Erdogan Orders Schools to Teach Muslim Discovery of Americas ?

[MosJan]

did ErdoGun order the shutting on Russian Ambassador

https://youtu.be/y5XLyojnnz0

[Yervant1]

Armenian Embassy in Canada hits back at Turkish Ambassador

11:03, 23 Dec 2016

Siranush Ghazanchyan

http://www.armradio.am/en/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Armenian-Embassy-in-Canada-620x300.jpg

In response to Turkish Ambassador to Canada Selcuk Unal’s comment on terrorist attacks in Canada in the 1980’s by Canadians of Armenian origin, made during his interview with CBS News about the assassination of Russian Ambassador in Ankara on December 19th, 2016.

We condemn any terrorist attack, carried out by anybody, in any location. We believe that by diverting attention from this tragedy and talking about their own assassinated diplomats, the Turkish Ambassador is attempting to diminish the horror of what happened in Ankara, and that is abhorrent.

We would also like to reaffirm our condemnation of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottomans during the Armenian Genocide.

We advise the Turkish Ambassador and the relevant Turkish authorities to focus on the investigation of the Russian Ambassador’s assassination, to focus on improving the security situation in Turkey, and not to distract the world from their own violence-prone policies.

http://www.armradio.am/en/2016/12/23/armenian-embassy-in-canada-hits-back-at-turkish-ambassador/

[Yervant1]

Turkey: Historic Urfa Church Given to Islamic School Foundation

By Uzay Bulut on December 23, 2016 in Special Reports // 0 Comments //

Yet another example of intolerance has taken place in the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa (Urfa)—the historic Assyrian Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the city is now being used as a municipality-owned cultural center and the foundation of the Islamic school of Harran University.

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The interior of the historic Assyrian Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (Photo: urfa63.net)

According to sources, the church was used actively until 1924, when Assyrians (Syriac Christians) left for Aleppo.

Locals call the church “the Regie Church”, because Tekel, the Turkish tobacco and alcoholic beverage company, had once used it as a tobacco factory. This tobacco factory had been known as the Regie Tobacco Company in Ottoman times, and was nationalized in 1925.

It was also used as a grape storehouse for decades. After its restoration in 1998, it hosted a carpet-making class. In 2002, it became the “Kemalettin Gazezoglu Cultural Center,” named after the governor of the city. Today, a part of it has been given to a foundation that runs the Islamic school at the city’s university.

Turkey has used the historic church for many different purposes—except for its intended purpose: a church.

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The courtyard of the historic Assyrian Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (Photo: urfa63.net)

Called Edessa in ancient times, Urfa has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The modern city was founded in 304 B.C by Seleucus I Nicator.

In the late 2nd century, as the Seleucid dynasty disintegrated, it successively became a Parthian, Armenian, and Roman state, and eventually an Eastern Roman (Byzantine) province. It was frequently conquered during periods when the Byzantine central government was weak, due to its location on the eastern frontier of the Empire. It fell to the Muslim conquest in 639 but was briefly retaken by Byzantium in 1031. It then fell to the Turkic Zengid dynasty in 1144, and was eventually absorbed by the Ottoman Empire in 1517.

Edessa was an important early center of Syriac Christianity. For Armenians, too, the city is significant since it is believed that the Armenian alphabet was invented there.

http://armenianweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/the-writing-on-the-wall-reads-provincial-special-administration-Governor-Kemalettin-Gazezoglu-culture-and-art-center-24-may-2002.jpg

The writing on the wall of the church reads “Provincial Special Administration -Governor Kemalettin Gazezoglu Culture and Art Center May 24, 2002 (Photo: urfa63.net)

But the traces of Assyrian, Armenian, and Greek Christians have been systematically erased from the city by Muslim governments and residents throughout centuries.

Scholar Ian Wilson describes the current absence of the Christian heritage in his proposal for an archaeological survey of the city as follows:

“For any Christian… Urfa appears to offer nothing of Christian interest even when you get there. To the best of my knowledge there is not a single Christian church, and certainly not an ancient one, the Moslem minaret being all-pervading…Yet if we could turn the clock back just over a thousand years, say to 943 AD, what a different picture of Edessa/Urfa we would find! Despite the city even then having fallen under Moslem control (though Arab rather than Turkish), we would find a full-blooded city, as distinct from a town, almost literally bristling with Christian churches and monasteries, numbering more than three hundred, according to one Arab geographer. At least three different rival denominations were represented, and the Christian pilgrim and tourist trade was then already at least six centuries old.”

All this is history now. Urfa today is an all-Muslim city. Christians were exposed to mass murders several times ever since Turks arrived from the Central Asia in Anatolia and Mesopotamia in the 11^th century.

Between 1894 and 1896, for example, a series of massacres spread through nearly every major Armenian-inhabited town of the Ottoman Empire.

The massacres culminated in the single worst atrocity “with the burning of the Armenian cathedral of Urfa within whose walls some 3,000 Armenians had taken refuge during the siege of their neighborhood,” according to the Armenian National Institute.

