Syriacs ready to open genocide memorial
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The expatriate Syriac Christian community in Europe has rolled into action to create greater public awareness of the alleged Syriac genocide of 1915 with plans to erect a genocide memorial in the Armenian capital of Yerevan in April.
“We sent a letter bearing the signatures of 36 institutions and 22 renowned genocide scholars to [all] party representatives, and primarily to Armenian President Serj Sarkisyan, for Armenia to officially recognize the genocide,” Sabri Atman, the founder of the Germany-based Assyrian Genocide Research Center, told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Armenia has left a gap open by ignoring the “Seyfo” (“Syriac genocide”) until this day, Atman said, adding the genocide memorial in Yerevan would be erected in April.
“Our people took a massive blow with the genocide. They lost their intellectuals and were left merely with their religious identity. They faced relentless [policies] of assimilation in Middle Eastern countries where they were scattered across from Anatolia. We have contacts underway with many countries. We are going to raise our voice even louder in the coming years,” Atman added.
The Assyrian Genocide Research Center is conducting joint work with the Genocide Museum – Institute in Yerevan, he said. “The 100th anniversary of the 1915 genocide is approaching. We have already kicked off our preparations.”
Meanwhile, Atman also penned another letter to Osman Baydemir, the mayor of Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır, requesting a genocide memorial to be erected in that city as well.
“Armenians, Assyrians, Anatolian Greeks and the Yezidi were massacred during the genocide of 1915 with the participation and backing of reactionary Kurdish tribes. The Turkish Republic was established over this massacre,” Atman told Baydemir in his letter. Calling Baydemir a friend of the Syriac people and other communities subjected to genocide, Atman said the erection of a genocide memorial to be visited every year.
February/29/2012
29 Şubat 2012 Çarşamba
27 Şubat 2012 Pazartesi
Debate over Ecumenism heatıng up
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU / GÖKSEL BOZKURT
ISTANBUL / ANKARA - HDN
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew’s demand at a parliamentary commission meeting last week that his patriarchate be entitled to become a legal entity has stirred up a new debate over the church’s ecumenism.
Granting the patriarchate such rights would change the whole situation for all patriarchates, especially the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Yusuf Halaçoğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News. “This right will especially strengthen the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate on the topic of their ecumenical claims.”
But Halaçoğlu also said the right to hold a legal personality should be granted reciprocally to Muslims in Greece, adding that Western Thrace’s mufti should enjoy this right.
Political science professor Baskın Oran, meanwhile, said ecumenism “is not a decision for Turkey to make.”
“It is related to the Orthodox theology. Legal entity is a right,” he said.
Another political science professor, Doğu Ergil, said the debate reflected a nationalist reflex and added that becoming a legal entity and forming a federation were rights.
“Ecumenism is a historic phenomenon,” he said. “Before the Turks even arrived in Anatolia, Anatolia was the center of Orthodoxy.”
There are only about 1,500 Greeks left in the country, Ergil said, pointing out that there was no tolerance even toward them.
Bartholomew also demanded that foundations should be able to gather under a federation. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate needs to consult the Office of the Fatih District Governor for even the tiniest permission.
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU / GÖKSEL BOZKURT
ISTANBUL / ANKARA - HDN
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew’s demand at a parliamentary commission meeting last week that his patriarchate be entitled to become a legal entity has stirred up a new debate over the church’s ecumenism.
Granting the patriarchate such rights would change the whole situation for all patriarchates, especially the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Yusuf Halaçoğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News. “This right will especially strengthen the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate on the topic of their ecumenical claims.”
But Halaçoğlu also said the right to hold a legal personality should be granted reciprocally to Muslims in Greece, adding that Western Thrace’s mufti should enjoy this right.
Political science professor Baskın Oran, meanwhile, said ecumenism “is not a decision for Turkey to make.”
“It is related to the Orthodox theology. Legal entity is a right,” he said.
Another political science professor, Doğu Ergil, said the debate reflected a nationalist reflex and added that becoming a legal entity and forming a federation were rights.
“Ecumenism is a historic phenomenon,” he said. “Before the Turks even arrived in Anatolia, Anatolia was the center of Orthodoxy.”
There are only about 1,500 Greeks left in the country, Ergil said, pointing out that there was no tolerance even toward them.
Bartholomew also demanded that foundations should be able to gather under a federation. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate needs to consult the Office of the Fatih District Governor for even the tiniest permission.
23 Şubat 2012 Perşembe
SYRIACS TO VISIT TURKISH PARLIAMENT NEXT WEEK
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A delegation of Syriac Christians from Turkey and abroad will meet with Parliament’s Constitution Conciliation Commission on Feb. 27 in Ankara after months of striving to get an appointment. “We do not believe the Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew possesses any authority to speak on behalf of all Christian minorities,” Tuma Çelik, the head of the European Syriac Union, told the Hürriyet Daily News on behalf of the delegation. “At least, he does not represent us, the Syriacs. As such, he reserves no right to speak in our name. It is quite natural, however, for him to talk about ongoing problems in Turkey in a more general sense while he is laying down his own demands.” The delegation that is set to meet with the commission as part of ongoing efforts to frame a new constitution will include Evgil Türker, the head of the Federation of Turkish Syriac Associations, Sabri Akbaba, the representative of Syriac institutions in Germany, and Tuma Özdemir, the representative of the Istanbul Mesopotamia Culture and Solidarity Association, as well as Çelik.
