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Sunday's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 21 2008
Event of the Week
Intellectuals' campaign of apology rouses heated debates
An apology campaign launched by three intellectuals -- Baskın
Oran, Cengiz Aktar and Ali BayramoÄ?lu -- for the Ottoman
killings of Armenians in 1915, has dominated the national agenda in
Turkey throughout the past week, with many exchanging harsh statements
in favor or against the campaign.
The text of the intellectuals' apology, which people were able to sign
via a Web site, said: `My conscience does not accept the insensitivity
showed to and the denial of the great catastrophe that Ottoman
Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for
my part, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian
brothers. I apologize to them.'
On Monday, a group of retired Turkish ambassadors signed a
declaration urging the intellectuals `not to be a part of an insidious
plan against Turkish national interests.' The group of retired
diplomats, which includes former Foreign Ministry Undersecretaries
Korkmaz Haktanır, Å?ükrü ElekdaÄ? and
Onur Ã-ymen, in a counter-declaration stressed that the move was a
`disrespectful act toward Turkish history and its martyrs.' State
officials also made statements criticizing the campaign.
When asked on Wednesday about the campaign, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an claimed that those who had committed crimes
could apologize but that the state and the nation did not have to take
part in the apology. `We cannot accept this just because some writers
have launched a campaign,' ErdoÄ?an said, continuing: `I don't
accept such a campaign, I don't support this campaign, and I am not
taking part in it. We did not any commit crimes, so we don't need to
apologize.' When asked about his opinion of the campaign on the same
day, President Abdullah Gül said Turkey is a country in which
the freedom of expression is alive and well.
On Friday, Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan said the
campaign was an unjust act against Turkey. `Those signing it first
condemn Turkey and later apologize for this condemnation,' he said,
adding that Turkish diplomats have, in the past, been killed by
Armenian terrorist organizations. `Who will apologize for their
deaths? This is why I think it would be better to not have this
campaign,' he said. Brig. Gen. Metin Gürak, the head of the
General Staff's communications department, on Friday in a regular
press briefing, described the campaign as `definitely not right.'
`Apologizing is not only wrong, it is behavior that can produce
harmful results,' he said in response to a question about the
campaign.
Dec. 13
A pileup killed four and wounded three in Ã`mraniye when a driver
tried to avoid hitting a wild pig that ran onto the road. Witnesses
said a pack of wild pigs scurried across the road, causing the
collision. The road was temporarily closed while teams worked to clear
the road and remove the vehicles.
A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) had
talks with Massoud Barzani, the head of the regional Kurdish
administration in northern Iraq. The meeting took place at Barzani's
residence in the resort town of Salahaddin, the Web site of the
Peyamner news agency, affiliated with Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP), reported.
Dec. 14
As of Nov. 1, there were 101,100 convicts and detainees in Turkish
prisons and detention centers, according to information from the
Justice Ministry's General Directorate of Prisons and Detention
Houses. The figure represented the highest number of detainees in the
past 39 years.
In the past three days, seven fires occurred in mosques in
Ä°stanbul, with five of them occurring on the same day. Police
and firefighters said the cause of the fires may have been faulty
electrical wiring; however, arson has not been ruled out.
Dec. 15
A retired general considered one of the most important suspects in the
trial of Ergenekon, a clandestine network with links to
behind-the-scenes intelligence units whose members are charged with
plotting to overthrow the government, refused to answer questions
directed at him by the prosecution and co-plaintiff lawyers at the
Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court in the 26th hearing of the
trial, which started in late October. Veli Küçük,
a retired brigadier general believed by the prosecution to be a
higher-up in the Ergenekon organization, denied all accusations
against him, including the prosecution's claim that he was the founder
of a clandestine, unofficial and largely illegitimate intelligence
unit in the gendarmerie, known to the public as JÄ°TEM.
More than 130 people were killed and almost 700 were injured in
traffic accidents during the nine-day national holiday to mark the
Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice).
