Halki Seminary discussed at Merkel-Erdoğan meet
ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The issue of Heybeliada Halki Seminary was on the agenda during talks in Ankara on Feb. 25 during which German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with various spiritual leaders, according to sources.
A source who did not want to be named told the Hürriyet Daily News that the Halki Seminary issue was opened for discussion between Erdoğan, Merkel and Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew. “The Patriarch brought the topic to the agenda. Merkel said Germany was ready to provide the necessary support with [Greek Prime Minister] Samaras, while Erdoğan said they were ready to take responsibility for the reopening of the school on the condition that Greece would take two steps. However, he did not say what these steps are,” the source said.
It is believed that Erdoğan was referring to the possible building of a mosque in Athens and the Greek government’s attitude toward Muslims, particularly regarding the needs of muftis in the northeastern Western Thrace region, where an important community of Muslim Turks live.
According to a statement issued by Turkey’s Armenians Patriarchate, Acting Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan reminded the leaders during the meeting that the Patriarchate is not a legal entity and thus has difficulties obtaining property. Archbishop Ateşyan also thanked the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government for their concern toward minority issues, the statement said.
The Halki Seminary was opened in 1844 and served as a school of theology for years. However, as a result of a 1971 Constitutional Court ruling, all private institutions of higher education either became part of state universities or were closed down. Halki’s Board of Trustees refused to become part of Istanbul University. Consequently, the seminary section of the Halki school was closed down. The high school section is still open, but no longer has students.
February/28/2013
28 Şubat 2013 Perşembe
Greeks organize civil group with new project
ISTANBUL
vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Bringing together a total of 69 Turkey-based Greek foundations, the Association for the Support of Greek Community Foundations (RUMVADER) is aiming to shed light on the problems of the Greek community living in Turkey.
RUMVADER has come up with a project titled “minority citizens-equal citizens,” which intends to provide support for all minority communities in Turkey, including Greeks. The project, which has a 90,000-Euro budget, is financed by the European Union.
Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations in the Foundations Directorate General, is among the coordination team of the project. Marina Dyrimatolou, a Greek expatriate living in Istanbul for five years who has an M.A. degree in Turkish Studies from the University of London, is the chief coordinator of the project. Dyrimatolou said the Fener Greek Patriarchate supported the project.
Social problems
“Apart from issues such as the Halki Seminary, there are other problems related to education, lack of teaching staff, and the administration and organization of the foundations. We want to convey the rights of equal citizens to the Greek community and underline the sense of these rights,” Dyrimatolou said.
For Dyrimatolou, the Greek community is Turkey leads an introverted life, and one of the association’s targets was to break this seclusion and achieve a more active and transparent Greek community. “When we opened up the subject to community members, we got very positive reactions from different sections [of the community]. But still, we know that our work won’t be easy,” she said.
When asked whether Greek society wanted to be independent from the Patriarchate, Dyrimatolou said, “the times are changing and societies are also changing. As the Greek community, we can’t stay out of those changes. We are building up our civil works by preserving our ties with the Patriarchate, our customs and traditions. This association has never intended to form an alternative to the Patriarchate.”
According to Dyrimatolou, the project will also cover Greece citizens living in Turkey, as well as the Greeks of Istanbul origin and other minorities in Turkey. Project events will be held in Istanbul, Bozcaada, Gökçeada, and Hatay, where the most Greeks are populated.
February/28/2013
ISTANBUL
vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Bringing together a total of 69 Turkey-based Greek foundations, the Association for the Support of Greek Community Foundations (RUMVADER) is aiming to shed light on the problems of the Greek community living in Turkey.
RUMVADER has come up with a project titled “minority citizens-equal citizens,” which intends to provide support for all minority communities in Turkey, including Greeks. The project, which has a 90,000-Euro budget, is financed by the European Union.
Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations in the Foundations Directorate General, is among the coordination team of the project. Marina Dyrimatolou, a Greek expatriate living in Istanbul for five years who has an M.A. degree in Turkish Studies from the University of London, is the chief coordinator of the project. Dyrimatolou said the Fener Greek Patriarchate supported the project.
Social problems
“Apart from issues such as the Halki Seminary, there are other problems related to education, lack of teaching staff, and the administration and organization of the foundations. We want to convey the rights of equal citizens to the Greek community and underline the sense of these rights,” Dyrimatolou said.