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A delegation of Syriac Christians from Turkey and abroad will meet with Parliament’s Constitution Conciliation Commission on Feb. 27 in Ankara after months of striving to get an appointment. “We do not believe the Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew possesses any authority to speak on behalf of all Christian minorities,” Tuma Çelik, the head of the European Syriac Union, told the Hürriyet Daily News on behalf of the delegation. “At least, he does not represent us, the Syriacs. As such, he reserves no right to speak in our name. It is quite natural, however, for him to talk about ongoing problems in Turkey in a more general sense while he is laying down his own demands.” The delegation that is set to meet with the commission as part of ongoing efforts to frame a new constitution will include Evgil Türker, the head of the Federation of Turkish Syriac Associations, Sabri Akbaba, the representative of Syriac institutions in Germany, and Tuma Özdemir, the representative of the Istanbul Mesopotamia Culture and Solidarity Association, as well as Çelik.
French court to keep ‘genocide’ bill: Diaspora
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Franck Mourad Papazian, an influential figure of Armenian Diaspora, says they are going to bring a new law before Parliament even if this ‘genocide’ law is annulled.
One of the leading figures of the Armenian diaspora in France, Franck Mourad Papazian, said there was no likelihood of the country’s constitutional court overturning the draft bill to criminalize the denial of Armenian genocide allegations.
“The weight of the Constitutional Court would come under question if the law were to be retracted. Most important of all, we are going to sustain our efforts to bring a new law before Parliament even if this law is annulled,” Franck Mourad Papazian, who is also a member of the Dashnakszutyun Party, told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Following the French Parliament’s approval of the bill, some 65 deputies and 60 senators appealed to the country’s constitutional court for a reversal of the decision. The ball still lies in the court of a judicial commission in the constitutional body.
“I would not like to [think] the constitutional court would annul this law [...] Turkey has exerted great pressure on France since the bill gained currency. More than anything else, the French people would not [yield to] such an anti–French and anti–Armenian attitude,” Papazian added.
France officially recognized the events of 1915 as genocide in 2001. Some circles in France are debating whether that law would also be imperiled if the bill criminalizing the denial of genocide claims is overturned, but Papazian does not agree: “Absolutely not. The ‘denial law’ and the bill in 2001 bear no connection to each other at all. Some so–called experts have also brought up this issue, but that is not possible,” he said.
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Franck Mourad Papazian, an influential figure of Armenian Diaspora, says they are going to bring a new law before Parliament even if this ‘genocide’ law is annulled.
One of the leading figures of the Armenian diaspora in France, Franck Mourad Papazian, said there was no likelihood of the country’s constitutional court overturning the draft bill to criminalize the denial of Armenian genocide allegations.
“The weight of the Constitutional Court would come under question if the law were to be retracted. Most important of all, we are going to sustain our efforts to bring a new law before Parliament even if this law is annulled,” Franck Mourad Papazian, who is also a member of the Dashnakszutyun Party, told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Following the French Parliament’s approval of the bill, some 65 deputies and 60 senators appealed to the country’s constitutional court for a reversal of the decision. The ball still lies in the court of a judicial commission in the constitutional body.
“I would not like to [think] the constitutional court would annul this law [...] Turkey has exerted great pressure on France since the bill gained currency. More than anything else, the French people would not [yield to] such an anti–French and anti–Armenian attitude,” Papazian added.
France officially recognized the events of 1915 as genocide in 2001. Some circles in France are debating whether that law would also be imperiled if the bill criminalizing the denial of genocide claims is overturned, but Papazian does not agree: “Absolutely not. The ‘denial law’ and the bill in 2001 bear no connection to each other at all. Some so–called experts have also brought up this issue, but that is not possible,” he said.
15 Şubat 2012 Çarşamba
Exhibition removes veil of history obscuring Anatolian minorities
ISTANBUL-Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Some 200 photographs are on display at an exhibit ‘Cultural Diversity in Old Diyarbakır,’ which relates the lives and commercial contributions of Diyarbakır’s long-forgotten peoples
The exhibition in Istanbul’s Tophane provides a rare glimpse into the history of Armenians living in Diyarbakır.
The Birzamanlar (Once Upon a Time) Publishing House has launched a photography exhibition in Istanbul’s Tophane neighborhood, providing a rare glimpse into the history of non-Muslim minorities living in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.
“Official history teaches us that all these cities were created by the Turks, and that all the fair deeds of the past were done by them. Those who are not Turks or Muslims are depicted as unfavorable figures,” Osman Köker, the owner of the Birzamanlar Publishing House, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News. “The cultures, faiths, traditions and genetics of the peoples of old are also part of the reality we call the Turkish nation.”
Cultural Diversity in old Diyarbakır
Around 200 photographs compiled from 40 different sources are on display at the “Cultural Diversity in Old Diyarbakır” exhibition, which is being jointly organized by the Birzamanlar Publishing House and the Anatolian Culture and Global Dialogue, an Istanbul based nongovernmental organization. The exhibition at Tophane’s Tütün Deposu began Feb. 10 and will continue until March 10.
Exhibition removes veil of history obscuring Anatolian minorities
“Eastern Anatolia was much richer at the turn of the 20th century than it has been in the Republican period, both culturally and materially,” Köker said, adding that the memories of old were still very much alive in Anatolia.
