Turkish Press Review, 06-10-12

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From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>

12.10.2006

CONTENTS

[01] FRENCH PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON ARMENIAN BILL THIS MORNING

[01] FRENCH PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON ARMENIAN BILL THIS MORNING

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that if the French Parliament passes the Armenian bill, France would lose not only Turkey but also much else besides. Speaking to reporters after meeting with Bahamian Foreign Minister Frederick Audley, Gul said that Ankara had done its best to warn France of the negative consequences of its passing the bill. Stressing that everybody from politicians to businessmen from large sectors of society had tired to prevent this misguided move, Gul said he hoped that France would not harm itself for the sake of domestic politics. /Turkiye/[03] ANKARA URGES FRENCH PARLIAMENTARIANS TO ACT WITH COMMON SENSE

Foreign Minister Spokesman Namik Tan said yesterday that Ankara is expecting French lawmakers to act with common sense and reject the Armenian bill to be voted on today in Parliament. Addressing reporters at a weekly press conference, Tan said, “Such a thing should not even be conceivable in a country where civilization and free thought have flourished.” He added that Turkey hoped French lawmakers would deal with the matter with common sense. Commenting on a French historian’s request for Turkish citizenship in light of recent developments, Tan said a decision on the matter belonged to the historian himself. /Turkiye/[04] HISTORY SHOWS ARMENIAN GROUPS TOOK ORDERS FROM PARIS DURING WWI

Decision-makers of the Armenian Hincak group which attacked Turks during World War I got orders from Paris, according to evidence presented in Volumes 3 and 4 of “Armenian Activities with Archive Documents, 1914-1918,” published by the General Staff’s ATASE and Inspection Chairmanship. The books, which show photos of Turks murdered by Armenian terrorist groups on July 15, 1915 in Diyarbakir’s Lice district and murdered women and children on July 23, 1915 in Diyarbakir’s Hizirilyas village, were published in Turkish and English and reproduce original documents from Ottoman times. Volume 3 argues that the decision-makers of the Hincak group took orders from there. The volume cites the statements of Artin Cihan Gulyan. /Milliyet/[05] US SPECIAL ENVOY RALSTON MEETS WITH BASER

Retired Gen. Joseph Ralston, US special envoy for countering the terrorist PKK, yesterday met with his Turkish counterpart retired Gen. Edip Baser in Ankara. Discussed during the meeting were ways to wage an effective fight against the PKK, expel the terrorist group from northern Iraq, and end all activities of the PKK in the region. Ralston will meet with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul today. The special envoys of Turkey, the US and Iraq will not hold trilateral meeting, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Namik Tan, adding, “A trilateral meeting isn’t expected.” /Hurriyet/[06] LAGENDIJK URGES FRENCH PARLIAMENT TO “GIVE UP” ARMENIAN BILL

Joost Lagendijk, co-chairman of the European Union-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission, yesterday sent a letter to the French Parliament, which is set today to debate a bill to criminalize questioning Armenian “genocide” claims, urging it to “give up” this bill. In his letter, Lagendijk stated that if the French government really wants to make Turkey face up to its history, then it should forget the bill. “If the bill is passed, then discussion of the issue will be hindered,” said Lagendijk. “If you want to support Turkey discussing its history, you should withdraw the bill.” /Milliyet/[07] IRAQI PM TO ARRIVE IN ANKARA ON MONDAY

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is due to arrive in Ankara on Monday upon the invitation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss a number of issues, including the terrorist PKK presence in northern Iraq. During their meeting, Erdogan will reiterate Ankara’s determination to end the PKK presence in the region. /Aksam/[08] CHIEF OF STAFF BUYUKANIT TO VISIT GREECE

Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit is expected to pay an official visit to Greece next month at the invitation of his Greek counterpart Panayotis Hinofotis. During his stay in the country, Buyukanit and Hinofotis are expected to discuss a number of issues, including the military aspects of confidence-boosting measures and problems of refugees in the Aegean. /Aksam/[09] FORMER BRITISH EU MINISTER MACSHANE: “EUROPE EXCLUDING TURKEY IS A HIGH-RISK GAME”

Europe is doing its level best to tell Turkey it is no longer wanted as part of the European Union, said Denis Macshane, former British Minister responsible for the European Union, in a guest column in Britain’s The Financial Times on Tuesday. “Turkey wakes up almost every month to find a new hurdle on its path to Europe," he wrote. "It is a high-risk game with little to gain and a great deal to lose. How much longer will this secular, democratic, Muslim country look westwards to a European future, instead of turning east?” He added that Turkey's "trials of writers and journalists are an insult to any notion of democracy. … However, the enormous progress in rule of law, freedom of intellectual activity and the defense of the secular state against illiberal religious fundamentalism remains an important advance in the struggle to defend democracy.” /Cumhuriyet/[10] IN MADRID, BABACAN COMMENTS ON RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan, visiting Spain, yesterday commented on recent economic developments, including the current account deficit. Babacan said that the government was considering measures to bring down the high current account deficit and added, “The high deficit is partly due to energy prices.” Babacan stated that talks over the 2007 budget were continuing and that the fiscal balance of state economic enterprises was very important so the prices of these enterprises’ products could be raised if a need arises. /Sabah/ [11] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…[00] THE BIGGEST CONFLICTBY FEHMI KORU (YENÝ SAFAK)

Columnist Yeni Safak comments on the so-called Armenian genocide and Turkey and France’s stance on it. A summary of his column is as follows:

“Why did politicians in France wait until 2001 to write a law on the so- called Armenian genocide? France is the biggest obstacle to Turkey’s EU membership. We know this from its stance when decisions were taken about Turkey’s EU membership talks. France was among the EU countries which was most opposed to the European Constitution. When people talk about a 'train crash' on the way to the EU, everybody thinks of the possibility of our membership being rejected through a referendum in France. France is different from all the other European countries. However, Turkey might be one of the closest countries to it. Ottoman intellectuals knew France as the ‘West,’ and when the Westernization reforms were implemented, the reformers took France as an example. The founders of the Republic were Ottoman intellectuals. Naturally, France was the ‘level of modern civilization’ for them.

The law on which Turkey based its administrative structure was the product of the first half of the 19th century and translated from the Napoleonic Code. Almost all the legislation aimed at turning Turkey into a Western country is the product of the same era, and France was taken as an example for this. During the early years of the Republic, France maintained this ‘exemplary’ situation. Our intellectuals spoke French and knew texts in French. In sum, although France isn’t our soulmate, now it’s excluding and opposing itself to the country which most resembles it in this region.

A similar analysis can be done of Armenians, which caused French politicians to oppose Turkey just for votes. The Ottomans trusted the Armenians the most. The Armenian people established the closest links with Turkish society, and they were familiar with our culture and contributed to our national heritage. Even today the presence of Armenians who live illegally in Turkey shows that Armenians see Turkey differently from their state. France, the country that we resemble the most in the West, doesn’t consider it harmful to pass a meaningless law which drives Turkey into a corner on the international stage with the pressure of Armenia, which is fated to get on well with us in the east. This is the biggest conflict that we’re facing now. Not the Armenians in Armenia, but the Armenians who live in other countries (the diaspora) are looking for revenge, and the number of French politicians determined to pass a law punishing those who deny the so-called Armenian genocide is small. When these two facts come together, difficult circumstances might emerge against Turkey. The question of why it’s happening now in France has only one answer: France had great leaders in the past, but now it lacks a leadership which can take responsibility on critical issues, turn its back on petty interests, and look at problems from the vantage point of history. Can we expect leadership from leaders who don’t realize that this law will do the exact opposite of its stated intention?”[12] GENOCIDE CLAIMS JUST A PRETEXTBY EMIN COLASAN (HURRIYET)

Columnist Emin Colasan comments on the French bill to criminalize denial of the so-called Armenian genocide. A summary of his column is as follows:

“During World War I, Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire revolted against the Ottoman state. The Ottomans were fighting with Russia, which seized Trabzon and Erzurum at that time. In this environment, the Armenians hit the Turkish military from the rear and managed to seize cities like Van and Bitlis. No state and military in the world could overlook such a betrayal. In 1915, the government decided on a forced emigration, and Armenians in the region were forced to go to Iraq, Syria and Jordan. There were deaths as all this happened, and many Turks as well as Armenians died. There were conflicts between the two parties as well as the Armenian betrayal, but there was never any genocide. If the state had had such an intention, then Armenians living in cities like Istanbul, Izmir and Adana would have been killed or at least expelled. Tales of the so-called Armenian genocide are one of the trump cards that the Western world uses against Turkey.

Now France is in the headlines, but 16 countries have recognized the so- called Armenian genocide. And what have we done to counter this? Nothing. Maybe we did some small initiatives on it, but that was all. The reason for this is that Turkey doesn’t have any weight except being a big market for other countries. As all this was happening, we were begging them not to exclude Turkey and doing everything they wanted. We even changed our law according to their requests. Watch, because the same thing will happen in the future.

Let’s say the French Parliament rejects this bill. Will we see this as a victory? Some will, but there will be more such obstacles as we beg. We endure all this for the sake of European Union membership. They already say clearly that the Turkish membership in the EU will be very difficult or even impossible. Every country is acting for its own interests whether we like it or not. What are we doing to fight this? We only give them more then we should. Would you act differently with such a country? They see us as just a market, that’s all.”

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