Assyrian Christians too were targeted in the massacres. “In October 1895 the Turkish army and Hamidian troops entered Urfa and killed 13 thousand Assyrians,” writes Dr. Anahit Khosroyeva in her article “A History of the Assyrian Genocide.”

But the gravest attack that exterminated the majority of Assyrian Christians in the region happened in the 1915.

Historian Paul R. Bartrop writes in his book Encountering Genocide: Personal Accounts from Victims, Perpetrators, and Witnesses:

“The Assyrian genocide… took place alongside those of the Armenians and the Pontic and Anatolian Greeks, during and after World War 1. At the start of the twentieth century, the Assyrian population in the Ottoman Empire numbered about one million, and was concentrated largely in what are now Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. As with the Armenian genocide, a large proportion of the Assyrian deaths occurred as a result of death marches into the Syrian Desert. Most of those who died were the victims of heat, starvation and thirst, exposure, and incessant brutality… The Assyrian population throughout the Empire was subjected to massacre, deportation, dismemberment, torture, and other atrocities. Whole cities were depopulated, and, when not killed outright, the inhabitants were sent on the aforementioned death marches.”

The Ottoman Turkish party the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was the planner and organizer of the genocide. According to many scholars, including Professor Bartrop, the major motivations of the perpetrators were the Turkification and Islamization of the region.

“One of the major factors contributing to the Turkish campaign against Christian minorities was the pre-war commitment to the Turkification of the empire. Accompanying this was an Islamic incentive, whereby the Turkish national dimension could be wedded to an Islamic revival for the caliphate… Accordingly, on Oct. 11, 1914, Sultan Mehmet V declared jihad (holy war) against all the Christians living in the Empire. The call to holy war was reaffirmed on Nov. 14, 1914, by the Sheikh al-Islam, the most senior Islamic cleric in the Ottoman Empire. It was directed toward all Christians, hitting particularly hard for those of Armenian, Assyrian and Greek descent,” Bartrop writes

What followed was the confiscation, plunder, and seizure of Christian properties.

“The state-orchestrated plunder of Armenian property immediately impoverished its victims,” according to scholar Umit Kurt, in his article “The Plunder of Wealth through Abandoned Properties Laws in the Armenian Genocide.”

“This was simultaneously a condition for and a consequence of the genocide. The seizure of the Armenian property was not just a byproduct of the CUP’s genocidal policies, but an integral part of the murder process, reinforcing and accelerating the intended destruction. The expropriation and plunder of deported Armenians’ movable and immovable properties was an essential component of the destruction process of Armenians… Genocide does not only mean physical annihilation,” according to Kurt. “What is important is the complete erasure of the traces of the Armenians from their ancient homeland.”

This attempt to erase the traces of the genocide victims has been applied to Anatolian Greeks and Assyrians, as well.

The homes, businesses, churches, monasteries, and other economic, religious and cultural sites of Assyrians were systematically seized by government officials or Muslim locals. Churches and monasteries were either destroyed or used for sacrilegious purposes, such as stables or storehouses.

Turkey today has a smaller Christian percentage of its population than all of its neighbors including Syria, Iraq and Iran. Only less than 0.2% of Turkey’s population is now Christian.

Though the constitution is officially secular, Christianity as well as other non-Muslim faiths are under the constant pressure and attacks at the hands of the Turkish government. Persecution stemming from this destructive worldview has turned the indigenous and once flourishing Christian community into an almost-extinct, second class minority that are still not allowed to live as equal citizens who can freely practice their faith on their native lands.

http://armenianweekly.com/2016/12/23/urfa-church/

[Yervant1]

http://panorama.am/news_images/568/1701535_3/f58621bcacf846_58621bcacf884.thumb.jpg

Law 11:44 27/12/2016 Region

Turkish police officers detain reporters, call them “Armenian bastards”

Yesterday in the morning Turkish police officers detained Tunca Öğreten, reporter of famous Turkish opposition website Diken, Yolculuk newspaper representative Eray Sargin, Dihaber’s reporters Ömer Çelik and Metin Yoksu and reporter of BirGün newspaper Mahir Kanaat.

As Ermenihaber reports the detentions were accompanied by cruel treatment towards the reporters, as well as house searches and appropriation of memory cards of their phones, computers and cameras.

Ömer Çelik’s arrest raises some concerns. While beating him the police officers used the _expression_ “Armenian bastard” among other curses in order to insult him.

According to the report of the Armenian news agency Agos, the police officers broke into Çelik’s house early in the morning, threw his mother and wife onto the floor and started beating Çelik.

With the intention of insulting Çelik one of the police officers has made the following _expression_: “You are all Armenian bastards”.

No information has been provided about Mahir Kanaat who was arrested in his house in Istanbul. He has even been forbidden to meet with his advocate for five days.

http://www.panorama.am/en/news/2016/12/27/Turkish-police-detain-reporter-call-Armenian-bastard/1701535

[Yervant1]

Turkish-Armenian MP delivers Christmas greeting in Armenian (video)

12:54 • 06.01.17

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Turkish-Armenian lawmaker Garo Paylan (People’s Democratic Party) has ended his recent speech in the Majilis with Armenian language congratulations on the Christmas holidays.