The exhibition, which relates the lives and commercial contributions of Diyarbakır’s long forgotten peoples, such as the Armenians, Syriacs, Chaldeans, Anatolian Greeks and the Yezidis, also features explanatory notes in Turkish, English and Kurdish.
“Armenian newspapers were published and theaters [staged plays] not merely in Diyarbakır, but also in many other [nearby] places like Elazığ, Erzurum, Van and Erzincan. There were many factories [making various kinds of produce] ranging from the silk industry to metal wares. These [factories] did not [produce] solely for the domestic market but also for exports,” Köker said.
Turkish people are now striving to learn about the truth instead of the bragging of official history, he said. “All of us have grown weary of such vein boasting.”
Old shopkeepers and artisans in the region readily confide they had learned their skills from Armenians and Syriacs, he said.
Köker said they had already taken the exhibition to many different corners of the world, including Armenia and that Anatolian peoples had always shown great interest in the exhibition at every stop.
“Diaspora Armenians know precious little of the things they see in the exhibitions. They see the concrete [images] of things that seem to them like the stuff of legends. Moreover, they are nonplussed that this project has been undertaken by a person of Turkish-Muslim identity from Turkey,” he said.
Köker also said they had conducted research in the Orlando Carlo Calumeo Collection, the
Boston-based Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archive, as well as the Annuaire Oriental, an annual commercial almanac that has been published since the mid-19th century, while they were preparing for the exhibition.
“When [we] examine the 1914 edition of the commercial almanac’s section on Diyarbakır, [we see that] many trades people were Armenian, including [the owners of] all of the 12 firms dealing in jewelry, 10 of 11 stone masons, nine copper merchants and 10 firms that produced silk fabric. The city’s sole hotel was also operated by an Armenian,” he added.
The Birzamanlar Publishing House has also attracted a lot of attention both in Turkey and abroad with other exhibitions, such as the “Armenians in Turkey 100 years ago,” and the “Freedom’s Heirloom – Postcards of the Constitutional [Period].”
February/15/2012
ISTANBUL-Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Some 200 photographs are on display at an exhibit ‘Cultural Diversity in Old Diyarbakır,’ which relates the lives and commercial contributions of Diyarbakır’s long-forgotten peoples
The exhibition in Istanbul’s Tophane provides a rare glimpse into the history of Armenians living in Diyarbakır.
The Birzamanlar (Once Upon a Time) Publishing House has launched a photography exhibition in Istanbul’s Tophane neighborhood, providing a rare glimpse into the history of non-Muslim minorities living in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.
“Official history teaches us that all these cities were created by the Turks, and that all the fair deeds of the past were done by them. Those who are not Turks or Muslims are depicted as unfavorable figures,” Osman Köker, the owner of the Birzamanlar Publishing House, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News. “The cultures, faiths, traditions and genetics of the peoples of old are also part of the reality we call the Turkish nation.”
Cultural Diversity in old Diyarbakır
Around 200 photographs compiled from 40 different sources are on display at the “Cultural Diversity in Old Diyarbakır” exhibition, which is being jointly organized by the Birzamanlar Publishing House and the Anatolian Culture and Global Dialogue, an Istanbul based nongovernmental organization. The exhibition at Tophane’s Tütün Deposu began Feb. 10 and will continue until March 10.
Exhibition removes veil of history obscuring Anatolian minorities
“Eastern Anatolia was much richer at the turn of the 20th century than it has been in the Republican period, both culturally and materially,” Köker said, adding that the memories of old were still very much alive in Anatolia.
The exhibition, which relates the lives and commercial contributions of Diyarbakır’s long forgotten peoples, such as the Armenians, Syriacs, Chaldeans, Anatolian Greeks and the Yezidis, also features explanatory notes in Turkish, English and Kurdish.
“Armenian newspapers were published and theaters [staged plays] not merely in Diyarbakır, but also in many other [nearby] places like Elazığ, Erzurum, Van and Erzincan. There were many factories [making various kinds of produce] ranging from the silk industry to metal wares. These [factories] did not [produce] solely for the domestic market but also for exports,” Köker said.
Turkish people are now striving to learn about the truth instead of the bragging of official history, he said. “All of us have grown weary of such vein boasting.”
Old shopkeepers and artisans in the region readily confide they had learned their skills from Armenians and Syriacs, he said.
Köker said they had already taken the exhibition to many different corners of the world, including Armenia and that Anatolian peoples had always shown great interest in the exhibition at every stop.
“Diaspora Armenians know precious little of the things they see in the exhibitions. They see the concrete [images] of things that seem to them like the stuff of legends. Moreover, they are nonplussed that this project has been undertaken by a person of Turkish-Muslim identity from Turkey,” he said.
Köker also said they had conducted research in the Orlando Carlo Calumeo Collection, the
Boston-based Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archive, as well as the Annuaire Oriental, an annual commercial almanac that has been published since the mid-19th century, while they were preparing for the exhibition.
“When [we] examine the 1914 edition of the commercial almanac’s section on Diyarbakır, [we see that] many trades people were Armenian, including [the owners of] all of the 12 firms dealing in jewelry, 10 of 11 stone masons, nine copper merchants and 10 firms that produced silk fabric. The city’s sole hotel was also operated by an Armenian,” he added.