Dec. 16
Retired Brig. Gen. Veli Küçük, considered one of
the most important suspects in the trial against Ergenekon, a
clandestine criminal network charged with plotting to overthrow the
government, refused to answer questions directed at him on the second
day of his cross examination at the Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal
Court in the 27th hearing of the trial, which started in late October
in the Ä°stanbul township of Silivri.
The Supreme Court of Appeals overruled a local court's decision
regarding a shooting that left a senior judge of the Council of State
dead in 2006 and demanded that links between the shooting and
Ergenekon, a criminal network accused of attempting to overthrow the
government, be investigated. The 9th Chamber of the Supreme Court of
Appeals voted unanimously against the Council of State ruling handed
down by the Ankara 11th Higher Criminal Court. The high court ordered
that the Council of State shooting and a hand grenade attack at a
newspaper be merged and investigated in light of a suggested link
established between them and the Ergenekon network.
President Abdullah Gül postponed a long-planned visit to
neighboring Iraq due to a recurring ear ailment, his office said.
A group of retired Turkish ambassadors signed a declaration urging
intellectuals Baskın Oran, Cengiz Aktar and Ali
BayramoÄ?lu, who had recently launched a campaign to apologize
for the Ottoman killings of Armenians in 1915, `not to be a part of an
insidious plan against Turkish national interests.' Some Turkish
intellectuals had recently begun to collect signatures for a statement
that contained a personal apology for the events of 1915, on which the
Armenian claims of genocide are based. But the group of retired
diplomats, which includes former Foreign Ministry undersecretaries
Korkmaz Haktanır, Å?ükrü ElekdaÄ? and
Onur Ã-ymen, in a counter-declaration stressed that the move was a
`disrespectful act toward Turkish history and its martyrs.'
During 2009 budget talks in Parliament, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an directed harsh criticism at Democratic Society Party
(DTP) officials, accusing them of resurrecting Nazism in
Turkey. Tension was high when DTP officials claimed the governing
party had a `chauvinist mindset.' ErdoÄ?an, in response, lashed
out at the pro-Kurdish party, saying: `Threats will bring no good to
you. It is you who has a chauvinist mindset. You have resurrected
Nazism in this country.'
Dec. 17
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an objected to a campaign initiated by a
group of intellectuals to apologize for the killings of Armenians at
the hands of Ottomans during World War I, saying the campaign was
wrong and was `messing things up.' When asked about the campaign,
ErdoÄ?an claimed that those who committed crimes should
apologize but that the state and the nation have no such problem.
The deputy head of the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat)
dismissed criticism of the recent addition of 6 million new names to
the general voter database in the run-up to local elections. Speaking
with Today's Zaman, TurkStat Deputy Chairman Ã-mer Toprak said
allegations suggesting that 6 million voters were added to the AKS
address-based registration database in a single night were
unfounded. `We did not register anyone as a voter who we could not
contact,' Toprak said, adding that the number of voters in Turkey has
remained far below the population over 18 years of age in past
elections. `For the first time there are as many voters as there
should be in line with the population aged 18 and above.'
A leading Armenian diaspora organization based in the United States
welcomed a public apology by a group of Turkish intellectuals and
academics for the killings of Anatolian Armenians during World War I,
suggesting that it represents a step toward recognition of Armenian
claims that the Ottoman-era killings constituted `genocide.' `An
irreversible trend has commenced in Turkey,' Bryan Ardouny, executive
director of the Washington-based Armenian Assembly of America, was
quoted as saying in a statement posted on the organization's Web site.
After exchanging harsh words and directing strong accusations at one
another for days, Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek and
Republican People's Party (CHP) parliamentary group deputy chairman
Kemal KılıçdaroÄ ?l u debated for a second
time on a private television station. The two politicians were
supposed to settle an argument over claims of corruption in a debate
broadcast live on Star TV and moderated by journalist UÄ?ur
Dündar. The debate, however, fell short of revealing the truth,
with neither side admitting to allegations put forward by the other or
showing sound evidence to prove their accusations.