“Christ has risen from heaven, blessed is the resurrection of Christ,” he said in Armenian.

Paylan posted the address on his Facebook profile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpqmSfcgitg

 

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2017/01/06/turkey/2241227

[Yervant1]

Turkey's Armenian church turned into parking lot

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/229/627/photo/229627.jpg

January 9, 2017 - 18:22 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - A dilapidated Armenian church in the Turkish city of Elazig (historic Kharberd) has been turned into a parking lot, Ermenihaber.am reports.

The walls of the Armenian Protestant church , which served as a place of worship for the Armenian and Assyrian communities alike, is now loaded with advertizing boards, installed by the managers of the parking lot.

The church has previously been used as a flour milling factory and a shopping center.

According to a local resident, this is not the first Christian monument to suffer such a fate.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/229627/

[Yervant1]

Armenian MP of Turkey speaks about Genocide, in parliament

13:36, 14.01.2017

Region:Armenia, Turkey
Theme: Politics

Garo Paylan, Istanbul-Armenian MP of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey, has been barred from attending three parliamentary sessions, for speaking about Armenian Genocide, in parliament.

In his remarks at the Turkish parliamentary rostrum, Paylan reminded about Armenian Genocide, and this angered the MPs of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), according to Diken news website of Turkey.

Paylan, however, went on with his remarks and stated that even though others may say what they want, he calls the events in Turkey that occurred from 1915 to 1923 genocide because Armenians used to make up 40 percent of the country’s population, but, now, they comprise solely one in every thousand.

But after his remarks as well as the joint statement by the three other parliamentary parties, the Turkish parliament speaker announced that, as a penalty, Garo Paylan was banned from participating in three parliamentary sessions.

https://news.am/eng/news/367623.html

[Yervant1]

Garo Paylan: Genocide perpetrator is the fascist mindset

17:40, 14.01.2017

Region:Turkey
Theme: Politics

Garo Paylan, Istanbul-Armenian MP of the opposition pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey, made an entry on his Twitter account, and with respect to the incident that occurred Friday in the Turkish parliament.

“The perpetrator of the [Armenian] Genocide is not the Turkish people; it is the fascist mindset that always commits a crime, [but] never gives an account [for it].

“My saying genocide in parliament was unlawfully penalized.

“The AKP [i.e. the ruling Justice and Development Party] was [allegedly] demolishing taboos [in Turkey].

“It’s a pity.

“At the parliament rostrum, I repeatedly called the calamity that befell my people as genocide.

“When the AKP played into the hands of the MHP [i.e. the Nationalist Movement Party], the demolished taboos arose again,” Paylan tweeted, in particular.

As reported earlier, Garo Paylan was barred from attending three parliamentary sessions, for speaking about Armenian Genocide, in parliament.

https://news.am/eng/news/367670.html

[MosJan]

Garo jan Thank you, i know it's like
i don't know if we can ever repay you for the risk you taking...

[Yervant1]

Newspaper: Powers to be vested with Erdoğan were authored by Armenian lawyer Krikor Odian

00:04, 15.01.2017

Region:Turkey
Theme: Politics

Turkish newspaper Sonsoz has published an interesting article in connection with the constitutional amendments in Turkey, which provide for a shift to presidential system of governance. The article is entitled “Powers of “padishah” vested with President are taken from Armenian Constitution and authored by Armenian lawyer Krikor Odian.”

According to the article, the powers vested with the Turkish president under the bill of constitutional amendments, presented by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), were in due time drawn up by Krikor Odian.

“By analogy with the Armenian Constitution, which took effect in 1863, he wrote various points in the Ottoman Constitution of 1876. The powers vested with the sultan in the Ottoman Constitution have been included in the bill of constitutional amendments, presented by the Justice and Development Party,” the newspaper reads.

Currently, the Turkish parliament is holding discussions on the bill of constitutional amendments. Pursuant to that bill, Turkey will shift from the parliamentary to presidential form of governance.

In the Ottoman period, Krikor Odian was a famous political and public figure, who not only wrote the Ottoman Constitution, but also drew up a project of reforms in Western Armenia.

https://news.am/eng/news/367691.html

[Yervant1]

Garo Paylan: When it comes to Armenians or Kurds, all in Turkey are united against them

12:20, 16.01.2017

Region:Diaspora, Turkey
Theme: Politics

Garo Paylan, Istanbul-Armenian MP of the opposition pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey, made an entry on his Twitter account, and with respect to the criticisms against him, after the incident that occurred in the Turkish parliament.

“If the matter is an Armenian, if the matter is a Kurd these days again, the AKP [i.e. the ruling Justice and Development Party], the MHP, [i.e. the opposition Nationalist Movement Party], [and] the CHP [i.e. the main opposition Republican People’s Party] are on the same side, unfortunately,” Paylan tweeted.