The Birzamanlar Publishing House has also attracted a lot of attention both in Turkey and abroad with other exhibitions, such as the “Armenians in Turkey 100 years ago,” and the “Freedom’s Heirloom – Postcards of the Constitutional [Period].”
February/15/2012
Greek Patriarch to give speech in Turkish Parliament
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew is to give a speech in Turkish Parliament next wek in the framework of the new constutition. The speech will be the first such occasion in the history of the Turkish Republic.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew is set to give a speech to Parliament’s Constitutional Commission on Feb. 20 to expound on the problems of Turkey’s minorities, marking the first such occasion in the history of the Turkish Republic.
“Our Armenian deputy patriarch says we are happy and not beset by any problems every time a microphone is extended to him. To the contrary, we have problems [of such magnitude] that they are awaiting urgent solutions. Patriarch Bartholomew, on the other hand, does not shirk away from bringing up problems with great courage,” Arev Cebeci, a former deputy candidate nominee from the opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP), told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Bartholomew will bring up a number of issues in the commission, including the reopening of the Halki Seminary, the removal of unfavorable statements about Greeks, Armenians and Syriac Christians from Turkish class books and the employment of minorities in public offices.
New constutition framework
Bartholomew was invited to Ankara within the framework of ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for Turkey, although the move has led to criticism from some quarters within minority communities.
“We want to see concrete steps rather than the patriarch being summoned there,” Kuryakos Ergün, the head of the Mor Gabriel Monastery Foundation in the southeastern province of Mardin, told the Daily News.
The patriarch is also going to raise other issues in Parliament as well, such as the recognition of minority institutions as legal entities and the funding of minority houses of worship through the budget of the Directorate of Religious Affairs.
“We have problems of identity, recognition and language. Most important of all, we are experiencing great difficulty in training clerics,” Ergün added.
It is important for Bartholomew to deliver a speech in Parliament, he said, but he also expressed reservations about the sincerity of the government in Ankara.
Turkey’s minority communities have more problems in common than they have differences, he added. “Now we are demanding a solution to our problems. Dialogue is very important. We have been treated as third class citizens through this day, and this situation has to come to an end,” Stelyo Berber, the head of Istanbul’s Fener Hagia Yorgi Church Foundation, told the Daily News.
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew is to give a speech in Turkish Parliament next wek in the framework of the new constutition. The speech will be the first such occasion in the history of the Turkish Republic.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew is set to give a speech to Parliament’s Constitutional Commission on Feb. 20 to expound on the problems of Turkey’s minorities, marking the first such occasion in the history of the Turkish Republic.
“Our Armenian deputy patriarch says we are happy and not beset by any problems every time a microphone is extended to him. To the contrary, we have problems [of such magnitude] that they are awaiting urgent solutions. Patriarch Bartholomew, on the other hand, does not shirk away from bringing up problems with great courage,” Arev Cebeci, a former deputy candidate nominee from the opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP), told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Bartholomew will bring up a number of issues in the commission, including the reopening of the Halki Seminary, the removal of unfavorable statements about Greeks, Armenians and Syriac Christians from Turkish class books and the employment of minorities in public offices.
New constutition framework
Bartholomew was invited to Ankara within the framework of ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for Turkey, although the move has led to criticism from some quarters within minority communities.
“We want to see concrete steps rather than the patriarch being summoned there,” Kuryakos Ergün, the head of the Mor Gabriel Monastery Foundation in the southeastern province of Mardin, told the Daily News.
The patriarch is also going to raise other issues in Parliament as well, such as the recognition of minority institutions as legal entities and the funding of minority houses of worship through the budget of the Directorate of Religious Affairs.
“We have problems of identity, recognition and language. Most important of all, we are experiencing great difficulty in training clerics,” Ergün added.
It is important for Bartholomew to deliver a speech in Parliament, he said, but he also expressed reservations about the sincerity of the government in Ankara.
Turkey’s minority communities have more problems in common than they have differences, he added. “Now we are demanding a solution to our problems. Dialogue is very important. We have been treated as third class citizens through this day, and this situation has to come to an end,” Stelyo Berber, the head of Istanbul’s Fener Hagia Yorgi Church Foundation, told the Daily News.
14 Şubat 2012 Salı
Arrested publisher applies to ECHR
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Arrested publisher Ragıp Zarakolu’s lawyers have filed a suit at the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the prosecutor’s orders that led to his arrest on Nov. 1, 2011, as part of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) trials.
“[The KCK probe] is a politically [motivated] case filed by the AKP [Justice and Development Party] government, and the combination of the prosecutors’ and judges’ lack of independence and impartiality makes it difficult for a just and lawful verdict to be reached,” Zarakolu’s lawyer Özcan Kılıç told the Hürriyet Daily News.
The suit filed at the European court pertains to such matters as treatment in detention, the legal and material basis for the arrest and access to case files and evidence, rather than the trial process itself, in accordance with the requirements prescribed in the fifth article of the European Convention on Human Rights, which established the court, according to Kılıç.
“The KCK trial is going to be the case with the largest number of suspects in Istanbul since the military coup of 1980. It is still too early to comment on the course of the trial,” Kılıç said.