Dec. 18
Turkey's e-State Portal project, which makes it possible to complete a
wide range of bureaucratic procedures for various state agencies
online with minimal effort, was launched in the Ministry of Education
Assembly Hall in Ankara. Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister
ErdoÄ?an said, `The primary aim of the e-State Portal project,
which paves the way for the transition to an information society, is
minimizing bureaucracy and ensuring that our state offers fast and
quality service to citizens and businesses.'
Eighteen people were taken into custody in Ä°stanbul by teams
from the Ä°stanbul Counterterrorism and Intelligence Directorate
on charges of preparing to launch terrorist attacks.
Turkey's budget deficit reached YTL 8.3 billion in the first 11 months
of the year with a deficit of YTL 3.4 billion for November, the
Finance Ministry announced. The latest deficit figures indicate that,
despite these high numbers, this year's deficit still remains below
last year's levels. In the first 11 months of 2007 the budget deficit
hit YTL 9.7 billion. This year's numbers represent a 14.8 percent
drop.
A popular Turkish singer was acquitted of charges against her for
having made anti-military remarks during a TV program earlier this
year. A Bakırköy court ruled on that Bülent Ersoy
be acquitted of charges of trying to turn the public against
obligatory military service. The court pointed to freedom of speech as
the rationale for the ruling.
Dec. 19
Turkey's slow progress toward eventual European Union membership took
a small step forward as it opened negotiations with the 27-country
bloc in two more areas of reforms needed for entry. With the opening
of the chapters on media reform and the free movement of capital, 10
of the total 35 chapters have been opened. Ankara has provisionally
completed negotiations on only one chapter.
Thirty-eight individuals suspected of membership in al-Qaeda were
detained in multiple police operations in three Turkish provinces,
Ä°stanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah announced.
21 December 2008, Sunday
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Dec 21 2008
Event of the Week
Intellectuals' campaign of apology rouses heated debates
An apology campaign launched by three intellectuals -- Baskın
Oran, Cengiz Aktar and Ali BayramoÄ?lu -- for the Ottoman
killings of Armenians in 1915, has dominated the national agenda in
Turkey throughout the past week, with many exchanging harsh statements
in favor or against the campaign.
The text of the intellectuals' apology, which people were able to sign
via a Web site, said: `My conscience does not accept the insensitivity
showed to and the denial of the great catastrophe that Ottoman
Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for
my part, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian
brothers. I apologize to them.'
On Monday, a group of retired Turkish ambassadors signed a
declaration urging the intellectuals `not to be a part of an insidious
plan against Turkish national interests.' The group of retired
diplomats, which includes former Foreign Ministry Undersecretaries
Korkmaz Haktanır, Å?ükrü ElekdaÄ? and
Onur Ã-ymen, in a counter-declaration stressed that the move was a
`disrespectful act toward Turkish history and its martyrs.' State
officials also made statements criticizing the campaign.
When asked on Wednesday about the campaign, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an claimed that those who had committed crimes
could apologize but that the state and the nation did not have to take
part in the apology. `We cannot accept this just because some writers
have launched a campaign,' ErdoÄ?an said, continuing: `I don't
accept such a campaign, I don't support this campaign, and I am not
taking part in it. We did not any commit crimes, so we don't need to
apologize.' When asked about his opinion of the campaign on the same
day, President Abdullah Gül said Turkey is a country in which
the freedom of expression is alive and well.
On Friday, Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan said the
campaign was an unjust act against Turkey. `Those signing it first
condemn Turkey and later apologize for this condemnation,' he said,
adding that Turkish diplomats have, in the past, been killed by
Armenian terrorist organizations. `Who will apologize for their
deaths? This is why I think it would be better to not have this
campaign,' he said. Brig. Gen. Metin Gürak, the head of the
General Staff's communications department, on Friday in a regular
press briefing, described the campaign as `definitely not right.'