In his remarks recently at the Turkish parliament, Garo Paylan spoke about Armenian Genocide, whereupon the MPs of the aforesaid three parties harshly criticized him. In addition, the Armenian MP was barred from attending three parliamentary sessions.

https://news.am/eng/news/367811.html

[Yervant1]

Serj Tankian brands Garo Paylan a “true hero”

Armenia-Turkey | January 17, 2017 09:14

509 views

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Garo Paylan

Photo: REUTERS

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Member of System of a Down rock band Serj Tankian made a stand for Garo Paylan, Turkish MP of Armenian descent.

 

 

Garo Paylan was temporarily suspended from the Turkish parliament for using the word “genocide”.

“Garo Paylan is a true hero because it’s quite easy to speak the truth in a society with no repercussions but very dangerous in one that has many repercussions. I had the unique honor of meeting him last year. We are with you Garo,” Serj Tankian said.

Mediamax finds it noteworthy that Serj Tankian criticizes Turkish authorities now and again. In particular, in April 2016 he called President of Turkey Erdogan a “douche”.

 

- See more at: http://www.mediamax.am/en/news/armeniaturkey/21440/#sthash.Ny5tmz2m.dpuf

[Yervant1]

Turkish-Armenian MP to face lawsuit over controversial remark

13:12 • 17.01.17

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Turkish-Armenian MP Garo Paylan (Peoples’ Democratic Party) is going to face a lawsuit for a recent remark criticizing the constitutional reforms.

The complaint has been filed by Arif Kurtoglu, the head of a local branch of the Great Unity Party, who accuses Paylan of inseminating hatred and revenge in the society.

He has threatened to strip the lawmaker off mandate, as well as Turkish citizenship.

In a speech at a parliamentary debate on constitutional reforms, Paylan said the first copy of Turkey’s Constitution was elaborated by Armenians, adding that the country plunged into a chaos after the authorities proposed amendments backing only the interests of Turks.

“In that chaotic period, we lost four nations - Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and Jews - who were either exiled from those lands in the wake of big massacres and genocides or subjected to tortures,” he said.

Representatives of the ruling Justice and Development Party, and the Nationalist Movement Party boycotted Paylan’s speech. The Turkish-Armenian lawmaker faced criticism also by members of the Republican People’s Party.

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2017/01/17/garo-paylan/2250578

[Yervant1]

PJ Media

Jan 18 2017

Turkey Punishes Armenian MP for Mentioning 1915 Armenian Genocide

By Uzay Bulut January 18, 2017

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and opposition deputies -- the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) -- have begun voting on the articles of a constitutional amendment package that would bring a dictatorial presidency.

Debates were repeatedly interrupted by brawls that erupted between the AKP and CHP deputies during the vote. The MPs even shoved one another and threw punches.

However, one common prejudice united the AKP, MHP, and CHP deputies: their hatred of Armenians.

On January 13, the lone Armenian member of Turkish Parliament, Garo Paylan of the HDP, briefly talked about the 1915 Armenian Genocide in his speech addressing the parliamentarians. Referring to the constitutional reforms enacted during the later stages of the Ottoman Empire, Paylan first called on Turkish deputies not to repeat the mistakes of the past and to promote pluralism, diversity, and inclusivity in the new constitution.

Paylan then said:

Between 1913 and 1923, Armenians, Greeks, Syriacs, and Jews had been lost. They were either exiled with genocides and major massacres or subjected to population exchanges.

 

As Paylan was delivering his speech, parliamentarians from the AKP and other parties interrupted him angrily. The deputy speaker of the parliament, Ahmet Aydin, also intervened, telling Paylan:

Please fix your statements. There is no genocide. There might have been some reciprocal sufferings but you cannot define it as genocide.

 

Paylan responded:

We used to account for 40 percent [of the country’s population]. Now we are barely one out of a 1,000. It seems likely that something happened to us. I define this as genocide no matter what you call it.

 

The Armenian people very well know what was done to them. I very well know what was done to my ancestors, my grandfather. To you, I am "a leftover of the sword." We Armenians are are null and void now. If we will learn lessons -- but not hostility -- from the past, let’s look at this together.

 

In Turkey, the survivors of Christian massacres are often called “the leftovers of the sword.” In the midst of angry and loud protests of Turkish deputies, Aydin rebuked Paylan:

[Paylan should] watch out for his behavior and attitude and stop uttering words that offend the Turkish nation.

The Turkish parliamentarians then voted

to ban Paylan from participating in the Parliament for three sessions

.

Following the announcement of the decision, HDP deputies left the parliament with him. The group deputy chairmen of the AKP, CHP, and MHP

declared

they condemned Paylan’s statements,

calling

them “unacceptable.” The part of the speech in which Paylan referred to the Armenian genocide was also

removed from the parliamentary minutes

.

In an interview with Radio Agos, Paylan

described

what happened in the aftermath of his speech:

The deputies of the AKP started screaming and there was a break of an hour and a half. Then the AKP and MHP deputies held a meeting. They also informed the ministers of the situation and it was turned into a crisis. The MHP told the AKP: “If you do not punish Paylan, we will withdraw our support from the constitutional changes.”

 

“The worst was that the AKP, CHP and MHP all made insulting statements that declared that I could not use the word genocide. There was an environment of lynching … I tried to explain the dangers of creating a “constitution for Turks only” by referring to what happened 100 years ago. I also told them not to be obsessed with words. I just talked about the great calamity that befell us. I did not provoke anyone in any way.

 

Ironically, the same Turkish parliament was very calm and quiet when, in 1996, the interior minister Meral Aksener -- currently an MP from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) --

said

that the leader of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), Abdullah Ocalan, was “Armenian semen.”

There were no angry protests or opposition to her statements. Aksener later attempted to clarify the remark by saying:

I did not refer to the Armenians living in Turkey. I referred to the Armenian race in general.

 

The Turkish parliament is in proud denial. The 1915 Armenian genocide began with a decision to exterminate them made by the political party in power at the time in the Ottoman Empire, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), popularly known as the Young Turks.

The Armenian National Institute

explains

:

The Armenian Genocide was centrally planned and administered by the Turkish government against the entire Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. The Armenian people were subjected to deportation, expropriation, abduction, torture, massacre, and starvation.

 

It is estimated that one-and-a-half million Armenians perished between 1915 and 1923. There were an estimated two million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire on the eve of WWI. Well over a million were deported in 1915. Hundreds of thousands were butchered outright. Many others died of starvation, exhaustion, and epidemics which ravaged the concentration camps. … Women and children were abducted and horribly abused.

 

At the end of the genocide, the entire wealth of the Armenian people was seized by government officials or private persons in Turkey.

Since the genocide, Turkish authorities have engaged in historic revisionism that has not only hindered the international recognition of the events but also misled the Turkish people. They have been fed a false narrative of the genocide: that the perpetrators were actually nationalistic heroes who stopped the treacherous Armenians from dividing the “Turkish fatherland.”

Moreover, under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Law, one who is convicted of “insulting Turkey, the Turkish nation or Turkish government institutions” -- for example, by asserting that what happened in 1915 was genocide -- can be sentenced to prison.

Despite all of the risks, some brave residents of Turkey are telling the truth about the genocide and the grave restrictions against free speech in the country.

Necati Abay, a journalist and spokesperson for the Platform of Solidarity with Arrested Journalists (TGDP), has reported that 112 journalists and authors have been killed in Turkey in since 1909. During the 1915 Armenian Genocide, 32 Armenian journalists and authors were slain. Among them were lawyers, deputies of the Ottoman parliament, and pioneers of western Armenian literature. The dead bodies of some of them have never been recovered.

See the TGDP’s list

here

.

Abay, also a member of Reporters Without Borders (RWB),

became a political refugee in Germany

in 2012 after being prosecuted for “being a member of a terrorist organization” -- an accusation commonly directed at dissident authors in Turkey. He had been arrested three times -- and tortured -- before he was convicted to imprisonment for 11 years and three months by an Istanbul court.

Abay has been forced to pay the price for his views and writings critical of the genocidal and repressive policies of the Turkish state.

However, statements that hatefully target and insult the Armenian people are considered perfectly fine in Turkey -- free speech in Turkey is only for racists and deniers of genocide.

https://pjmedia.com/blog/turkey-punishes-armenian-mp-for-mentioning-1915-armenian-genocide/

[Yervant1]

Turkey ruled by fascism – columnist

13:00 • 23.01.17
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The problem in the Turkish society today is not the Armenian Genocide or the scandal surrounding Garo Paylan, but rather - the fascist policies pursued by the country’s government, a Turkish journalist says in a column addressing the Turkish-Armenian lawmaker’s recent speech.

Garo Paylan, who was elected to Turkey’s parliament from the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic party, was suspended from three sessions after a public remark on the Armenian Genocide in a parliament debate devoted to the constitutional reforms.

“Garo Paylan says he knows very well what befell his ancestors; he uses the banned term to say that a crime of genocide was committed. And then Paylan is being punished, stripped off the right to attend three sessions. The term used is later removed from the session’s protocol. The worst punishment in the Middle Ages was consignment to oblivion, which is to say you do not exist and have not ever existed, and never had a name and an identity. What we see in Turkey is not the Armenian Genocide or Garo Paylan; there is only fascism,” reads the column published in Yeniozgurpolitika.org.

According to the columnist, the Turkish parliament is attempting to intimidate Paylan into abandoning his policy.

Condemning the sanction against Paylan, the Turkish columnist goes on to insist that such a remark should have rightfully been voiced only by an Armenian. “We need only a little bit fair,” he says.

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2017/01/23/paylan/2256383

[Yervant1]

Turkey MP Selina Dogan says banning Garo Paylan from Parliament is a blow to freedom of _expression_

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17:14, 3 February, 2017

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. Selina Dogan, a Turkish Member of Parliament of Armenian descent, says banning lawmaker Garo Paylan from the Parliament’s sessions is a blow to freedom of thought and speech, Agos reports.

Dogan, MP of Turkey’s Republican People's Party, says it is everyone’s common responsibility to prevent hate speech and Paylan’s targeting.

“There is immunity and freedom of _expression_ at the tribune of Turkey’s Parliament, which is of great importance to both lawmakers and citizens. Even if the issue is painful, it must be discussed in the Parliament of Turkey, not in Parliaments of other countries”, she said.

Dogan announced every lawmaker of the Turkish parliament is valuable for her. “Despite being from different parties, it is necessary to continue our political activity on main topics in an environment of solidarity”, she said.

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/877315/turkey-mp-selina-dogan-says-banning-garo-paylan-from-parliament-is-a-blow-to-freedom-of-_expression_.html

[Yervant1]

Mayor of Paris to award Garo Paylan with City Medal

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14:44, 9 February, 2017

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, ARMENPRESS. During the annual dinner of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France, Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, has expressed her support to all her friends of Armenia who are threatened worldwide.

Nouvelles d'Armenie reported on this occasion the Mayor announced her intentions on awarding Garo Paylan, the ethnic Armenian lawmaker of Turkey’s Parliament, with the Medal of City of Paris.

In her speech Hidalgo also commented on her visit to Yerevan. “It’s very rare for me to have such a clear feeling of true identical culture in another city”, she said. At the same time, she stressed she is stunned by the modernity of Yerevan, namely by her visit to TUMO center. “Upon departing, I thought what can Paris give to Yerevan, upon returning I thought how can Yerevan convey its innovative ideas and dynamics to Paris”, Hidalgo said.

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/878023/mayor-of-paris-to-award-garo-paylan-with-city-medal.html

[Yervant1]

Turkish political scientist: I am against the Turkish policy of denial of the Armenian Genocide

Friday, February 17 2017 17:06

Marianna Mkrtchyan

http://arminfo.info/mcgallery/20170217050635%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%B7-%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8-1.jpg

ArmInfo. I am against the Turkish policy of denial of the Armenian Genocide, said in an interview to journalists in Yerevan. Turkish political scientist Ali Meyramoglu.

 

"I am among those clerisy representatives who were against the given policy of Turkey", noted the political scientist.

 

Speaking about the Armenian-Turkish relations in general, he noted that they are on a complicated stage, and the crisis in Turkey makes the border opening, freedom and free speach discussion impossible.

 

Bayramoglu is sure that the "Armenian Questions" are discussed on two levels, the governmental, which is at a deadlock, and the public, which activated after Hrant Dink assassination in 2008. The political scentist also considers that there is a sort of stress and emotional attitude on Genocide, which is caused by the Syrian deepening crisis, the Kurdish problem and the failed overturn in the State.

 

Speaking about the threats towards the Kurdish Democratic Party Deputy of Armenian origins Garo Paylan, the political scientist expressed confidence that nothing threats his life. "Of course "don't count out a prison cell, a begging bowl may come as well", nevertheless I believe that the most dangerous in the given situation is the fact that he used the term "Armenian Genocide" while speaking in Majlis, because of what, three political forces united against him and deprived his right of participating in three Majlis meetings", he noted.

 

- See more at: http://arminfo.info/full_news.php?id=24262&lang=3#sthash.Adpju7cx.dpuf

[Yervant1]

February 18, 2017 14:55

Turks have put Christian cross on footwear soles

At the Akhalkalak fair, footwear on sale, a typical Christian cross on soles.
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STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 18, ARTSAKHPRESS: Artyush Grigoryan from "Javakhk" foundation raised an alarm: "Тurkish sellers from Turkey have imported to Georgia. It is an absolute insult to Christian values.

The disturbing fact is that, transporting literature in Armenian many obstacles are met in the Georgian customs, but Georgia as the Christian country closes eyes to the fact that the country imports goods which despise Christian values. We hope this disgrace will receive an appropriate attention from the Armenian and especially Georgian Church, as well as from the relevant state bodies of Georgia and will receive an appropriate assessment, " writes Arevelk.

http://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/62226/turks-have-put--christian-cross-on-footwear-soles.html

[Yervant1]

http://panorama.am/news_images/579/1736720_3/f58b6a95e41a54_58b6a95e41a92.thumb.png

Politics 14:58 01/03/2017 Region

Armenian church to turn into library in Turkey

The Armenian Saint Holy Mather of God Church located in Kayseri city of Turkey is planned to serve as library. Referring to Hurriyet newspaper report, Ermenihaber writes that the church has previously served as an exhibition hall, then a kindergarten and finally - a police station. The source informs the Turkish government has allocated some 6 million liras (USD 1, 600 billion) for renovation works before the building will open its doors as a public library.

Kayseri Mayor Mustafa Chelik has noted the decision to turn the church into library appears to be the most optimal, considering the designation of the structure. Apart from it, the report says a café is planned to operate adjacent to the library.

The opening of the building is scheduled for Autumn 2017, once the renovations works are completed.

Citing lack of relevant documents, the Turkish source indicates no date the church was built, noting the architectural solutions of the structure clearly reveal its Armenian origin.

http://www.panorama.am/en/news/2017/03/01/Armenian-church-to-turn-into-library-in-Turkey/1736720

[Yervant1]

German MP: Germany is not Turkish outpost
21:38, 03.03.2017
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German parliamentarians have unanimously supported the ban of the referendum campaign undertaken by Turkish politicians in Germany, reports Deutsche Welle. The member of the Christian Democratic Union Wolfgang Bosbach qualified Turks’ arguments about freedom of speech as "distortion of facts".

"Germany is not an outpost of Turkey. The foreign politicians have no right to campaign in Germany," he said. Another member of the Christian Democratic Union Horst Seehofer noted, that Turkish politicians are using the German liberal laws for promoting "anti-democratic reconstruction of their country."

This decision was supported by the Bundestag deputies of Turkish origin Cem Ozdemir and Sevim Dagdelen. Dagdelen noted, that the German government should and can prohibit Erdogan and his ministers to promote restoration of death penalty.

https://news.am/eng/news/376681.html

[Yervant1]

Deutsche Welle

March 4 2017

No explosives found after bomb threat in German town that called off Turkish minister's speech

Officials were allowed to go back to work in the town of Gaggenau after a bomb threat was phoned in to city hall. Police found no explosives in a search of the building.

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The city hall in the southwestern German town had been evacuated on Friday after a bomb threat was phoned in, but after a search of the building did not turn up any explosives, employees were allowed to re-enter the building.

"After a thorough assessment, nothing suspicious could be found," police said on Friday.

The person who called in the threat to the town hall said it was linked to the cancellation of a controversial campaign speech by Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, said Dieter Spannagel, Gaggenau's head of citizen services.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Germany would face "consequences" over the decision to cancel the justice minister's speech. Germany's Foreign Ministry said it did not play a role in canceling the event, adding that the decision was reached by local authorities.

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The town of around 30,000 inhabitants was one of two German venues to cancel speeches by Turkish politicians campaigning for changes to the Turkish constitution that would give more power to country's president, currently Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

http://www.dw.com/en/no-explosives-found-after-bomb-threat-in-german-town-that-called-off-turkish-ministers-speech/a-37793336

[Yervant1]

German-Turkish Row Intensifies
Editorial

Mirror Spectator 11 March 2017

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By Edmond Y. Azadian

There is a morbid historic bond between Turkey and Germany. The first has Armenian blood on its hands and the second Jewish blood. In addition, Turkey received help during its killing spree from Germany, which later took the lessons to heart and enacted its own horrific crimes. There are no two other nations that have the same symbiotic relationship or distinction in the eyes of history.

Germany has faced its past and looked its victims in the eye and apologized and made restitutions. Yet, Germans remain very sensitive about their past.

Today Germany is Europe’s engine in terms of politics and economy. All that remains for Turkey to do is to emulate its erstwhile ally, which means coming clean about the Armenian Genocide, and making restitutions.

Although Turkey is vying to join the European Union, it has thus far refused to let go of its feudal past. Rather than embracing European values, its leaders are trying to make an impact on Europe by activating their massive diaspora there. Unfortunately, European countries, including Germany, have been demonstrating tolerance and prioritizing temporary issues, such as NATO membership, above the looming dangers for Europe.

The recent backlash and resentment of this power play are sweeping Europe and may backfire in a major way. They are fueling anti-immigrant hostility across the continent, from Austria to Holland, France and Hungary.

The recent row between Germany and Turkey heralds what is in store for Europe. It looks like the adage that beggars cannot be choosers does not apply to Turkey and its leaders, who have become so arrogant as to bully their neighbors and the Europeans.

In addition to the ongoing feud between Berlin and Ankara, Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was threatening Greeks in Cyprus to pack up and leave “because Cyprus belongs to Turks.” Turks have been in Cyprus only since the 15th century as colonizing non-native citizens, while the Greeks have been inhabiting the island for millennia.

Who and what is fueling Turkey’s audacity to conduct itself in that manner — NATO? The European Union? The Islamic Conference? ISIS? Or all of the above in concert?

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has planned to hold a referendum on April 16 to adopt a new constitution tailor-made to hand him the position of absolute monarch of Turkey. Hitler had burned the German parliament and cast the blame on his enemies in order to seem his nation’s savior. Erdogan has been emulating Hitler by concocting a fake coup to consolidate his absolute power. Yet, he is accusing the current German leadership of acting as Nazis.

There are three million Turks living in Germany. That is the largest contingent of Turks outside Turkey. Successive Turkish governments have used their Turkish brethren in Germany to make inroads in Europe. For several decades, those Turks have lived and behaved as Turks, not Germans. They have their own schools, mosques, and cultural centers. Germany tolerates and accommodates them to perpetuate their Turkish lifestyle in the heart of Europe. The majority of Turks living in Germany still hold Turkish citizenship. There are 1.4 million Turks in Germany who are eligible to vote in the forthcoming constitutional change referendum in their home country. Turks in general are apprehensive about giving a “yes” vote to the referendum which may embolden a president who is already out of control. Therefore, Erdogan’s AKP party, which is spearheading the yes vote, is vitally interested in winning over Turkish voters in Germany. Turkey was planning to send its Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag and Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci to speak at rallies in Germany. However, those rallies have been canceled in Cologne and Gaggenau, infuriating Turkey’s Fuhrer, Erdogan, who has accused German leaders of practices “not different from the Nazi practices of the past.”

Knowing well German vulnerabilities, Erdogan hit where it hurt the most. Further escalating his rhetoric, he announced at a rally, “If I want to, I will come to Germany. If you don’t let me in or if you don’t let me speak, I will make the whole world rise up.”

German leaders have been playing it cool and have not responded in kind. Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a typical report, has announced that the federal government has not placed a ban, and has passed on the responsibility to local authorities. Her deputy, Julia Klocher, made the following statement: “[Erdogan has been] reacting like a defiant child who cannot have his way. Nazi comparisons are a new highpoint of intemperance. It is simply outrageous.”

Erdogan has been accusing German leaders of violating the Turkish government’s freedom of speech, never mind that he himself has jailed hundreds of journalists, trampling on their rights to speak. Right at this moment, there is a bone of contention between the two governments over the fate of journalist Deniz Yucel, whom Erdogan has jailed. Yucel has dual citizenship and is a reporter for Die Welt newspaper in Germany. The Berlin government has been asking for his immediate release, while Ankara has accused him of being a German agent, collaborator of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). All Yucel had done was to criticize Erdogan’s heavy-handed policies.

The reason why German leaders have been soft-peddling their reaction was revealed in one of the statements by Justice Minister Heiko Maas: “We have to take care that we don’t let ourselves be provoked.”

Maas also warned against diplomatic steps or banning Erdogan from visiting Germany, claiming that such a move would “play into the hand of Putin, which no one wants.”

On the one hand, Erdogan is using Germany’s inglorious past to push his point, and on the other hand, he is threatening to turn to Russia, which scares the hell out of European leaders.

In addition to all these tactics to intimidate German leaders into acquiescence, Erdogan is on record to have encouraged his compatriots in Germany to “protect their culture, religion and identity, declaring that “assimilation is a crime against humanity.”

Turkey has been living with that crime since Atatürk established the modern Republic of Turkey. Most significantly, Erdogan himself has been committing that crime against minorities. Recently, many hidden Armenians have come out of obscurity, seeking their identity. With Erdogan’s recent repressions, many went back into hiding and others were punished.

Erdogan’s bullying has also angered other European leaders. Last week, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern called for an EU-wide ban on Turkish referendum campaigning, while the Netherland criticized a planned Turkish rally in Rotterdam but refused to call for a ban.

Armenians have suffered enough at the hands of the Turks to realize how impossible it is to live with the Turks. While Erdogan is restricting human rights and freedom of speech at home, in the meantime, he is turning the tables on the Europeans on the issue of democracy. In the face of Turkey’s bullying, the Europeans believe that playing by the rules is enough.

History teaches that only behaving like Turks against the Turks can win this long-standing historic battle.

[Yervant1]

Martin Schulz says Turkey has crossed the red line

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12:19, 11 March, 2017

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS. Martin Schulz, SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship, said Turkey has crossed the red line when it compared the German government actions with the Nazi actions, Deutsche Welle reports.

“President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must know the following very well: the president of the friendly country will be received here with pleasure. However we won’t allow the Turkish political clashes to move to Germany”, he said.

He mentioned that Erdogan must obey the laws, and Chancellor Merkel must tell him this.

The Turkish foreign minister’s event, which was scheduled to take place in Hamburg’s Plaza Event Center, was cancelled, and the FM was forced to deliver a speech in the residence of the Turkish consul.

German authorities cancelled the speech of Turkey’s justice minister in Gaggenau also.

President Erdogan criticized this, and announced that Germany resembles the Nazi actions.

https://www.armenpress.am/eng/news/882108/martin-schulz-says-turkey-has-crossed-the-red-line.html

[Yervant1]

Austria cancels four Turkish political meetings

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14:34, 11 March, 2017

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS. Four planned Turkish political meetings in Austria were canceled on Friday in the latest signs of unease across Europe over a series of campaign events to rally support among expatriate Turks for President Tayyip Erdogan, Reuters reports.

A spokesman for police in the city of Linz said the private owner of a venue there had canceled an event featuring a party colleague of Erdogan.

The town of Hoerbranz near the German border canceled a separate event with a former Turkish minister because the organizers falsely labeled it as a book presentation.

Another event was scrapped in Herzogenburg, and a spokeswoman for a hotel in Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna, said it had canceled a meeting planned for Sunday.

Some European cities have blocked planned appearances by Turkish politicians to drum up support for Erdogan before an April 16 referendum on giving him sweeping new powers.

In separate developments, the mayor of Rotterdam said Turkey's foreign minister would not be allowed to campaign there on Saturday, and Swiss police canceled a speech by a Turkish politician planned for Friday, citing "signi럀�cant security risks.

https://www.armenpress.am/eng/news/882125/austria-cancels-four-turkish-political-meetings.html