Tuncay Özkan, another suspect in the ongoing Ergenekon trials, had already applied to the European court last week on the grounds that his right to a fair trial had been violated and that he had been detained for an extensive period. The European court, however, rejected his complaint regarding the right to a fair trial but gave an interim decision addressing claims regarding the period of his arrest, indicating that the charge would be examined later.
“We are going to cite as the preamble our inability to access the documents and information in the file due to the ‘order of secrecy,’ the basing of the evidence and the accusations on [slippery] facts, the refusal of objections to the arrest without citing any serious and reasonable justification and the fact that no suit has yet been filed despite the passage of more than three months,” Kılıç said.
Cem Halavurt, one of the lawyers in the high-profile case of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin murdered in 2007, also said the European court’s ruling on Özkan did not constitute a precedent because the court examines each file separately.
Domestic judiciary processes have to be completely exhausted before a file can be brought before the European court. Some 180 suspects will stand trial in the KCK probe, including Zarakolu, who continues to remain behind bars at a high-security prison in the northwestern province of Kocaeli.
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Arrested publisher Ragıp Zarakolu’s lawyers have filed a suit at the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the prosecutor’s orders that led to his arrest on Nov. 1, 2011, as part of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) trials.
“[The KCK probe] is a politically [motivated] case filed by the AKP [Justice and Development Party] government, and the combination of the prosecutors’ and judges’ lack of independence and impartiality makes it difficult for a just and lawful verdict to be reached,” Zarakolu’s lawyer Özcan Kılıç told the Hürriyet Daily News.
The suit filed at the European court pertains to such matters as treatment in detention, the legal and material basis for the arrest and access to case files and evidence, rather than the trial process itself, in accordance with the requirements prescribed in the fifth article of the European Convention on Human Rights, which established the court, according to Kılıç.
“The KCK trial is going to be the case with the largest number of suspects in Istanbul since the military coup of 1980. It is still too early to comment on the course of the trial,” Kılıç said.
Tuncay Özkan, another suspect in the ongoing Ergenekon trials, had already applied to the European court last week on the grounds that his right to a fair trial had been violated and that he had been detained for an extensive period. The European court, however, rejected his complaint regarding the right to a fair trial but gave an interim decision addressing claims regarding the period of his arrest, indicating that the charge would be examined later.
“We are going to cite as the preamble our inability to access the documents and information in the file due to the ‘order of secrecy,’ the basing of the evidence and the accusations on [slippery] facts, the refusal of objections to the arrest without citing any serious and reasonable justification and the fact that no suit has yet been filed despite the passage of more than three months,” Kılıç said.
Cem Halavurt, one of the lawyers in the high-profile case of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin murdered in 2007, also said the European court’s ruling on Özkan did not constitute a precedent because the court examines each file separately.
Domestic judiciary processes have to be completely exhausted before a file can be brought before the European court. Some 180 suspects will stand trial in the KCK probe, including Zarakolu, who continues to remain behind bars at a high-security prison in the northwestern province of Kocaeli.
12 Şubat 2012 Pazar
Asylum seekers say they will stay despite new law
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Despite a new residence law that limits foreigners’ stay in Turkey, many asylum seekers, gathering every Thrusday in Kumkapı say they will continue living in the country regardless of the consequences.
Many asylum seekers and illegal immigrants have said they will continue living in Turkey regardless of the consequences following a new law that limits foreigners’ stay in the country.
“I have been living as a fugitive for years. Undoubtedly, I would be unable to return to Turkey if I revealed my identity just once, and that would spell my end. I have no financial basis to hang onto life,” Ms. Asdghik, a 60-year-old immigrant from Armenia who has been living in Turkey for seven years, told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Illegal immigrants and asylum seekers of all types and diverse origins gather before the Turkish-Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul’s Kumkapı district every Thursday to receive clothing and food aid provided for by the city’s Armenian community and the Turkish Red Crescent.
Among the recipients of the aid are not just Armenians, but also Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Nigerians, Iraqis, Afghans and Somalis.
Financial constraints
Ms. Asdghik, who is among 3,000 illegal immigrants and asylum seekers provided for by the Patriarchate, said she was trying to make ends meet by working as a housemaid and with the assistance she receives. She said she had not been able to visit Armenia and see her relatives for seven years due to financial constraints.
“I live in constant fear of deportation. I have not left Turkey for 10 years. Surely I would be penalized severely and never be able to return back [if I left the country],” Ms. Seyra, a Georgian citizen who arrived in Turkey to find employment, told the Daily News.
Ms. Seyra has also expressed great concern in relation to a new law that came into effect on Feb. 1
The law allows foreign citizens entering the country with a tourist visa to stay in Turkey for three months, after which time they will be obliged to wait for another three months abroad before re-entry.
Certain other residents of foreign origin may also be able to stay in the country by paying exorbitant insurance premiums.
“Large numbers of illegal immigrants and refugees live in this vicinity. There are people from all nations, but our troubles and concerns are identical. I hope they do not deport us destitute people from here with the new law,” Ms. Ghanımbala, a 45-year-old Azerbaijani residing in the district of Kumkapı, told the Daily News.
The patriarchate is striving to provide aid to 3,000 illegal immigrants and refugees within the limits of their means, according to Linda Süme, the head of the Patriarchate’s Clothing, Wares and Food Aid Branch.