`Apologizing is not only wrong, it is behavior that can produce
harmful results,' he said in response to a question about the
campaign.
Dec. 13
A pileup killed four and wounded three in Ã`mraniye when a driver
tried to avoid hitting a wild pig that ran onto the road. Witnesses
said a pack of wild pigs scurried across the road, causing the
collision. The road was temporarily closed while teams worked to clear
the road and remove the vehicles.
A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) had
talks with Massoud Barzani, the head of the regional Kurdish
administration in northern Iraq. The meeting took place at Barzani's
residence in the resort town of Salahaddin, the Web site of the
Peyamner news agency, affiliated with Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP), reported.
Dec. 14
As of Nov. 1, there were 101,100 convicts and detainees in Turkish
prisons and detention centers, according to information from the
Justice Ministry's General Directorate of Prisons and Detention
Houses. The figure represented the highest number of detainees in the
past 39 years.
In the past three days, seven fires occurred in mosques in
Ä°stanbul, with five of them occurring on the same day. Police
and firefighters said the cause of the fires may have been faulty
electrical wiring; however, arson has not been ruled out.
Dec. 15
A retired general considered one of the most important suspects in the
trial of Ergenekon, a clandestine network with links to
behind-the-scenes intelligence units whose members are charged with
plotting to overthrow the government, refused to answer questions
directed at him by the prosecution and co-plaintiff lawyers at the
Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court in the 26th hearing of the
trial, which started in late October. Veli Küçük,
a retired brigadier general believed by the prosecution to be a
higher-up in the Ergenekon organization, denied all accusations
against him, including the prosecution's claim that he was the founder
of a clandestine, unofficial and largely illegitimate intelligence
unit in the gendarmerie, known to the public as JÄ°TEM.
More than 130 people were killed and almost 700 were injured in
traffic accidents during the nine-day national holiday to mark the
Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice).
Dec. 16
Retired Brig. Gen. Veli Küçük, considered one of
the most important suspects in the trial against Ergenekon, a
clandestine criminal network charged with plotting to overthrow the
government, refused to answer questions directed at him on the second
day of his cross examination at the Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal
Court in the 27th hearing of the trial, which started in late October
in the Ä°stanbul township of Silivri.
The Supreme Court of Appeals overruled a local court's decision
regarding a shooting that left a senior judge of the Council of State
dead in 2006 and demanded that links between the shooting and
Ergenekon, a criminal network accused of attempting to overthrow the
government, be investigated. The 9th Chamber of the Supreme Court of
Appeals voted unanimously against the Council of State ruling handed
down by the Ankara 11th Higher Criminal Court. The high court ordered
that the Council of State shooting and a hand grenade attack at a
newspaper be merged and investigated in light of a suggested link
established between them and the Ergenekon network.
President Abdullah Gül postponed a long-planned visit to
neighboring Iraq due to a recurring ear ailment, his office said.
A group of retired Turkish ambassadors signed a declaration urging
intellectuals Baskın Oran, Cengiz Aktar and Ali
BayramoÄ?lu, who had recently launched a campaign to apologize
for the Ottoman killings of Armenians in 1915, `not to be a part of an
insidious plan against Turkish national interests.' Some Turkish
intellectuals had recently begun to collect signatures for a statement
that contained a personal apology for the events of 1915, on which the
Armenian claims of genocide are based. But the group of retired
diplomats, which includes former Foreign Ministry undersecretaries
Korkmaz Haktanır, Å?ükrü ElekdaÄ? and
Onur Ã-ymen, in a counter-declaration stressed that the move was a
`disrespectful act toward Turkish history and its martyrs.'
