattin Hayal also said a high-ranking intelligence official from the southeastern province of Mardin contacted him in 2007 to send a message to him, and that he relayed this information to the prosecutor on Nov. 14.
“‘I pay my respects to you. You have raised a patriotic son,’ was the message he sent, but I find the praise of this murder disturbing,” Bahattin Hayal added.
Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin, was the chief editor for weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and Armenian. He was shot in front of his office on Jan. 19, 2007; triggerman Ogün Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison in July for the murder.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
The father of one of the suspected conspirators in journalist Hrant Dink’ murder, Bahattin Hayal says his son Yasin Hayal was used as a pawn in the murder case. “The true criminals must be revealed,” Hayal says.
The father of one of the suspected conspirators in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink has released new information on his son’s connections with police informants and said the real people behind the assassination must be revealed.
“We learned that my son had gone off to Azerbaijan before the murder, even though he had no passport or money,” suspected instigator Yasin Hayal’s father, Bahattin Hayal, told the Hürriyet Daily News on Nov. 16.
The case will never be illuminated unless police informant Erhan Tuncel’s connections are revealed in full first, he said, adding that his son was used as a pawn.
“They stayed at a luxury hotel in Akçaabat [a district in the Black Sea province of Trabzon]. My son was introduced to two persons in the hotel. Erhan Tuncel had told [him] that one of these was the Chechen chief of staff,” Bahattin Hayal said, adding that his son’s trip to the Akçaabat with Tuncel constituted yet another point that needed to be further investigated.
“I am deeply saddened by this murder. I have no courage to venture near Rakel Dink [Hrant Dink’s widow]. This case will not come to light unless Erhan Tuncel’s connections are found. The true criminals must be revealed,” he added.
Bahattin Hayal said he attempted to meet with the Dink family’s lawyers several times, and added that they had told him to convince his son to reveal the truth. However, one of Dink family’s lawyers, Bahri Belen, said he had not been previously aware of the father’s statements.
“I do not know how serious Tuncel’s statements are. I do not know whether he was specifically selected to issue such statements either. He gave us no information regarding Azerbaijan or Akçaabat,” Belen told the Daily News.
“I am not bluffing; my son was used. He is being tried for life imprisonment, while Erhan Tuncel may possibly be released. I damn the day they met,” Bahattin Hayal said, adding that he had earlier testified to the prosecutor’s office but later changed his testimony due to the threats he received.
According to the father’s testimony, Yahya Öztürk, who was the chief of police in Trabzon at the time of the incident, told Hayal that his son was serving the country and that matters would be arranged so that he would not have to serve a long sentence for any role in the murder.
Bahattin Hayal also said a high-ranking intelligence official from the southeastern province of Mardin contacted him in 2007 to send a message to him, and that he relayed this information to the prosecutor on Nov. 14.
“‘I pay my respects to you. You have raised a patriotic son,’ was the message he sent, but I find the praise of this murder disturbing,” Bahattin Hayal added.
Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin, was the chief editor for weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and Armenian. He was shot in front of his office on Jan. 19, 2007; triggerman Ogün Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison in July for the murder.
Father of suspect casts doubt on Dink trial’s fate
Monday, November 14, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Bahattin Hayal, the father of a murder suspect in Hrant Dink trial, claims that his son was tricked by state officials into the murder and he will announce their names
The father of one of the suspected conspirators in the Hrant Dink murder has withdrawn his initial testimony due to fears about his personal safety and expressed no confidence that the case will ever be resolved in its entirety.
“I am in full agreement with the Dink family’s lawyers. I do not believe that the dark side of this case will truly come to light. I cannot look at the faces of the Dink family; it gives me pain,” Bahattin Hayal, the father of suspect Yasin Hayal, who allegedly instigated hitman Ogün Samast to assassinate the Turkish-Armenian journalist, told reporters yesterday after a hearing.
Only minutes before the end of the most recent hearing in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş courthouse, Bahattin Hayal requested to act as a witness, adding that he held important information. His request, however, was denied by the court.
“They warned me that I would find myself in trouble. I told them that I had shared the truth with them, but they forced me to change my testimony,” he said.