February/11/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Despite a new residence law that limits foreigners’ stay in Turkey, many asylum seekers, gathering every Thrusday in Kumkapı say they will continue living in the country regardless of the consequences.
Many asylum seekers and illegal immigrants have said they will continue living in Turkey regardless of the consequences following a new law that limits foreigners’ stay in the country.
“I have been living as a fugitive for years. Undoubtedly, I would be unable to return to Turkey if I revealed my identity just once, and that would spell my end. I have no financial basis to hang onto life,” Ms. Asdghik, a 60-year-old immigrant from Armenia who has been living in Turkey for seven years, told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Illegal immigrants and asylum seekers of all types and diverse origins gather before the Turkish-Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul’s Kumkapı district every Thursday to receive clothing and food aid provided for by the city’s Armenian community and the Turkish Red Crescent.
Among the recipients of the aid are not just Armenians, but also Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Nigerians, Iraqis, Afghans and Somalis.
Financial constraints
Ms. Asdghik, who is among 3,000 illegal immigrants and asylum seekers provided for by the Patriarchate, said she was trying to make ends meet by working as a housemaid and with the assistance she receives. She said she had not been able to visit Armenia and see her relatives for seven years due to financial constraints.
“I live in constant fear of deportation. I have not left Turkey for 10 years. Surely I would be penalized severely and never be able to return back [if I left the country],” Ms. Seyra, a Georgian citizen who arrived in Turkey to find employment, told the Daily News.
Ms. Seyra has also expressed great concern in relation to a new law that came into effect on Feb. 1
The law allows foreign citizens entering the country with a tourist visa to stay in Turkey for three months, after which time they will be obliged to wait for another three months abroad before re-entry.
Certain other residents of foreign origin may also be able to stay in the country by paying exorbitant insurance premiums.
“Large numbers of illegal immigrants and refugees live in this vicinity. There are people from all nations, but our troubles and concerns are identical. I hope they do not deport us destitute people from here with the new law,” Ms. Ghanımbala, a 45-year-old Azerbaijani residing in the district of Kumkapı, told the Daily News.
The patriarchate is striving to provide aid to 3,000 illegal immigrants and refugees within the limits of their means, according to Linda Süme, the head of the Patriarchate’s Clothing, Wares and Food Aid Branch.
February/11/2012
7 Şubat 2012 Salı
Malatya Municipality to rebuild Armenian shrine
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Following a meeting with Armenian Patriarchate officials, Malatya Municipality announces that they will rebuild the demolished chapel, guard house and annex buildings in the historical Armenian cemetery
The municipality in the eastern province of Malatya has agreed to rebuild a complex involving a chapel, a guard house and an annex for washing the dead inside a historical Armenian cemetery after municipal workers demolished the complex on Feb. 3.
“The average folk on the street cried when they saw that our ‘Last Prayer’ [complex] was demolished. I don’t think it to be ‘neighborhood pressure.’ There is some pressure, but it emanates from sources unknown to us,” Hosrof Köletavitoğlu, the head of the Malatya Philanthropists’ Association (HAYDER), told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Malatya Municipality had also told the Daily News on Feb. 3 that the guard house had been brought down due to complaints issued by the local populace and that the chapel had been mistakenly demolished.
“They had said the guard box wasn’t suitable here and decided to demolish [it.] Now they are taking over the construction of the entire complex by themselves,” Köletavitoğlu said on behalf of a group of Malatya Armenians residing in Istanbul who met with officials regarding the matter yesterday morning. The municipality promised to push forward with the project without making any additional changes, Köletavitoğlu said, adding they were also going to certify that promise in the governor’s office through a notary. “We are going to purse this to the end,” he said. “We had just built the complex with money we collected from Armenians of Malatya [residing] in Istanbul and the diaspora. The demolition came about just as we were finishing it.”
The project had originally been drawn up by the Patriarchate of Turkish-Armenians.
The cemetery which measures thousands of acres in size also contains the burial grounds of the family members of Hrant Dink, the chief editor of the weekly Agos, a paper published in both Armenian and Turkish, who was gunned down in front of his office in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007.
“We were going to stage a mass by organizing a tour on June 30 to bring Armenians originating from Malatya here. It will be a little difficult to stage the mass under these circumstances,” he said.
Authorities had already nationalized the cemetery around the late 1940s, while only some two acres are still owned by the Armenian community.
“Responsibility belongs to the municipality regardless of whoever is in possession of the cemeteries’ title deeds. As such, it was under their responsibility to build the chapel, the guard house and the [annex for the ritual washing of the dead,] but they did not assume [that responsibility,]” he added.
February/07/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News / Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Following a meeting with Armenian Patriarchate officials, Malatya Municipality announces that they will rebuild the demolished chapel, guard house and annex buildings in the historical Armenian cemetery
The municipality in the eastern province of Malatya has agreed to rebuild a complex involving a chapel, a guard house and an annex for washing the dead inside a historical Armenian cemetery after municipal workers demolished the complex on Feb. 3.
“The average folk on the street cried when they saw that our ‘Last Prayer’ [complex] was demolished. I don’t think it to be ‘neighborhood pressure.’ There is some pressure, but it emanates from sources unknown to us,” Hosrof Köletavitoğlu, the head of the Malatya Philanthropists’ Association (HAYDER), told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Malatya Municipality had also told the Daily News on Feb. 3 that the guard house had been brought down due to complaints issued by the local populace and that the chapel had been mistakenly demolished.