During 2009 budget talks in Parliament, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an directed harsh criticism at Democratic Society Party
(DTP) officials, accusing them of resurrecting Nazism in
Turkey. Tension was high when DTP officials claimed the governing
party had a `chauvinist mindset.' ErdoÄ?an, in response, lashed
out at the pro-Kurdish party, saying: `Threats will bring no good to
you. It is you who has a chauvinist mindset. You have resurrected
Nazism in this country.'
Dec. 17
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an objected to a campaign initiated by a
group of intellectuals to apologize for the killings of Armenians at
the hands of Ottomans during World War I, saying the campaign was
wrong and was `messing things up.' When asked about the campaign,
ErdoÄ?an claimed that those who committed crimes should
apologize but that the state and the nation have no such problem.
The deputy head of the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat)
dismissed criticism of the recent addition of 6 million new names to
the general voter database in the run-up to local elections. Speaking
with Today's Zaman, TurkStat Deputy Chairman Ã-mer Toprak said
allegations suggesting that 6 million voters were added to the AKS
address-based registration database in a single night were
unfounded. `We did not register anyone as a voter who we could not
contact,' Toprak said, adding that the number of voters in Turkey has
remained far below the population over 18 years of age in past
elections. `For the first time there are as many voters as there
should be in line with the population aged 18 and above.'
A leading Armenian diaspora organization based in the United States
welcomed a public apology by a group of Turkish intellectuals and
academics for the killings of Anatolian Armenians during World War I,
suggesting that it represents a step toward recognition of Armenian
claims that the Ottoman-era killings constituted `genocide.' `An
irreversible trend has commenced in Turkey,' Bryan Ardouny, executive
director of the Washington-based Armenian Assembly of America, was
quoted as saying in a statement posted on the organization's Web site.
After exchanging harsh words and directing strong accusations at one
another for days, Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek and
Republican People's Party (CHP) parliamentary group deputy chairman
Kemal KılıçdaroÄ ?l u debated for a second
time on a private television station. The two politicians were
supposed to settle an argument over claims of corruption in a debate
broadcast live on Star TV and moderated by journalist UÄ?ur
Dündar. The debate, however, fell short of revealing the truth,
with neither side admitting to allegations put forward by the other or
showing sound evidence to prove their accusations.
Dec. 18
Turkey's e-State Portal project, which makes it possible to complete a
wide range of bureaucratic procedures for various state agencies
online with minimal effort, was launched in the Ministry of Education
Assembly Hall in Ankara. Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister
ErdoÄ?an said, `The primary aim of the e-State Portal project,
which paves the way for the transition to an information society, is
minimizing bureaucracy and ensuring that our state offers fast and
quality service to citizens and businesses.'
Eighteen people were taken into custody in Ä°stanbul by teams
from the Ä°stanbul Counterterrorism and Intelligence Directorate
on charges of preparing to launch terrorist attacks.
Turkey's budget deficit reached YTL 8.3 billion in the first 11 months
of the year with a deficit of YTL 3.4 billion for November, the
Finance Ministry announced. The latest deficit figures indicate that,
despite these high numbers, this year's deficit still remains below
last year's levels. In the first 11 months of 2007 the budget deficit
hit YTL 9.7 billion. This year's numbers represent a 14.8 percent
drop.
A popular Turkish singer was acquitted of charges against her for
having made anti-military remarks during a TV program earlier this
year. A Bakırköy court ruled on that Bülent Ersoy
be acquitted of charges of trying to turn the public against
obligatory military service. The court pointed to freedom of speech as
the rationale for the ruling.
Dec. 19
Turkey's slow progress toward eventual European Union membership took
a small step forward as it opened negotiations with the 27-country
bloc in two more areas of reforms needed for entry. With the opening
of the chapters on media reform and the free movement of capital, 10
of the total 35 chapters have been opened. Ankara has provisionally
completed negotiations on only one chapter.
Thirty-eight individuals suspected of membership in al-Qaeda were
detained in multiple police operations in three Turkish provinces,
Ä°stanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah announced.
21 December 2008, Sunday
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress