Turkish Coalition of America Blog

Turkish Coalition of America Responds to President Obama’s Armenian Remembrance Day Statement

2010-04-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

Washington, DC – In response to the President’s annual statement on Armenian Remembrance Day, G. Lincoln McCurdy, President of the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), issued the following comment:

“Today, President Barack Obama issued the annual presidential statement marking Armenian Remembrance Day. Turkish Americans share the grief of Armenian Americans who lost their family members during those dreadful events nearly a century ago. In fact, in a 2009 letter to President Obama, signed by over 50 Turkish American associations, Turkish Americans stated that they mourn Armenian losses in those years as their mourn their own. This dual tragedy is not forgotten.

“What is, however, forgotten and even denied, is the equally tragic loss of even more Muslim lives in this turbulent period of Ottoman history. The suffering of one people does not justify or negate the suffering of others, and all who lost their lives deserve to be remembered on this day of remembrance. Where does the ethnic cleansing of Ottoman Turks from the Balkans, Eastern Turkey and the Caucuses with 5 million lost and 5.5 million refugees come on the President's list of ‘worst atrocities of the 20th century?’ Do they also deserve at least an annual presidential remembrance from him, as he dutifully makes on this occasion every year?

“To recognize this Muslim suffering is not to diminish Armenian suffering, but to respect all human loss and suffering regardless of the race, ethnicity or religion of the victims, and to place the Armenian tragedy in its proper historical context.
“In this context, TCA supports the establishment of a joint historical commission tasked with uncovering a complete historical narrative that could pave the way for reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian people.

“Today, TCA would once again like to extend its hand of friendship to the Armenian Diaspora in the US. Over the years, we have implemented programs that we believe are helping to heal the divide between Turkish Americans and Armenian Americans. This includes our scholarship program for Armenian Americans to study abroad in Turkey. It is our hope that by fostering dialogue between our communities, we can play a positive role in re-building a mutual understanding between the two nations.”

Sezen Aksu: The Voice Of Istanbul

2010-04-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

By: Neva Grant
National Public Radio
April 12, 2010

It was summer in Istanbul, 1989, and her voice steamed out of every doorway, as compelling as the call to prayer. Who was she?

After hearing her everywhere, I asked a waiter to write down her name, and he gave me a look like, "How could you not know Sezen Aksu?"

She is a superstar in Turkey, and a big name in the Middle East and Europe. She recently performed near Washington, D.C., and filled that hall, too, with mostly Turkish-Americans and immigrants, and quite a range of them — grandmothers in headscarves, teenagers in towering heels. Their male companions, by the way, did not look like they'd been dragged there.

Sezen Aksu is a sexy pop star, who for the past 30 years has sold millions of recordings. She invented herself and keeps reinventing herself in a language that doesn't lend itself to music.

"Turkish is not a good-sounding language. You know, it's not musical like French or English," says Turkish composer and pianist Fahir Atakoglu. "But with singers like Sezen, for the first time, the Turkish words became much more musical. It started saying something really deep; it wasn't simple anymore."

One of Aksu's most popular songs is "Istanbul Istanbul Olali," or "Since Istanbul Became Istanbul." It is about lost love, set against the backdrop of Turkey's largest city.

Discovering Her Voice

In an interview at Strathmore Hall near Washington, D.C., Aksu talked about discovering her voice.

"I was singing in the choir, and I realized all of a sudden my voice was louder than anyone else's," she says through an interpreter. "It was a school song, I remember."

But her talent did not amuse her mother and father. Aksu says her parents were intellectuals who wanted her to be a doctor or an engineer.

"Once I realized I had this gift, and my mother and father were opposing this, I used to wait until they went to the movies or went out," Aksu says. "I would turn off the lights, go out on the balcony, and look down in the street to see people gathering to listen to me."

A Mix Of Cultures

This was happening in the mid-1960s, an exhilarating time to be a young singer in Turkey. It was a time when Eastern music collided with Western rock; when a strait-laced lute could flirt with an electric guitar and get away with it. Aksu says she was inspired by it all.

"My music is like Turkey, like Anatolia," she says. "This hybrid, this mixture of cultures ... for all these years, different thoughts and ideas existed together and borrowed from each other. It's very eclectic, but also harmonious."

Aksu has not always found harmony in her own life: She's been married and divorced four times.

"People are so complicated," she says.

In her lyrics, say her fans, she captures the muddle of human emotion. Even if you don't understand the words, there's still a way in. Isn't that the definition of a great voice? One that sings in a foreign language but still stops you in the street. You don't understand a word she's saying, but on some other gut level, you do.

To Listen to the Segment, click here.

Congress shouldn't write history

2010-03-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

The Charlotte Sun
March 2, 2010

Editor:

The United States is currently confronted with a daunting number of challenges in our nation's foreign relations, including dual wars, meeting energy needs, and preventing the growth of terrorist networks. In all these areas, we have an ally in Turkey.

In a bizarre move during such turbulent times the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including Rep. Connie Mack, are preparing to vote Thursday on House Resolution 252, which will recognize as "genocide" tragic events that took place nearly 100 years ago in the now-defunct Ottoman Empire, despite many holes in the historical argument.

This begs the question: why is the committee, at a time when we are dealing with pressing international and domestic issues, all of which require Turkey's support and active participation, squandering their time on an issue that has no relevance to America's foreign relations and interests? The answer is simple: Lobbying.

Despite much bravado about limiting the influence of special interests, groups with money and manpower still control Washington's agenda. The Armenian-American lobby spends an estimated $40 million annually on furthering its agenda, which revolves around recognition of an "Armenian Genocide."

This issue, ultimately, should not be on the docket of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congress is neither the "conscience" of the world, nor its revisionist historian. It's time to put an end to an dangerous game, played year after year when Congress is taken for a ride by a single-issue lobby at the expense of America's national interests. This is that time, but it will only end when Floridians pay attention and raise their voice and tell Representative Mack to oppose this resolution Thursday, and every time it comes up in the future.

Lincoln McCurdy

President

Turkish Coalition of America

Original Link

Oppose Resolution

2010-03-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

Northwest Herald
March 2, 2010

To the Editor:

The United States is confronted with a daunting number of challenges in our nation’s foreign relations, including dual wars, meeting energy needs, and preventing the growth of terrorist networks. In all these areas, we have an ally in Turkey.

In a bizarre move during such turbulent times, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including Rep. Don Manzullo, is preparing to vote on March 4 on House Resolution 252, which will recognize as “genocide” tragic events that took place nearly 100 years ago in the defunct Ottoman Empire, despite holes in the historical argument.

This raises the question: why is the committee squandering its time on an issue that has no relevance to America’s foreign relations and interests? The answer is simple: Lobbying.

Despite much bravado about limiting the influence of special interests, money and manpower still control Washington’s agenda. The Armenian-American lobby spends an estimated $40 million annually on its agenda, which revolves around recognition of an Armenian genocide.

This issue, ultimately, should not be on the docket of Congress. It’s time to put an end to a dangerous game, but it will end only when Americans raise their voice and tell Rep. Manzullo to oppose this resolution.

By: Lincoln McCurdy

President, Turkish Coalition of America

Original Link

Congress should do its job, not write history

2010-03-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

The Star Press
March 2, 2010
by: G. Lincoln McCurdy

The United States is currently confronted with a daunting number of challenges in our nation's foreign relations. America is managing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and trying to find ways to bring our troops back safely and without compromising our national security. We are working to maintain a nuclear-free Iran, secure our energy sources and prevent the growth and spread of international terrorist networks.

In all these and many other areas affecting Americans and millions of others around the world, we have an ally in Turkey. Our trade with Turkey topped $10 billion in 2009, leaving the United States with a $3.5 billion trade surplus, supporting thousands of valuable jobs in critical industries.

In a bizarre move during such turbulent times, members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including Rep. Mike Pence, are preparing to vote on March 4 on House Resolution 252, which will recognize as "genocide" tragic events that took place nearly 100 years ago in the now defunct Ottoman Empire, despite many holes in the historical argument.

This begs the question: why is the committee, at a time when we are dealing with pressing international and domestic issues, all of which require Turkey's support and active participation, squandering its time on an issue that has no relevance to America's foreign relations and interests?

The answer is simple: Lobbying.

Despite much bravado about limiting the influence of special interests, money and manpower still control Washington's agenda. In the United States there are nearly one million Armenian Americans, concentrated in a number of congressional districts, who support a lobby that spends an estimated $40 million annually on furthering its agenda, which revolves around recognition of an "Armenian Genocide." Their efforts have also made Armenia, a small landlocked region, the second largest per-capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid.

Proponents of the Resolution frequently admonish its opponents by pointing to a moral obligation of Congress to pronounce that the now-defunct Ottoman Empire, committed "genocide" against Armenians. In doing so, they choose to ignore the many well-regarded historians who dispute this claim. Still, Armenian resolutions persist due to the efforts of a well organized Armenian lobby that has turned hating Turkey into an existential cause.

To roaring cheers at a 2005 Armenian rally in New York, Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Co-Chairman of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, proclaimed, "The Turkish envoy said that not only did the genocide never occur, but he suggested that the reason why Armenians want to recognize the Armenian Genocide today -- want the Congress and the other countries to be on record -- is because they wanted restitution and they wanted reparations. And I say to that 'Yes, we do!' It is important not only to recognize the genocide but we have to make it clear that those who committed it pay restitution ... There must be recognition, there must be restitution, there must be reparations for the Armenian Genocide."

The resolution comes up for a vote at a particularly strange time. Armenia and Turkey are trying to work through a diplomatic process, with the support of the United States, which lays out a roadmap to normalizing relations. This effort includes the establishment of a joint historical commission of scholars and experts. Turkey's leadership time and again has stated that it will accept the findings of such a commission. It is telling that the Armenian lobby and its supporters in Congress not only oppose the normalization process, but, with even greater zeal, the establishment of this commission.

This issue, ultimately, should not be on the docket of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congress is neither the "conscience" of the world, nor its revisionist historian. It's time to put an end to a dangerous game, but it will only end when Americans pay attention and raise their voice and tell Rep. Pence to oppose this resolution on March 4, and every time it comes up in the future.

Lincoln McCurdy is president of the Turkish Coalition of America and a former U.S. diplomat. Learn more about TCA at www.tc-america.org.

Original Link

Don't write history, Congress

2010-03-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

The News & Messenger
Prince William, VA
March 2, 2010

The United States is currently confronted with a daunting number of challenges in our nation's foreign relations, including dual wars, meeting energy needs and preventing the growth of terrorist networks. In all these areas, we have an ally in Turkey.

In a bizarre move during such turbulent times, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including Rep. Gerry Connolly, are preparing to vote on March 4 on House Resolution 252, which will recognize as "genocide" tragic events that took place nearly 100 years ago in the now defunct Ottoman Empire, despite many holes in the historical argument.

This begs the question: Why is the committee, at a time when we are dealing with pressing international and domestic issues, all of which require Turkey's support and active participation, squandering their time on an issue that has no relevance to America's foreign relations and interests? The answer is simple: lobbying.

Despite much bravado about limiting the influence of special interests, groups with money and manpower still control Washington's agenda. The Armenian-American lobby spends an estimated $40 million annually on furthering its agenda, which revolves around recognition of an "Armenian Genocide."

This issue, ultimately, should not be on the docket of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congress is neither the "conscience" of the world, nor its revisionist historian. It's time to put an end to an dangerous game, played year after year when Congress is taken for a ride by a single-issue lobby at the expense of America's national interests. This is that time, but it will only end when Virginians pay attention and raise their voice and tell Rep. Connolly to oppose this resolution on March 4, and every time it comes up in the future.

G. LINCOLN McCURDY

President of the Turkish Coalition of America

Original Link

Congress should do its job

2010-03-03T08:03:00.000-08:00

The Galveston County Daily News
March 3, 2010
By: Lincoln McCurdy

The United States is confronted with a daunting number of challenges in our nation’s foreign relations.

America is managing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and trying to find ways to bring our troops back safely and without compromising our national security. We are working to maintain a nuclear-free Iran, secure our energy sources and prevent the growth and spread of international terrorist networks. In all these and many other areas affecting Americans and millions of others around the world, we have an ally in Turkey.

In a bizarre move during such turbulent times, members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, are preparing to vote Thursday on House Resolution 252, which will recognize as “genocide” tragic events that took place nearly 100 years ago in the now defunct Ottoman Empire, despite many holes in the historical argument.

This begs the question: Why is the committee, at a time when we are dealing with pressing international and domestic issues, all of which require Turkey’s support and active participation, squandering its time on an issue that has no relevance to America’s foreign relations and interests?

The answer is simple: lobbying.

Despite much bravado about limiting the influence of special interests, money and manpower still control Washington’s agenda. In the United States, there are nearly 1 million Armenian Americans, concentrated in a number of congressional districts, who support a lobby that spends an estimated $40 million annually on furthering its agenda, which revolves around recognition of an “Armenian Genocide.” Their efforts also have made Armenia, a small landlocked country, the second-largest per-capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid.

Proponents of the resolution frequently admonish its opponents by pointing to a moral obligation of Congress to pronounce that the now-defunct Ottoman Empire committed “genocide” against Armenians. In doing so, they choose to ignore the many well-regarded historians who dispute this claim.

Still, Armenian resolutions persist due to the efforts of a well-organized Armenian lobby that has turned hating Turkey into an existential cause.

The resolution comes up for a vote at a particularly strange time. Armenia and Turkey are trying to work through a diplomatic process, with the support of the United States, which lays out a road map to normalizing relations. This effort includes the establishment of a joint historical commission of scholars and experts.

Turkey’s leadership time and again has stated it will accept the findings of such a commission. It is telling that the Armenian lobby and its supporters in Congress not only oppose the normalization process, but, with even greater zeal, the establishment of this commission.

This issue, ultimately, should not be on the docket of Congress, which is neither the “conscience” of the world, nor its revisionist historian. It’s time to put an end to an dangerous game, but it will only end when Texans pay attention and tell Rep. Paul to oppose this resolution Thursday.

Lincoln McCurdy is president of the Turkish Coalition of America and a former U.S. diplomat. The coalition’s Web site is at tc-america.org.

Original Link

Dissing an ally

2010-03-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

The News-Press
Ft. Myers, FL
March 3, 2010

The United States is currently confronted with a daunting number of challenges in our nation’s foreign relations, including dual wars, meeting energy needs, and preventing the growth of terrorist networks. In all these areas, we have an ally in Turkey.

In a bizarre move during such turbulent times, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, is preparing to vote Thursday on House Resolution 252, which will recognize as “genocide” tragic events that took place nearly 100 years ago in the defunct Ottoman Empire, despite holes in the historical argument.

This begs the question: why is the committee squandering its time on an issue that has no relevance to America’s foreign relations and interests? The answer is simple: Lobbying.

Despite much bravado about limiting the influence of special interests, money and manpower still control Washington’s agenda. The Armenian-American lobby spends an estimated $40 million annually on its agenda, which revolves around recognition of an “Armenian Genocide.”

This issue, ultimately, should not be on the docket of Congress.

It’s time to put an end to a dangerous game, but it will only end when Americans raise their voice and tell Rep. Mack to oppose this resolution on Thursday.

LINCOLN MCCURDY
President, Turkish
Coalition of America

Read it Here

Once again, quest for Armenian genocide resolution begins

2010-03-03T07:53:00.000-08:00

by: Michael Doyle
Feb 19, 2010
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The latest version of an Armenian genocide resolution is on track to win House committee approval, but its long-term prospects remain uncertain.

This plot is familiar. Some characters have changed. The denouement is still to be determined.

On March 4, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to vote on a resolution declaring that "the Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923." Some consider the resolution diplomatically dangerous, but vote-counters consider committee passage a foregone conclusion.

"We are confident of a positive outcome," said Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America. "We have a track record of the committee approving the resolution in the past."

Typically, congressional committee chairs will only bring up measures they are confident will pass.

Residents of California's San Joaquin Valley, and other regions with large Armenian-American populations, are watching all of the action closely, and in some cases participating directly in it. The House panel's members include a number of resolution co-sponsors, including Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno.

Advocates of the resolution say it's important to account for the Ottoman Empire killings and depredations that occurred during and after World War I, when by estimates upward of 1.5 million Armenians died.

"Genocide is not something that can simply be swept under the rug and forgotten, and our nation cannot continue its policy of denial regarding the Armenian genocide," Costa said.

Approval by the 45-member House Foreign Affairs Committee, though, is a far cry from getting the diplomatically dicey resolution through the full 435-member House of Representatives.

Currently, for instance, the resolution has only 137 House co-sponsors, far short of the 218 needed for House approval. The last time the issue arose, in 2007, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to bring the resolution to the House floor until it had the requisite 218 co-sponsors.

Opponents are bringing out their big guns, warning the resolution would interfere with good diplomatic relations. Turkish and Armenian negotiators last year agreed to a set of protocols designed to smooth diplomatic relations, but the respective legislatures have not yet formally ratified them.

"That would be jeopardized by a political act of passing this resolution," said David Saltzman, chief counsel to the Turkish Coalition of America. "Passage of this resolution would be a potentially impenetrable hurdle (to reconciliation)."

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has likewise recently denounced the resolution as doing serious harm to U.S.-Turkey relations.

This plea of bad timing is one of the many familiar elements in the Armenian genocide fight.

In 2007, the Bush administration successfully argued the resolution would undermine the use of Turkish bases to resupply U.S. forces in Iraq. In 2000, then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert killed the resolution, citing "unusually tense" conditions in the Middle East.

High-powered lobbying is another familiar plot line.

Hastert is now registered as a lobbyist for the Turkish government. His firm, Dickstein Shapiro, has been paid up to $45,000 a month for its work on Turkey's behalf, public records show. One-time House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt is likewise a registered lobbyist for Turkey.

Some hope the arrival of the Obama administration will shake up these familiar faces and oft-heard arguments.

"A lot of things have changed," said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America.

While they were in the Senate and campaigning, Hamparian noted, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all endorsed Armenian genocide recognition.

Presidents, though, often back away from their campaign-season Armenian genocide resolution pledges. Obama, for one, avoided the term "genocide" in his presidential Armenia proclamation in April. Reading between the lines, one might see further hints of a pending administration retreat on the resolution itself.

"Our view is that the negotiations that have been taking place between Turkey and Armenia offer a positive path for the future," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in early February. "Anything that would impede the success of those discussions and negotiations I think is objectionable. I would just leave it there."

Original Link

Congress wasting time on genocide resolution

2010-03-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

Key West Citizen
March 3, 2010

The United States is currently confronted with a daunting number of challenges in our nation's foreign relations, including dual wars, meeting energy needs, and preventing the growth of terrorist networks. In all these areas, we have an ally in Turkey.

In a bizarre move during such turbulent times, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, are preparing to vote Thursday on House Resolution 252, which will recognize as "genocide" tragic events that took place nearly 100 years ago in the now-defunct Ottoman Empire, despite many holes in the historical argument.

This begs the question: Why is the committee, at a time when we are dealing with pressing international and domestic issues, all of which require Turkey's support and active participation, squandering its time on an issue that has no relevance to America's foreign relations and interests? The answer is simple: lobbying.

Despite much bravado about limiting the influence of special interests, groups with money and manpower still control Washington's agenda. The Armenian-American lobby spends an estimated $40 million annually on furthering its agenda, which revolves around recognition of an Armenian genocide.

This issue, ultimately, should not be on the docket of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congress is neither the conscience of the world, nor its revisionist historian. It's time to put an end to a dangerous game, played year after year when Congress is taken for a ride by a single-issue lobby at the expense of America's national interests. This is that time, but it will only end when Floridians pay attention and raise their voice and tell Rep. Ros-Lehtinen to oppose this resolution on Thursday, and every time it comes up in the future.

Lincoln McCurdy, president

Turkish Coalition of America

Read it Here

'Genocide' Vote Unneeded

2010-03-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

Rockford Register Star
March 2, 2010

The United States is confronted with a daunting number of challenges in our nation’s foreign relations, including dual wars, energy needs and preventing the growth of terrorist networks.

In all these areas, we have an ally in Turkey.

In a bizarre move during such turbulent times, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including Rep. Don Manzullo, prepares to vote Thursday on House Resolution 252.

The resolution will recognize as “genocide” the tragic events that took place nearly 100 years ago in the defunct Ottoman Empire, despite holes in the historical argument.

Why is the committee squandering its time on an issue with no relevance to America’s foreign relations and interests? The answer is simple: lobbying.

Despite much bravado about limiting the influence of special interests, money and manpower still control Washington’s agenda. The Armenian-American lobby spends an estimated $40 million annually on its agenda, which revolves around recognition of an “Armenian genocide.”

This issue, ultimately, should not be on the docket of Congress. It’s time to put an end to a dangerous game, but it will only end when Americans raise their voice and tell Rep. Manzullo to oppose this resolution Thursday.

— Lincoln McCurdy, president, Turkish Coalition of America

Read it here

Bill Maher's Take on Armenian Resolution

2010-02-25T14:46:00.000-08:00

Let's send a stern message to the Ottoman Empire!

Turkish rapper, Holocaust Survivor Team Up

2010-01-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

by: Max Fisher
The Atlantic Wire

Many Americans happily welcome Muslim immigrant communities to the U.S., but European governments have a slightly more complicated track record. This may help to explain why two Europeans from very different nations and generations have come together to fight racism. Esther Bejarano is an 85-year-old German Holocaust survivor. She developed her musical talent playing in Auschwitz. Kutlu Yurtseven is a young Turkish immigrant in Cologne making a name as a rapper in the group Microphone Mafia.

Brought together by a shared legacy of enduring racism in Europe and by their love of music, Bejarano and Yurtseven combine rapping with old-Europe Jewish folk music. The two record youth-friendly music preaching racial acceptance. Their album, Per La Vita, is not currently available on Amazon. But you can listen to a sample track, "Desateur," below.

Original Article from the Atlantic

Chef Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" Istanbul

2010-01-27T11:57:00.000-08:00

Chef Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" program on Travel Channel featured Istanbul on January 18, 2010. If you missed this program you can watch it now on You Tube.

Obama's Ideal Partner: Turkey

2009-12-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

The Hill
by: Joshua W. Walker, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy in the German Marshall Fund, and Truman National Security Fellow

President Obama laid out his new Afghanistan strategy on last week by ordering an additional 30,000 US troops to the country. While the majority of the analysis in Washington has centered on the level of US forces, the President emphasized that the “burden is not ours alone to bear.” Yet the reality is that this international coalition is waning, not surging, and is in desperate need of a regional champion that can serve as a model partner for the US in Afghanistan. Obama’s ideal partner is Turkey.

Turkey has the second largest army in NATO, is part of almost every European organization, chairs the Organization of Islamic Conference States, is a UN Security Council member, is a member of the G-20, and is one of the few examples of a functioning Muslim-majority democracy in the Middle East. Having once contributed the third highest number of troops to the mission in Afghanistan, the Turks now are taking command for the second time and have recently doubled their troop levels to 1,600. With 2.5 million soldiers, strong Transatlantic and Muslim credentials, Turkey is an underutilized ally that Obama would be wise to actively engage.

The President should begin that process through a personalized request to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is visiting the White House today, Monday December 7. Highlighting the Turks’ considerable accomplishments and potential in Afghanistan would encourage Turkey to take a more active leadership role in the region. By playing to the Turks’ newly discovered self-confidence, the President can transfer critical responsibility to an ideal partner that is poised to play an increasingly important regional role for many years to come. Not only will enhanced US-Turkish cooperation serve the interests of Afghanistan but it is also a win-win for America and Turkey.

Link to Article

Building a bridge between Native Americans and Turkey

2009-11-20T08:19:00.000-08:00

By: SEVİM SONGÜN
Hürriyet Daily News

ISTANBUL --

A delegation of Native American scholars currently visiting Turkey plans to recommend the country as an academic-exchange destination following discussions with Turkish universities this past week. Turkish-Americans and Native Americans have much to learn from each other, says Lincoln McCurdy, the president of the Turkish American Coalition, which organized the exchange
A group of Native American scholars came to Turkey last week as part of an effort to boost university relations and create future student and faculty exchanges between North American and Turkish schools.

The two cultures have many things in common and have an opportunity to share these experiences, according to the visiting Native American delegation hosted by the Turkish Coalition of America, or TCA.

“I have never been to Turkey before – it was one of those places I had seen only on the map. This has been a wonderful experience for me,” said Evelina Zuni Lucero, who teaches creative writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico.