A high-ranking official in the southeastern province of Mardin has frequently transmitted messages to him through an intermediary, he said, adding that he would share that information with the public in short order.
“Following the murder, many people who got involved in the incident, including [suspect] Erhan Tuncel, received bonuses,” the suspect’s father said.
“Erhan [Tuncel] takes a computer printout of Hrant Dink’s picture and tells my son that it is the ‘Armenians’ Atatürk’ and thus depicts him as a target. How would my son know anything about Hrant Dink or Agos?” he said, adding that his son was used by Tuncel.
“Erhan Tuncel ought to reveal [the identity of] his superiors and what their connections are. My son has become a snack in the feast of the wolves,” he said.
Meanwhile, just over two months are left until the erasure of phone records relevant to the case. The Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), which possesses the records, earlier refused two court demands to disclose the records; when a higher court also ruled in the same vein, the body then issued a series of demands of its own for the records to be revealed. Phone records are only kept for five years, meaning authorities must convince TİB to release the transcripts by Jan. 19, 2012, the fifth anniversary of Dink’s murder.
Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin, was the chief editor for weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and Armenian. He was shot in front of his office in January 2007; Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison on July for the murder.
GOVERNMENT BLAMED FOR RECORDS
The Malatya deputy of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has accused the country’s Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) of attempting to hamper the Dink case and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of standing behind the body’s actions.
“Nearly all state institutions are working to prolong the [trial] process and to make [people] forget about the murder, rather than trying to shed light on it,” CHP deputy Veli Ağbaba told members of the press in Parliament.
The TİB’s behavior bordered on the negligent and intentional, Ağbaba said, adding that he TİB’s temerity comes from the fact that its president is protected by the AKP.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Bahattin Hayal, the father of a murder suspect in Hrant Dink trial, claims that his son was tricked by state officials into the murder and he will announce their names
The father of one of the suspected conspirators in the Hrant Dink murder has withdrawn his initial testimony due to fears about his personal safety and expressed no confidence that the case will ever be resolved in its entirety.
“I am in full agreement with the Dink family’s lawyers. I do not believe that the dark side of this case will truly come to light. I cannot look at the faces of the Dink family; it gives me pain,” Bahattin Hayal, the father of suspect Yasin Hayal, who allegedly instigated hitman Ogün Samast to assassinate the Turkish-Armenian journalist, told reporters yesterday after a hearing.
Only minutes before the end of the most recent hearing in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş courthouse, Bahattin Hayal requested to act as a witness, adding that he held important information. His request, however, was denied by the court.
“They warned me that I would find myself in trouble. I told them that I had shared the truth with them, but they forced me to change my testimony,” he said.
A high-ranking official in the southeastern province of Mardin has frequently transmitted messages to him through an intermediary, he said, adding that he would share that information with the public in short order.
“Following the murder, many people who got involved in the incident, including [suspect] Erhan Tuncel, received bonuses,” the suspect’s father said.
“Erhan [Tuncel] takes a computer printout of Hrant Dink’s picture and tells my son that it is the ‘Armenians’ Atatürk’ and thus depicts him as a target. How would my son know anything about Hrant Dink or Agos?” he said, adding that his son was used by Tuncel.
“Erhan Tuncel ought to reveal [the identity of] his superiors and what their connections are. My son has become a snack in the feast of the wolves,” he said.
Meanwhile, just over two months are left until the erasure of phone records relevant to the case. The Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), which possesses the records, earlier refused two court demands to disclose the records; when a higher court also ruled in the same vein, the body then issued a series of demands of its own for the records to be revealed. Phone records are only kept for five years, meaning authorities must convince TİB to release the transcripts by Jan. 19, 2012, the fifth anniversary of Dink’s murder.
Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin, was the chief editor for weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and Armenian. He was shot in front of his office in January 2007; Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison on July for the murder.
GOVERNMENT BLAMED FOR RECORDS
The Malatya deputy of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has accused the country’s Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) of attempting to hamper the Dink case and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of standing behind the body’s actions.
“Nearly all state institutions are working to prolong the [trial] process and to make [people] forget about the murder, rather than trying to shed light on it,” CHP deputy Veli Ağbaba told members of the press in Parliament.