“They had said the guard box wasn’t suitable here and decided to demolish [it.] Now they are taking over the construction of the entire complex by themselves,” Köletavitoğlu said on behalf of a group of Malatya Armenians residing in Istanbul who met with officials regarding the matter yesterday morning. The municipality promised to push forward with the project without making any additional changes, Köletavitoğlu said, adding they were also going to certify that promise in the governor’s office through a notary. “We are going to purse this to the end,” he said. “We had just built the complex with money we collected from Armenians of Malatya [residing] in Istanbul and the diaspora. The demolition came about just as we were finishing it.”
The project had originally been drawn up by the Patriarchate of Turkish-Armenians.
The cemetery which measures thousands of acres in size also contains the burial grounds of the family members of Hrant Dink, the chief editor of the weekly Agos, a paper published in both Armenian and Turkish, who was gunned down in front of his office in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007.
“We were going to stage a mass by organizing a tour on June 30 to bring Armenians originating from Malatya here. It will be a little difficult to stage the mass under these circumstances,” he said.
Authorities had already nationalized the cemetery around the late 1940s, while only some two acres are still owned by the Armenian community.
“Responsibility belongs to the municipality regardless of whoever is in possession of the cemeteries’ title deeds. As such, it was under their responsibility to build the chapel, the guard house and the [annex for the ritual washing of the dead,] but they did not assume [that responsibility,]” he added.
February/07/2012
6 Şubat 2012 Pazartesi
Jailed Turkish publisher nominated for Nobel prize
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
VERCIHAN ZIFLIOĞLU
Members from the Swedish Parliament nominate imprisoned Turkish publisher and human rights defender Ragıp Zarakolu for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination comes amid a debate over the prize’s criteria
Turkey’s prisons abound with writers, intellectuals and academics, a direct contradiction to the country’s desire to become a model for the Middle East, said Swedish Parliamentarian Armineh Kakabaveh, who recently nominated arrested journalist Ragıp Zarakolu for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“I am greatly honored to nominate Zarakolu for this prize. I hope the Nobel Committee accepts Zarakolu’s candidacy,” said Kakabaveh, one of five Swedish deputies who recently filed a formal appeal with the Norwegian Nobel Committee to nominate Zarakolu, a Turkish writer, journalist and publisher who has remained behind bars since Nov. 1, 2011, on terrorism-related charges.
“As far as we know, no one has had access yet to the [indictment] file, including Ragıp’s lawyer. He [has remained] behind bars for more than three months already. What kind of rule of law is this? Turkey should free Zarakolu and all the journalists, writers and intellectuals who have not advocated violence,” said Bjorn Smith-Simeonsen, the head of the Freedom to Publish Committee of the Geneva-based International Publishing Association (IPA), which has vigorously campaigned for Zarakolu’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Zarakolu’s nomination also comes amid an ongoing debate in Sweden over the criteria employed to select the winner of the coveted prize which some say has strayed from the procedures prescribed by Alfred Nobel, the founder of the prize, in his will. Critics have argued the Nobel Peace Prize has transformed into an award for democracy and women’s rights, in contrast with its original purpose to merely promote disarmament.
“Ragıp Zarakolu is an internationally recognized defender of the right to write and publish freely. It is essential not to confuse the efforts of those who, like Ragıp Zarakolu, have worked to bring down the barriers of censorship in Turkey with those who press political agendas through violence,” Smith-Simeonsen added.
Zarakolu was arrested Nov. 1, 2011 by order of the court over his alleged links to the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“It is incredible that Zarakolu was treated as a terrorist and imprisoned. He strived for human rights, the freedom of thought and Turkey’s democratization for his entire life,” eminent Norwegian author Eugene Schoulgin said.
February/04/2012
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
VERCIHAN ZIFLIOĞLU
Members from the Swedish Parliament nominate imprisoned Turkish publisher and human rights defender Ragıp Zarakolu for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination comes amid a debate over the prize’s criteria
Turkey’s prisons abound with writers, intellectuals and academics, a direct contradiction to the country’s desire to become a model for the Middle East, said Swedish Parliamentarian Armineh Kakabaveh, who recently nominated arrested journalist Ragıp Zarakolu for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“I am greatly honored to nominate Zarakolu for this prize. I hope the Nobel Committee accepts Zarakolu’s candidacy,” said Kakabaveh, one of five Swedish deputies who recently filed a formal appeal with the Norwegian Nobel Committee to nominate Zarakolu, a Turkish writer, journalist and publisher who has remained behind bars since Nov. 1, 2011, on terrorism-related charges.
“As far as we know, no one has had access yet to the [indictment] file, including Ragıp’s lawyer. He [has remained] behind bars for more than three months already. What kind of rule of law is this? Turkey should free Zarakolu and all the journalists, writers and intellectuals who have not advocated violence,” said Bjorn Smith-Simeonsen, the head of the Freedom to Publish Committee of the Geneva-based International Publishing Association (IPA), which has vigorously campaigned for Zarakolu’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Zarakolu’s nomination also comes amid an ongoing debate in Sweden over the criteria employed to select the winner of the coveted prize which some say has strayed from the procedures prescribed by Alfred Nobel, the founder of the prize, in his will. Critics have argued the Nobel Peace Prize has transformed into an award for democracy and women’s rights, in contrast with its original purpose to merely promote disarmament.