“Many Native American students are willing to come to Turkey. We are interested in non-Western cultures, particularly Middle Eastern ones, because we really know very little about them,” added Lucero, a Native American from the Isleta/Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo.

“As soon as I return to the U.S., I will make a presentation at my university about my experiences here and look for ways to arrange possible exchanges,” said Valerian Three Irons, a scholar from South Dakota State University.

He added that because most Native American students are from low-income families, he will try to arrange scholarships for them to receive education in Turkey.

Three Irons, who has a mixed heritage from the Mandan, Hidatsa, Crow and Cree nations, said he would arrange a summer-school program at the university so students can experience living with Native American families on reservations and see everything that happens in the community. The program would allow these visitors to see more than most tourists, he said.

According to Three Irons, who works with Turkish schools such as Bahçeşehir University on these exchanges, there are more than 700 Native American communities and each one has a unique religion. He said these communities like the idea of an exchange of ideas between nations because it is very different from their past experiences of conquest and exploitation.

Some exchanges between universities have already started with the TCA invitation to the Native American scholars.

Willard Sakiestewa Gilbert, an education professor at Northeastern Arizona University, will teach at Bahçeşehir University for one term. Gilbert said his home university has started a global initiative to develop more exchanges and that Turkey could be one of the partners in these efforts.

According to TCA President Lincoln McCurdy, the group has additional bridge-building projects involving Turkey and various American communities, including African-, Hispanic-, Bosnian-, Albanian- and Macedonian-Americans.

“Turkish-Americans have still not yet learned [how] to get involved in the political system in the United States, but they can learn a lot from Native, African- and Hispanic-Americans who have been successful after all the struggles to get politically involved,” said McCurdy.

He added that Native Americans can be inspired by the history of the Turkish Republic to rebuild their identities and maintain their heritage while modernizing.

According to McCurdy, the group is also working on future projects to increase business relations between Turkey and American communities.

Turkish Cultural Foundation Introduces Turkish Artists at SOFA

2009-11-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

The Turkish Cultural Foundation is to proud to present the works of Turkish artists Ebru Dosekci, Emel Vardar, Suleyman Saim Tekcan and Ebru Yilmaz at the Sculpture Objects and Functional Art (SOFA) Fair in Chicago on November 6-8, 2009.

SOFA Chicago features 68 prestigious galleries from 12 countries and is expected to be visited by over 35,000 visitors, including art collectors, museum and gallery curators. The Fair is respected for presenting a wide variety of modern art, contemporary designs, decorative and functional art, as well as designer jewelry. The Turkish Cultural Foundation has been sponsoring Turkish artists' participation in the SOFA fairs in Chicago and New York for the past three years and is the only Foundation participating in this international art exposition.

To learn more about SOFA, click here.

The Turkish Cultural Foundation's showcase of Turkish art toward at SOFA reflects the Foundation's mission to expand international opportunities for Turkish artists, as well as promote the finest examples Turkish modern art.

For more information, visit www.turkishculturalfoundation.org

Turkey's Rich History Attracts Film Director

2009-10-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
Hartford Courant

October 25, 2009

Born in England, Alan Parker knows a thing or two about traveling. The acclaimed director of "Evita," "Angela's Ashes" and " Mississippi Burning" has vacationed around the world. But ask the 65-year-old what his most memorable trip was, and he'll answer, " Turkey." That is where the director filmed part of his controversial 1978 film "Midnight Express." The Blu-ray version of the classic movie is now available ( Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) and includes some of Parker's observations and photographs from the filming.

Q: What is your favorite vacation destination?

A: I love places like Buenos Aires, Shanghai, Venice, Dublin, Marrakech, Berlin and Leningrad. But visiting Turkey was an experience. It's a modern world mixed together with ancient history. If you're interested in history, how could you not want to visit Troy, Ephesus and Gallipoli? The food is very good there, but go easy on the national drink, raki. It's 45 percent proof, so add lots of water.

Q: How do you try to fit in when you're a tourist?

A: Smiling a lot always helps. English will get you by, unless you're really off the beaten track. Always remember that raising your voice will not help them understand any better. If you want one Turkish word, then "thank you" might go a long way: Teh-shek-kewr-eh-deh-reem.

To be honest, the story of "Midnight Express" wasn't too popular in Turkey when I first visited, so I was a low-key traveler with my hat pulled down over my face, clicking away with my camera. But I was just fascinated by the place. Istanbul has been the meeting point where East touches West for centuries, and you can feel the energy of this cultural collision just walking through the city. When I went to scout in Turkey before making the film, the country had an edgy, somewhat scary but exotic feel that had nothing to do with any European city I had visited.

Q: What observations have you made about American versus European travelers?

A: I think Europeans tend to travel more than Americans. After all, in the time it takes to travel from Los Angeles to New York, the same journey in Europe would take you through 20 countries.

Q: When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?

A: Camera, notebook, iPhone, lots to read and Zantac. It's amazing how little you actually need if you analyze it. On the plane, I used to give myself a hernia with my heavy carry-on bag containing dozens of scripts and books to read, and I never touched them. An iPod and one light paperback is all you need on a plane. The best advice about bags is never to have bags too big or too heavy that you couldn't carry them yourself in an emergency.

Q: What is your worst vacation memory?

A: When "Midnight Express" came out, it didn't go down too well in Turkey, and I was on a list of undesirables. But Turkey now has a thriving tourist industry, and my children have had wonderful holidays there.

Link Here

2 American masters topics for seminar

2009-09-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Washington Times
September 28, 2009

Two American masters -- self-exiled intellectual and author James Baldwin and "Record Man" Ahmet Ertegun -- will be the topics of discussion at Georgetown University on Oct. 5 when Magdalena J. Zaborowska of the University of Michigan and Georgetown history professor Maurice Jackson, a jazz specialist, lead a seminar titled "African American-Turkish Connections Through the Arts."

The seminar -- set for 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Copley Formal Lounge and co-sponsored by the Turkish Coalition of America, the Institute of Turkish Studies, Howard University and Georgetown -- will look at the lives of two arts masters who were born as their homelands emerged from World War I and reborn as post-World War II America grappled with the meaning of civil rights and civil liberties.

Mr. Baldwin, a native New Yorker who lived in Istanbul and elsewhere in Europe for decades, once proclaimed that Turkey "saved my life" because of the freedoms he lived and breathed there but was denied as a black man in America. In the meantime, Mr. Ertegun, who grew up in Washington and whose ambassador father opened the family home to blacks who entered through the front door, was becoming a prolific arts entrepreneur whose love of music eventually lead to the formation of Atlantic Records. The label's hit artists included Ray Charles and the Clovers.

"TCA is proud to sponsor this program that highlights the shared history of Turkish Americans and the African-American community in D.C.," TCA President Lincoln McCurdy told The Washington Times. "The legacy of Ahmet Ertegun of breaking down racial barriers through music should inspire all Americans. Additionally, James Baldwin's works and his courageous stance on gender, race and sexual equality should remind us that local activism and the arts have always been close together in African-American communities, that they have always had a transnational and global dimension."

Said Ms. Zaborowska, author of "James Baldwin's Turkish Decade: Erotics of Exile," "Baldwin's claim, [that] Turkey 'saved my life,' referred to the freedom he felt in Istanbul from racial and sexual oppression, the freedom that transformed him and his writing as a black writer, novelist, playwright and civil rights movement activist."

Link to Article

Turkish group reaches out to Armenian-American students

2009-09-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

September 15, 2009
McClatchy Newspapers

By Michael Doyle

WASHINGTON -- New scholarships will enable Armenian-American students to study in Turkey, a gesture prompted by diplomatic progress made by two long-feuding countries.
The scholarships for 100 American students of Armenian descent will finance a semester at any Turkish or Turkish Cypriot university. The Turkish Coalition of America is offering the $2,000 scholarships in hopes of changing minds.

"We hope to encourage dialogue between Turks and Armenians, so that future generations won't have the burden of this animosity," coalition president Lincoln McCurdy said Monday. "The shared history of both cultures has been overshadowed by hostility for far too long."

The scholarships could prove particularly enticing in regions like the San Joaquin Valley, home to tens of thousands of Armenian-Americans. California State University, Fresno, hosts both an Armenian Studies Program and the nationwide Society for Armenian Studies, which spans many campuses.

Each year, roughly 10 Fresno State students graduate with a minor in Armenian Studies, and dozens more take history, arts and language courses through the program.

But the new scholarships also provoke questions in some Armenian-American circles, as do the broader talks now under way between Turkey and Armenia.

The two countries have been at odds for nearly a century over events between 1915 and 1923, when by some estimates upward of 1.5 million Armenians died during the final years of the Ottoman Empire before Turkey was founded. The Turkish government blames the deaths on civil war. Armenians call the deaths genocide.

"There's always skepticism, because of Turkey's attitude in the past," noted Barlow Der Mugrdechian, director of the Fresno State Armenian Studies Program. "Until Turkey recognizes the [Armenian] genocide, there's always going to be skepticism."
Der Mugrdechian said he would need to learn more about the scholarship's details before he could evaluate it.

More broadly, though, he noted that San Joaquin Valley Armenian-Americans have concerns that the Turkish-Armenian diplomatic breakthrough announced recently was accomplished in part through trading away a formal Armenian genocide recognition.

On Aug. 31, following negotiations brokered by Swiss go-betweens, Turkey and Armenia unveiled a roadmap toward mutual diplomatic recognition. This includes six weeks for parliamentary consideration, followed by opening of the Turkey-Armenia border within two months.

The protocols include establishing a joint historical commission that will presumably be genocide-oriented, though it is described in a round-about way.
Armenian-American organizations and their Capitol Hill allies have long pushed for an explicit congressional Armenian genocide resolution.

With the help of successive U.S. presidents, fearful of the diplomatic consequences, Turkish officials have resisted the genocide resolution efforts.

The Turkish Coalition of America was founded in 2007. It sponsors educational and other programs boosting Turkey, including the trips to Turkey sponsored for members of Congress and staff and scholarships for students.

The Coalition offers more information at www.turkishcoalition.org/.

TCA Position on the Turkey-Armenia Dialogue

2009-09-14T11:28:00.001-07:00

The Turkish Coalition of America welcomes the initialing of two important protocols between the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Armenia, which lay out a framework and time table for the two governments to establish diplomatic relations and develop bilateral relations.

TCA recognizes the United States Administration’s and President Obama’s personal commitment to normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia and to supporting dialogue between Turks and Armenians. In this context, TCA calls upon Congress to lend its unambiguous support to the ongoing process. We appeal to members of Congress interested in Turkish-Armenian relations to play a constructive role in advancing the goals of peace and stability in the region, as well as dialogue and harmony between Turkish Americans and Armenian Americans.

There are great benefits to be gained for generations to come if Armenians and Turks are encouraged to increase economic and political cooperation and rediscover their deep cultural ties, derived from a thousand years of peaceful coexistence.

TCA strongly believes that Turkey and Armenia can indeed look to the future and leave assessments of their tragic history and mutual suffering to historians and other qualified experts. In this context, TCA reiterates its strong support for an international commission of authoritative specialists with access to all relevant archives, including those of Armenian organizations that remain closed today. We see such an effort as the fairest and, indeed, the only method for assessing the past, which will pave the way for reconciliation between the two people, in lieu of politically charged legislative or executive declarations by third parties. This initiative enjoys the strong support of the Turkish American community and was voiced to President Obama in a February 2009 letter, signed by 50 Turkish American organizations nationwide.

While resolving the outstanding issues between Turkey and Armenia will certainly improve regional conditions, TCA also calls on all interested parties to reinvigorate their efforts to end the illegal Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan's territory and end the plight of nearly one million refugees in Azerbaijan. A just and lasting solution to this conflict is as essential to peace and stability in the region as any element of the recent Turkey-Armenia protocols.

Finally, the Turkish Coalition of America extends its hand of friendship to all Armenian groups who wish to work together to rediscover the bonds of centuries old kinship between the Turkish and Armenian people. We take pride in announcing a TCA grant for one hundred scholarships for American college students of Armenian descent for a semester-long study abroad program at any Turkish or Turkish Cypriot university.

Turkish Coalition of America Announces $100,000 Grant to Chaldean Federation of America

2009-09-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

In an effort to alleviate the suffering of thousands of Iraq’s war torn and displaced Chaldean Persons in Turkey, the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) www.tc-america.org and the Chaldean Federation of America (CFA) www.chaldeanfederation.org will hold a signing ceremony for the $100,000 TCA humanitarian assistance grant to the CFA. The ceremony will be held at the Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield on Wednesday, September 2, 2009, at 7:00 PM. The club is located at 5600 Walnut Lake Road.

Monsignor Francois Yakan, Vicar of the Chaldean Patriarchate in Turkey and Mr. Erol Dura, a board member of the Turkish Chaldean-Assyrian-Syriac Humanitarian Organization (KASDER) will also sign on receiving this humanitarian award for their organization being selected as the facilitator and provider of award funds to these displaced persons. CFA and KASDER agreed to allocate 100% of the grant funds for the intended humanitarian relief; no overhead cost will be deducted. The local Chaldean Assyrian Association and community has played an invaluable role in implementing this aid program in addition to their existing efforts which have sustained the most pressing needs of the refugees for a considerable time.

“The Chaldean Federation of America is grateful to the Turkish American Community for the well thought and just in time humanitarian aid grant towards the immediate needs of the thousands of displaced Iraqi Chaldeans scattered throughout Turkey. CFA will continue to work with TCA to ensure adequate humanitarian relief and protection to those who need it the most,” said Joseph T. Kassab, Executive Director of CFA.

“The Iraqi refugee crisis continues to be one of the world’s most pressing humanitarian concerns. The work that the Chaldean Federation of America is doing to serve this vulnerable population is of critical importance, and helps contribute to the overall stability and security of the region,” Congressman Gary C. Peters, who represents Michigan’s 9th Congressional District which includes the Chaldean Federation of America’s national headquarters in Farmington Hills and is home to tens of thousands of Chaldean-Americans. “I extend my gratitude to the Turkish Coalition of America for providing this grant, and look forward to working with both of these organizations to help address the needs of Iraqis refugees and internally displaced people.”

“I thank the Turkish Coalition of America for providing financial support to one of the largest Chaldean populations in southeastern Michigan,” said Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (MI-13). “This donation to the Chaldean Federation of America illustrates the positive impact that America’s ethnic communities can have on improving the lives of people in the United States and abroad. I applaud both organizations for working together to assist those in need.”

“There are hundreds of thousands of Iraqi minorities who fled from violence and threats on their lives in Iraq, only to find they are unable to support themselves and their families in host countries where they live as refugees,” said Congressman John Dingell (MI-15). The partnership between the Turkish Coalition of America and the Chaldean Federation of America, which will provide assistance to displaced Iraqi Chaldeans in Turkey, is a much needed lifeline for this vulnerable population. As a Representative from a Congressional District with a high proportion of Iraqi refugees resettled in the United States, I have seen first hand that the U.S. cannot simply rely on the generosity of groups like TCA and CFA. The U.S. must lead by example, and immediately implement a comprehensive plan to address the Iraqi refugee crisis.”

“TCA is proud to make this donation to the Chaldean Federation of America in an effort to help alleviate the suffering of displaced individuals,” said Lincoln McCurdy, President of the TCA. “It is our hope that this effort will continue our efforts to build bridges between communities and further understanding between cultures.”

TCA and CFA will continue to promote their relationship to their respective communities and the general public in the U.S. and Turkey to provide the best possible comfort to the displaced and the vulnerable Iraqi Chaldeans in Turkey.

Armenia, Turkey move towards diplomatic ties

2009-08-31T13:43:00.000-07:00

YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenia and Turkey said on Monday they would complete talks in six weeks and sign an accord on re-establishing diplomatic relations after almost a century of hostility.

The neighbors have no diplomatic ties, a closed border and a history of mutual distrust stemming from the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One. Turkey rejects allegations that the killing of Armenians was genocide.

The two countries announced in April that they had agreed a plan for normalizing relations, but gave no details. Diplomats said it included the reopening of the border and establishment of diplomatic ties.

Monday's joint statement, issued by the foreign ministries of Armenia and Turkey and mediator Switzerland, said they would begin "internal political consultations" on protocols to establish diplomatic relations and develop bilateral relations.

"The political consultations will be completed within six weeks, following which the two Protocols will be signed and submitted to the respective Parliaments for the ratification on each side," the statement said.

"Both sides will make their best efforts for the timely progression of the ratification in line with their constitutional and legal procedures."

Armenia has been pressing for concrete progress since the April announcement, and President Serzh Sarksyan is due to attend the return leg of a World Cup qualifying football match between the two countries in Turkey in October.

Turkey closed the frontier in 1993 in solidarity with fellow Muslim Azerbaijan, which was fighting Armenian-backed separatists in the breakaway mountain region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Sarksyan has said he will not travel to the football match, the first leg of which Turkish President Abdullah Gul watched last year in Yerevan, unless the border has reopened or there are at least clear signs it is about to re-open.

But since the April announcement, Turkish government officials -- faced with a backlash from Azerbaijan -- have said the border will not re-open until Armenia makes concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey seeks to carve out new niche in global fashion industry

2009-08-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

August 31, 2009
Associated Press

ISTANBUL: Turkey is seeking to carve out a new niche in the global fashion market by promoting its dynamic generation of young designers.

With a solid reputation for textiles and production for big international brands like Gap and Dolce & Gabbana, it sees its home-grown creativity as the best strategy to combat the threat to the sector from China and the Far East.

‘Our target is to make Istanbul one of the top five world fashion capitals, alongside Paris, Milan, New York and London.’ Hikmet Tanriverdi, the new chairman of ITKIB, the body representing manufacturers and designers told AFP.

Tanriverdi was the prime mover behind the just-ended Istanbul Fashion Days, the first event to present designers and brands under one roof to invited international press and buyers.

The initiative has enthusiastic government backing, with good reason: 55 percent of Turkey's exports are to Europe, of which 82 percent are in the apparel sector.

Minister of State for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan said Turkey was already ‘an address for good quality clothing’ but needed to develop strong brands with wider recognition.

He was optimistic about the sector's future, while frustrated at delays in Turkey achieving its goal to become a full member of the European Union.

‘When it does, the EU's border will touch Asia. Turkey is a bridge, an excellent corridor between the East and West. It is only four hours by plane to more than 50 countries — a quarter of the world's population and a quarter of the world's economy.’

While Turkey's clothing sector had been hit by the global recession, the effect had been mitigated by the falling exchange rate of the local currency to the euro, he said.

As to competition from cheaper Asian imports, he told AFP he was confident: ‘There are international trade laws which must be respected. I do not see China as a threat. I see China as an opportunity; in fact I am flying there tomorrow at the invitation of the prime minister and foreign ministers.’

Odile Baudelaire, a Paris-based agent who advises the buyers of specialty stores like Nordstrom in the United States and Myer in Australia, agrees.

‘The price is a bit higher in Turkey than China but creativity and design is much better. So are the fabrics.’

Michael Bonzom, a trend spotter for the NellyRodi agency and style consultant, noted there is already regional cooperation over the Asian competition: ‘Turkey, Morocco and Italy are all trying to get together to beat the threat from China.’

Turkey's very good reputation for respecting production deadlines and delivering on time was in its favour, he added.

On the likely future success of Istanbul fashion week in attracting international press and buyers, opinions were reserved.

‘Many Turkish designers don't show anywhere in Europe so it is a good alternative. I think there is potential. They have the factories and they have the creativity,’ says Baudelaire.

But she wondered if buyers would trek to Istanbul and whether it might make more sense to hold showrooms in the other fashion capitals.

Paul Chan, a buyer from Singapore, was similarly sceptical.

‘Paris, Milan, London are all close together and they have the big name brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior.’

He said the 10-hour flight was too far for southeast Asian buyers and that Istanbul would need to promote itself in the region. Meanwhile he thought there was untapped potential closer to home: ‘Why don't they design for the Middle East?’

The verdict of Faris and Layla Shehri, from the exclusive Art of Kohl Ltd shops in Riyadh, was ‘quite interesting. It is a good initiative from government to recognise talent in the fashion industry.’

But they felt Istanbul had ‘invited the buyers too soon. They are not ready.’
Bonzom was more upbeat.

‘Turkey is known for casual wear, cotton, denim, beachwear, and leather but not at all for its ready-to-wear. They are quite right to want to construct an identity in the middle to luxury ready-to-wear range.’

‘They have some very talented designers, like Arzu Kaprol. Also good menswear. I really hope it will pay off.’

Natalie Lacroix, a buyer for the exclusive Franck et Fils boutiques in Paris, was impressed by all the edgily-dressed young women jostling to get into the shows and the hip street scene in Istanbul.

‘They are clearly mad about fashion.’

She liked the idea of Istanbul's fashion week — ‘Turkey is the first country in the Mediterranean basin to try to establish its fashion identity’ — but the catwalk shows fell short of expectations. ‘Some designers need to westernise their styling more.’

Designer Mehtap Elaidi, who was on the organising committee, said the event already provided a much-needed platform.

‘To put a show on in Paris costs as much as a whole season here. We want to show we really have something. This is just the tip of the iceberg.’

But it takes a long time to build a brand, let alone a fashion capital. As several insiders put it: ‘There's a long road ahead.’

TCA Condemns Actions by Armenian Lobby

2009-08-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Washington, DC – The deposition of former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds in Washington this past weekend was supposed to be the latest chapter in the defamation case filed by Congresswoman Jean Schmidt against David Krikorian, a candidate for Schmidt’s Ohio Congressional seat in the 2010 elections. Instead, her testimony was a recitation of a familiar story in American politics: a full-on assault against the national interests of the United States and the integrity of its justice system by the Armenian lobby.

Krikorian, whose candidacy is backed by various Armenian groups including the Armenian national Committee of America (ANCA), has made a series of unfounded and slanderous accusations of Congresswoman Schmidt, including that she has accepted “blood money” from the Turkish government. The Congresswoman’s case has been supported by the Ohio Elections Commission in a unanimous vote affirming her suit against Krikorian.

With no basis for these claims against the Congresswoman, and with President Obama and the United States Congress refusing to endorse ANCA’s version of century-old events in a now-defunct empire (the treatment of Ottoman Armenians during their rebellion against the Ottoman regime), Krikorian and his lobbyist backers are getting desperate.

Their latest stunt was to produce Ms. Edmonds, a former FBI translator with no knowledge of the case between Mrs. Schmidt and Mr. Krikorian. The key items that we learned on Saturday were that Ms. Edmonds has never heard of the any of the Political Action Committees that Krikorian has accused of trafficking in ‘blood money;’ she learned of the case between Krikorian and Schmidt eight days prior to her deposition; she has a self-aggrandizing imagination inflating her position at the FBI to that of an interrogator of terrorists; and that she has a book coming out this fall.

Why would she testify then? Was the Armenian Lobby merely trying to divert the court’s attention away from the case at hand by introducing a witness who would make further unfounded accusations against the Turkish government, none of which involved the defendant or the plaintiff? Or, one might ask, has there even been a bigger waste of time for the American legal system?

The irrelevance and insignificance of Ms Edmonds deposition can be evidenced by the fact that Mr. Geragos, Mr. Krikorian’s attorney of record, did not bother to show up. Instead, Krikorian was represented by a proxy attorney whose familiarity with the case extends to a few hours before the deposition took place. And who could blame Mr. Geragos? His job is to serve as a defense attorney in this particular case, not to watch a discredited former employee of the FBI (who served the federal government for a total of six months before being fired), give an in-depth analysis of apples when the topic of conversation was supposed to be oranges.

Saturday’s deposition was nothing more than an opportunity for Ms. Edmonds to make unsubstantiated claims and air conspiracy theories ranging from the tragedy of September 11th, to lurid sexual innuendo regarding unnamed members of Congress, and briefcases full of money. Stories such as this belong in a John Grisham novel rather than a formal legal proceeding.

Nor were the Armenian lobby’s tactics limited to Ms. Edmonds’ testimony. Following the deposition, the Communications Director for ANCA, Elizabeth Chouldjian (who conveniently also serves as a freelance “journalist” for Armenia Horizon TV), ambushed attorneys representing Mrs. Schmidt in a further attempt to steer the discourse away from the actual substance of the legal case. It is astonishing how low ANCA and its officials will sink to impose their view of history on others.

This diversionary tactic by the defense to confuse the issue is further evidence that the 83% of the Ohio 2nd District were correct in rejecting the flawed thinking of Krikorian, who was rejected first by both major political parties.

Furthermore, it displays the lethal mixture that results from a disgruntled and discredited former federal employee, a single-issue Armenian lobbying organization that serves the interests of a foreign government to the detriment of the security and interests of the United States, and a fringe candidate in a congressional election willing to make unfounded and slanderous accusations against public servants. Trying to manipulate a legal case is just the tip of the iceberg.

Celebrating Turkey in the Heart of Paris

2009-08-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

By: Susanne Fowler
New York Times
Aug. 2, 2009

PARIS | Visitors strolling past the Trocadéro in Paris recently could be forgiven for thinking that they had somehow been transported to another time and place. There on the square, with the Eiffel Tower glowing behind them, were dervishes whirling to the delight of thousands of spectators.

The presentation was part of the opening ceremony for “Saison de la Turquie en France,” an impressive celebration of Turkish arts and culture — especially considering that it is taking place in a country that has, at times, vocally disputed Turkey’s inclusion in the European Union.

With the countries budgeting at least 24 million euros in government and private support for the program, the “Saison,” is a nine-month-long culture festival that is bringing hundreds of Turkish artists, musicians, writers and other experts to cities throughout France.

The wide-ranging events are detailed in French in the festival catalog (PDF) and on the frequently updated Web site.

While the action is taking place in many cities, including Lille, Toulouse, Marseille and Lyon, here are some of the Parisian highlights:
– Encounters with writers like Elif Shafak and the Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk.
– Illumination of the Eiffel Tower in the red and white of the Turkish flag during the month of October.
– Photography exhibits, including Ara Guler’s moody shots of Istanbul from the ’50s and ’60s.
– A film festival celebrating Turkey’s current “new wave’’ in cinema.

Because the program is so extensive, visitors may have a hard time choosing where to start. The answer may be a stop at the Café Turc, an airy and welcoming structure designed by the architects Han Tumertekin and Francois Pin in the historic Jardin des Tuileries, near the Place de la Concorde.

The cafe, open through Aug. 8, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., is a great way to dip a toe into some great Turkish traditions, including a workshops on puppetry and traditional instruments, or by simply pulling up a stool, sipping a demitasse of rich black Turkish coffee and listening to one of the many free concerts. It was standing room only last week for Göçebe Sarkilar’s concert of songs of the Anatolian nomads. The cafe’s closing night, on Aug. 8, should be rocking when Selim Sesler takes the stage with his clarinet and his gypsy-jazz band.

The irony of France playing host to a huge Turkish festival is not lost on the co-chairmen of the event.

Stanislas Pierret, the French co-commissioner, said his goal was to provide “a platform for the Turkish people to show what Turkey is really like.’’

“Istanbul now is like the New York of Europe,’’ he said. “There is a lot of creativity every where.’’

Gorgun Taner, the Turkish co-commisioner, agreed. “Our contemporary art and music scenes are dynamic,’’ he said, “as they should be when you realize that 50 percent of the Turkish population is under age 25.”

He hopes that the “Saison” can forge a lasting bond between the two countries.

“We are trying to bring to France examples of the multiculturalism of Turkey, to show not only how we differ, but also how much we look alike,” he said.

Turkey works on plan regarding Kurdish conflict

2009-07-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

July 29, 2009
Associated Press

By SELCAN HACAOGLU (AP)

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's government said Wednesday it is prepared to grant more rights to the nation's Kurds in an effort to end the 25-year insurgency by Kurdish rebels.

But Interior Minister Besir Atalay provided no details of the plan and despite his conciliatory language the challenge of persuading thousands of Kurdish rebels to lay down their arms is likely to be long and difficult.

The rebels want an unconditional amnesty that includes their leaders, but the government has said it had no plans to expand laws that enable lower-ranking rebels to avoid prison by renouncing their past and sharing intelligence.

Kurdish activists have said imprisoned rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan will announce a "roadmap" to end the conflict ahead of Aug. 15, the date when the guerrillas first took up arms in 1984. They are fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast, and the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. Many of the insurgents' attacks are launched from hideouts in northern Iraq.

Turkey has refused talks with the rebel group _the Kurdistan Workers Party — but has acknowledged that military action alone will not end the conflict. The United States and the European Union have joined Turkey in labeling the group a terrorist organization.

"Come on and join this process, let's solve this problem that has cost so much and seized our future," Atalay said at a nationally televised news conference Wednesday. "We have the intention to take determined, patient and courageous steps."
He said the government was working on a plan to give more rights to Kurds, and he invited opposition parties and institutions to contribute to a national consensus.

Atalay did not give a timeframe for a Kurdish initiative, saying details would be disclosed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Under pressure from the EU, Turkey has granted greater cultural rights to Kurds, including the launch earlier this year of a 24-hour television channel broadcasting in the once-banned Kurdish language.

Private NTV television said Wednesday that the government's plan may include moves to allow the use of Kurdish names for thousands of villages whose names had been changed to Turkish, allow Kurdish prisoners to speak in their mother tongue during prison visits, expand Kurdish language broadcasts to private TV stations and set up Kurdish language faculties.

Some Kurds welcomed the government's initiative.

"We will fulfill our responsibilities," said Sirri Sakik, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party. "It is the common problem of everyone living in this country."

But the party's leader, Ahmet Turk, insisted that Turkey must end its military drive against the rebels.

"Operations must stop," Turk said. "The problem is multidimensional and no time should be wasted."

Mehmet Emin Aktar, the head of the Bar Association in the largely Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir, said: "No one has patience for more blood and tears."

Turkey's far-right Nationalist Action Party accused the government of offering concessions.

"This initiative threatens the future of Turkey. It is dividing the country along ethnic lines and preparing the ground for negotiations with the terrorists," said Oktay Vural, a senior lawmaker of the Action Party. "The more demands are met, the more they will ask for."

After 25 years of conflict, Turkey makes overtures to Kurds

2009-07-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2009
Reuters

By Dorian Jones

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced last week that his government was working on steps to solve the Kurdish conflict, which has claimed over 40,000 lives.

"Whether we call it the Kurdish, the southeast or eastern problem, whether we call it the Kurdish initiative, we have started work on this," Erdogan told a news conference before departing on a trip to Syria.

He did not say when the plan would be announced or what it might entail, but did say the interior ministry was already discussing the issue with other branches of government including the military and the national intelligence agency.

Abdurrahman Kurt, a Kurdish member of parliament for the ruling the AK party, said his government would deliver further concessions to Kurds.

"We are going to open Kurdish language institutes in the universities and we are allowing Kurdish names to be given to the children and Kurdish broadcasting," he told Deutsche Welle's correspondent in Istanbul.

However, Erdogan has ruled out including the country's main Kurdish party, the Democratic Society Party (DTP), in the peace initiative until they denounce the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as terrorists.

DTP parliamentary leader Emine Ayna says peace efforts cannot succeed without her party's participation.

"There is a problem when you talk about this, not with the Kurds, but with the chief of the army and intelligence and your ministers," she told Deutsche Welle.
Political maneuvers

The government's move is seen as a reaction to a plan expected to be put forward by the jailed separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan on August 15. That is the date 25 years ago when the PKK took up arms against the state.

Ocalan's lawyers contacted academics and journalists this month to plug his plans for a "road map." Details have not been released, but the Turkish newspaper Sabah reported that it would include a ceasefire, an unconditional amnesty for PKK fighters, Kurdish-language education and moves towards greater autonomy.

Ocalan has been in prison since 1999. Originally sentenced to death, his punishment was commuted to life in 2002 when the death penalty was abolished due to pressure from the European Union, which Turkey is eager to join.

Ever since his capture, the 61-year-old has said the PKK is ready to disarm if Turkey is prepared to negotiate.

Though his calls have received little attention over the past decade, the approaching anniversary of the conflict and his anticipated road map have generated interest in a man still reviled by most Turks as a terrorist, but respected by many Kurds as a freedom fighter.

In recent years, Turkey's government has softened its hard line on Kurds, bowing to some of the demands that have added fuel to the insurgency. Ankara has allowed children to be officially registered with Kurdish names, tightened anti-torture laws, and allowed some Kurdish-language teaching.

However, fighting has persisted with the PKK using northern Iraq as a base for cross-border operations.

Women take lead in building mosque in Turkey

2009-07-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

July 14, 2009
CNN

By Ivan Watson

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- There is a shiny addition among the Ottoman mosques and palaces that make up Istanbul's stunning skyline: the metallic, mirrored dome of the new Sakirin Mosque, a Muslim place of worship built with a woman's touch.

For what may be the first time in history, women have been at the forefront of the construction of a mosque in Turkey.

One of the project's leaders is Zeynep Fadillioglu, an interior decorator who has designed restaurants, hotels and luxury homes from New Delhi, India, to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and London, England.

She helped organize a team of traditional mosque artists specializing in Islamic calligraphy, along with craftsmen in glassworks, metal-casting and lighting who, like Fadillioglu, have built careers working in exclusively secular architecture and design.

"I want people to feel peaceful and be left with themselves as much as possible and yet have beautiful art and artistic symbolism around them," she said.

Istanbul has a venerable tradition of mosque architecture, dating back centuries to when Ottoman sultans declared themselves caliph, or spiritual leader of the Muslim world.

The shores of the Bosporus Strait are studded with 16th century masterpieces such as the Suleymaniye Mosque, built by the Ottoman Empire's most famous architect, Mimar Sinan, and ornate, neo-Baroque jewels designed by the Armenian Balyan family in the 19th century. But Istanbul's most senior Muslim cleric laments that mosque design suffered a decline after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of World War I.

"In the last 70, 80 years, we have built mosques that are copies of Ottoman architecture," said Mustafa Cagrici, the mufti of Istanbul. "This wasn't a good development, because the copy can never be as good as the original."

Fadillioglu and her team of artists are hoping to change that.

The Sakirin Mosque was commissioned by a wealthy Turkish Arab family and built in one of Istanbul's oldest cemeteries.

The designers put a number of contemporary touches on the structure, giving it plate glass walls etched with gold-leaf verses from the Quran, framed by giant cast-iron grids.

The mihrab -- the alcove that points worshippers in the direction of Mecca -- is made of asymmetrical ovals, similar to a design used by Fadillioglu to decorate a restaurant in London. And the chandelier is a multi-layered series of metal and plexiglass rings, carrying Quranic inscriptions and dripping with scores of delicate glass teardrops.

"The glass chandelier brings the high dome down to the people," Fadillioglu explained. "So when they pray and kneel they don't feel lost with the light and it shelters them."

Many of the artists here never worked on a mosque before.

"It's special that a woman's hand is involved in this," said one of them, a male carpenter named Metin Cekeroglu. "If you think about it, a home is made by woman. And if we think about this place as a home of God, we can also say women will make this place much better."

Fadillioglu said one of her goals was to bring extra attention into the design of the women's section of the mosque, an area that she says is often neglected by architects. According to Islamic tradition, worshippers are segregated by gender at mosques.

"I have seen mosques where women have been pushed to the worst part of stairs, cramped area. Sort of as if (they are) unwanted in the mosque," she said. "That is not what Islam is about. ... Women are equal in Islam to men"

Five minutes' drive from the Sakirin Mosque stands the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, a 16th century structure built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in honor of his favorite daughter.

Unfortunately, female worshippers do not get to enjoy its stunning stained glass windows the way the men do. They have to pray in a small women's section, hidden behind a bank of chest-high shelves that store shoes.

At the Sakirin Mosque, Fadillioglu said, she gave women praying on the balcony an unobstructed view of the dome, the ornate chandelier, and the area on the floor where the imam will lead prayers.

"I would like to come here to pray," said Elif Demir, an 18-year old art student with a funky, orange-dyed haircut who was working on the chandelier. "This mosque is completely different because of the light that's coming through the walls, through the glass."

Fadillioglu's role in the Sakirin Mosque is all the more surprising because she comes from a jet-set side of Turkish society not normally associated with Islam.

"It is unusual," she conceded, "because first of all not many modern people have been commissioned to design a mosque."

She spoke in a recent interview at Ulus 29, the expensive Istanbul hilltop restaurant and bar that is owned by her husband. Amid the Ottoman- and Selcuk-inspired flourishes she has sprinkled around the restaurant are echoes of designs seen at the Sakirin Mosque. A glass chandelier made of hundreds of crystal tear drops hangs above the bar, similar in style to the mosque's chandelier.
Fadillioglu said being a night club owner does not prevent her from also being a Muslim.

"You might be surprised in Turkey to find some very modern-looking people being very religious at the same time," she said.

Religion is a hot-button political issue in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country with a strict secular system of government.

For the past eight years a fierce power struggle has been under way between an urban secular elite and a rising new class of religiously conservative Turks from the Anatolian heartlands.

Unlike the wives of Turkey's Islamic-rooted president and prime minister, Fadillioglu does not wear the Islamic headscarf that is often seen as the symbol of this new class of Turks.

Fadillioglu said politics have polarized society.

"In my childhood ... you didn't differentiate between who was religious," she explained. "Whoever wants to worship or visit this mosque, its open, its ready for them."

On May 8, Turkey's prime minister attended an inauguration ceremony for the Sakirin Mosque.

Afterward, in an interview with CNN, the mufti of Istanbul called it the start of a new era of mosque design in Turkey.

"It is in Islamic tradition for women to commission mosques ... and now we have women who are building mosques as well," Cagrici said. "God willing, I hope the world will see more of these beautiful mosques, touched by women's hands."

EU nations, Turkey sign major pipeline deal

2009-07-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

By Hande Culpan
Agence France-Presse

ANKARA (AFP) — Four EU countries and Turkey signed an accord Monday on building a major US-backed gas pipeline to reduce European reliance on Russia amid lingering uncertainty on who will supply the gas.

The prime ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey, inked the intergovernmental accord, hailing it as a milestone in the Nabucco pipeline project, long delayed by lack of commitment from gas-exporting nations.

The 3,300-kilometre (2,000-mile) conduit is planned to become operational in 2014 at an estimated cost of 7.9 billion euros (10.9 billion dollars), with a capacity to pump 31 billion cubic metres of gas from the Caspian Sea to Austria via Turkey and the Balkans, bypassing Russia.

The project "is of crucial importance for EU's and Turkey's energy security," European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said at the ceremony.

"Sometime ago people said the project would not go ahead. I believe this pipeline is now inevitable rather than just probable," he said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced confidence that "the more steps we take (on realising the project), the more the interest of supplier countries will grow."

His Hungarian counterpart Gordon Bajnai warned of "extremely difficult moments in the coming years that will require the highest level of commitment."

Azerbaijan is seen as the primary potential provider of gas for the conduit, with Turkmenistan, Iraq and Egypt also mentioned for the long term.

Azerbaijan insists it has enough reserves for the conduit. But last month it raised concerns among Nabucco proponents, signing a deal to export gas to Russia starting in 2010.

The Nabucco project aims to avoid a repetition of cut-offs that have disrupted Russian supplies to Europe during the winter, with Moscow accused of using the gas as a political weapon.

A quarter of all gas used in Europe comes from Russia, with several southern European countries depending almost exclusively on Russian supplies.

"Russia is expected not to hinder directly or indirectly the Nabucco project," said Bulgarian premier Sergey Stanishev, whose country was among the hardest hit by the cut-offs.

Nabucco is in direct competition with Russia's South Stream project, which will carry Russian gas through Bulgaria to Western Europe under the Black Sea.

The project appeared to get a boost Friday when Turkmenistan said it was prepared to supply Nabucco with gas, despite its earlier reluctance.

And Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who attended Monday's gathering here, said his country might contribute 15 billion cubic meters of gas.

But a US official cast doubt on the proposal, pointing at lingering disputes over natural resources between Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurds, who control oil- and gas-rich northern Iraq.

Iraq "needs some time to figure out how it is going to develop its natural resources and where it will sell that gas," Matthew Bryza, US deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told reporters.

Iran is another possible supplier, but both the United States and the EU are opposed to its participation.

Still, Erdogan insisted Monday that Iran and even Russia might join the project "when conditions allow" in the long term.

Two European banks have expressed readiness to finance the project, but analysts say securing the cost could be difficult in the global economic slowdown and uncertainty over suppliers.

The project has been delayed also by Turkish demands to use 15 percent of Nabucco's gas for domestic use or even for re-export.

EU officials said Ankara's concerns were to be addressed by an arrangement under which the pipeline would operate both ways, giving Turkey access to European stockpiles in times of need.

Erdogan said the pipeline "will elevate Turkey to a significant position" for European energy security and help boost its struggling EU membership bid.

Barroso praised Turkey's role, saying the project "could open the door to a new era in relations between Turkey and the EU, and beyond."

The pipeline's shareholders are Austria's OMV, Turkey's Botas, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, Hungary's MOL, Romania's Transgaz and Germany's RWE.

Sweden shows support for Turkey's EU bid as it takes over bloc's helm

2009-07-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

Hurriyet Daily News
July 1, 2009

ISTANBUL - Sweden took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union on Wednesday, as its ambassador to Turkey reiterated his country's support for Ankara in its membership bid to the 27-nation bloc.

Sweden, who took over the rotating EU presidency from the Czech Republic, will continue to support Turkey until the day it becomes a full member of the European Union, the country's ambassador in Ankara Christer Asp told the state-run Anatolian Agency.

"I think that it is wrong to only look at how many chapters have been opened for negotiations," Asp said. "What is crucial is the continuation of negotiations. It is important to meet the conditions and criteria in order to open new chapters of negotiations."

Turkey, which began accession talks in 2005, on Tuesday opened talks on taxation, one of the 35 policy negotiating areas – or chapters – all would-be members have to complete before joining.

Ankara has now formally opened 11 chapters. Eight other chapters have been frozen since 2006 due to a customs dispute with Greek Cypriots. France is blocking another five chapters directly linked to EU membership.

Asp said Sweden is ready to open all negotiating areas with Turkey, but added the chapters remaining to be opened are the most difficult ones.

He also said he has no doubt that Turkey will become a full member of the EU, adding it would be a strategic error not to let Turkey into the bloc.

Swedish officials recently expressed support for Turkey's long-running membership bid, as the Nordic country has said it is determined to continue progress in Turkey’s accession negotiations.

Turkey opens taxation chapter, urges EU to play the game by its rules

2009-06-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

Hurriyet Daily News
June 30, 2009

ISTANBUL - Turkey on Tuesday opened negotiations on taxation reform in its long-running bid to join the European Union, and urged the 27-member bloc to drop political considerations and "play the game by its rules."

At membership talks in Brussels, senior EU and Turkish officials opened talks on taxation, one of the 35 policy negotiating areas -- or chapters -- all would-be members have to complete prior to joining.

Ankara has now formally opened 11 chapters. Eight other chapters have been frozen since 2006 due to a customs dispute with Greek Cypriots.

France is blocking another five chapters directly linked to EU membership.

Turkey's European affairs minister, Egemen Bagis, told a news conference that Ankara was aware of its responsibilities in the process and urged the EU to respect its obligations.

"Turkey is prepared to play the game by its rules, but when new rules are introduced to the game while the game is going on, this creates reaction," he was quoted by AFP as saying.

"We expect the EU to abide by its commitments for a fair and sustainable negotiation process and reaffirm its political will to help further our objectives," he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with their Austrian colleagues, favor some kind of special relationship with Turkey which falls short of full membership.

"Turkey expects to join the EU as an equal member with all the rights and obligations this will imply," Bagis said.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, told the conference the opened chapter is "an important chapter and a significant one on Turkey's path towards the European Union."

But he warned: "There are several benchmarks that need to be met before chapter 16 can be provisionally closed."

Kohout said Turkey would have to align its laws with EU standards on value-added tax and excise duties, and eliminate "discriminatory" levies on alcohol and imported tobacco.

Oregonian primes business ventures in Turkey

2009-06-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

By: Jill Rehkopf Smith
The Oregonian
June 24, 2009

Irl Davis, a Raleigh Hills resident whose Oregon roots stretch back to a Tygh Valley homestead in the 1870s, is one of 15 worldwide representatives of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of the Republic of Turkey's Prime Ministry. His territory covers 11 western states.

Davis, 60, majored in electrical engineering technology at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls. In 1984 he began manufacturing electronic components in China, selling them to 17 different countries. In 2002 he started Global One, a consulting firm that helps small and mid-sized businesses expand into emerging markets overseas.

He made his first close connection with Turkey through a Turkish employee at one of his Chinese plants. He landed his job with the prime ministry after setting up a trade mission to Turkey for Washington state.

Americans, in general, have been updating their image of Turkey since April, when President Barack Obama visited the predominantly Muslim country and highlighted it as a model secular democracy.

Until then, Davis said, many people free-associated Turkey with "camels and veils."
The Oregonian recently sat down with Davis at his home in Raleigh Hills. His comments have been edited for length and clarity:

How did Obama's visit to Turkey affect your work?

Obama has opened a lot of doors -- and not just one way either. In the last few months, we've had more activity out of that region. All these people from these different countries in the Middle East are extremely optimistic.

Your website describes Turkey as strategic. Why more so than other countries?

It always has been strategic. Think about the Silk Road and why it's there, why Istanbul is there in the first place. It's a bridge between east and west. You have over a billion customers within a couple hour flight. In Istanbul they have a Microsoft office that takes care of 80 countries.

Is it a problem that Turkey is not yet in the European Union?

Turkey is given all the rights of the European Union but is still not a full-fledged member. Your tariffs are very attractive...Foreign businesses are utilizing the free-trade zones in Turkey. Within these zones, foreign companies can take advantage of reduced or no tariffs. Setting up a remote factory within these zones allows the company to import raw goods to this location, manufacture the finished product and then export it to various countries in the EU without tariffs.

Isn't this a bad time to be expanding overseas, in the middle of a recession?

(In a recession) you can do one of two things. You can cut back expenses or you can increase revenue. It's time to look at places where we can increase our revenue. People are saying, 'Maybe I should ... take our product and sell it from Turkey into these areas and maybe even then tap into the 70 million consumers already in Turkey because they're young, they're progressive.

Can you describe some of the cultural differences that you help businesses navigate?

A lot has to do with styles of negotiation. Northern Turkey would be more the western European style of negotiating: Let's cooperate together, let's figure out what's the best thing to do as a team. Down south would be more (bargaining style): They start at 4 and you start at 1. In China, there's winners and losers ... For an American, knowing that right up front, it's up to us to make it look like (China wins). You have to frame the negotiation 'This is good for China' before you even get into it.

Turkey says normalization talks with Armenia are underway

2009-06-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

June 24, 2009
Hurriyet Daily News

ISTANBUL - The talks aimed at the normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan continue at various levels, a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, ruling out recent reports suggesting the suspension of the agreed road map with Armenia.

"We are discussing all issues with Armenia, and what is important is principles we set," Anatolian Agency quoted spokesperson Burak Ozugergin as telling a press conference in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Ozugergin said there was also an ongoing process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and both processes were affecting each other.

Turkey and Armenia agreed in April on a "road map" deal for U.S.-backed talks that could lead to the normalization of ties and the opening of their border, which Ankara closed in a show of support to Baku in 1993 after Armenian occupation of Azeri territories in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkish officials, however, have said Turkey will not open its border with Armenia before the neighboring country ends its occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, reassuring Azeri leaders that Ankara's efforts to reconcile with Yerevan would not undermine the country's interests.

Recent media reports questioned further progress in talks between Turkey and Armenia. Even EU South Caucasus envoy Peter Semneby said in an interview published last week Turkey has taken a "tactical step backwards" on normalizing relations with Armenia because of fierce domestic reaction to the move.

Ozugergin said the road map would be made public when the conditions are suitable, adding he had already said that the two countries have agreed on some principles.
He said Turkey was supporting a solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute through peaceful means, and a positive course of the process would contribute to peace and stability in the Caucasus.

The spokesman also said Turkey would support any positive development or step in the Minsk process.

"Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem will restore stability in the region, and make it sustainable," Ozugergin said.

Ozugergin also said Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu might meet foreign ministers of other countries, including his Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandian, on the Greek island of Corfu during an informal meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, this weekend.

OP-ED: Free to Be a Kurd

2009-06-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

June 24, 2009
The New York Times

By ASLI AYDINTASBAS

ISTANBUL — On hillsides across southeastern Turkey, you often see the national slogan — “Happy is one who can say I am a Turk” — in giant letters that can be read from miles away.
The slogan was coined in the 1920s by modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as part of an effort to create a national identity out of the ashes of a bankrupt empire.

But that’s not why the message was written on the southeastern hills. The people who live there are not Turkish, but Kurdish.

And for the last four decades, the Turkish government has been telling them that there is only one acceptable identity in this country — that of a happy Turk.

Turkey’s long struggle with the Kurdish issue is a painful episode involving blunders, victories, and, along the way, plenty of abuse from all sides.

Since 1984, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has been waging a bloody guerrilla war for an independent Kurdish homeland. Ruthless and dogmatic, the PKK has wreaked havoc, killing civilians and soldiers in terror attacks across Turkey. (The death toll stands at about 30,000.)
Turkey’s fight with the PKK tainted our political system and clogged our minds for decades, and made Ankara even more resistant to Kurdish demands for political and cultural rights.

All that is changing.

Armed with new self-confidence and higher democratic standards, the Turkish government has quietly crafted a bold initiative to persuade the PKK to surrender in return for political representation and, eventually, an amnesty. The deal has the potential to put an end to one of the deadliest conflicts in this region.

After thousands of casualties and decades of guerrilla warfare, there is now an awareness at the highest levels of the Turkish body politic that the Kurdish issue is not simply a terror problem — that a solution has to include reforms that go to the heart of Kurdish identity.

Accordingly, Ankara recently lifted an archaic ban on the Kurdish language and started aid programs for underdeveloped Kurdish regions. State-owned television has launched a Kurdish-language network, and the Higher Education Board is working to open institutes for Kurdish studies. It has become de rigueur for politicians to do a public mea culpa over the past.

The next steps are still a little hazy. There is talk of changing the Constitution — particularly the definition of citizenship, which is currently defined as Turkishness — and there is a consensus in the government to return the original Kurdish names to towns and villages.

But the hearts-and-minds campaign is only one side of the coin. The real challenge is dealing with the PKK. Senior government officials privately admit there have been discussions with PKK leaders based in northern Iraq through Iraqi Kurds and other intermediaries to convince them to surrender in return for an eventual amnesty.

Remarkably, the initiative has not been vetoed by the Turkish military. It has received support from the media and even a tacit nod from Turkey’s main opposition party. Still, officials in Ankara have yet to make a public case for the strategy, which so far has been only quietly whispered in the corridors of power.

Yet what happens within Turkey is only one part of the equation. Turkey’s efforts can only go so far if not matched by support from Iraqi Kurds, who control the areas from which the PKK operates, and from Washington, the ultimate guarantor of the region.

Having been in the business of terrorism for too long, the PKK will not easily accept any deal offered by Ankara. Its leadership is fractured and cut off from the reality of the modern world. It will need to be pressured militarily and logistically.

Iraqi Kurds could help by repatriating the thousands of pro-PKK Turkish Kurds who have been living for years in the Mahmur refugee camp across the border in Iraq, and by moving ahead with a planned pan-Kurdish conference.

In turn, if Turkey can channel the PKK into a legitimate political force, it can once again become the protector of Kurds in northern Iraq, as it was for a decade after the Gulf War. That would free Washington from worrying about the security of the Kurds once U.S. forces withdraw.

And if President Obama put his weight behind Turkey’s initiative, it could become the first real overseas success story of his administration.

This could be the year we leave one of the bloodiest Middle East conflicts behind. But the window of opportunity is short.

Asli Aydintasbas is a columnist for the Turkish daily Aksam.

Today's Zaman Interview with Former New York Times Istanbul Bureau Chief Stephen Kinzer

2009-06-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

Stephen Kinzer, former chief of The New York Times bureau in İstanbul from 1996 to 2006, has said Turkey has started to handle its domestic and regional problems in a more democratic and peaceful way as the world has been evolving in the same direction, and in this world, there is no longer any military control of politics.

“The role of the military in Turkey has changed a lot. And it has to change more because in relation to what the world wants, armies do not participate in politics,” said Kinzer in İstanbul, where he was conducting research for his next book dealing with US relations with Iran, Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Kinzer pointed out that the new US administration under President Barack Obama will support civilian democracy in Turkey in a stronger way.

“I certainly think that there will be no covert encouragement for the military to continue to play a role. For example, after the March 2003 vote about the Iraq war, one American official [former US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz] went on television and said, ‘I was disappointed that the military didn't step up and play a role.' This was terrible. It's almost like encouraging a coup. You won't hear that anymore,” said Kinzer, who after completing his assignment to Turkey published “Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds.”
According to Kinzer Turkey can become a regional power, and this can benefit the United States as well.

“When [Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet] Davutoğlu goes to Pakistan, for example, he is able to talk to every faction. There are no doors closed to Turkey. But there are doors closed to America,” he said and added that “Turkey can talk to people we can't talk to. The strategic identity for Turkey that Davutoğlu sees fits in very well with Obama's foreign policy ideas.”
Kinzer expanded on the topic and more for Sunday's Zaman.

You reported from Turkey at the end of the 1990s, and you've been observing the country since then. What have you found striking in those years?

The 1990s were something like a lost decade for Turkey. There were weak coalition governments that were not able to implement coherent policies; violence in the Southeast was at a very high level; Turkey was fighting most of its neighbors; and the country just seemed adrift. Now a lot of it has changed.

What are those changes?

First of all, you have a strong government with broad popular support. Second, since 1999, when the EU accession project took on momentum, Turkey has had a framework for reform. The new government, at least in its early years, was much more committed to reforms. We used to hear from the so-called secular parties that “we must move ever closer to Europe and we must democratize.” But they did not do it. Certainly after 1999, you really saw democratization and modernization in this country. This country is now probably more democratic than it has ever been. It's also a great step forward that the “Cumhurbaşkanı” [president] would stand up and say, “The Kurdish problem is our number one problem.” You would not have heard that in the 1990s. We have gone from a time when a Kurdish kid in Diyarbakır could not even ask for “çay” [tea] in the Kurdish language to a time when you have a Kurdish TV station, and the university in Mardin is going to have a department of Kurdish language and literature. The other big change I see is Turkey's role in the world.

How do you think Turkey's role in the world is changing?

Ever since the days of Atatürk [Gazi Mustafa Kemal, the founder of modern Turkey], Turkey looked mostly inward. There were some reasons for that. In the Kemalist period, Turkey was so primitive, had no roads, no schools and no hospitals. So there was so much work to do inside Turkey that they couldn't think about the world. And secondly, Gazi always wanted to calm the fears that they were going to try to build a new Ottoman Empire. That was important for that time. But now the whole [Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet] Davutoğlu project has something very important for Turkey.

What does it have?

Turkey is now looking at the possibility of becoming a regional power, and over the long run, even a global power. That's why it's opening up embassies in Latin America and Africa. But I see it going more or less in concentric circles. You want to have zero problems with neighbors, and then you can have a more regional influence, and it could go from there. I like the Turkish approach of promoting the idea of diplomacy, compromise, resolving problems with negotiations: “Let's try to get Israel and Syria together. Let's try to get America and Iran together. Let's try to get Russia and Georgia together.” Turkey has a unique ability to talk to different sides in conflicts. The strategic identity for Turkey that Davutoğlu sees fits in very well with Obama's foreign policy ideas. So Turkey's relationships with Europe and America have crossed over. If you went back to the beginning of this decade, the EU had just blessed Turkey and given it a chance to begin the accession process. Right after that George Bush was elected; as Europe was embracing Turkey, the US was bombing places. That made Europe the ideal partner. Now they've changed positions. Europe is not so friendly to Turkey, and I can see why Turks don't want to be so positive toward Europe. Meanwhile, America has emerged as a far different kind of player in the world that wants to resolve problems through diplomacy. It means the beginning of a new, close phase of cooperation between Turkey and the United States.

Do you think Turkey's diverse relations with a range of countries in the world would be all fine with the Obama administration?

Yes, I do. I don't think it was fine with the Americans all the time. We didn't like it when Turkey was talking to Iran. But Turkey didn't care and said, “We're going to talk to Iran anyway.” Now we like the idea that Turkey talks to Iran. That's why Davutoğlu's project and Obama's policies are very much in line. They can help each other.

Do you think relations could have been disastrous if the Republicans were in power in the United States?

Yes. For example, during the presidential campaign, John McCain was talking about the circumstances under which he would bomb Iran. Anybody who bombs Iran is doing something bad for Turkey. Look what happened with Iraq.

Now such threats come from Israel…

The relationship between Israel and the United States may also be changing.

In what way?

The relationship between the United States and Israel is developing. And I still feel that it is unlikely that Israel would take some hugely dramatic and radical step in the Middle East, like bombing Iran with the realization that America was 100 percent against it. If America says that “we don't like it but after all Israel is its own country,” that's kind of a signal, then, maybe Israel will do it. But if the United States makes it very clear that “we do not want you to do it,” which is what we are saying to Israel, then, it is hard for Israel to do it.

You referred to Davutoğlu's foreign policy project of zero problems with neighbors. It has not been entirely achieved yet. What is your view of the most important unachieved problems in that regard?

Armenia, Cyprus and the Kurds. We were waiting for a big breakthrough on the Armenian issue, but it didn't happen. Obviously, there was a push back from Azerbaijan. However, Davutoğlu has told journalists that Turkey has not given up on this. That has a deadline every year because of the genocide resolution in Washington. We cannot get to next April 24 and still not have this resolved. The problem is how to bring Azerbaijan into the equation. This is an obstacle in Davutoğlu's achieving his diplomacy, compromise, negotiation policy in the world. When he goes out and tells Israel, for example, “You don't want to bomb Hamas. You want to talk to Hamas. You want to negotiate,” naturally they say, “What about you?” I love this phrase “Yurtta Sulh Cihanda Sulh” [Peace at Home, peace in the World]. But America and Turkey each have one half. America has peace at home. When we have conflicts in America, they are always peaceful. Turkey should learn from that. But we are warlike in the world. We need to learn from Turkey. Turkey has peace in the world. So each of us has half.

Why do you think the Kurdish issue is one of the most difficult to address?

Because it requires such a change in mindset with everything we've been told up to now. The policy still in the minds of most Turks has been “we must kill every terrorist.” We have to get past that. Kurds are brother citizens of the Turkish Republic. Every citizen has rights. They should be applied equally to all. There is also this existential fear in the Turkish soul that comes from the “Sèvres Syndrome.” One thing you see all through Turkish history is that Turkey does not stay isolated from the currents in the world. Even under Sultan Selim III, the French Revolution had an impact here. Then in the 19th century, the democratization in Europe had an impact here. This ideology of positivism in Europe really affected Mustafa Kemal and also had a negative effect in the 1930s. Europe embraced racist nationalism and the suppression of minorities. That also had an influence in Turkey. Then, after World War II, the United Nations was founded; countries were supposed to be more democratic. That's when we had the first election, multi-party system and [late Prime Minister Adnan] Menderes came in. In the 1980s and the early 1990s, the Cold War was ending, and countries were opening up to the market economy. There was Turgut Özal. Now the world is getting to a point where we want to resolve domestic conflicts democratically and peacefully. Turkey cannot remain apart from this.

You also said that Turkey is trying to become a global power and opening embassies in far-off places such as Latin America and Africa. There are also a lot of Turkish schools in those areas. What do you think of these?

I guess you can argue that there is going to be an Islamic component to this project, and this might be the best Islamic component you could have. Again, this requires an evolution in Turkey. But Turkey is playing a stabilizing role. As for Turkey really having an influence in Africa or in Latin America, we are a long way from that yet. Let's work on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, etc. Once Turkey establishes itself in the region, then we can think about bigger projects. But if you look 50 years ahead, if Turkey can succeed, it's reasonable. However, the upper limit is Turkey resolving the problems in the neighborhood. You've got to get those. As long as the Kurdish conflict is not solved, and Armenia and Cyprus are not solved, the amount that Turkey can do in the world is limited.

Are you following the Ergenekon investigation?

How can you not? When it started, it was positive for many Turks. Some corners of the carpet are being turned up and the dirt underneath is being brought to light. But it seemed to run a bit out of control. I am wondering if it is being used politically by some people. It is good as long as it is kept within the limits that evidence proves and it doesn't just become a witch hunt against people with different ideas.

What did you think when you heard about the document published recently by Taraf daily allegedly detailing a smear campaign organized by the military against the ruling party and the Gülen movement?

I found it very troubling. I don't think we know the whole story yet. So there are three possibilities. Either it is a project of the General Staff or it is a project of someone in the army who is not connected to the General Staff or it is a fake. There is now journalism that brings it to light - - it's good.

Considering the fact that the military used to be so untouchable in the past -- as you know very well from the 1990s when you were here…

Yes. The role of the military in Turkey has changed a lot. And it has to change more because in relation to what the world wants, armies do not participate in politics.

The United States has been supporting the Turkish military…

That was true in the past.

What has changed now?

Support for civilian democracy is going to be ever stronger under the Obama administration. We will not subordinate our desire for democracy to our desire for security.

Do you think we will see some concrete steps concerning US relations with the Turkish military…

I certainly think that there will be no covert encouragement to the military to continue to play a role. For example, after the March 2003 vote about the Iraq war, one American official [former US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz] went on television and said, “I was disappointed that the military didn't step up and play a role.” This was terrible. It's almost like encouraging a coup. You won't hear that anymore.

Interview published June 21st, 2009. Available online: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=178650&bolum=8

Lies, Damn Lies and Armenian Deaths

2009-06-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

Huffington Post
June 5, 2009

On April 24, 2009--Armenian Remembrance Day-- President Barack Obama issued a statement "remember[ing] the 1.5 million Armenian [deaths] in the final days of the Ottoman Empire." The President stumbled.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and the number of Armenians who are claimed by Armenians and their echo chambers to have died in an alleged World War I genocide. Almost a century later, the number of deaths they assert oscillates between 1.5-2 million. But the best contemporary estimates by Armenians or their sympathizers were 300,000-750,000 (compared with 2.4 million Ottoman Muslim deaths in Anatolia). Further, not a single one of those deaths necessarily falls within the definition of genocide in the authoritative Genocide Convention of 1948. It requires proof that the accused was responsible for the physical destruction of a group in whole or in substantial part specifically because of their race, nationality, religion, or ethnicity. A political or military motivation for a death falls outside the definition.

Immediately after the war, when events and memories were fresh, Armenians had no incentive to concoct high casualty figures or genocidal motivations for their deaths. Their objective was statehood. Armenians were encouraged by the self-determination concept in President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, (while conveniently forgetting that they were a minority in Eastern Anatolia where they hoped to found a new nation). Armenian leaders pointed to their military contribution to defeating the Ottomans and population figures that would sustain an Armenian nation.

Boghus Nubar, then Head of the Armenian Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference (1919), wrote to the French Foreign Minister Stephen Pichon: "The Armenians have been, since the beginning of the war, de facto belligerents, as you yourself have acknowledged, since they have fought alongside the Allies on all fronts, enduring heavy sacrifices and great suffering for the sake of their unshakable attachment to the cause of the Entente...." Nubar had earlier written to the Foreign Minister on October 29, 1918, that Armenians had earned their independence: "We have fought for it. We have poured out our blood for it without stint. Our people played a gallant part in the armies that won the victory."

When their quest for statehood shipwrecked on the Treaty of Lausanne and annexation by the Soviet Union in 1921, Armenians revised their soundtrack to endorse a contrived genocide thesis. It seeks a "pound of flesh" from the Republic of Turkey in the form of recognition, reparations, and boundary changes. To make their case more convincing, Armenians hiked the number of deaths. They also altered their story line from having died as belligerents against the Turks to having perished like unarmed helpless lambs.

Vahan Vardapet, an Armenian cleric, estimated a prewar Ottoman Armenian population of 1.26 million. At the Peace Conference, Armenian leader Nubar stated that 280,000 remained in the Empire and 700,000 had emigrated elsewhere. Accepting those Armenian figures, the number of dead would be 280,000. George Montgomery of the Armenia-American Society estimated a prewar Armenian population of 1.4-1.6 million, and a casualty figure of 500,000 or less. Armenian Van Cardashian, in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1919, placed the number of Armenian dead at 750,000, i.e., a prewar population of 1.5 million and a post-war figure of 750,000.

After statehood was lost, Armenians turned to their genocide playbook which exploited Christian bigotries and contempt for Ottoman Muslims. They remembered earlier successful anti-Ottoman propaganda. United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during the war, Henry Morganthau, was openly racist and devoted to propaganda. On November 26, 1917, Morgenthau confessed in a letter to President Wilson that he intended to write a book vilifying Turks and Germans to, "win a victory for the war policy of the government." In his biography, "Ambassador Morgenthau's Story," Morgenthau betrays his racist hatred toward Turks ("humanity and civilization never for a moment enters their mind") and unconditional admiration for Armenians ("They are so superior to the Turks intellectually and morally.").

British Prime Minister Gladstone's histrionic figure of 60,000 Bulgarian Christians slaughtered in 1876 captured the imagination of the west. The true figure later provided by a British Ambassador was 3,500--including Turks who were first slain by the Christians.

From 280,000-750,000, Armenians initially raised their death count to 800,000 to test the credibility waters. It passed muster with uninformed politicians easily influenced by campaign contributions and voting clout. Armenians then jumped the number to 1.5 million, and then 1.8 million by Armenian historian Kevork Aslan. For the last decades, an Armenian majority seems to have settled on the 1.5 million death plateau--which still exceeds their contemporary estimates by 200 to 500 percent. They are now testing the waters at 2.5-3 million killed as their chances for a congressional genocide resolution recede. It speaks volumes that champions of the inflated death figures have no explanation for why Armenians on the scene would have erred. Think of the absurdity of discarding the current death count of Afghan civilians in the United States-Afghan war in favor of a number deduced in the year 2109!

Armenians have a genuine tale of woe. It largely overlaps with the tale of tragedy and suffering that can be told by Ottoman Muslims during the war years: 2.4 million deaths in Anatolia, ethnic cleansing, starvation, malnutrition, untreated epidemics, and traumatic privations of war under a decrepit and collapsing Empire.

Unskewed historical truth is the antechamber of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. That is why the Government of Turkey has proposed an international commission of impartial and independent experts with access to all relevant archives to determine the number and characterization of World War I deaths. Armenians are balking because they are skeptical of their own figures and accusations.

*Bruce Fein is a resident scholar at the Turkish Coalition of America.

Obama Boosts US Image, Approval Doubles in Turkey

2009-06-04T15:07:00.001-07:00

Reuters
June 4, 2009

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has boosted his country's image abroad by six points since his election in November with a 22-nation poll on Thursday showing 42 percent of people expressing a favorable view of America.

As Obama prepares to speak to the Muslim world in Cairo in a bid to repair tattered U.S. relations, the Ipsos/Reuters survey showed a 25 point jump in favorable views of America in Turkey, the only majority Muslim nation polled, to 49 percent.

The poll was taken between April 14 and May 7, shortly after Obama visited Istanbul and met with religious leaders as part of a bid to unite moderates of faiths against extremism.

"This suggests that any sort of strategy to engage with the Muslim world puts a premium on him as the messenger and going there and talking to them," said Clifford Young of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, the international market research and polling company that carried out the online poll of 22,000 people.

"There's this very positive Obama effect and he is contributing significantly to increasing the U.S. credibility around the world," he said.

In India, where the Muslim population is a minority but still one of the largest in the world at 140 million or double the number of Turkish Muslims, the positive view of America rose one point to 73 percent, while in China, where there are about 20 million Muslims, it rose eight points to 42 percent.

Obama, whose father was Muslim and who lived as a boy in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, hopes to mend a U.S. image damaged by former President George W. Bush's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the treatment of U.S. military detainees.

He visited Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and met with King Abdullah. On Thursday the first black U.S. president will speak to the Muslim world when he gives an address in Egypt.

"HONEYMOON EFFECT"

An Ipsos poll of 7,000 people in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan in March found that an average 48 percent had a favorable view of Obama, while 33 percent had a positive view of the United States.

Obama's Middle East trip and planned Cairo speech drew condemnation from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who said in a taped message that the U.S. leader had planted seeds for "revenge and hatred" towards America in the Muslim world.

"A six percent improvement in six months at the global level -- that's fairly significant," Young said. "Obama's especially having an effect in those countries that had the most doubt about the United States."

"We're seeing a honeymoon effect," Young said. "That doesn't necessarily mean it has to decline, it means it has to be reinforced with concrete actions on the ground."

Along with Turkey, six other countries posted double digit rises in favorable views toward America -- France, 13 points to 39 percent, Belgium, 12 points to 36 percent, Germany, 11 points to 31 percent, The Netherlands, 11 points to 27 percent, Canada, 10 points to 44 percent, and Spain, 10 points to 43 percent.

Only three of the 22 countries polled did not record any increase in the positive image of America -- Russia remained unchanged at 18 percent, the lowest ranking, while in Poland it dropped four points to 48 percent, and the Czech Republic fell one point to 35 percent.
Ipsos polled people in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, India, Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, and Britain.

The 22 countries polled make up 75 percent of the world's gross domestic product.Respondents in the online poll were recruited and screened, the survey said. The results are then balanced by age, gender, city population and education levels. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percent

Turkish-American Group Blocks Pro-Genocide Bill

2009-06-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

Today’s Zaman
June 3, 2009

The Turkish-American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF) has announced that a bill called the Justice for Genocide Victims Bill, which was introduced by California Assembly member Paul Krekorian, has been blocked by California Appropriations Committee Chairman Kevin de Leon.

The bill, known as Assembly Bill 961 (AB 961), was introduced in early 2009 by Assembly member Krekorian, a Democrat elected to the California state legislature in 2006. Krekorian tried to persuade the assembly by saying that AB 961 would prevent California from awarding contracts to companies that have profited from genocide. However, TALDF insistently objected to the bill and presented to the assembly two separate written statements explaining why they oppose the bill.

“The United States as a whole maintains a single foreign policy as authorized by the Constitution. The individual states may not intrude upon or compromise this policy. The framers of the Constitution recognized that the peoples of the several states must sink or swim together, and that in the long run, security and national interests are made by the union and not in a foreign policy Tower of Babel. The intent of AB 961 to create a foreign policy for California makes it unconstitutional,” said one of the statements introduced to the Committee on Business and Professions and the Committee on Judiciary of the California State Assembly.

TALDF has expressed pleasure at the fact that the rejection of AB 961 has actually sent a message to all of the states that no individual state, according to the Constitution, should deal with foreign policy.

TALDF, founded last year, assists Turkish-Americans with their constitutional citizenship rights.
Meanwhile, the English-language Asbarez newspaper reported recently that Senate Bill 234 (SB 234), authored by California Senator Mark Wyland (R-northern San Diego County) is now on its way to the full Senate floor for consideration. Known as the Genocide Awareness Act, the bill instructs the California State Curriculum Commission to consider the inclusion of an oral history component in its already mandated genocide education curriculum.

Asbarez noted that Turkish Coalition of America board member Bruce Fein traveled from Washington, D.C., in an effort to undermine SB 234 as well as AB 961.

Duty to Travel to Turkey this Summer

2009-05-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

Star Community Newspapers

May 22, 2009
By Jim Kilpatrick

Rebecca Duty, 27, teacher at Coppell Middle School-West, has received a grant from World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and is now a World Affairs Fellow and will spend the summer in Turkey on a study tour.

She will be in Turkey 11 or 12 days.

Duty was at Region 10 in Richardson when she learned she had been selected to make the tour.

She said, when her name was announced she just clapping and didn't realize it was her, who had been chosen.

“I was overwhelmed when I learned I had been chosen,” Duty said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Duty is an eighth-grade girls coach and teaches seventh-grade Texas history. She graduated from the University of North Texas.

Duty will represent the council, the city of Coppell, the Coppell ISD and Texas in Turkey.

“I think the trip to Turkey is going to be amazing,” Duty said. This will be her first trip overseas.

Her selection was based on her application, recommendation and narrative, according to Jennifer Bowden, director of education at the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth.

The study-tour itinerary is a comprehensive event, both culturally and academically. Duty will be touring schools and meeting with officials of the Ministry of Education while in Turkey.

Duty’s project in Turkey will compare the cotton growing industry in Turkey with Texas’s industry and how it affects the world market.

When she returns from the summer expedition, she, along with all of the other fellows will present a follow-up workshop sometime in October. She will also focus on how the children in Turkey express themselves and compare that to how her students express themselves.

She will be blogging with her students in Texas while touring Turkey so her students will get the opportunity to be with heronline.

“She will be able to bring back adventures and experiences to share with the kids,” said Vern Edin, principal at CMS-West.

This is Duty’s fifth year of teaching and her second year in Coppell ISD.

“The World Affairs Council is excited about these opportunities that we have been able to provide to our teachers,” Bowden said. “We are looking forward to working with her.”

The grant comes in three parts:

*1.Turkey in Transition began with a full day workshop April 25 at the Region 10 Education Service Center and included geography, history, economics, foreign policy, culture, society, religion, and classroom resources. The workshop concluded with lesson plan development for classroom use written by the workshop participants.

*2. A study tour of Turkey with four North Texas educators visiting and studying in Turkey from July 13-July 23 at a cost of $600 per teacher plus domestic airfare. All tour expenses are paid by the Turkish Cultural Foundation.

*3. Finally a presentation called Portrait of Turkey, a mini-series for students and teachers from September 2009 to May 2010.

Bowden said that understanding international issues is essential for competing in a global economy and the challenge for today’s educators is preparing students for our increasingly interdependent world.

“In Dallas/Fort Worth and across America, students consistently display a shocking lack of basic knowledge about the world outside our own country,” Bowden said. “According to a National Geographic survey, more than half of young American adults cannot locate major countries like France, the United Kingdom, or Japan on a world map.”

The vast majority do not know where critical areas such as Iraq, Israel or Afghanistan are located, she added.

The Council received a grant from the Turkish Cultural Foundation to increase teacher’s knowledge about Turkey.

Recommendations for the Armenian Diaspora

2009-05-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

Huffington Post

By Bruce Fein
Resident Scholar, Turkish Coalition of America

The ongoing high-level efforts between Turkey and Armenia to normalize relations, including establishing diplomatic relations and opening the land border between the two countries, have received President Obama's imprimatur during his recent visit to Turkey.

While the negotiated resolution of any conflict is a desirable goal, the Turkish government would be wise to weigh the public's expectations of this dialogue with existing realities, which will affect the immediate and long-term outcome of bilateral developments between the two countries and Turkey's relations with the United States and Azerbaijan.

First, there is a dichotomy of interests among the Armenian stakeholders in this dialogue. The interests of the Armenian Diaspora, even different Diaspora organizations, the American political establishment and Armenia are divergent. The increasingly boisterous voices in the Armenian Diaspora which object to the Armenian government's engagement with Turkey; the dismissal of the bilateral process by U.S. lawmakers who carry the Armenian lobby's torch in Congress; as well as the full blown campaign by all Armenian advocacy and lobby groups in furthering their legislative, educational, political and public affairs agenda in the U.S.and elsewhere, are proof of this divergence.

On the other hand, the Turkish community abroad, particularly in the U.S., has by and large voiced support of the Turkish government's dual approach that manifests itself in engaging in diplomatic efforts to normalize relations with Armenia on the one hand, and in committing to accept the findings of an impartial international commission that will address the contested period of Armenian-Ottoman history and the "genocide" question, on the other.

However, supporting the process does not mean turning a blind eye to competing Turkish interests and other realities. There are wide-spread concerns among Turks and others that Turkey will lose much and gain little from the entente it labors upon with Armenia. Without a doubt, the most significant loss Turkey may endure from this process, particularly from opening its land border with Armenia, could be estranging its natural strategic ally, Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has shown significant reaction to Turkey's perceived "de-linking" of the continuing Armenian occupation from its negotiations with Armenia.

Those in support of normalizing relations with Armenia frequently allude to the potential spillover effect this will have on a peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict and also stem the "genocide" campaigns by the Armenian Diaspora. However, others argue that the economic effect of a closed land border with Turkey is the only incentive for Armenia to engage in a meaningful dialogue with Azerbaijan on lifting its occupation. Some Azeri analysts argue that removing this sanction may deprive Armenia of any incentive for peace and leave Azerbaijan with no option but a new war.

The Turkish-Armenian dialogue is known to have been advocated by successive U.S. administrations as a way to "pacify" the Armenian lobby and to weaken the incessant congressional efforts for U.S. recognition of the "Armenian genocide," a development that would most certainly damage U.S.-Turkey relations.

However, pursuing this advice without addressing the underpinnings of the global Armenian campaign against Turkey will most certainly result in great disappointment for Turkey.

The "Armenian Genocide" narrative is an existential narrative for the Armenian Diaspora. It has become the glue that bonds the community across social, economic and political lines. Perpetuating this narrative and activating the community around legislative, educational, philanthropic and political endeavors has become the lifeline for Armenian Diaspora organizations, including the Armenian Church. Hatred against modern day Turks and Turkey has become an identity strengthening tool, particularly employed toward young Armenians, and examples of this hateful behavior against ordinary Turks abound.

It is in this area where Turkish analysis about the Armenian Diaspora's state of mind, its wide-reaching agenda and impact seems to be most deficient. The benefits that Turkey expects from rapprochement with Armenia can not be achieved as long as the Armenian Diaspora's realities are ignored. Unless Armenia and other interested parties can engage the Armenian Diaspora in this process and help bring about fundamental changes in the community, the "genocide" issue will remain at the center of their agenda. Consequently, Turkey's outreach to Armenia will have no effect on the Armenian Diaspora and its international agenda against Turkey, including its lobbying of the U.S. Congress and the Administration.
Bringing about change in the attitudes of the Armenian Diaspora needs to focus on:

* Stopping hate: It is clear to everyone who follows the Armenian Diaspora that the pursuit of genocide recognition has turned into a campaign of hate against Turkey and modern day Turks. This hatred has been manifested in worldwide terrorism and the murder of 40 Turkish diplomats; the continuing adoration of these killers, as well as ongoing harassment and intimidation of Turkish Americans. More troubling, is the fact that hate against Turkey seems to grow among many young Armenian adults who hold more severely hateful perceptions of Turks.

* Defending academic freedom and stopping intimidation and harassment of scholars: The Armenian Diaspora has successfully created an aura of intimidation in academia through their consistent vilification of scholars, who do not agree with the Armenian narrative of history. By slandering any scholar who deviates from the Armenian narrative as a "genocide denier" and attempting to deny such scholars access to academic and public platforms, the Armenian lobby is effectively stifling more research and debate on this history.

* Exposing Armenian "buy-out" of scholars: Armenian foundations and wealthy Armenian Americans are pouring money into American universities to support scholars, including Turkish ones, whose positions corroborate the Armenian narrative. The existence of "Armenian Genocide" study centers at leading U.S. universities rests on the largesse of such Armenian donations. Research in this area has effectively been turned into an Armenian funded cottage industry.

* Advocating the opening of Armenian Archives: Opening all Armenian archives to independent scholarly review will unearth the complete narrative of Ottoman-Armenian history, including the Armenian independence movement and revolt.

* Stopping foul play: Armenian Diaspora groups must be held accountable to stick to the same rules that apply to all advocacy groups. Many of them have not. The best example of such foul play is the Armenian National Committee of America, which is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for possible violations of its legal status and other U.S. laws governing lobbying.* Exposing the futility of political lobbying: The Armenian Diaspora lobbyists have invested much stock and capital in lobbying efforts to legislate history. Turkey must unequivocally state that it is an Armenian Diaspora illusion that such third country political pressures can force Turkey to accept their narrative and issue an "apology," opening the way for other demands by the Armenian Diaspora such as reparations or territorial claims.

* Looking forward: The Armenian community can gain tremendously by looking forward and reaching out to Turkey as their heritage country. Turkey and Turkish civil society should extend a hand of friendship toward the Armenian Diaspora. Turks, by and large, hold no animosity toward Armenians and will embrace Diaspora Armenians warmly. The rich Armenian culture continues to be part of Turkey's culture, its music, art, architecture, folklore and cuisine. These common bonds can be revived and the Armenian Diaspora, not Armenia, can herald this revival.

* Ending Armenia's isolation: The Armenian Diaspora has played a significant role for Armenia. However, the Armenian Diaspora's efforts cannot replace the economic and political benefits of normalizing Armenia's relations with its neighbors, particularly Azerbaijan, and integrating the country into the economic and strategic regional framework. The Armenian Diaspora in the United States, in particular, should be the advocate of moving Armenia away from Russia and Iran and closer to Turkey and the U.S.

* Believing in dialogue: The current Turkish government has long extended a hand of friendship and reconciliation toward the Armenian Diaspora and Armenia in its invitation to form an international historical commission. Turkey's invitation and willingness to support such a comprehensive effort and to accept its findings may not remain valid forever. The Armenian Diaspora should unclench its fist and take this hand, as it is the only way for peace and reconciliation.

Obama Avoids 'Genocide' Term, Sparking More Debate

2009-04-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Hill
By Bridget Johnson

President Obama avoided using the word "genocide" when addressing "one of the great atrocities of the 20th century" on Armenians' remembrance day for those killed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915."

Just as the terrible events of 1915 remind us of the dark prospect of man’s inhumanity to man, reckoning with the past holds out the powerful promise of reconciliation," Obama said in a statement issued by the White House on Friday afternoon. "I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. My interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts."

Obama said the rapprochement announced Thursday between Turkey and Armenia was key to the two countries moving forward. Turkey and Armenia agreed in principle to opening a long-shut border crossing and normalizing relations, but have not said whether they would reach any agreement on genocide recognition.

"I strongly support efforts by the Turkish and Armenian people to work through this painful history in a way that is honest, open and constructive," Obama said. "To that end, there has been courageous and important dialogue among Armenians and Turks, and within Turkey itself."

Obama said he stood with the diaspora "and with Armenians everywhere with a sense of friendship, solidarity and deep respect."

Before the statement had even been issued, Turkish President Abdullah Gul hinted that he knew Obama would avoid the contentious term, telling reporters Friday that Obama had left his early-April Turkey visit "now better informed."

Obama had promised early in his presidential campaign that he would call the mass killings genocide if elected. "The facts are undeniable," Obama said in a Jan. 19, 2008, statement. "An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as president I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."

Obama avoided use of the word genocide when asked about his campaign promise during a press conference in Turkey.

“We applaud President Obama for deferring to historians to settle the longstanding debate over the events of 1915-1918," Lincoln McCurdy, president of the Turkish Coalition of America, said in a statement. "This tragic period in history led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Christians alike."President Obama has sent a clear message to America and the world that his administration will not sacrifice long-term strategic allies for short-term political gains,” McCurdy said.

Armenian-American organizations saw Friday's statement differently.

“Today’s statement does not reflect the change the president promised,” Armenian Assembly of America Executive Director Bryan Ardouny said in a statement. “His failure to affirm the proud chapter in U.S. history, the American response to the first genocide of the 20th century, has needlessly delayed the cause of genocide affirmation and diminishes U.S. credibility with regard to genocide prevention.

"Empty promises are no change at all," Ardouny said.

Armenian National Committee of America Chairman Ken Hachikian had similarly harsh words for the president's decision.

"I join with all Armenian Americans in voicing our sharp disappointment with President Obama's failure to honor his solemn pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide," Hachikian said in a statement.

"In falling short of his repeated and crystal-clear promises, which reflected a thorough knowledge of the facts, the practical implications, and the profound moral dimension of Armenian Genocide recognition, the president chose, as a matter of policy, to allow our nation's stand against genocide to remain a hostage to Turkey's threats."

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), sponsor of legislation that would recognize the killings as genocide, said he would press forward with his bill, which is still in committee. "Although the president today acknowledged the deaths of a million and a half Armenians during the Armenian Genocide, I am deeply disappointed by his decision not to use the word 'genocide' in his statement," Schiff said in a statement. "Nonetheless, our work will go on undaunted. We will not become complicit in Ankara's campaign of denial."

Armenian and Turkish demonstrators faced off Friday outside the Turkish embassy in Washington, with Turkish demonstrators beginning a 24-hour candlelight vigil Thursday evening on the embassy's Massachusetts Avenue sidewalk.

Gunay Edinch, president-elect of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, told The Hill that the Turks and Azeris were demonstrating "for victims of Armenian terrorism and the 1.1 million Muslims and Jews killed in the 1880-1919 Armenian independence movement."

Edinch said Armenian demonstrators began showing up after the release of Obama's statement. Before 4 p.m., three busloads of Armenians had arrived to join the handful of people demonstrating for Armenia and Greece, he said.

"We expected that the president would not use the word 'genocide' because that is a criminal accusation which carries very important legal and international relations implications," Edinch said, adding that he would have liked to see Obama also recognize the deaths for which the Turkish associations were holding their vigil.

"We would have liked a more well-rounded statement for both communities," Edinch said. "Could that have been done on the 24th of April? Maybe not ... maybe another date."

On Anniversary for Armenians, Obama Avoids the Word Genocide

2009-04-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

The Washintgon Post
By Michael A. Fletcher

As a candidate for president, Barack Obama said the "Armenian Genocide" is not "an allegation, a personal opinion or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence."

But as president, he has avoided using the word "genocide" to describe the mass killings of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians in Turkey during the fall of the Ottoman Empire. During his recent visit to Turkey, he refrained from using the term "genocide," and instead referred to the "terrible events of 1915." And he avoided using the explosive term again today in an official statement marking the 94th anniversary of the massacres.

"Each year, we pause to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who were subsequently massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire," Obama said. He went on to say, "History, unresolved, can be a heavy weight," also without invoking the word "genocide."

Obama defended the change in rhetoric, saying it does not reflect any shift in his views, but rather his desire not to cool warming relations between Turkey and Armenia. "My view of that history has not changed," Obama said. "My interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts. The best way to advance that goal right now is for the Armenian and Turkish people to address the facts of the past as part of their efforts to move forward."

Earlier this week, Turkey and Armenia announced that they had agreed in principle to normalize relations, a possible breakthrough in a bitter dispute over century-old massacres. U.S. officials said the Obama administration had been quietly working to push the agreement forward, with the American president meeting privately with leaders of the two countries during his trip to Istanbul earlier this month, and Obama acknowledged the progress in his statement. Just yesterday, Vice President Biden called Armenian President Sargsian to applaud the progress and reiterate the administration's support for the process.

While President Ronald Reagan issued a statement recognizing genocide, Obama has followed the path of other presidents who promised to describe the killings as a genocide, only to abandon that pledge once elected.

The issue is sensitive for both Turks and Armenians. Turkey's position is that the number of killings have been overstated and that the Armenians who died were victims of a civil war.

"History is replete with examples of false narratives born from bigotries that advance a political agenda rather than the truth," read a letter sent to Obama by a coalition of 53 Turkish-American organizations. "The Armenian claim of passive victimhood stands on such shaky historical footing."

Armenians, meanwhile, say the killings were planned by Turks and they have long sought formal recognition of what they see as a genocide.

A resolution recognizing the killings as genocide is pending in Congress. Still, most American leaders have deferred to strategic interests, since Turkey is a key majority-Muslim ally.

"Political considerations -- whether Turkish threats, prospects for Turkey-Armenia dialogue, or in any other form -- should never stand in the way of America's willingness to condemn the Armenian Genocide, or any genocide, and to stand up for the truth," said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America.

By contrast, Turkish American leaders were happy with Obama's statement.

"We applaud President Obama for deferring to historians to settle the long-standing debate over the events of 1915-1918. This tragic period in history led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Christians alike," said Lincoln McCurdy, president of the Turkish Coalition of America. "President Obama has sent a clear message to America and the world that his administration will not sacrifice long-term strategic allies for short-term political gains."

Turkish Businessmen Abroad Urge Effective Cooperation with Homeland

2009-04-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

April 13, 2009
Hurriyet Daily News

ISTANBUL - More 2,000 Turkish businessmen working abroad came together in Istanbul on Friday urging for more effective cooperation between the state and the Turkish entrepreneurs active all over the world.

The two-day, World Conference of Turkish Entrepreneurs, organized by the Council of Foreign Economic Relations, or DEIK, began Friday with inauguration speeches by prominent businessmen and representatives of the government.

While there are 12 Turkish firms among Europe’s 500 biggest enterprises and 24 among the 100 enterprises of the Islamic world, there are no Turkish firms among the world’s biggest 500 enterprises, said Nazim Ekren, deputy prime minister responsible for the economy.

“We want to increase the number of Turkish firms which will rank among the biggest 500 firms in the world,” he said. The government will pursue production and growth friendly monetary and fiscal policies, according to Ekren. He reiterated the government’s aim to make Istanbul a regional and global finance center. Rifat Hisarciklioglu called on Turkish businessmen working abroad however to cooperate more among themselves and not see each other only as rivals. He also asked the gathering to think big saying “there is not just Germany, there is Europe; there is not just Europe but the world.”

Hisarciklioglu encouraged the younger generations to learn not just English but other languages like Russian or Chinese, and also asked Turkish businessmen abroad to participate in local politics. “There are elections for European Parliament in June. You should run for these elections. You should make your weight felt in Europe,” he said. The representatives of the Turkish business community abroad have in their turned asked to have more coordinated policies between the state and the business world.

“I don’t know what the policies of my government are in Central Asia,” said Zeki Pilge a businessmen active in Kazakhistan.

Concerned about the absence of a communication network among the business community abroad, Vural Oger, a German member of the European Parliament, underlined the need to develop strategies to use the potential of the Turkish diaspora abroad.

Tuzmen: “There are talks about Turkey being a super power” State Minister Kursat Tuzmen claimed that there is talk in the international community that Turkey will be a super power in the new world order and therefore, the world’s attention turned to the nation.

Obama Avoids Saying 'Genocide' While in Turkey

2009-04-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles Times
By Christi Parsons and Laura King

The president reiterates that his views on the Armenian genocide in Ottoman times have not changed, but doesn't use the term as he focuses on helping normalize Turkey's ties with Armenia.

Reporting from Istanbul, Turkey, and Ankara, Turkey -- President Obama, steering a delicate course on an explosive issue, said Monday his views on the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the early 20th century have not changed since he declared it a "genocide" last year, but he avoided using that term in front of his Turkish hosts.

Instead, Obama emphasized the need to improve relations between Turkey and Armenia, and pointed to hopes for a breakthrough to ease long-standing tensions.

"If they can move forward and deal with a difficult and tragic history, I think the whole world will encourage them," Obama told reporters in Ankara, the Turkish capital.

By refraining from calling the deaths of as many as 1.5 million Armenians beginning in 1915 a genocide, Obama for the moment avoided offending a country whose help U.S. officials need in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. At the same time, he avoided infuriating his Armenian American supporters.

But Obama also contributed to the suspense surrounding a likely presidential proclamation expected in time for April 24, the annual Armenian remembrance day.

U.S. presidents usually issue statements deploring the mass killings without calling them genocide. Armenian American organizations are urging Obama to make good on his campaign pledge.

"We fully expect President Obama to honor his commitment and reaffirm the Armenian genocide," the Armenian Assembly, a U.S. Armenian advocacy group, said in a statement.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul emphasized that Turkey was willing to open its archives to historians investigating the subject and allow a joint commission to draw conclusions.

"It is not a political but an historic issue," he said. "That's why we should let historians discuss the matter." Obama administration officials said delicate talks are continuing between Turkey and Armenia over normalizing relations. Late in the evening at Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace, the president met with the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia to urge a quick agreement.

Obama's remarks Monday, issued as he stood beside Gul, appeared carefully calibrated. Though he didn't utter the word "genocide" or press Gul to address the issue, he pointedly reaffirmed previous remarks on the subject.

In 2008, Obama said "the Armenian genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.

"The facts are undeniable."

Three years ago, Obama criticized the Bush administration for firing John Evans, then-ambassador to Armenia, after Evans used the term "genocide" to describe the slaughter.

After a private meeting with Gul in Ankara, Obama said at the news conference that he hadn't changed his views.

"My views are on the record and I have not changed views," Obama said. "What I have been very encouraged by is news that under President Gul's leadership, you are seeing a series of negotiations, a process, in place between Armenia and Turkey to resolve a whole host of long-standing issues, including this one."

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties. Gul last year became the first modern Turkish leader to visit Armenia, attending a World Cup qualifying match between the teams of the two countries. Other events in recent years, though, have brought wrenching reminders of the two neighbors' historic enmity.

In January 2007, a prominent Armenian editor, Hrant Dink, was gunned down outside his newspaper's office in central Istanbul, a killing that shocked the country. The assailant was a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.

Before the assassination, nationalistic websites had expressed outrage over Dink's repeated calls for Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide and ensure that its Armenian minority did not face persecution.

U.S. Armenian groups expressed disappointment over Obama's comments in Ankara, but did not criticize the president. Obama "missed a valuable opportunity to honor his public pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide," said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America.

The Turkish Coalition of America said it was "encouraged" by Obama's remarks concerning Turkish-Armenian relations, but didn't comment on the genocide issue.

In Istanbul, Ilter Turan, a professor of political science at Bilgi University, said he thought Obama had handled the Armenian issue deftly.

"He expressed the view that problems arising from the past can be resolved, and in a clear way," he said.

Lincoln McCurdy on Washington Journal Discussing Obama's Trip to Turkey

2009-04-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

To view the rest of the program please visit TCA's YouTube Channel

C-SPAN

Turkish Coalition of America Commends President Obama for Statements in Turkey

2009-04-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

Washington, DC – Following President Obama’s speech in Turkey, Lincoln McCurdy, President of the Turkish Coalition of America, made the following statement:

“President Obama’s trip to Turkey, this early in his administration, is a clear sign that the strategic relationship between the two nations has never been more cherished by both sides. Additionally, the inclusion of Turkey in the President’s trip to other European nations signals that Turkey will continue to be a bridge between the East and the West.

“TCA is encouraged by President Obama’s statements in Ankara today and view his message of dialogue between civilizations as a welcomed beginning to this new administration. Both the historical legacy of Turkey’s secular democracy as envisioned by Ataturk, as well as the today’s growth in education and scientific ties between the US and Turkey were critical aspects of the President’s message to the people of both nations.

“TCA extends its thanks to President Obama for highlighting the importance of Turkish Americans in helping to bring together our cultures. TCA encourages all Turkish Americans to engage in citizens’ diplomacy to further the growing commercial, cultural and political ties between Turkey and the United States.”

LINK

Department of Justice Responds to CREW Ethics Complaint Against ANCA

2009-03-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

This letter was sent to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) by the Department of Justice.

For a PDF of this document please click here.

Prof. Bernard Lewis on the Armenian Allegations

2009-03-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Bernard Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, addresses the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on the illegitimacy of the Armenian allegations of genocide during WWI in March of 2002.

Armenian genocide debate: Blood libel?

2009-03-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

McClatchy

March 25, 2009

The perennial dispute over an Armenian genocide recognition is now taking place in multiple arenas.

President Barack Obama is weighing whether to antagonize Turkey by issuing a genocide commemorative statement; or, in the alternative, he could antagonize Armenian-American voters by breaking his apparent campaign pledge and avoiding use of the term.

Meanwhile, in U.S. District Court this week, the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund is battling it out with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Led by attorneys Bruce Fein and David Saltzman, the Turkish American group has filed a defamation suit on behalf of author Guenter Lewy. An 85-year-old emeritus professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Lewy says the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report libeled him when it wrote, in part:
“Lewy is one of the most active members of a network of American scholars, influence peddlers and website operators, financed by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from the government of Turkey, who promote the denial of the Armenian genocide….”

The wrangling this week, before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, is procedural. Some of the questions, in part, appear to deal with what kind of media the Intelligence Report is and whether the District of Columbia is the right place for this legal action. Stated the Southern Poverty Law Center:

"The 'act' complained of – publication of an allegedly libelous article – occurred in Alabama and Georgia. SPLC publishes the Intelligence Report in Alabama and Georgia."Beyond the Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit, Fein said the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund is preparing for a potential defamation lawsuit against one-time Ohio congressional candidate David Krikorian. Krikorian evidently declared that his GOP opponent, Rep. Jean Schmdt "has taken $30,000 in blood money to deny the genocide." Stated Krikorian:
"Both sets of my grandparents are survivors of this first Holocaust of the 20th century...most of their family members at the time were murdered...The only deniers of this great tragedy which led to the Holocaust of the Jews by Nazi Germany are the Turkish government and certain members of the United States Congress like Jean Schmidt."

In preparation for the upcoming defamation suit, Fein has already filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission; in an interview, he said this complaint was designed to flesh out the facts that will be the underpinning of the defamation suit."We want to try to send a signal to Armenian-Americans that the time for bullying has come to an end," Fein said.

Bruce Fein in the Fresno Bee "Question of Law"

2009-03-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

As the world anticipates President Obama's upcoming trip to Turkey, the focus of his visit has turned to the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the House. Rep. Adam Schiff is spearheading a drive to adjudicate whether tragic events in the fog of World War I amounted to an Armenian genocide. Just this week, he reiterated hopes the resolution will be more successful under the new administration.

Schiff's resolution is not only a legislative frolic, it is factually misconceived. Many reputable and independent Middle East historians and scholars dispute the genocide characterization, though without minimizing the tragic nature of the mass civilian casualties suffered in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Genocide, like torture or murder, is a question of law to be decided by independent and impartial judges. It should not be a political football exploited by members of Congress to appease special foreign interest constituencies who make handsome campaign contributions.

Rep. Schiff would do history, justice and his constituents a service and relieve himself of a most unnecessary labor by adding his voice to theirs, and ask for the opening of Armenian archives for independent examination, as the Turkish government has done for the Ottoman archives.

Bruce Fein, Resident scholar, Turkish Coalition of America, Washington, D.C.

LINK

2009-03-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

US President Obama to address Parliament

2009-03-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Hurriyet Daily News

ANKARA - The Turkish Parliament will convene a special session on April 6 and 7 to coincide with a landmark visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, who is expected on a Monday, when the legislative body usually does not meet.

The office of the Parliament Speaker has taken the initiative to plan this extraordinary parliamentary session and is talking with the deputies of all parties to pave the way for the U.S. president to address the Turkish legislature.

Visiting presidents in Turkey traditionally address Parliament. Among former U.S. presidents, Bill Clinton made a speech there in November 1999, but his successor, George W. Bush, who came to Turkey to participate in a NATO summit, was unable to do so because of other obligations. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was the most recent foreign head of state to address the Turkish legislature, during his November 2008 visit.

Baring any last-minute changes, Obama will address the General Assembly on April 6. The U.S. president is also expected to attend an Istanbul summit of the U.N.-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations. Daily Milliyet reported Friday that Obama would meet with Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartolomeos on April 7 before returning home.

While visiting Ankara last weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington did not consider Turkey a "moderate Islamic country," an expression often used by the Bush administration.

In a televised interview with private channel CNNTürk, Matthew Bryza, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, reiterated Friday that Turkey should not be described as an Islamic country. Commenting on the presidential visit, Bryza said Obama was coming to Turkey for talks on bilateral ties, adding that Turkey’s passing through a long process of modernization and reforms made it an important country for the entire region.

TCA, University of Utah announce new Turkish program

2009-03-10T08:43:00.001-07:00

Today’s Zaman

The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) and the University of Utah have announced a new academic program, "The Origins of Modern Ethnic Cleansing: Collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Emergence of Nation States in the Balkans and Caucasus." The program has been established with the financial support of the TCA.

In the program, scholarship will be conducted on historical fluctuations at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century in the region, the results of which are still felt today. The program will be directed by Hakan Yavuz, an assistant professor at the department of political science at the University of Utah.

In a statement released yesterday by the TCA, Yavuz said the period had an impact on the formation of the identity of modern Turkey and it will be explored in conferences and research. He also added that the focus will be on the significant land loss suffered as a result of the wars the Ottoman Empire waged in the Balkans and the Caucasus before the foundation of the Turkish Republic. This loss impacted all the lands of the former empire, influencing the formation of the new republic, the ethnic cleansing of Muslim populations and other traumatic incidents that were a result of forced migration.

The statement also noted that TCA President Lincoln McCurdy believes the program is important because it will train new researchers who will influence regional studies in and around Turkey.

The advisory board for the program includes Dr. Şükrü Elekdağ, former member of the Turkish Parliament; Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, head of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB); Professor Norman Stone, historian and professor of international relations at Bilkent University; and Alev Alatlı, journalist and author.

Rep. Frank Pallone and the "Armenian Genocide Resolution"

2009-03-02T13:25:00.000-08:00

New Jersey Star Ledger, NJVoices.com
March 2, 2009

Recently, a letter seeking cosponsors for a renewed drive to secure the adoption of an "Armenian Genocide Resolution" was circulated on Capitol Hill. The lead authors of the proposed legislation included four members of congress from districts with sizable Armenian constituents. They included Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ).

Rep. Pallone has turned his office in the U.S. Congress, home also to tens of thousands of New Jerseyans of Turkish descent, into an anti-Turkey nerve center.

Incidentally, one of the Armenian groups that showers Pallone with praise and support, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), this week has been accused by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), an ethics watchdog, for violating campaign finance and lobbying laws.

Among other things, CREW argues that ANCA is closely related with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), which is part of the ruling coalition government in the Republic of Armenia, but fails to disclose this. A few years ago the then ANCA chairman, Mourad Topalian, was convicted on charges relating to Armenian terrorist attacks against Turkish diplomatic mission in the United States back in the 1970's and early '80s and served three years in federal prison.

None of this seems to bother Pallone. To roaring cheers at an ANCA rally in Times Square back in 2005, he pronounced that the United States should not only recognize an "Armenian Genocide" but that it should pressure modern Turkey to pay reparations for the near century-old alleged crime. This alone should lay to rest the claims that the perennial Armenian resolutions are pursued for emotional reasons by its lead proponents and the Armenian lobby.
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In fact, a congressional recognition is but a first step in the Armenian lobby's irredentist agenda against Turkey and, if Pallone will have it his way, it will be advanced by U.S. Congressional fiat.

The so-called "Armenian Genocide Resolution" is a textbook example of ethnic lobby pandering at the expense of America's national interests. Once enough members sign on, with the all too well-known time and attention that lawmakers will be giving to sift through its history lesson, this "non-binding" resolution will gather such international storm that it required presidential interventions in the past to prevent a diplomatic fall-out with Turkey.

The latest resolution will certainly be no different and pose a significant stumbling block to President Obama's efforts to improve international cooperation on the many challenges he faces and foster better U.S. standing abroad. In his zeal to please his supporters, Pallone has and continues to undermine U.S. foreign policy, under either Democratic or Republican administrations, toward a balanced U.S. foreign policy in the Southern Caucasus and toward Turkey.

To add insult to injury, Pallone frequently admonishes opponents of this resolution by pointing to a "moral obligation" of the Congress to "pronounce" that the now-defunct Ottoman Empire, committed "genocide" against Armenians nearly 100 years ago. In doing so, he chooses to ignore the many well-regarded Ottoman historians who dispute the genocide claim.

Moreover, if Congress owes such moral obligation to America and the world, it ought to compile a list of all the crimes that appall us, beginning here at home, and start writing commemorative resolutions for all.

In fact, selective morality is no morality at all and Armenian resolutions persist year after year, not on moral grounds but on the efforts of an organized lobby that has turned hating Turkey into an existential cause and that keeps greasing the wheels of Washington.

Singling out Turkey and its history for political expediency and as payback for domestic election support is far from moral. Doing so at a time when Turkey's Prime Minister has invited Armenians and all interested parties to form an international commission of historians and experts to establish the facts and pave the way for reconciliation-- a proposal rejected by frontrunners of the "Armenian Genocide Resolution" in Congress and the Armenian lobby-- and when Turkey and Armenia are actively negotiating ways to overcome their differences, is outright hypocritical.

The U.S. faces a devastating economic crisis and two wars abroad. Members of Congress should be held accountable for spending time and resources on addressing a nearly century-old event with no foreseeable policy benefits for the United States, but the potential of a great public relations and foreign policy disaster involving our ally Turkey.

In reality, this will remain behind closed doors in Washington until too much damage has already been done. Members of Congress, like Pallone, will not answer to anyone unless the larger American public demands an answer. It is high time to demand an answer.

Lincoln McCurdy is the President of the Turkish Coalition of America.

U.S. Top Diplomat Likely to Visit Turkey Next Month

2009-02-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

Hurriyet Daily News

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to visit Turkey next month, diplomatic sources said on Thursday.

After the meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. Middle Envoy George Mitchell in Ankara, sources told the Anatolian Agency that Clinton also has plans to visit Turkey in March.

Clinton will visit countries in the region after attending an international conference hosted by Egypt for the Gaza reconstruction on March 2.

Although the date of the top U.S. diplomat is yet to be determined, Clinton is expected to visit Turkey on March 7, sources told hurriyet.com.tr.

First Lady of Mexico thanks the Turkish Coalition of America for Charitable Donations to the Mexican Red Cross

2009-02-25T11:04:00.000-08:00

Washington, DC – At the launch for the Mexican Red Cross's 2009 fundraising drive today First Lady Margarita Zavala Calderón thanked the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) and its President, Lincoln McCurdy for the donation of ambulances to serve the people of Tabasco, Mexico. The ceremony, held at the President's residence, was symbolic of the close ties between Mexico, Turkey and the United States. The President of the Mexican Red Cross also thanked TCA at the ceremony which was attended by the wives of Mexican cabinet members, as well as over 100 others.

“Bringing together Turkish Americans, Hispanic Americans and the citizens of Mexico builds bridges and friendships that will last long into the future,” said Lincoln McCurdy, President of TCA. “While it is true that shared adversity was the catalyst for this donation, the result has been a shared understanding and a desire to work together in the future.”

Mexico endured one of its worst national disasters in November of 2007 when the state of Tabasco was hit by a hurricane, causing massive flooding and the destruction of tens of thousands of homes and schools, as well as the state’s crops. The flooding left over a million people homeless, an estimated one-third of the victims were children. In hopes of a more immediate recovery in future cases of need, two ambulances have been donated to the Mexican Red Cross by TCA as a gesture of friendship.

Turkish Americans know firsthand the critical role international assistance plays in saving lives and rebuilding after witnessing the kindness of the international community when Turkey was struck by major earthquakes in August of 1999. Nations across the globe, the United States and the American people in particular, showed great support and sympathy to Turkey during its most dire days.

Mexico and its people also contributed life saving aid and rescue resources which helped alleviate the suffering of those impacted by this earthquake. This gift from Turkish Americans to the people of Tabasco, Mexico is a way of showing solidarity to victims of natural disasters.

“The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute is proud to support the efforts of the TCA to generate friendships and mutual understanding with the people of Mexico and Hispanic Americans,” said William Gil, Vice President of Programs for the CHCI. “Programs like this are essential to bringing together cultures, peoples and nations throughout the world.”

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) is one of the leading Hispanic non-profit and non-partisan 501(c) (3) organizations in the US. As the premier national Hispanic educational organization, CHCI seeks to accomplish its mission by offering educational and leadership development programs, services and activities that promote the growth of participants as effective professionals and strong leaders. In the spirit of building coalitions, CHCI seeks to establish partnerships with other Hispanic and non-Hispanic organizations.

TCA dedicated the two ambulances to Congressman Solomon Ortiz (D-27th/TX) and Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-16th/TX). The dedication was designed to recognize the efforts by Congressman Ortiz and Congressman Reyes, who are deans of the Hispanic Caucus and members of the Turkish Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, to bring together the people of Mexico, Turkey and the United States.

U.S. Supports Greater Regional Role For Turkey

2009-02-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty
By Abbas Djavadi

U.S. President Barack Obama recently called his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul along with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to affirm the new U.S. administration's support for Turkey's "leading role" in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and the Caucasus.

Indeed, Iraq and Afghanistan are the two areas where Turkey could help the United States and the West, as it did in the past during the Korean crisis in the 1950s and the conflict in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. As the United States prepares to withdraw from Iraq and send more troops to Afghanistan, Turkey could play a welcome role by stepping in to contribute to Iraq's further stabilization.

After a relatively long period of hesitation, over the past few months Ankara has started to improve relations with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, which is led by President Mas'ud Barzani. Turkey's biggest concern has long been that the emergence of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq, just across the Turkish border, would encourage the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has found a safe haven in northern Iraq from which to launch terrorist attacks inside Turkey.

Tens of thousands of civilians, Turkish troops, and PKK rebels have been killed in the last three decades in what Ankara calls a terrorist campaign by the PKK to dismember Turkey and declare an independent Kurdistan. Successive Turkish governments have maintained that the Kurdish government in northern Iraq has failed to make good on its commitment to crack down on the PKK. Barzani, for his part, believes that Turkey should seek a political solution to the problem with its Kurdish minority through reforms, instead of relying on military force.

Many experts believe that if the ongoing gradual improvement in political stability in Iraq is reversed and ethnic-sectarian conflicts flare up anew, the Kurds in the north might declare independence. That would have serious implications not only for Iraq itself, but also for neighboring Turkey and the whole Middle East. Kurdish regional Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has also warned of turmoil in Iraq if U.S. troops are withdrawn before all problems between Baghdad and the Kurds are resolved.

Force For Stability

This is the last thing the Obama administration needs. By seeking to improve relations with the Kurdish administration in northern Iraq and become increasingly involved in Iraq's economic development, Turkey could help Washington to ensure that the situation in Iraq continues to normalize and stabilize as the U.S. troop withdrawal proceeds. Turkish leaders have said repeatedly that they are ready to do so, provided both the Iraqi Kurdish administration and the United States demonstrate a clearer commitment to cracking down on the PKK presence on Iraqi soil.

Furthermore, Turkey could play a major role in removing thousands of tons of U.S. equipment and supplies from Iraq in the next year or two. Ankara has provided the United States access to the Habur Gate in southeastern Turkey for transporting construction materials, food, fuel, and other nonmilitary items into Iraq. The United States would need Turkey's help in using the same route to withdraw its troops smoothly.

In 2002, Turkey was among the first countries to participate in a multinational peacekeeping force for Afghanistan. Seven years later, the new administration in Washington is intensifying its efforts to fight Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. As a first step, on February 17 President Obama ordered the dispatch of an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. The United States is also pressuring other NATO members to share the burden of the Afghan mission.

In this context, Turkey is best placed to provide both training and equipment for the Afghan National Army and police force, as well as to participate in the economic development that is essential to neutralizing terrorist and insurgent groups' efforts to destabilize the country.

And now, following Kyrgyzstan's announcement of the closure of the U.S. air base at Manas near Bishkek, the base at Incirlik in Turkey could become a major hub for the United States as it sets about building up its presence in Afghanistan.

Turkey's Fine Line

Recently, Erdogan's Justice and Development (AK) party has shifted Turkey's foreign policy away from its previous primarily Western and NATO orientation to a more centrist one focused on improving relations with Muslim countries in the Middle East, as well as the Caucasus and Russia. While this may have led to some disappointment in the West, it is appreciated in Arab countries, and in Moscow and Tehran. It has also strengthened Ankara's potential for playing a major role in the region.

Last year, Turkey mediated indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria. But while Erdogan's fiery exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres on January 29 in Davos about the Israeli offensive in Gaza won him votes in Turkey and sympathy on the "Arab Street," it strained the traditionally good relations between Turkey and Israel. It also led many Israelis to question how unbiased Turkey is as a possible mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Since the recent parliamentary elections in Israel that are expected to produce a new, rightist coalition, hopes for an Israeli-Syrian peace deal have diminished. Both Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party rule out meaningful talks with the Palestinians in which Turkey might be of assistance.

Obama has reportedly told Prime Minister Erdogan that Washington also supports Turkey's efforts to improve relations with neighboring Armenia. Turkish press reports add that, asked about Ankara's concerns relating to possible U.S. recognition of the Armenian killings in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as "genocide," Obama said that he "understands Turkey's sensitivities." To be sure, this is not likely to become a serious obstacle to improved U.S.-Turkish relations as long as more pressing issues such as Iraq and Afghanistan need to be dealt with.

Turkey Steps up Talks with Armenia as April Looms

2009-02-19T14:53:00.000-08:00

Turkish Weekly
By YONCA POYRAZ DOÄžAN, TZISTANBUL

Increased and open diplomatic traffic between Turkey and Armenia has signaled that there are more efforts under way for normalizing relations between the two countries, particularly considering the fact that April 24, the day the White House traditionally issues a statement on "Armenian Remembrance Day" is approaching and, maybe even more importantly, the Armenian diaspora has already started pressuring American politicians to bring a "genocide resolution" to the floor of the US Congress.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan's meetings with his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, are no longer held in secret. The two have met six times on separate occasions since the soccer match held between the national teams of the two countries on Sept. 6, 2008, in Armenia.

After that historical event came Armenian Foreign Minister Nalbandian's visit to Ä°stanbul to attend a ministerial gathering of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) on Nov. 24. Babacan and Nalbandian later met unofficially in Helsinki, Zurich and, most recently, Munich.

"If Turkey and Armenia increase their meetings, it will be difficult for third parties to interfere with the process," said Sedat Laciner, head of the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization (ISRO/USAK), referring to the possibility of US recognition of the Armenian "genocide" allegations due to campaign promises made by President Barack Obama to Armenian-American voters.

Laciner added that Turkey was working toward a solution to its problems with Armenia and that this is why it is trying to prevent efforts in the United States that may block this process of reconciliation.

"The ultimate goals are the starting of diplomatic relations and the opening of the border with Armenia," he told Sunday's Zaman.

It is not so important whether or not US President Barack Obama utters the word "genocide" in his statement on April 24 -- the day when Armenians commemorate the killings of Anatolian Armenians perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire during World War I, which Armenians claim constituted genocide. Rather, it is the climate that will be created afterward that may be concerning, Laciner said, adding, "Dialogue between Armenia and Turkey could break off.

"There is also worry of a possible explosion of nationalist sentiment in Turkey, as predicted by Today's Zaman columnist Omer Taspinar, if a House resolution is adopted.

TaspÄ±nar wrote in a Jan. 26 article that "In case the Armenian genocide recognition resolution goes forward and Congress votes in favor of it before March 29, things will go from bad to worse," considering the political calendar in Turkey, where local elections will be held on March 29.

President Obama issued several statements during his election campaign reiterating his intention to recognize the alleged Armenian genocide. But some argue that running for office and running the government are different things. Ä°lter Türkmen, a retired Turkish ambassador and former foreign minister, said the Obama administration would be hesitant to scratch old wounds in the history of Turks and Armenians.

"The United States supports the improvement of relations between Turkey and Armenia," he said.

However, the matter has gotten more complicated as observers note a mounting sense of frustration in the US Congress related to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, particularly following his walkout at the recent Davos summit after an angry exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres over Israel's deadly operation in Gaza last month. "The level of resentment is particularly high among the pro-Israel lobby. Some argue that Turkey has lost all its key supporters in Washington and that the Armenian lobby has now a unique window of opportunity to push its agenda," wrote Taspinar, who is based in Washington.

Supporting this idea, former Turkish Ambassador to the US Faruk Logoglu told Sunday's Zaman that the Jewish lobby in the United States was one of Turkey's biggest trump cards. Still, he said, Turkey should not be anxiously looking to make gestures prior to April 24. Instead, it should spread its efforts to normalize relations with Armenia over a period of time.

"We should get Washington's backing first and then move forward with the issue," he said, adding that, in the meantime, not only Ankara, but also Yerevan should communicate to the US administration that normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia carries high importance for both sides and that dialogue is continuing toward a solution.

Logoglu also said it is important for Ankara that Azerbaijan's consent has been obtained and that Russia has been informed about the process.

After all, Turkey closed its border with Armenia because of its occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. In a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan, Turkey also severed its diplomatic ties with Yerevan.

Before his landmark meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan in Davos late last month, Prime Minister ErdoÄŸan had talks with Azerbaijani President Ä°lham Aliyev. Indeed, Aliyev had held talks with Sarksyan earlier in Davos concerning the two-decade-long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has uprooted hundreds of thousands of people from both Armenia and Azerbaijan. "We will never leave Azerbaijan alone concerning Nagorno-Karabakh. That is to say that our issues are in a way connected with Azerbaijan," Erdogan said at Davos.

"Efforts may soon yield positive results"

Suat Kiniklioglu, member of Parliament and deputy chairman of external affairs for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), told Sunday's Zaman he is hopeful that a statement by the Turkish side most likely at the beginning of April may pave the way for further rapprochement with Armenia.

"I am not directly involved in the negotiations, but I hear that there are only minor issues left to be settled between the sides. Both Turkey and Armenia are serious in that regard," he said.

Asked if Armenia can be expected to take a step toward the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he said, "It is possible because Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to negotiate over the issue."

Although last week Yerevan rejected a news report suggesting that Armenia and Azerbaijan had reached a preliminary agreement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's support, there are signs that a solution may emerge soon.

Nalbandian has announced many times that negotiations over the resolution of the conflict are being held in the context of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States.

Goran Lennmarker, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly special representative on Nagorno-Karabakh, arrived in Baku on Feb. 12. The Trend news agency reported that the purpose of his visit was to get familiarized with the current situation of the negotiation process so a report could be drafted prior to the winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on Feb. 19 and 20 in Vienna.

Lenmarker also said he has additional information regarding the transfer of six regions to Azerbaijan and the establishment of a temporary government in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the Turkish Parliament is expected to go to the United States again in March. KÄ±nÄ±klÄ±oÄŸlu said they will further explain to US officials that the Armenian diaspora "does not care about the problems of Armenia" and are even "disturbed" about the rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia. In that context, the Turkish Coalition of America recently sent a letter to President Obama drawing his attention to the work of more than 30 scholars who have refrained from applying the genocide label to the events of 1915 or whose work exposes parts of the traditional "

Obama seeks warmer Turkey-Iraq relations

2009-02-18T11:09:00.000-08:00

Press TV

US President Barack Obama has thrown his weight behind the growing Turkey-Iraq relations, the White House has confirmed in a statement.

Obama pledged his support while speaking with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the phone on Monday.

According to the White House, several other issues, including the importance of cooperation in Middle East peace efforts, and the US review of Afghanistan and Pakistan policy were also discussed during the telephone conversations.

"In both calls, the leaders discussed a number of current issues, including US support for the growing Turkish-Iraqi relationship, the importance of cooperation in Middle East peace efforts, and the US review on Afghanistan and Pakistan policy," the White House said.

Obama further emphasized the importance of US-Turkish relations.

"The president emphasized his desire to strengthen US-Turkish relations and to work together effectively in NATO," the statement added.

Obama's decision came as US-Turkey ties face challenges stemming from the security situation in Iraq.

Turkey has been pressuring the US government to launch massive strikes against the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) rebels in the northern mountainous region of Iraq.

The Bush administration had disagreed on the issue, saying that such attacks would threaten the relative stability of the region.

The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984, conducting attacks in the countryside from bases in northern Iraq. The violence has killed tens of thousands of people.

The Kurdish insurgents have escalated attacks since Turkey began raiding their bases in northern Iraq earlier this year. The militant group is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, including the US and the EU.

Russia, Turkey hail flourishing neighbourhood ties

2009-02-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

Agence France-Presse

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday he welcomed diplomatic moves by historical rival Turkey in the two countries' Caucasus and Black Sea neighbourhood.

As Medvedev evoked a role for NATO member Turkey in ex-Soviet nations that abut both Russia and Turkey, a Russian official said Moscow and Ankara were close to making lucrative new energy deals.

"Our countries naturally want to strengthen security in the Caucasus region and to ensure proper security in the Black Sea. In this, we're fully in solidarity," Medvedev said during a visit by Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

Medvedev struck a defiant note on "outside powers" in the region, clearly referring to US support for Tbilisi in a war last summer between Georgia and Russia.

"The August crisis showed the importance of coordination by all countries of the region... and showed we can deal with such problems ourselves, without the involvement of outside powers," Medvedev said.

Russia remains fiercely protective of its role in the Caucasus nations that broke from Moscow in 1991 -- Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan -- and Medvedev in August described Moscow as the "guarantor" of the region's security.

Moscow's sense of entitlement has historically put Turkey and Russia at loggerheads.
But as Gul visited on Friday both countries emphasised cooperation, not least in Russian help with energy supplies to Turkey.

Medvedev said he welcomed an initiative put forward by Turkey during last year's Georgia war known as the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform.

The latter is part of a push by Turkey that includes improving relations with Armenia poisoned by differences over Ottoman-era massacres of Armenians.

Gul told Medvedev on Friday: "Russia and Turkey are neighbouring countries, which are developing their relations on the basis of mutual confidence."

Later at a meeting with former president Vladimir Putin, now the country's prime minister, Putin applauded the emergence of Russia as Turkey's number one trade partner.

Gul responded: "The author of those relations is you. You have done a great service in this."

On the sidelines of the talks in Moscow the two countries were working on new energy deals expected to increase Russia's role in Turkey, including a plan for Moscow to build a nuclear power station in Turkey.

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said the two sides were nearing agreement on Russia winning the nuclear contract.

A consortium led by Russia's Atomstroixport partnership was the sole bidder in a tender launched in September to build a 4,800 megawatt nuclear power plant at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast.

"We expect our proposal will be forwarded by the tendering commission to the Turkish government in the near future," Shmatko told reporters.

"According to different estimates, such a project could be worth 18-20 billion dollars (14-15.5 billion euros)," he added.

Shmatko also said Russia and Turkey were discussing a long-term contract worth 60 billion dollars over a period of 15 years to supply Russian electricity to Turkey.

"The volume of supplies of electricity from Russia to Turkey could reach 60 billion dollars over 15 years," he said.

In practice Russian-Turkish energy cooperation has fallen short of Moscow's expectations.

