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Saint George, European Courts And Territories Seen In The Distance

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  • Saint George, European Courts And Territories Seen In The Distance

    SAINT GEORGE, EUROPEAN COURTS AND TERRITORIES SEEN IN THE DISTANCE
    by Shahan Kandaharian

    Aztag Daily
    Dec 19 2008
    Lebanon

    The movement of demanding rights is in its peak ardour. It's not only
    the Armenian side, through its intellectual power, presenting itself as
    right demanding group in front of the international community but also
    Turkish intellectuals are disregarding passages from article 301 of
    the Turkish Penal Code and are demanding the inevitable pardon. While
    the Turkish media is giving much space to the voice raised by the
    Armenian intellectuals, the international media is widely covering
    the pardon demands of the Turkish popular movement. Internet websites
    are adding up names to the list of the thousands of intellectuals
    demanding a pardon by the hour.

    Apparently the issue has gone out of the Armenian and Turkish
    boarders. A British musician has already joined in the movement of
    demanding a pardon. The influx of others is anticipated as well.

    In this developing atmosphere, the "Hurriet" Turkish newspaper wrote
    about the European court ruling, which stated that Turkey has violated
    the property rights of Saint George Armenian church and the Armenian
    hospital in Istambul. The court has demanded from Turkey to give back
    the deeds and 600 thousand euros to Saint George Armenian church as
    well as 275 thousand euros to the Armenian hospital as compensation.

    The news is shocking. First of all of course the courage refers
    to the faction of Armenians living in Turkey, namely the boards
    of trustees of the Saint George Church and the Armenian hospital,
    who had filed the complaint at Strasbourg. Let's not forget: they
    are the representatives of a minority living under a deep state or a
    military regime protesting against the authorities, filing a complaint
    to European courts for the restoration of national rights.

    Besides the courage, the step of filing the complaint can be
    interpreted in terms of political tactical shades. The complaint
    was addressed to one of the most important departments of the
    European justice system; therefore, the choice of the court is not
    accidental. The claimant is the representation of one of Turkey's
    minorities that has placed itself in the Europeanization process. The
    complaint was made against the Turkish government itself. This fact
    without any more explanations is descriptive.

    It is highly probable that the Turkish government is strained in its
    decision to choose to carry out the verdict or to refuse to do so. The
    judiciary aspect of the obligatory nature of the verdict is not a
    necessity at this point. In its obvious efforts to be assimilated in
    the European value system, the Turkish government has a very narrow
    space of maneuvering in regard to discarding the decision of the
    corresponding European structure.

    However, the phenomenon and the reality are much more than that. This
    will open the door to the restoration of the ecclesiastic rights
    movement. A movement that will go beyond the jurisdiction of the
    national authorities of the Saint George Church and the Armenian
    hospital; it will expand and become a discussion concerning the
    Western-Armenian ecclesiastic rights. And perhaps the national
    authorities of the Saint George Church have made the right choice with
    the European court. This is the alarm of the expansion of the matter
    that starts with the Turkish Armenians, will reach Europe and back
    to Turkey. Let us not get this wrong. With the step it has taken,
    the Armenian minority doesn't have the intention to take the matter
    to its farthest point as described above. At this point the verdict
    just includes European recommendations and the initiators only have
    the intention of returning the assets to their owners. We must also
    mention that the phenomenon does not concern a faction of the Armenian
    community exceptionally. At least the Greeks are in the same situation.

    But.

    We are once again convinced that working behind the castle walls is
    one of the most effective means of stirring up national matters. We
    must have a full understanding of the delicacy, the singularities
    and the sensitivities of the efforts made by our compatriots. And
    also the effectiveness of every step taken in that all.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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