For Dyrimatolou, the Greek community is Turkey leads an introverted life, and one of the association’s targets was to break this seclusion and achieve a more active and transparent Greek community. “When we opened up the subject to community members, we got very positive reactions from different sections [of the community]. But still, we know that our work won’t be easy,” she said.
When asked whether Greek society wanted to be independent from the Patriarchate, Dyrimatolou said, “the times are changing and societies are also changing. As the Greek community, we can’t stay out of those changes. We are building up our civil works by preserving our ties with the Patriarchate, our customs and traditions. This association has never intended to form an alternative to the Patriarchate.”
According to Dyrimatolou, the project will also cover Greece citizens living in Turkey, as well as the Greeks of Istanbul origin and other minorities in Turkey. Project events will be held in Istanbul, Bozcaada, Gökçeada, and Hatay, where the most Greeks are populated.
February/28/2013
27 Şubat 2013 Çarşamba
POLITICS > Protestants and Mor Gabriel on agenda at Merkel’s visit
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Mor Gabriel Monastery and the Malatya Zirve Publishing House Massacre were among the main agenda topics during talks in Ankara on Feb. 25, in which German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with various spiritual leaders.
Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew, Acting Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva, Syriac Mor Gabriel Monastery’s Metropolitan Archbishop Samuel Aktaş, the Turkish Syriac Catholic Deputy Patriarch Chorepiscopus Yusuf Sağ, and Ümit Şahin, Protestant Churches Association General Secretary and Coordinator of the Association’s Committee on Religious Freedom, were present in the meeting, which was held in the Official Residence of the Prime Ministry.
The issue of the historic Mor Gabriel Monastery in the Midyat district of the southeastern province of Mardin, which was given to the treasury despite several appeals from the Syriac Church, was on the agenda. A source who did not want to be named also told the Hürriyet Daily News that the problems regarding Mor Gabriel were the focus of the talks.
Victim’s wife asks for citizenship
“We at least saw that the state values and accepts us on legitimate grounds. We hope to be a part of the dialogue process from now on,” Ümit Şahin said.
Şahin also said they mostly focused on the Zirve massacre case and the problems Suzanna Geske – the wife of massacre victim Tillman Geske – faced regarding her Turkish citizenship, excluding religion boxes on ID cards, and various issues concerning the church building. “Geske’s application for Turkish citizenship was rejected, and she appealed it for the second time. The Prime Minister told his advisors to deal with the matter,” Şahin said. Three missionaries – German citizen Tillman Geske and two Turks, Necati Aydın and Uğur Yüksel – were tied up and tortured before their throats were slit at the Zirve Publishing House, a Christian publisher in the eastern province of Malatya, on April 18, 2007.
Syriac group calls on HRW to enlighten killings
A Brussel-based Syriac rights group, known as the European Syriac Union (ESU), has sent a report regarding 50 Syriacs killed in Turkey between 1987 and 1998 during clashes between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish security forces to the Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“Well-known Syriac personalities, among them doctors, a former district mayor and businessmen were killed by unknown assailants as Syriac villages were damaged or fully evacuated,” David Vergili, a spokesman for the ESU, told the Hürriyet Daily News.
The ESU has called on the HRW to investigate the killings of those Syriacs and enact pressure on state authorities in order to have these incidents resolved, the report titled “The Situation of the Syriacs in Turkey-2012” said.
“Following the intensification of conflict in the region, Syriac people had become easy target for the shadowy groups. Due to lack of juridical and security mechanisms, deep groups with strong ties had been developed [in the region] and established a region of terror. Syriac people, without any reason, were victim of killings,” said Vergili, recalling that around 50 Syriacs were killed in those days.
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Mor Gabriel Monastery and the Malatya Zirve Publishing House Massacre were among the main agenda topics during talks in Ankara on Feb. 25, in which German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with various spiritual leaders.
Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew, Acting Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva, Syriac Mor Gabriel Monastery’s Metropolitan Archbishop Samuel Aktaş, the Turkish Syriac Catholic Deputy Patriarch Chorepiscopus Yusuf Sağ, and Ümit Şahin, Protestant Churches Association General Secretary and Coordinator of the Association’s Committee on Religious Freedom, were present in the meeting, which was held in the Official Residence of the Prime Ministry.
The issue of the historic Mor Gabriel Monastery in the Midyat district of the southeastern province of Mardin, which was given to the treasury despite several appeals from the Syriac Church, was on the agenda. A source who did not want to be named also told the Hürriyet Daily News that the problems regarding Mor Gabriel were the focus of the talks.
Victim’s wife asks for citizenship
“We at least saw that the state values and accepts us on legitimate grounds. We hope to be a part of the dialogue process from now on,” Ümit Şahin said.
Şahin also said they mostly focused on the Zirve massacre case and the problems Suzanna Geske – the wife of massacre victim Tillman Geske – faced regarding her Turkish citizenship, excluding religion boxes on ID cards, and various issues concerning the church building. “Geske’s application for Turkish citizenship was rejected, and she appealed it for the second time. The Prime Minister told his advisors to deal with the matter,” Şahin said. Three missionaries – German citizen Tillman Geske and two Turks, Necati Aydın and Uğur Yüksel – were tied up and tortured before their throats were slit at the Zirve Publishing House, a Christian publisher in the eastern province of Malatya, on April 18, 2007.
Syriac group calls on HRW to enlighten killings
A Brussel-based Syriac rights group, known as the European Syriac Union (ESU), has sent a report regarding 50 Syriacs killed in Turkey between 1987 and 1998 during clashes between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish security forces to the Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“Well-known Syriac personalities, among them doctors, a former district mayor and businessmen were killed by unknown assailants as Syriac villages were damaged or fully evacuated,” David Vergili, a spokesman for the ESU, told the Hürriyet Daily News.
The ESU has called on the HRW to investigate the killings of those Syriacs and enact pressure on state authorities in order to have these incidents resolved, the report titled “The Situation of the Syriacs in Turkey-2012” said.
“Following the intensification of conflict in the region, Syriac people had become easy target for the shadowy groups. Due to lack of juridical and security mechanisms, deep groups with strong ties had been developed [in the region] and established a region of terror. Syriac people, without any reason, were victim of killings,” said Vergili, recalling that around 50 Syriacs were killed in those days.
22 Şubat 2013 Cuma
Turkey losing its ethnic tongues, report shows
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
As the world celebrates International Mother Language Day, an updated UNESCO report shows that 15 out of 34 ethnic languages spoken in Turkey are in danger of dying out, while three others have become extinct already.
The Anatolia Research and Culture Association (AKA-DER), a body that is active in promoting local cultures, held a demonstration in Istanbul yesterday to attract attention to this fact.
“As the people living on this soil, we have organized this rally to make our mother tongues, which are at risk of dying, live on, to say that we do exist and to call on everyone to lay a claim to their mother languages against policies to destroy them,” said Altan Açıkdilli about the event.
Açıkdilli, who is also among the pioneers of ethnic language courses, said nation-state policies were to blame for the loss of dozens of languages once spoken in the country.
“In the 1930s and 1940s we could not speak our languages due to ‘Speak in Turkish, Citizen’ campaigns backed by the state and one language-one culture policies,” he told the Hürriyet Daily News.
UNESCO ranks endangered local languages in five categories from “vulnerable” to “extinct.”
Ubykh, Masho and Cappadocian Greek have already become extinct, the body says. Hervetin is in critical danger.
School education
Mother tongue education, a recent improvement at Turkish schools, should be secured well, Açıkdilli also said. “For mother tongue education to be successful we should immediately withdraw from racist, monotype policies,” he said.
Despite the efforts by the association, it is hard to learn mother tongues at schools, Açıkdilli said.
“A mother language is taught in the environment that a kid lives in, with lullabies and fairytales, but families do not teach mother languages to their children.”
February/22/2013
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
As the world celebrates International Mother Language Day, an updated UNESCO report shows that 15 out of 34 ethnic languages spoken in Turkey are in danger of dying out, while three others have become extinct already.
The Anatolia Research and Culture Association (AKA-DER), a body that is active in promoting local cultures, held a demonstration in Istanbul yesterday to attract attention to this fact.
“As the people living on this soil, we have organized this rally to make our mother tongues, which are at risk of dying, live on, to say that we do exist and to call on everyone to lay a claim to their mother languages against policies to destroy them,” said Altan Açıkdilli about the event.
Açıkdilli, who is also among the pioneers of ethnic language courses, said nation-state policies were to blame for the loss of dozens of languages once spoken in the country.
“In the 1930s and 1940s we could not speak our languages due to ‘Speak in Turkish, Citizen’ campaigns backed by the state and one language-one culture policies,” he told the Hürriyet Daily News.
UNESCO ranks endangered local languages in five categories from “vulnerable” to “extinct.”
Ubykh, Masho and Cappadocian Greek have already become extinct, the body says. Hervetin is in critical danger.
School education
Mother tongue education, a recent improvement at Turkish schools, should be secured well, Açıkdilli also said. “For mother tongue education to be successful we should immediately withdraw from racist, monotype policies,” he said.
Despite the efforts by the association, it is hard to learn mother tongues at schools, Açıkdilli said.
“A mother language is taught in the environment that a kid lives in, with lullabies and fairytales, but families do not teach mother languages to their children.”
February/22/2013
21 Şubat 2013 Perşembe
Blue Book on Armenian issue re-sent to Turkish deputies
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
A group of intellectuals have re-sent copies of Lord James Bryce and Arnold Toynbee’s “Blue Book,” which relates the Ottoman-era Armenian unrest in Turkey in 1915, to the Turkish Parliament’s 550 lawmakers following a failed attempt to do so four years ago.
The group, which is sending the book to the deputies via the state-controlled postal service PTT, is hoping to draw attention to freedom of speech. “A ban on reading has reached schools,” said Ragıp Zaraoklu, a publisher, at an Istanbul press meeting on the evening of Feb. 19. Zarakolu made the comments in relation to several recent attempts to bar some world classics and local works of literature from schools’ reading lists.
Şükrü Elekdağ, then-Parliamentary Speaker Köksal Toptan prevented deliveries of the books four years ago when they were sent by cargo, Zarakolu said.
“In a bid to point at a rising ban on books and [overcome what happened four years ago], we find it meaningful to start efforts from this point,” he said.
If the deputies cannot receive the books from the PTT, the group plans to distribute them directly at the gate of the Parliament building.
The book was re-printed by the Gomidas Institute four years ago upon the efforts of historian Ara Sarafyan, who was also present at the Feb. 19 meeting.
Sociologist İsmail Beşikçi said the archives in Turkey would never be trustable if the “denialist” policies on the issue continued.
"The Blue Book," also known as “The treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire” is a compilation of statements by eyewitnesses from other countries including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland during 1915-1916.
The book has been criticized as British wartime propaganda to build up sentiment against the Central Powers by some Western academics and Turkish political parties.
February/20/2013
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
A group of intellectuals have re-sent copies of Lord James Bryce and Arnold Toynbee’s “Blue Book,” which relates the Ottoman-era Armenian unrest in Turkey in 1915, to the Turkish Parliament’s 550 lawmakers following a failed attempt to do so four years ago.
The group, which is sending the book to the deputies via the state-controlled postal service PTT, is hoping to draw attention to freedom of speech. “A ban on reading has reached schools,” said Ragıp Zaraoklu, a publisher, at an Istanbul press meeting on the evening of Feb. 19. Zarakolu made the comments in relation to several recent attempts to bar some world classics and local works of literature from schools’ reading lists.
Şükrü Elekdağ, then-Parliamentary Speaker Köksal Toptan prevented deliveries of the books four years ago when they were sent by cargo, Zarakolu said.
“In a bid to point at a rising ban on books and [overcome what happened four years ago], we find it meaningful to start efforts from this point,” he said.
If the deputies cannot receive the books from the PTT, the group plans to distribute them directly at the gate of the Parliament building.
The book was re-printed by the Gomidas Institute four years ago upon the efforts of historian Ara Sarafyan, who was also present at the Feb. 19 meeting.
Sociologist İsmail Beşikçi said the archives in Turkey would never be trustable if the “denialist” policies on the issue continued.
"The Blue Book," also known as “The treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire” is a compilation of statements by eyewitnesses from other countries including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland during 1915-1916.
The book has been criticized as British wartime propaganda to build up sentiment against the Central Powers by some Western academics and Turkish political parties.
February/20/2013
19 Şubat 2013 Salı
President Gül meets Syriac Church leader
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
President Abdullah Gül welcomed Patriarchal Vicar of the Syriac Orthodox Church Mor Filiksinos Yusuf Çetin on Feb. 18 along with an accompanying delegation in Ankara.
Sait Susin, president of the Meryem Ana Church Foundation, who was among the delegation, told the Hürriyet Daily News that it was a “positive meeting,” and that the Mor Gabriel Monastery was among the main issues spoken about in the meeting.
“We spoke about Mor Gabriel and other areas that were seen ‘occupied’ in Turabidin [around the southeastern province of Mardin and Midyat],” Susin said, referring to the monastery, an area that was given to the treasury despite several appeals from the Syriac Church.
“The president’s approach to our demands was very positive,” Susin acknowledged. “He told us those issues were gradually being solved with steps of democratization.”
Susin added that they addressed their concerns about “negative remarks” on Syriacs in 10th-grade school books.
Turkey’s EU Minister Egemen Bağış also attended the meeting, which was closed to the press.
February/20/2013
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
President Abdullah Gül welcomed Patriarchal Vicar of the Syriac Orthodox Church Mor Filiksinos Yusuf Çetin on Feb. 18 along with an accompanying delegation in Ankara.
Sait Susin, president of the Meryem Ana Church Foundation, who was among the delegation, told the Hürriyet Daily News that it was a “positive meeting,” and that the Mor Gabriel Monastery was among the main issues spoken about in the meeting.
“We spoke about Mor Gabriel and other areas that were seen ‘occupied’ in Turabidin [around the southeastern province of Mardin and Midyat],” Susin said, referring to the monastery, an area that was given to the treasury despite several appeals from the Syriac Church.
“The president’s approach to our demands was very positive,” Susin acknowledged. “He told us those issues were gradually being solved with steps of democratization.”
Susin added that they addressed their concerns about “negative remarks” on Syriacs in 10th-grade school books.
Turkey’s EU Minister Egemen Bağış also attended the meeting, which was closed to the press.
February/20/2013
Samatya attacks ‘not nationalist crimes’
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
There is “little chance” that the recent attacks on elderly Armenian women are motivated by nationalism, Fatih Mayor Mustafa Demir has said.
“We need to be prudent when speaking about those attacks. I would like to wait before I speak,” Demir told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.
“In all those attacks there has been theft as well, so it seems there is little chance of it being nationalist crimes if you look into the details.”
Samatya, which has seen several attacks on elderly Armenian women in recent months, is an Istanbul neighborhood located in the Fatih district.
Demir, however, said he sympathized with a rally staged earlier this month protesting the attacks. “I understand those rallies to draw attention to the incidents. There is a reflex in the community after the murders of Priest [Andrea] Santoro, Hrant Dink or Zirve,” Demir said, referring to three separate murders of minorities or non-Muslims in Turkey. “But the consciousness has been really high since the Dink murder. I think those [recent] attacks should not be held in the same regard as what has happened in the past.”
On Dec. 28, 2012, Marissa Küçük was stabbed seven times before her throat was slit in her home in Samatya. Two separate attacks were carried out in the past month against elderly Armenian women in the Samatya and Bakırköy districts as well. One of the women, 87-year-old Turfanda Aşık, lost an eye, while the other woman was robbed and severely injured. Most recently, 84-year-old Sultan Akyar was attacked in Samatya, after which she required eye surgery.
Demir added that the municipality is in contact with the police department, which is searching for one suspect who is allegedly responsible for four attacks.
The mayor added that Armenians were an important part of Samatya, adding that he hoped that “this richness would not be lost.”
February/19/2013
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
There is “little chance” that the recent attacks on elderly Armenian women are motivated by nationalism, Fatih Mayor Mustafa Demir has said.
“We need to be prudent when speaking about those attacks. I would like to wait before I speak,” Demir told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.
“In all those attacks there has been theft as well, so it seems there is little chance of it being nationalist crimes if you look into the details.”
Samatya, which has seen several attacks on elderly Armenian women in recent months, is an Istanbul neighborhood located in the Fatih district.
Demir, however, said he sympathized with a rally staged earlier this month protesting the attacks. “I understand those rallies to draw attention to the incidents. There is a reflex in the community after the murders of Priest [Andrea] Santoro, Hrant Dink or Zirve,” Demir said, referring to three separate murders of minorities or non-Muslims in Turkey. “But the consciousness has been really high since the Dink murder. I think those [recent] attacks should not be held in the same regard as what has happened in the past.”
On Dec. 28, 2012, Marissa Küçük was stabbed seven times before her throat was slit in her home in Samatya. Two separate attacks were carried out in the past month against elderly Armenian women in the Samatya and Bakırköy districts as well. One of the women, 87-year-old Turfanda Aşık, lost an eye, while the other woman was robbed and severely injured. Most recently, 84-year-old Sultan Akyar was attacked in Samatya, after which she required eye surgery.
Demir added that the municipality is in contact with the police department, which is searching for one suspect who is allegedly responsible for four attacks.
The mayor added that Armenians were an important part of Samatya, adding that he hoped that “this richness would not be lost.”
February/19/2013
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