The Blue Stream gas pipeline that supplies Russian gas to Turkey is now operating at well below the capacity envisaged by its planners, as Turkey eyes other energy sources such as Iraq and Central Asia.

Russia is Turkey's biggest trading partner and bilateral trade was worth 37.8 billion dollars last year.

Egypt, Turkey call for Palestinian reconciliation

2009-02-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

AFP

ISTANBUL (AFP) — The leaders of Egypt and Turkey said Wednesday that reconciliation between the two main Palestinian groups was crucial to establish a lasting truce in Gaza after Israel's deadly operation.

"Israel's attack would have been out of the question if there were no divisions and disagreements among the Palestinians," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told a new conference after talks with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.

"I underlined (to Gul) the importance we attribute to national Palestinian reconciliation because the interests of the Palestinian people are above reconciliation between the groups," he said, through a translator.

Egypt has stepped up contacts with envoys from Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas running Gaza, seeking a durable truce.

Both sides called separate ceasefires on January 18, following Israel's 22-day offensive on Gaza which killed around 1,330 Palestinians.

But progress towards a permanent ceasefire has been slow despite repeated announcements of imminent success.

The Egyptian truce plan also calls for Hamas and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement to reconcile and form a government that would be acceptable to the international community.

But the two movements have been deeply divided since Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Fatah in 2007, a rift that has widened since the Israeli offensive.

Hamas has also called for an alternative to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) -- recognised internationally as the sole representative of the Palestinian cause since 1974 -- that would include itself and the radical Islamic Jihad group.

Mubarak said the PLO -- in which Fatah is the most powerful member -- must be maintained.

"This organization is the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people," he said.
Gul meanwhile said Turkey would continue to support Egypt's efforts to establish a permanent truce in Gaza and help reconcile Palestinians.

"It is vital to have unity among Palestinians and Arabs," he said, with a new government coming to power in Israel following elections and a new administration in Washington.
Both leaders also called for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Cairo is holding an international aid conference for the war-battered territory on March 2.

One of Israel's few Muslim allies, Turkey has been strongly critical of the deadly assault on Gaza and has actively sought a ceasefire, shuttling between exiled Hamas leaders and Egyptian officials.

Turkey becomes well-known destination for US tourists

2009-02-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

Hurriyet Daily News

The tourism attache of the Turkish embassy in New York said on Saturday that Turkey had recently become a well-known destination in the United States.

The "Turkey pavilion" at this year's "New York Times Travel Show", which is one of the most important travel shows in the United States, has drawn much interest from visitors.

Besides the Turkish Tourism and Promotion Office in New York and the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency, a total of 8 Turkish tourism agencies attended the show.

In an interview with A.A, Tourism attache Hasan Zongur of the Turkish embassy in New York said that Turkey would continue to conduct a promotion campaign in the United States in an effort to attract more number tourists from the country in 2009.

Expressing the United States media's interest in Turkey, Zongur said that numerous articles on Turkey would be published in several U.S. tourism magazines this year.

"Turkey had been a tourism destination not quite known in the U.S. 4-5 years ago. Recently, it has become a popular destination and we have positive expectations from 2009," Zongur said.

Turkish Coalition of America takes on Sen. Robert Menendez over "ethnic politics"

2009-01-28T12:26:00.000-08:00

New Jersey Star Ledger
NJVoices.com

Posted by Guler Kokner/ NJ Voices Guest Blogger January 28, 2009 3:08PM

While America is currently engaged in two wars, faces the continued threat of international terrorism and the possible advent of nuclear-armed rogue nations, and struggles with an economic crisis of historical proportions, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) chose to use his valuable time at the confirmation hearing of newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to pander to the Armenian and Greek lobbies.

While the world was watching, Sen. Menendez asked Sen. Clinton to make it a priority to recognize as "genocide" nearly a century-old events that took place in a foreign state which no longer exists. He theorized that the United States must pay heed to "history that is universally recognized so that we can move forward in that respect."

A history lesson to address the deeds of a defunct empire, apparently in the Senator's eyes, should be a priority for the new U.S. Secretary of State to address in confirmation hearings. Never mind that what Senator Menendez calls "universally recognized" history, is still strongly debated among scores of scholars and that many historians of international renown contest the genocide label.

If this issue was indeed universally settled, Great Britain, a country which was a party to the conflict at hand, would not have repeatedly refused to use the term genocide to describe the tragic events. If defining whether a crime constituted genocide was to be entrusted to politicians, the international community would not have bestowed the authority to investigate, prosecute and punish such crimes to the International Court of Justice.

The senator also stated that the tiny island of Cyprus should be high on the priority list of the Secretary of State. Voicing support for the "bi-zonal, bi-communal federation" solution on the island, Sen. Menendez seemed to be ignorant of the fact that this was precisely what 65 percent of Turkish Cypriots supported in a referendum in 2004, and which 75 percent of Greek Cypriots rejected. Based on his obvious concern for the well being of ALL Cypriots, we hope that Sen. Menendez will now take the lead in a congressional effort to lift the inhumane international blockade on the Turkish Cypriots and provide an incentive for the solution he so desires.

The fact of the matter is that at the dawn of a new U.S. administration, awaited with great anticipation to be the government of change around the world and at home, it was politics as usual for Sen. Menendez. As the world was watching, he faithfully continued to cater to ethnic politics at home. Rather than questioning the Secretary of State on the countless foreign policy challenges America faces around the world, he sought her commitment to take sides in a historical dispute, while making a half-hearted attempt to appease the Greek American community.

The people of New Jersey, including over 30,000 Turkish Americans, deserve better leadership.

Guler Kokner is vice president of the Turkish Coalition of America in Washington, D.C.

The old and the new, and other contrasts in Turkey

2009-01-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

Orlando Sentinel

Phyllis Tanner
January 25, 2009

When my husband and I visited Turkey recently, we found it to be a remarkable study in contrasts.

On one hand, it has ruins of ancient civilizations at Ephesus, considered one of the best-preserved classical cities.

Ephesus is one of the few places in the world that one truly feels the presence of its ancient Greek and Roman inhabitants. The Temple of Artemis, now in ruins, was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

On the other hand, with a modern and vibrant move toward Western culture, it surprises visitors with dependable telephones and bus systems. English is widely spoken, and tourists feel comfortable knowing that Turkey takes its commitment to NATO seriously.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, was a forward thinker. In 1923, as president of the secular republic, he separated mosque and state, liberated women to some degree and replaced the Arabic alphabet with the Roman one.

One of the stops on our tour was in the bustling city of Kusadasi.

In the heart of a colorful bazaar, we watched the nimble hands of a young woman weaving a Turkish rug.

Trying to woo his captive audience into buying, the carpet merchant offered us local beer or the anise-flavored national drink, raki. Similar to Greek ouzo, raki has a cool and refreshing taste of licorice, but admittedly, it is an acquired taste.

We were amused to see a sign in the bazaar advertising "Genuine Fake Watches.

"The beautifully tiled fountain positioned near the mosque for the required washing before prayer was a reminder that Turkey's vast Muslim majority take their faith seriously. Yet in Turkey, all three major religions -- Christianity, Judaism and Islam -- have co-existed peacefully for centuries.

Another reminder of the remarkable contrasts in Turkey came while we were returning to the port city of Izmir on the Aegean Sea: A shepherd was talking on his cell phone while tending his flock.

EP official says supports opening of energy chapter in Turkey's bid

2009-01-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

World Bulletin
Thursday, 22 January 2009

Turkish PM Erdogan received the president of the Socialist Group at the European Parliament and an accompanying delegation.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Thursday Martin Schulz, the president of the Socialist Group at the European Parliament and an accompanying delegation in Ankara.

Erdogan's meeting with Schulz took place at the Prime Ministry Central Building and lasted close to one hour.

Speaking to reporters following his meeting with Erdogan, Martin Schulz said that he met Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and State Minister and Chief Negotiator for EU talks Egemen Bagis.

We exchanged viewpoints on current issues during our talks in Ankara on Thursday, Schulz said.

We are pleased with the Turkish government's efforts to help Turkey's EU policy gain momentum, Schulz said.

The appointment of Egemen Bagis as Turkey's Chief Negotiator is an indication of how much importance the Turkish government attaches to its EU process, Schulz said.

We discussed current issues pertaining to energy and support the opening of energy chapter in Turkey's entry negotiations, Schulz said.

We also discussed the issue of Cyprus and received information on the Turkish government's reform projects and steps taken regarding Cyprus, Schulz said.

"Turkey must continue with its reform policies in order to become an EU member. The EU, on its part, must carry reforms further to enable its enlargement," Schulz also said.

Armenia Says Close To Mending Ties With Turkey

2009-01-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

January 21, 2009
By Ruben Meloyan

Echoing statements by his Turkish counterpart, Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian has said that Armenia and Turkey have come close to normalizing their historically strained relations.

He also dismissed Ankara's warnings that the new U.S. administration will set back the process if it recognizes the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

The two neighbors embarked on a dramatic rapprochement last year, culminating in Turkish President Abdullah Gul's historic September trip to Yerevan. In a series of follow-up negotiations, Nalbandian and Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan reportedly made further progress toward the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border.

"Turkey and Armenia have never been closer to a plan on normalizing relations," Babacan said late last week.

Commenting on this statement, Nalbandian said that Yerevan continues to stand for an unconditional normalization of bilateral ties. "Our position is unchanged and we expect the same approach from Turkey," he told a news conference on January 21. "In that case, we are really very close to solving the issue. In that sense, I share Babacan's view that we are very close to normalizing relations."

But he stressed that Ankara should drop its preconditions for diplomatic relations and an open border if the process is to reach a successful conclusion. A resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan has been one of those preconditions.

Turkey also wants an end to the decades-long Armenian campaign for international recognition of the 1915 genocide. Babacan warned that U.S. President Barack Obama "will harm the process" if he honors his election campaign pledge to term the Armenian massacres a genocide once in office.

Nalbandian disagreed with that. "If there is a genuine desire to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia, then nothing can impede that," he said.

The minister also sounded a note of caution about international mediators' stated hopes to broker a framework agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh in the first half of this year. Matthew Bryza, the U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, told RFE/RL on January 20 that the mediators will "try to have it signed in the beginning of summer."

He said the success of those efforts depends not only on the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan but public support in both countries for the proposed basic principles of a Karabakh settlement.

"The societies will be presented with principles that have been agreed on," Nalbandian said. "Negotiations are continuing on the basis of the principles proposed by the co-chairs, and there is no agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan."

"If we reach such agreements, we will come to a point where they will be presented to the publics in both Armenia and Karabakh," he added. "And if there is popular support for them, the leadership will be able to make some decisions. But I wouldn't set any time frames."

As Obama says, ’I do,’ Turks ask, ’Will he?’

2009-01-21T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hurriyet Daily News

ISTANBUL - Turks’ belief in Obama’s ability to improve US relations around the world has risen in the last six months, a poll shows, but Turkish experts question if the new president is savvy enough to fulfill his promises. The change in public opinion is proof of Turkey’s social flexibility, one observer says

As the Obama era officially began with the new U.S. President’s inauguration to the White House yesterday, a poll revealed hope has risen sharply among Turks for improved U.S. ties with the rest of the world. The percentage of Turkish people who believe Obama will strengthen U.S. relations with the rest of the world has risen from 11 to 51 percent in the last six months, according to a poll conducted for the BBC World Service. The results also represent a shift from an earlier poll by Gallup suggesting that most Turks were indifferent to who would become the next U.S. president.

This dramatic change is proof of Turkish society’s flexibility, Semiz İdiz, a columnist for daily Milliyet, told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. "This also demonstrates that a stable antagonism toward the United States has not settled in Turkey, as we experienced during the Clinton administration," he said. Ali Tekin, an assistant professor at Ankara University, said the shift in Turkish public opinion could be viewed as normal given the extremely high anti-American posture among Turks. "It is normal that this negative view has declined a little due to Obama’s moderate messages and his promise to withdraw troops from Iraq," he said.

It is perfectly normal that Turks support Obama because he represents the average citizen and people can relate to that, said Professor Hüseyin Bağcı from the Middle East Technical University.

For Professor Hasan Köni from Yeditepe University, on the other hand, it was Obama campaign’s openness and easy accessibility for the public that appealed to people. "Take me for example. I wrote a comment on Obama’s Web site listing my suggestions to make the changes that he constantly talks about. The next day he replied saying we would make the change together. From then on I started to get e-mails every other day where he asked me whether I approved his choice of economy secretary or inviting me to the inauguration ceremony. How can you not love this guy," he enthusiastically explained.

Despite all that optimism, it is unlikely that Obama will be able to actualize all his promises, according to İdiz and Tekin. Tekin also said because government politics in the United States has a strong tradition of continuity, the Obama administration would most likely be a synthesis of the previous Clinton and Bush administrations. "After a president like George Bush, who made no positive contribution whatsoever to the world, Obama’s message to make the world a better place is definitely heard," he said.

In terms of Turkish-U.S. relations, a new era has begun where both sides will have to be extremely cautious, according to Bağcı. For the time being Turkey’s relations with Israel, which took a big hit with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s harsh criticism of the invasion of Gaza, will be one of the most important factors affecting bilateral ties, he said. Claiming that Israel has adopted a policy of ignoring Turkey and its potential as mediator in the region after Ankara’s strong reaction, Bağcı said it was Turkey’s future stance and discourse toward Israel and Arab countries that would determine its relations with the US. "Turkey’s attitude toward Israel will directly affect Obama’s attitude toward Turkey," he said.

Köni said Obama’s biggest promise for Turkey was his commitment to use America’s soft power and to withdraw from Iraq. "Military spending destroyed both the US and its allies’ economies. Giving up on hard power, namely the use of military, is very important," he said. Moreover, the withdrawal from Iraq would finally enable Turkey to increase trade in the region, he said. "For years Turkey has been preoccupied with terrorism generating from the Middle East. Turks certainly see Obama as an opportunity to end this."

Turkey aside, an average of 67 percent of people believe Obama will strengthen US relations abroad, with more than 50 percent thinking so in all but two Ğ Japan and Russia Ğ of the 17 countries polled.

Energy Pushes Turkey and EU Closer

2009-01-20T14:12:00.000-08:00

Associated Press

BRUSSELS: The European Union has to speed up membership talks with Turkey because it badly needs the nation as a reliable energy partner, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said Monday.

Barroso said he would push to get talks moving again on Turkey's EU membership bid as the bloc searches for alternative energy routes after an energy dispute between Ukraine and Russia left many EU nations short of natural gas.

One option is the Nabucco pipeline, which is being planned to bypass the feuding nations and carry Caspian natural gas through Turkey to Europe.

"Turkey can in fact be something that is in the interest of all European citizens," Barroso said after meeting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who is visiting the EU for the first time in more than four years. "Good cooperation on energy matters."

Erdogan said his country was ready to play a key role to help EU energy security. "Turkey is not coming to the EU to become a burden; we are coming to relieve some burdens off the shoulders of the European Union," he said.

Erdogan said his country was acutely aware of its importance to the EU as a new energy partner because of the gas dispute. "We are aware of our responsibility," Erdogan said. "We don't want to use it as a weapon."

The prime minister sought Barroso's help in unblocking membership talks that France, Austria and other EU nations have successfully stalled amid widespread public opposition to Turkey's membership bid.

The EU has suspended membership negotiations in 8 of 35 different policy areas, over Turkey's refusal to recognize Cyprus, an EU member, and to open its ports to the small island nation. Only 10, less important, files have been opened for negotiation.

Diplomats say Cyprus has been blocking the opening of talks in the energy area because of a dispute with Turkey over gas exploration at sea. Energy is one of the 35 areas, or so-called chapters, in Turkey's accession talks.

Barroso told said that an issue as important as energy security should not be made conditional upon such a specific issue.

Erdogan said his government would "step up" its reform drive to meet EU standards on political and human rights.

EU officials praised Turkey's recent moves to set up a Kurdish-language television station and a special ministry dealing with EU entry talks, but pressed Erdogan to do more to guarantee minority rights, curb powers of the military and pass new rights for trade unions.

Turkey Breaks a New Record in Energy Deals

2009-01-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

Hurriyet Daily News

ISTANBUL - Amid the onslaught of the global crisis, Turkey’s energy deals prove to be a shield, says a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The country has set a new record with its energy deals worth $6.6 billion last year.

Turkey proved to be better positioned to weather the crisis than in the past and has done relatively well to be a safe shelter particularly for energy deals, according to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers Turkey.

The first edition of "Energy Deals," which is an analysis of mergers and acquisitions in the Turkish energy market, aims to provide current and future investors with an updated and a deeper insight on the deal activities that took place in the Turkish oil, power and gas markets in 2008.

The total energy deal volume surged to $6.6 billion in 2008, shadowing those of previous periods mainly on the back of big ticket privatizations of the electricity and gas distribution companies, coupled with growing interest in renewable energy generation, according to the report.

"Looking to the future, we by and large agree with recent market outlooks indicating that tighter liquidity and lower risk appetite will likely translate into tougher and higher-cost access to financing. The credit and recession concerns are already rendering the investment landscape more conservative," PricewaterhouseCoopers said.

The firm remains confident in further enlargement in the energy deals landscape, on the back of growing domestic demand for energy and the busy privatization agenda of the state energy assets. "With this in mind, we hope to see the current regulatory challenges and the financing problems overcome and translated into much higher transaction figures in 2009."

Energy deals reach record values

The Turkish energy market has seen tremendous interest from both domestic and foreign investors in 2008; total deal volume reached $6.6 billion from 19 deals. The launch of big-ticket privatizations in the electricity and gas distribution segments was the key driver of this momentum.

Utilities have been the busiest deal venue in 2008. Of the total 19 deals, 16 were related to utilities, with a total activity of $6 billion, i.e. 90 percent of the total deal value.

Privatizations of electricity and gas distribution companies in Ankara and the electricity distribution company in Sakarya were the top three deals in 2008 in the utilities sector.

In privatizations, foreign players preferred to engage in consortiums with local counterparts, rather than participating by themselves. The main reason behind their low interest was the uncertainties in the tariff structures in the electricity and gas markets. The acquisition of İzgaz, the gas distribution company operating in Kocaeli, by GdF Suez, on the other hand, constituted an exception to the absence of pure foreign interest in the privatization tenders.

The privatization tenders left incomplete in 2008 will constitute main transactions in 2009 and most probably in 2010, the report says. In the power arena, privatization of state-owned distribution and generation assets as well as private deals in renewable energy will constitute the bulk of the deal activities.

In the gas front, the privatization of İGDAŞ, the gas distribution company in Istanbul, scheduled for the post-municipal election period, is the biggest deal prospect.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers report’s outlook for the deal potential in the Turkish oil market is doubtful given the existing market-related and regulatory constraints.

Western Europe continues to be the most active region in energy deals in Turkey. In fact, major players from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria comprised 58 percent of total deal volume in 2008, including their local partners’ shares where applicable, in line with their strategy to extend their reach beyond their motherlands.

The survey indicates that regulatory uncertainties are the biggest challenge for investors during the deal process. In the post acquisition period, on the other hand, obtaining regulatory approvals remains the biggest obstacle.

Turkey's Gul Holds Phone Talks with US Bush on Gaza Crisis

2009-01-12T12:52:00.001-08:00

World Bulletin

Gul and Bush discussed short and long-term aspects of the situation in Gaza, officials said.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul called U.S. President George W. Bush on the phone to discuss Gaza crisis, officials of the president's office said on Saturday. Gul and Bush discussed short and long-term aspects of the situation in Gaza, officials said.

The two presidents talked about the implementation of ceasefire in Gaza, immediate solution to humanitarian tragedy and post-ceasefire arrangements in the region, officials added. Israel continues its days-long operations against Gaza despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and Egyptian-European efforts at mediation. More than 700 people have been killed and around 3,000 others were injured since the beginning of Israeli offensive against Gaza on December 27, 2008.

Turkey Restores Citizenship of Celebrated Poet

2009-01-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

By SELCAN HACAOGLU

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey restored the citizenship of its most famous poet Monday in a symbolic step meant to show it was addressing criticism of its human rights record in hopes of joining the European Union.

Turkey stripped Nazim Hikmet of his nationality in 1951 at the height of the Cold War because of his communist views, branded him a traitor and imprisoned him for more than a decade. He died in exile in Moscow in 1963, but his work lived on — and the government's decision to restore his rights is meant to show Turkey is ready to embrace a limited amount of criticism.

"It is a step toward accepting differences in opinions, languages and ethnicity, which is necessary to become a member in the EU," said Dogu Ergil, a political analyst at Ankara University.
Considered to be one of Turkey's first modern poets, Hikmet's deep love for his country and rich use of free verse earned him the esteem of artists, intellectuals and champions of free expression.

Hikmet traveled to Moscow to study economics and sociology in the 1920s, and came under the thrall of the Bolshevik revolution. Authorities took a dim view of his work for a leftist magazine after he returned, but he evaded them and went back to Moscow before he could be imprisoned.

He came back to Turkey a second time after a general amnesty in 1928 — only to be imprisoned a decade later on charges of inciting officers to rise up against their commanders.

He wrote some of his best poetry in prison, including his epic masterpiece, "Human Landscapes."
Poetry written in prison was smuggled abroad, bringing him international fame and the support of artists like Pablo Picasso and Jean-Paul Sartre. However, Turkey deemed his poems to be communist propaganda.

At the time, the country was anxious about the broadening influence of a Soviet bloc that reached Turkey's eastern and western borders, together with Soviet territorial claims.
Freed in 1950, he left Turkey after two attempts on his life. He became a Polish citizen through family ties and never returned.

His poetry remained banned in Turkey until 1965. Even after the ban was lifted, many would hide their copies, fearing to be branded communists. Police confiscated copies of Hikmet's books and burned or stamped each copy "banned" in red ink.

Even as late as 2005, Turkish authorities detained and questioned a 17-year-old who read a poem by Hikmet at a school poetry reading. He was released without any charges, but the detention revealed the difficulty in changing old attitudes despite new laws granting freedom of expression passed as part of its EU membership drive. Authorities still aggressively act against those suspected of activities against the state.

Hikmet's works, which have been translated into more than 50 languages, have recently been at the center of a controversy as Turkish leftists and intellectuals have pressed the government to restore his citizenship rights and repatriate his remains.

In 2000, half a million Turks petitioned the government calling for his rehabilitation. Orhan Pamuk, the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, featured Hikmet's work two years ago when given editorial privileges for the Sunday edition of the newspaper Radikal. Pamuk's cover story criticized the Turkish press and the state for the suppression of free expression in Turkey.
Pamuk is one of dozens of artists, journalists and writers who had been charged with insulting Turkey, its officials or "Turkishness" under an infamous article of the Turkish penal code. The charges against Pamuk were dropped on a technicality in January 2006.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said it was time for the government to change its mind.

"We think we did the right thing," Cicek said.
Cicek said the poet's family would decide whether to ship his remains from Russia back to his homeland.

TCA's "A New World," to Air on Best TV Tonight - 7:30 PM EST

2009-01-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

Washington, DC - The Turkish Coalition of America is pleased to announce that the second episode of "A New World: Politics, Personalities and Culture with the Turkish American Perspective," will be airing on Best TV this Sunday, January 3 at 7:30 PM and again on Thursday, January 8 also at 7:30 PM.
This installment of "A New World" features commentary on the 2008 elections from our experts at TCA as well as former Congressman George Hochbrueckner. Additionally, we will bring you highlights from a press conference with the Prime Minister of Turkey, a Jazz concert held at the Turkish Ambassador's residence in honor of Ahmet Ertegun, and a dinner applauding the appointment of the new Ambassador from the US to Turkey.
"A New World" is a public affairs television program based out of Washington, DC that will inform and report on the issues of the day that affect Turkish Americans. The program is made possible by a grant from the Turkish Coalition of America.

Bruce Fein: Questions for CNN's "Scream Bloody Murder" Documentary

2008-12-04T11:43:00.000-08:00

CNN Ignores Armenian Collaboration with French/Russians, Other Key Facts Turkish/Armernian History

FEIN: Armenian Deaths Have Not Been Declared Genocide by UK, UN

FEIN: CNN Should Not Use Term "Armenian Genocide" Until International Legal Ruling

FEIN: Genocide Refers Only to Mass Killing Based on Race/Religion, Not Politics

Watch the Premier Episode - TCA Presents "A New World: Politics, Personalities and Culture from the Turkish Perspective"

2008-11-03T16:42:00.000-08:00

View Part 1:

View Part 2:

View Part 3:

Turkish Daily News: "Maintaining Turkey's democracy," by Bruce Fein and Ali Koknar

2008-10-20T06:12:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 20, 2008

BRUCE FEIN, ALİ KÖKNAR

Democracy is not a suicide pact. No nation is required to be too weak to defend its own democratic dispensation. Accordingly, the Republic of Turkey should not be faulted for its pending initiative through chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya to ban the Democratic Society Party, or DTP, before the Constitutional Court featuring all the trappings of due process. According to Yalcinkaya, the DTP is a virtual appendage of the Maoist terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has been responsible for the deaths of a grim 15,000 Turkish civilians and security force members. Most of the PKK's civilian victims are other Kurds who repudiate their assassinations. The DTP openly endorses the PKK's secessionist aims and violent methods.

Banning political parties that aim to sabotage the constitutional order is not anti-democratic. Democracies ranging from Germany to Israel have proscribed parties for celebrating racism or violence. As the U.S. Supreme Court explained in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the whole purpose of a Constitution is to place certain fundamental values beyond the reach of popularity contests.

But Turkey should not hamstring itself with a Hobson's choice between banning the DTP and doing nothing. Even if legitimate in a democracy, banning a political party jars with the idea of democratic representation, i.e., voters should decide which candidate or party best represents their political interests. Turkey's Constitutional Court displayed statesmanlike creativity in recently refusing to ban the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, but instead imposed a stiff financial penalty for its flirtation with contra-constitutional principles. That precedent suggests that Turkey's parliament should likewise widen the range of legal options for challenging the DTP, informed by the U.S. example, in seeking to cripple or defeat terrorism.

Full Article

Turkish Daily News: "Lincoln McCurdy - Fostering Turkish-American ties"

2008-10-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Lincoln McCurdy has been involved with Turkey since the late 1970s when he was at the US Consulate General in Istanbul. Today he is president of the Washington DC-based Turkish Coalition of America

GÜL DEMİR and NIKI GAMM
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News

Some people who work in Turkey for the U.S. government fall in love with the country but most, however, are unwilling to risk their future by staying. Lincoln McCurdy is not one of them. He has been involved in U.S.-Turkish relations since the late 1970s. He told the Turkish Daily News, "I had served as the commercial officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul in the early 1980s, and when my assignment came to an end I resigned from government service to work in Turkey as a consultant for a major American bank."

"When I returned to the US I was involved in establishing the American Turkish Council (ATC), a trade association that promoted commercial, defense and cultural relations between the United States and Turkey. I served as its first executive director and later as president. After leaving ATC, I was the senior advisor for the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TACCI) in New York for two years."

"In 2006, I worked with several concerned Turkish Americans in exploring ways on how to encourage more Turkish Americans to become involved in the U.S. political system and to highlight the achievements of Turkish Americans. Consequently, due to the complexities of U.S. law, two new Turkish American organizations emerged in February 2007."

The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), for which McCurdy serves as president, was established as a charitable U.S. organization for the purpose of fostering a better understanding of the Turkish American community through public education. It is supported entirely by private donations with offices in Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC.

Full Article

Obama & McCain Agree: Turkey Is Not On Their Agenda

2008-10-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

Bruce Fein, Resident Scholar for the Turkish Coalition of America discusses Turkey's non-role in the 2008 election:

Related:

Regardless Of Election Results, Relations Between Turkey And U.S. Will Remain Strong, President Gul
Published: 9/27/2008
ANKARA - Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Friday that "regardless of the election results on November 4th, the relations between Turkey and the United States will remain strong and stay as it is now."
Speaking live to CNN International tv channel at the New York Stock Exchange, Gul said that Turkey went through an economic crisis in the year 2001, a crisis that is identical to the one that the U.S. is going through now.

FULL ARTICLE

Eurasia Insight - AZERBAIJAN: POTENTIAL PIPELINE DEAL COULD HELP SETTLE NAGORNO-KARABAKH ISSUE

2008-10-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

Shahin Abbasov: 9/30/08
Economics may hold the key to breaking the stalemate in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. Turkish and Azerbaijani officials reportedly are seriously mulling the possibility of Armenian participation in the long-planned Nabucco pipeline project as part of a comprehensive Karabakh peace pact.

Turkey is leading efforts to energize the Karabakh peace process. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Turkish, Armenian and Azerbaijani officials met in New York on September 26 to discuss the Karabakh issue and other security matters. That meeting kindled hopes that a settlement could be achieved by the end of 2008.

Although details of the recent discussions have been scarce, some experts believe that the three sides have probed a possible bargain under which Armenia would become part of the Nabucco pipeline plans, in return for a greater degree of flexibility concerning Yerevan's position on Karabakh.

Full Article

Related: Bruce Fein on this issue

BBC News - Turkey's widening diplomatic horizons

2008-09-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent, Istanbul
Long before Turkey sought to join the European Union, the European powers were eager to penetrate deep into Turkey's hinterland.

The governing Justice and Development party - the AKP - has crafted a whole new foreign policy for the country.
The relative isolation from its surrounding region, engendered by the frozen boundaries of the Cold War, has gone.
Now there is a new policy of engagement.
Remarkably the Turkish government has good relations with Israel and Syria, with the Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah, with Iraq and Iran and of course with the European Union and the United States.

Full Article

The Economist - Friends and neighbours

2008-09-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

Sep 25th 2008
Rising hopes of better relations between two historic enemies
KEMAL ATATURK , father of modern Turkey, rescued hundreds of Armenian women and children from mass slaughter by Ottoman forces during and after the first world war. This untold story, which is sure to surprise many of today’s Turks, is one of many collected by the Armenian genocide museum in Yerevan that “will soon be brought to light on our website,” promises Hayk Demoyan, its director.
His project is one more example of shifting relations between Turkey and Armenia. On September 6th President Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia when he attended a football match. Mr Gul’s decision to accept an invitation from Armenia’s president, Serzh Sarkisian, has raised expectations that Turkey may establish diplomatic ties and open the border it closed during the 1990s fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The two foreign ministers were planning to meet in New York this week. Armenia promises to recognise Turkey’s borders and to allow a commission of historians to investigate the fate of the Ottoman Armenians.

Full Article

Commercial Appeal: "Bailey Station's salute to Turkey wins award"

2008-09-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Parents, teachers and students participated

By Beth Bracewell
Special to My Life
Friday, September 12, 2008

Bailey Station Elementary won the grand prize in Shelby County for the best schoolwide salute to the country of Turkey for Memphis in May.

MATCU and Memphis in May president and CEO James L. Holt sponsored the event and awarded Bailey Station Elementary $1,000 and a certificate for winning the grand prize.

The salute, which lasted more than a week, involved students, teachers and parent volunteers.

To begin the salute, there was a schoolwide project to create a Turkish mosaic. The students were able to see that when everyone works together, great things are created. The mosaic was hung outside the cafeteria for all to admire.

Then an in-school field trip took the students and teachers through three rooms in the school that were transformed by parent volunteers, to places in Turkey.

Full Article

Turkish Press: "Turkey's President Hopes Karabakh Issue Between Azerbaijan and Armenia To Be Solved"

2008-09-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Published: 9/13/2008

BAKU - Turkey`s President Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday that he hoped Karabakh issue between Azerbaijan and Armenia would be solved through dialogue, understanding and mutual talks.

Holding a joint press conference with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Gul said that they discussed bilateral and regional matters.

Gul said that relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan were perfect in every aspect. "Turkey has always supported Azerbaijan in political issues; and will continue to do so," he added.

Gul gave Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway projects as examples to good economic relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Full Article

Al Jazeera English: Face-to-Face on Cyprus

2008-09-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

Chillicothe Gazette: "Schmidt gets support from Turkish community"

2008-09-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

By MALIA RULON • Gazette Washington Bureau • September 12, 2008
WASHINGTON - Rep. Jean Schmidt has become a darling of the Turkish community.
Schmidt is not Turkish, and there aren't many Turks in her southern Ohio district. There are just 3,159 in the state, including 297 in the 2nd Congressional District, according to the last census.
...
She is being challenged for her seat in Congress by an Armenian-American, David Krikorian, a Madeira businessman who is running as an independent. Schmidt also faces Democrat Victoria Wulsin, who is challenging Schmidt for a second time.

"Jean's been a big supporter of the U.S.' closest alley in the Middle East and Mediterranean region and has done everything she can to make sure our relations stay solid with them," campaign spokesman Bruce Pfaff said in response to questions about Schmidt's ties to the Turkish community.
...
G. Lincoln McCurdy, who is treasurer of the Turkish Coalition USA PAC, said Schmidt first appeared on the PAC's radar after she was harassed by Armenian groups for opposing a House resolution that recognizes the Armenian genocide.

"The Turkish community thought we should support her, because of this harassment. ... that's the primary reason why the Turkish-Americans have been supporting her," McMurdy said.

Full Article

New York Times: "Turkey’s President Makes Historic Visit to Armenia"

2008-09-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

See excerpts from the article below:
Sept. 7, 2008

By SEBNEM ARSU

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s president arrived in Armenia on Saturday, the first visit by a Turkish leader in the two nations’ history.

The president, Abdullah Gul, was invited by the Armenian president, Serge Sargsyan, to attend a soccer game in Yerevan, the capital, between the national teams.

The trip was widely seen as a symbolic gesture to normalize relations between the countries, which have recognized each other but have not established diplomatic relations.
...
“Although I cannot go into details, some consensus was reached for the normalization of bilateral relations,” said a Turkish Foreign Ministry official who asked not to be identified, under normal diplomatic rules.

“Expectations should not be hyped, but the visit is clearly a goodwill gesture from Turkey,” the official said.
...
The Turkish team won the soccer match, 2-0.

Full Article

Turkish Coalition of America Sponsors Event with Rep. Wexler

2008-09-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

İstanbulite elected Democratic National Convention delegate

2008-08-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

Founder and chair of DA Turkey Brooks Emerson. An American resident of Turkey will travel to Colorado at the end of this week to participate in next week's Democratic National Convention as part of the Democrats Abroad (DA) delegation.

Brooks Emerson, founder and chair of DA Turkey and a six-year İstanbul resident, was elected one of the 14 pledged delegates (each wielding half a vote) that will join the eight DA members of the Democratic National Committee that make up the 22-member DA delegation at this year's convention.

Full Article

Related: MP from AKP: Turkey could work with any US govt [ Full Article ]

Daily News Update - August 31, 2008

2008-08-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

Gulf monarchies to boost links with Turkey [ AFP ]

Turkey Slaps Curbs on Russian Export Goods [ Moscow Times ]

Iran, Turkey have made strides to develop ties: Turkish PM [ Islamic Republic News Agency ]

Georgian, Russian FMs expected in Turkey [ Turkish Press ]

Bahraini King suggests rail link between GCC, Turkey [ Zawya ]

Nobel laureate Pamuk publishes new book in Turkey [ Reuters ]

South Dakota teachers receive ancient and modern lessons in Turkey

2008-08-31T17:20:00.000-07:00

BROOKINGS, S.D. — Four South Dakota teachers recently returned from a 10-day educational excursion to Turkey sponsored by the Turkish Culture Foundation through the South Dakota Council on World Affairs (SDCWA).

Turkey, famous for its cultural blend of East and West, offered many things for the schoolteachers to experience.

Marissa Kleinhans, Baltic High School; Karen Thaler, Mickelson Middle School, Brookings; Gary Pederson, Memorial Middle School, Sioux Falls; and Sally Rice, Edison Middle School, Sioux Falls; joined teachers from six other affiliates of the World Affairs Councils of America for the trip.

The goal for educators was to absorb as much history, scenery and culture as possible in order to relay their experiences to their students.

“Encountering Turkey first hand has been an inspiring experience that these teachers now share with friends and family, colleagues and pupils across the state,” said SDCWA Executive Director Harriet Swedlund.

“They understand first-hand and are finding many opportunities to communicate knowledge of the vital role Turkey has played for centuries as a global crossroad,” Swedlund explained.

Full Article

Bruce Fein: Nagorno-Karabakh

2008-08-31T16:33:00.000-07:00

Financial Times: "Viewers fall for soap’s Turkish delight"

2008-08-31T16:26:00.000-07:00

By Roula Khalaf
Published: August 29 2008 18:58 | Last updated: August 29 2008 18:58
Millions of viewers will be glued to their television screens on Saturday night for the double episode finale of a soap opera that promises to be the highest rated drama on Arab television.

Its actors speak Syrian Arabic, and look like Arabs from the Levant, but Noor is a Turkish import, part of a genre of dubbed series that has become all the rage in many parts of the Middle East this year.

Arabs usually look at Turkey, traditionally staunchly secular and pro-western, from a distance, finding little in common with their Muslim neighbour. But soap operas such as Noor have stirred their curiosity like never before, sending droves of Arabs, particularly Saudis, on holiday to Turkey.

Full Article: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/15fe1b86-75f0-11dd-99ce-0000779fd18c.html

See Also: http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/31/1236952.aspx

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man faces foreclosure because he didn’t pay parking fine

2008-08-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

Milwaukee man faces foreclosure because he didn’t pay parking fine

The ticket went unpaid for four years, eventually amounting to $2,600 in fines

By RAQUEL RUTLEDGE
rrutledge@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Aug. 2, 2008

Peter Tubic ignored a $50 parking fine in 2004, and on Monday, it cost him his $245,000 house.

In what city officials believe is the first case of its kind, the city foreclosed on Tubic's house on W. Verona Court after repeated attempts to collect the fine - which over the years had escalated to $2,600 - had failed.

"Our goal isn't to acquire parcels," said Jim Klajbor, special deputy city treasurer. "Our goal is to just collect taxes. . . . It is only as a last resort that we would pursue . . . foreclosure."

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Richard Sankovitz technically stayed the judgment to give Tubic one last chance to explain why he hasn't paid or even responded, but Sankovitz ruled in favor of the city's foreclosure.

"The city was entitled to a judgment," Sankovitz told Public Investigator on Thursday. "There hadn't been an answer to the complaint."

Tubic takes the blame for disregarding the 15 or more notices he received seeking payment and warning of the pending foreclosure on the house, which was fully paid off, but says he had good reason.

He was physically and psychologically unable to handle the situation, he says.

Full Article

Bruce Fein: Sweden's Decision on the Events of 1915 to 1922

2008-08-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

PoliGazette on Bruce Fein's Turkey/Armenia Analysis

2008-08-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

Bruce Fein Explains the Turkey/Armenia Issue
Armenia, Europe, Turkey — Michael van der Galien, Editor-in-Chief on March 13, 2008

Bruce Fein wrote a great post for the Huffington Post (of all places) about ” the ongoing Armenian dispute with Turkey.” “The quarrel over World War I history in Anatolia — which many have difficulty even finding on a map — has been turned into a special interest issue by the Armenian lobby,” he writes, and American politicians seem all too willing to give in to Armenian pressure.

Political calculations prompted Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to release presidential campaign statements supporting a congressional resolution to mischaracterize tragic events which unfolded during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire as genocide. The two White House aspirants are aping the Armenian resolution initiative of the House of Representatives in the previous Congress, whereby Members would hijack the role of both historian and the World Court in deciding the genocide question; this resolution was derailed by the then House Speaker. The Obama-Clinton pandering to the Armenian lobby betrays the signature Washington habit of making promises now and thinking about them later. It speaks volumes that Senator John McCain, arch enemy of earmarks and sister special interest money, refrained from bowing to Armenian campaign contributions and votes.

For several decades, some outspoken Armenian-Americans have politicized the events of 1915 in lieu of seeking the full truth. By playing their game, Obama and Clinton wander from history, fan the flames of division, and stray ever farther from what they purport to be about: change from past myopia, folly, or pettiness.

He goes on to write that Turkey open its archives (for research) years ago. The Armenian archives, on the other hand, remain closed. Why don’t Armenians open their archives? Well, the reason is simple: Armenians misbehaved tremendously before, during and after the first World War. The world doesn’t have to know that, of course. Those who want to spend time investigating this matter know so nonetheless, but if the Armenian archives contradict the Armenian claims (and propaganda), well, they’ve got a problem.

So, that’s why many people who know a bit about this issue think the Armenians refuse to open their archives (interestingly enough, they continue to say that Turkey has to open its archives, even though Turkey has opened them; it’s all part of the propaganda war).

Fein also writes that if Armenians want reconciliation, they should open up the archives. The problem with this kind of reasoning is, of course, that Armenian lobbyists don’t want reconciliation. They want money and lands.

However; at the moment that Armenia understands that this isn’t going to happen, then - and only then - they might be willing to reconcile with Turkey. In order for that to happen, Fein writes, the US should stop functioning as a mouthpiece for Armenian propagandists. The US shouldn’t be an activist, it should play “the role of facilitator.”

The next president, he writes, should be a person who understands that. Not a person who’s willing to condemn Turkey for something that happened before Turkey existed and who doesn’t understand the difference between a tremendous tragedy with many deaths (on both sides) and genocide.

Well said Bruce.

http://poligazette.com/2008/03/13/bruce-fein-explains-the-turkeyarmenia-issue/

Turkish Rower Arrives Home from Historic Journey

2008-08-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

Seattle Times: Seattle rower 10 days from world record

2008-08-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

Reprinted from the Seattle Times Blog:
In December we told you about Erden Eruc, the Seattle man who set off last July on a solo trip to Australia -- in a rowboat.

Nearly 10 months and a big course change later, Eruc is still in the middle of the Pacific, waiting for a resupply that should recharge his extended trip not long after he puts his name in the record books.

On May 10, 305 days into a trip as unpredictable as the typhoon season he's hoping to avoid, the perennial adventurer will have spent more continuous days at sea than any previous solo ocean rower.

First -- the course change. Around mid-February, stubborn weather patterns made the land down under seem unnervingly remote. This online tracker shows where Eruc is headed now -- the Philippines.

"I guess we can say that nature changed course," said Ellen Hecht, a board member with Around-n-Over, the non-profit organization supporting Eruc's quest to circumnavigate the globe by human power, of which the rowboat trip is a part.

Eruc's still battling feisty currents that want to push him more northward than he wants to be. But the key to this trip, Hecht said, is flexibility. "He's going with the flow, so to speak."

Next -- the resupply. In an effort organized by Around-n-Over volunteers, Kenneth Crutchlow of the Ocean Rowing Society International is set to deliver 400 pounds of supplies to Eruc mid-trip.

The resupply, which will include more food, a seaworthy rowing seat and a new beacon is "critical to reduce the complications back to only what nature mounts against me," Eruc wrote in one of many online dispatches he posts via PDA and satellite phone from his seat on the ocean.

If he makes it -- and he intends to -- Eruc will become the first Washingtonian and the first person in history to row solo across the North Pacific, east to west.

But thanks to technology, he's not really alone.

"He calls from the sea," Hecht said, "and it's like you're talking to your next-door neighbor."

To read Eruc's dispatches from the sea and learn more about Around-n-Over and the journey the Seattle adventurer is sharing with students around the world, visit the group's Web site.

P.S. -- Eruc has been nominated for Ocean Rower of the Year by the Ocean Rowing Society International.

Update: This post has changed to clarify Eruc's precise achievements in the rowing community.

Turkish Coalition of America Donates Ambulances to Mexico

2008-08-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

Medill News Service: "Turkey, Mexico and a tale of two ambulances"

2008-08-31T15:42:00.001-07:00

Turkey, Mexico and a tale of two ambulances

by Becca Milfeld
May 15, 2008

Becca Milfeld/MNS

[Picture] Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan holds the keys to one of the new ambulances that will be used in Tabasco, Mexico.

WASHINGTON – In Turkey they would be called two shiny new ambulans. In the Mexican state of Tabasco, where they’re headed, they’ll go by their Spanish name, ambulancia.

The keys to the two brand-new Mercedes ambulances changed hands on Tuesday, thousands of miles from either country.

In a Capitol Hill ceremony, the Turkish Coalition of America gave the two vehicles worth $60,000 each to the Mexican Red Cross, Cruz Roja Mexicana, as a goodwill gesture.

Representing an odd coupling of countries, the gesture by the nonprofit Turkish organization returned a favor – one dating back nearly nine years when an earthquake hit northwestern Turkey.

The Mexican government contributed significant aid in the wake of the disaster that left approximately 17,000 people dead, according to official counts.

In return, the Turkish coalition decided last year that it would give a gift to the people of Tabasco, the low-lying state along the Gulf Coast that suffered horrendous flooding in fall 2007. Waters there left tens of thousands of people homeless, destroyed most of the state’s crops and ruined businesses.

Red Cross of Mexico President Daniel Goni Diaz, who spoke at the ceremony, emphasized that the Red Cross plays a different role in Mexican civil society than in the United States.

Last year, the Red Cross there was responsible for 1.3 million ambulance trips, representing 80 percent of the nation’s ambulance calls. All were free of charge, he said.

He added that every new ambulance could allow an additional 1,000 trips per year.

The ambulances will be presented in the state of Tabasco at a July ceremony. Among the invited guests of honor are Reps. Solomon Ortiz and Silvestre Reyes, Texas Democrats who had helped facilitate the donation. They also attended Thursday’s ceremony, where the two vehicles were dedicated to them.

“We would love to be there when you turn the siren on,” Ortiz said said of the July event.

And then, Ortiz and Reyes joked about who would get to man the siren and who would turn on the lights.

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=89373

Turkish Journal: Turkish Coalition of America Donates Two Ambulances to Mexican Red Cross

2008-08-31T15:42:00.000-07:00

Turkish Coalition of America Donates Two Ambulances to Mexican Red Cross

Ergun KIRLIKOVALI

Ambulances Dedicated to Rep. Ortiz and Rep. Reyes

At a ceremony on Capitol Hill on May 15, the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) announced its donation of two fully equipped ambulances to the Mexican Red Cross to be used in the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco. The announcement was made with Representatives Ortiz and Reyes, who were instrumental in facilitating this gift, along with representatives of the Mexican Red Cross, the Turkish Embassy and the Mexican Embassy.

Mexico was hit with one of its worst national disasters in November 2007 when the state of Tabasco was hit by a Hurricane, causing massive flooding and the destruction of tens of thousands of homes, schools, as well as the state's crops. The flooding left over a million people homeless with an estimated one-third of them children. The Ambulances are donated to the Mexican Red Cross as a gesture of friendship, in the hopes of a more speedy recovery in future cases of need.

"Turkey lived through a major national disaster in the August 1999 earthquakes. Turkish Americans know firsthand how crucially important international assistance was in saving lives and rebuilding the earthquake struck regions in Turkey. Nations across the globe, the United States and the American people in particular, showed great support and sympathy to Turkey during its dire days," said TCA President G Lincoln McCurdy. "Mexico and the people of Mexico also contributed life saving aid and rescue resources that helped alleviate the suffering of those impacted by this earthquake. This gift from Turkish Americans to the people of Tabasco, Mexico is our way of showing solidarity to victims of natural disasters that affect us all," continued McCurdy.

TCA dedicated the two ambulances to Congressman Solomon Ortiz (D-27th/TX) and Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-16th/TX) to recognize the efforts by the two members of Congress, who are deans of the Hispanic Caucus and members of the Turkish Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, to bring together the people of Mexico, Turkey and the United States.

"When natural disasters strike, rescue operations need strong support from the international community, regardless of nationality or religion," said Representative Ortiz. "These ambulances are a symbol of friendship and cooperation, and I thank the Turkish Coalition of America for this goodwill gesture between Turkey, Mexico and the United States," continued Ortiz.

"I applaud the Turkish Coalition of American for providing the Mexican Red Cross with these ambulances. These vehicles will provide much needed emergency care to those communities in Tabasco that continue to suffer as result of last year's devastating floods," commented Congressman Silvestre Reyes.

"During Mr. Lincoln McCurdy's visit to our National Society and knowing about our needs, we established the commitment to arrange for the donation of two ambulances, which will be serving the society in the state of Tabasco," said Daniel Goni Diaz, President of the Mexican Red Cross. "Thank you for this donation that will alleviate the increasing needs of the population in this area.

Also in attendance were the Ambassador of Mexico, His Excellency Arturo Sarukhan and Dr.Burak Akcapar, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Turkish Embassy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ISSUES RELATED TO US-TURKEY RELATIONS AND TURKISH AMERICANS, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.turkishcoalitionofamerica.org.

Turkish Coalition of America 1025 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 1000, NW Washington, DC 20036 Telephone: 202-370-1399 Fax: 202-370-1398 Email: info@turkishcoalitionofamerica.org

http://www.turkishjournal.com/i.php?mid=281&yid=2