The TİB’s behavior bordered on the negligent and intentional, Ağbaba said, adding that he TİB’s temerity comes from the fact that its president is protected by the AKP.
Turkey's minorities still skeptical about new constitution
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
There are great expectations in the government camp as the process for the preparation of a new constitution is under way, but some members of the minorities voice their concerns about the new charter
Representatives of Turkey’s various minority communities have expressed skepticism regarding ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for the country.
“Considering the current political conditions in Turkey, I do not believe the new constitution will be an egalitarian one that embraces all sections of society,” Arev Cebeci, a Turkish-Armenian who became a candidate nominee for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the most recent election, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News.
If a new constitution is drafted, then it will be the first time such a text will be produced in a democratic milieu since the establishment of the founding constitution of 1924. Other previous constitutions were written in the wake of military coups in 1961 and 1980.
“The first four articles of the 1980 constitution will be overturned in the new constitution that is underway. This will not be to Turkey’s benefit. Everyone is a Turk according to the laws of the Turkish Republic; that clause ought never to be amended,” Mari Loker-Gormenazano, a Turkish Jew, told the Daily News.
Current political conditions are not suited for making the right decisions about a new constitution, while Turkey should first concentrate on the problem of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said Loker-Gormenazano, the grandchild of former deputy Adolf Loker, who designed the hats for modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
“I want to see Turkey as a society [composed] of citizens of the Turkish Republic, without any regard for race, religion or language,” Loker-Gormenazano said.
Meanwhile, Cebeci also said they would never give up on rights granted to minorities through the Treaty of Lausanne in the event that the new constitution brought fresh problems regarding the status of non-Muslim minorities.
The Lausanne Treaty of 1923 granted certain rights to officially recognized non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, including the freedoms to establish and manage social, religious and charity institutions, to use their native languages and to conduct their own religious rituals.
Cebeci, however, also expressed reservations about the new Foundations Law enacted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which received much applause from minority communities.
“For instance, in order for us to retrieve our cemeteries that are recorded in the 1936 declaration, they still need to be open to use for burial purposes. How could we still be using our cemeteries that were seized and expropriated?” Cebeci said.
Turgut Alaca, the president of Turkey’s Mesopotamia Culture and Solidarity Association (Mezo-Der), a Syriac association, also rebuffed claims about the new constitution’s benefits.
“We cannot make use of our rights, either as normal citizens or as members of a minority. We cannot teach our language to our children. Who are we? And what will change with the new constitution? I would like to ask,” Alaca told the Daily News.
“The current constitution states that all citizens of the Turkish Republic are equal, but that is not what we see in practice,” Alaca said.
“If they truly want to do something, then a new institution ought to be established instead of the Religious Affairs Directorate, such as a Supreme Board of Faith. We presented to relevant authorities in Ankara a file that was accordingly prepared. All religious faith groups must be represented under this autonomous structure,” Metin Tarhan, the founder of the Alevi Associations Federation, told the Daily News.
Tarhan said, however, that he did not believe such an institution could be founded and thus lacked trust in the new constitution and Parliament.
Despite all the pessimism and lukewarm attitude toward the new constitution, however, certain members of the Anatolian Greek and Bulgarian minorities remain hopeful.
“The new constitution is being prepared in goodwill. I have no doubts about this. I am certain this will be an egalitarian and successful constitution,” Dimitri Zotos, one of the managers of the Anatolian Greek Foundations Association (RUMVADER), told the Daily News.
“We expect freedom and democracy. Of course, everything will not be flawless, but the idea of a new constitution is a positive idea. The work is hope-inspiring,” Lüben Chalmov of the Bulgarian Community Council told the Daily News.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
There are great expectations in the government camp as the process for the preparation of a new constitution is under way, but some members of the minorities voice their concerns about the new charter
Representatives of Turkey’s various minority communities have expressed skepticism regarding ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for the country.
“Considering the current political conditions in Turkey, I do not believe the new constitution will be an egalitarian one that embraces all sections of society,” Arev Cebeci, a Turkish-Armenian who became a candidate nominee for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the most recent election, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News.
If a new constitution is drafted, then it will be the first time such a text will be produced in a democratic milieu since the establishment of the founding constitution of 1924. Other previous constitutions were written in the wake of military coups in 1961 and 1980.
“The first four articles of the 1980 constitution will be overturned in the new constitution that is underway. This will not be to Turkey’s benefit. Everyone is a Turk according to the laws of the Turkish Republic; that clause ought never to be amended,” Mari Loker-Gormenazano, a Turkish Jew, told the Daily News.
Current political conditions are not suited for making the right decisions about a new constitution, while Turkey should first concentrate on the problem of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said Loker-Gormenazano, the grandchild of former deputy Adolf Loker, who designed the hats for modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
“I want to see Turkey as a society [composed] of citizens of the Turkish Republic, without any regard for race, religion or language,” Loker-Gormenazano said.
Meanwhile, Cebeci also said they would never give up on rights granted to minorities through the Treaty of Lausanne in the event that the new constitution brought fresh problems regarding the status of non-Muslim minorities.
The Lausanne Treaty of 1923 granted certain rights to officially recognized non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, including the freedoms to establish and manage social, religious and charity institutions, to use their native languages and to conduct their own religious rituals.
Cebeci, however, also expressed reservations about the new Foundations Law enacted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which received much applause from minority communities.
“For instance, in order for us to retrieve our cemeteries that are recorded in the 1936 declaration, they still need to be open to use for burial purposes. How could we still be using our cemeteries that were seized and expropriated?” Cebeci said.
Turgut Alaca, the president of Turkey’s Mesopotamia Culture and Solidarity Association (Mezo-Der), a Syriac association, also rebuffed claims about the new constitution’s benefits.
“We cannot make use of our rights, either as normal citizens or as members of a minority. We cannot teach our language to our children. Who are we? And what will change with the new constitution? I would like to ask,” Alaca told the Daily News.
“The current constitution states that all citizens of the Turkish Republic are equal, but that is not what we see in practice,” Alaca said.
“If they truly want to do something, then a new institution ought to be established instead of the Religious Affairs Directorate, such as a Supreme Board of Faith. We presented to relevant authorities in Ankara a file that was accordingly prepared. All religious faith groups must be represented under this autonomous structure,” Metin Tarhan, the founder of the Alevi Associations Federation, told the Daily News.
Tarhan said, however, that he did not believe such an institution could be founded and thus lacked trust in the new constitution and Parliament.
Despite all the pessimism and lukewarm attitude toward the new constitution, however, certain members of the Anatolian Greek and Bulgarian minorities remain hopeful.
“The new constitution is being prepared in goodwill. I have no doubts about this. I am certain this will be an egalitarian and successful constitution,” Dimitri Zotos, one of the managers of the Anatolian Greek Foundations Association (RUMVADER), told the Daily News.
“We expect freedom and democracy. Of course, everything will not be flawless, but the idea of a new constitution is a positive idea. The work is hope-inspiring,” Lüben Chalmov of the Bulgarian Community Council told the Daily News.
15 Kasım 2011 Salı
of suspect casts doubt on Dink trial’s
Monday, November 14, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Bahattin Hayal, the father of a murder suspect in Hrant Dink trial, claims that his son was tricked by state officials into the murder and he will announce their names
The father of one of the suspected conspirators in the Hrant Dink murder has withdrawn his initial testimony due to fears about his personal safety and expressed no confidence that the case will ever be resolved in its entirety.
“I am in full agreement with the Dink family’s lawyers. I do not believe that the dark side of this case will truly come to light. I cannot look at the faces of the Dink family; it gives me pain,” Bahattin Hayal, the father of suspect Yasin Hayal, who allegedly instigated hitman Ogün Samast to assassinate the Turkish-Armenian journalist, told reporters yesterday after a hearing.
Only minutes before the end of the most recent hearing in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş courthouse, Bahattin Hayal requested to act as a witness, adding that he held important information. His request, however, was denied by the court.
“They warned me that I would find myself in trouble. I told them that I had shared the truth with them, but they forced me to change my testimony,” he said.
A high-ranking official in the southeastern province of Mardin has frequently transmitted messages to him through an intermediary, he said, adding that he would share that information with the public in short order.