“Ragıp Zarakolu is an internationally recognized defender of the right to write and publish freely. It is essential not to confuse the efforts of those who, like Ragıp Zarakolu, have worked to bring down the barriers of censorship in Turkey with those who press political agendas through violence,” Smith-Simeonsen added.
Zarakolu was arrested Nov. 1, 2011 by order of the court over his alleged links to the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“It is incredible that Zarakolu was treated as a terrorist and imprisoned. He strived for human rights, the freedom of thought and Turkey’s democratization for his entire life,” eminent Norwegian author Eugene Schoulgin said.
February/04/2012
Armenian cemetery damaged
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
An under-construction chapel in a historic Armenian cemetery in Malatya that houses the remains of journalist Hrant Dink’s family was demolished Feb. 3 by municipal teams, causing incredulity in the Armenian community.
“If this is deemed suitable for us, what can we do? They are knocking down our place of last prayer [the chapel]. This is very unfortunate for Malatya,” Hosrof Köletavitoğlu of the Philanthropist Armenians from Malatya Association (HAYDER) told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Only a few burials a year are still made on the cemetery’s remaining 0.2 hectares, Köletavitoğlu said, adding that funerals were processed at a tent they had named the “place of last prayers.” The demolished chapel was being built through money raised by Armenians who live in Istanbul but are originally from Malatya.
“We consulted the office of the governor and the municipality to build us a small chapel in place of the tent. We asked them to build it for us. When they said they could not build it, we said, ‘Then allow us to build it.’ We started the construction as soon as we got the building permit; we were about to finish it,” Köletavitoğlu said.
“Heavy construction equipment is going over the graves of my ancestors,” Köletavitoğlu said, adding that this situation pained him. “We are not building this tiny chapel for the 50 Armenians living here. It is our fathers, our ancestors that are buried here.”
Meanwhile, officials from Malatya Municipality told the Daily News that several complaints and reports had been lodged with the municipality and that they had determined that a guard’s cabin was also being built separately to the chapel, leading them to order the demolition of the cabin.
“Our target was only to knock down the guard’s house, but a misunderstanding caused the whole construction to be knocked down,” an official said.
However, Köletavitoğlu said they had earlier declared that they were going to build a building for the guard and that a misunderstanding was impossible.
Former HAYDER head Garo Paylan agreed with Köletavitoğlu and said he was also very sad that earthmovers were operating on top of his family’s graves.
“The demolished chapel was over my grandfather’s grave,” Paylan said. “I think it was because of the ‘genocide denial motion’ in France. Because when the motion was in question, the municipality first asked us to lower the roof of the chapel even though the project had been approved before.”
Last year the Malatya Governor’s Office had discussed plans to restore a historic Armenian Church in Malatya located in the neighborhood where Dink was born, Köletavitoğlu said.
“On one hand, a tiny chapel is being knocked down; on the other hand talks on a historic church being restored are continuing. These contrasts confuse us,” he said.
February/06/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
An under-construction chapel in a historic Armenian cemetery in Malatya that houses the remains of journalist Hrant Dink’s family was demolished Feb. 3 by municipal teams, causing incredulity in the Armenian community.
“If this is deemed suitable for us, what can we do? They are knocking down our place of last prayer [the chapel]. This is very unfortunate for Malatya,” Hosrof Köletavitoğlu of the Philanthropist Armenians from Malatya Association (HAYDER) told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Only a few burials a year are still made on the cemetery’s remaining 0.2 hectares, Köletavitoğlu said, adding that funerals were processed at a tent they had named the “place of last prayers.” The demolished chapel was being built through money raised by Armenians who live in Istanbul but are originally from Malatya.
“We consulted the office of the governor and the municipality to build us a small chapel in place of the tent. We asked them to build it for us. When they said they could not build it, we said, ‘Then allow us to build it.’ We started the construction as soon as we got the building permit; we were about to finish it,” Köletavitoğlu said.
“Heavy construction equipment is going over the graves of my ancestors,” Köletavitoğlu said, adding that this situation pained him. “We are not building this tiny chapel for the 50 Armenians living here. It is our fathers, our ancestors that are buried here.”
Meanwhile, officials from Malatya Municipality told the Daily News that several complaints and reports had been lodged with the municipality and that they had determined that a guard’s cabin was also being built separately to the chapel, leading them to order the demolition of the cabin.
“Our target was only to knock down the guard’s house, but a misunderstanding caused the whole construction to be knocked down,” an official said.
However, Köletavitoğlu said they had earlier declared that they were going to build a building for the guard and that a misunderstanding was impossible.
Former HAYDER head Garo Paylan agreed with Köletavitoğlu and said he was also very sad that earthmovers were operating on top of his family’s graves.
“The demolished chapel was over my grandfather’s grave,” Paylan said. “I think it was because of the ‘genocide denial motion’ in France. Because when the motion was in question, the municipality first asked us to lower the roof of the chapel even though the project had been approved before.”
Last year the Malatya Governor’s Office had discussed plans to restore a historic Armenian Church in Malatya located in the neighborhood where Dink was born, Köletavitoğlu said.
“On one hand, a tiny chapel is being knocked down; on the other hand talks on a historic church being restored are continuing. These contrasts confuse us,” he said.
February/06/2012
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