“Following the murder, many people who got involved in the incident, including [suspect] Erhan Tuncel, received bonuses,” the suspect’s father said.
“Erhan [Tuncel] takes a computer printout of Hrant Dink’s picture and tells my son that it is the ‘Armenians’ Atatürk’ and thus depicts him as a target. How would my son know anything about Hrant Dink or Agos?” he said, adding that his son was used by Tuncel.
“Erhan Tuncel ought to reveal [the identity of] his superiors and what their connections are. My son has become a snack in the feast of the wolves,” he said.
Meanwhile, just over two months are left until the erasure of phone records relevant to the case. The Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), which possesses the records, earlier refused two court demands to disclose the records; when a higher court also ruled in the same vein, the body then issued a series of demands of its own for the records to be revealed. Phone records are only kept for five years, meaning authorities must convince TİB to release the transcripts by Jan. 19, 2012, the fifth anniversary of Dink’s murder.
Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin, was the chief editor for weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and Armenian. He was shot in front of his office in January 2007; Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison on July for the murder.
GOVERNMENT BLAMED FOR RECORDS
The Malatya deputy of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has accused the country’s Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) of attempting to hamper the Dink case and accusing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of standing behind the body’s actions.
“Nearly all state institutions are working to prolong the [trial] process and to make [people] forget about the murder, rather than trying to shed light on it,” CHP deputy Veli Ağbaba told members of the press in Parliament.
The TİB’s behavior bordered on the negligent and intentional, Ağbaba said, adding that he TİB’s temerity comes from the fact that its president is protected by the AKP.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Bahattin Hayal, the father of a murder suspect in Hrant Dink trial, claims that his son was tricked by state officials into the murder and he will announce their names
The father of one of the suspected conspirators in the Hrant Dink murder has withdrawn his initial testimony due to fears about his personal safety and expressed no confidence that the case will ever be resolved in its entirety.
“I am in full agreement with the Dink family’s lawyers. I do not believe that the dark side of this case will truly come to light. I cannot look at the faces of the Dink family; it gives me pain,” Bahattin Hayal, the father of suspect Yasin Hayal, who allegedly instigated hitman Ogün Samast to assassinate the Turkish-Armenian journalist, told reporters yesterday after a hearing.
Only minutes before the end of the most recent hearing in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş courthouse, Bahattin Hayal requested to act as a witness, adding that he held important information. His request, however, was denied by the court.
“They warned me that I would find myself in trouble. I told them that I had shared the truth with them, but they forced me to change my testimony,” he said.
A high-ranking official in the southeastern province of Mardin has frequently transmitted messages to him through an intermediary, he said, adding that he would share that information with the public in short order.
“Following the murder, many people who got involved in the incident, including [suspect] Erhan Tuncel, received bonuses,” the suspect’s father said.
“Erhan [Tuncel] takes a computer printout of Hrant Dink’s picture and tells my son that it is the ‘Armenians’ Atatürk’ and thus depicts him as a target. How would my son know anything about Hrant Dink or Agos?” he said, adding that his son was used by Tuncel.
“Erhan Tuncel ought to reveal [the identity of] his superiors and what their connections are. My son has become a snack in the feast of the wolves,” he said.
Meanwhile, just over two months are left until the erasure of phone records relevant to the case. The Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), which possesses the records, earlier refused two court demands to disclose the records; when a higher court also ruled in the same vein, the body then issued a series of demands of its own for the records to be revealed. Phone records are only kept for five years, meaning authorities must convince TİB to release the transcripts by Jan. 19, 2012, the fifth anniversary of Dink’s murder.
Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin, was the chief editor for weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and Armenian. He was shot in front of his office in January 2007; Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison on July for the murder.
GOVERNMENT BLAMED FOR RECORDS
The Malatya deputy of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has accused the country’s Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) of attempting to hamper the Dink case and accusing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of standing behind the body’s actions.
“Nearly all state institutions are working to prolong the [trial] process and to make [people] forget about the murder, rather than trying to shed light on it,” CHP deputy Veli Ağbaba told members of the press in Parliament.
The TİB’s behavior bordered on the negligent and intentional, Ağbaba said, adding that he TİB’s temerity comes from the fact that its president is protected by the AKP.
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