Turkey Watch (Pg. 1)

1ST SEMESTER 2007

European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy Avenue de la Renaissance, 10 Bruxelles 1000 Belgiques Tel. : +32 (0)2 732 70 27 Fax. : +32 (0)2 732 70 27

1. Threats and Murders Against Armenians & Christians 2 2. Persecution - Destruction - Oppression 3 3. Gloomy prospect for intellectuals 4 4. The Alarming Deep State Connection 5 5. Genocide denial and other foreign activities of Turkish government 6 6. Creeping fascism and other HOME activities of the Deep State 7 7. Recommendations 7

Appendix: Chronology - 1st Semester
2007------------------------------------------------- 9

TURKEY WATCH 1ST SEMESTER 2007

1. THREATS AND MURDERS AGAINST ARMENIANS & CHRISTIANS

The perception and treatment of Christians - and foremost of Armenians - today in Turkey and by the Turkish authorities has been brutally demonstrated to the Western public opinion by the killing of columnist Hrant Dink (19/01/2007). A few days after the mark of compassion displayed by a small minority of Turkish citizens (who were mainly Ethnic Armenians or Kurds themselves), evidences of racial hatred against Armenians erupted all over the country. The famous white cap worn by the killer Ogun Samast immediately became a fashionable symbol
which rapidly became out of stock.

Shortly after, hate demonstrations took place during football games when supporters shouted "We are all Turks, We are all Ogun Samast" or "Those who aren't standing are Armenians." Later, the Armenian Patriarch received anonymous threats and was even targeted by gunshots. Some Armenian columnists were also dismissed by their employers because of alleged "negative attitude".

This hostility spread to other Christian minorities and especially to the small Protestant population. Turkish Protestants are often from former Christian families (Armenians, Assyrians or Greeks) who were converted to Islam and who come back to their original faith. After Dink' s murder, many Protestant priests denounced the threats they endured in the general indifference. These threats finally led to the murder of three Protestants in Malatya in April 2007.

The hate sentiment against minorities in general and against Christians in particular is tolerated - if not encouraged - by the Turkish authorities. Dominant media continue to describe these people as second-class citizens, if not enemies. For instance, in April 2007, Reverend Ahmet Guvener was interviewed by a local TV station in Diyarbakir. The interview and the montage were conducted in a way giving the impression that Reverent Guvener was paying Muslims to convert to Christianity. His own children have even been introduced
by the TV as kidnapped children compelled to convert! This kind of incitement to hatred is amplified by the authorities: at the very end of April 2007, a high ranking official from the Ministry of Justice stated that activities of "congregations' are more dangerous than terrorists". In the very same way and during the same period, the Council for National Security (MGK) threatened the minorities as "enemies of the Republic".

Ultranationalist organisations, notoriously xenophobic and hostile to minorities, such as Ulku Ocaklari or Ataturk Dusunce Dernegi (Association for Ataturk thought !), also play a notable role in the social fabric of Turkey and are regularly honoured by the government or even associated with its strategies.

Given the backdrop of the Armenian genocide, hatred towards Armenians is especially important in Turkey where it plays the role of an oriental version of anti-Semitism. Racial stereotypes are widespread about Armenians, who are described as deceitful, stingy, cowardly and so forth. "Son of Armenian" or "Armenian bastard" are common insults. In the same way, conventional anti-Semitism is also widespread (Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion are regular best-sellers in Turkey) but is actually less significant since the Jewish community is now nearly vanished. This gloomy situation leaves the Armenian and Christian minorities in total dereliction. The last known episode is the issuance to 32 Armenian schools of anonymous
death threats (14 May 2007). None of these facts triggered appropriate reactions from the European Union.

2. PERSECUTION - DESTRUCTION - OPPRESSION

Beside the direct threats described above, the overall state of oppression against the Armenian and Christian minorities has been tolerated if not reinforced.

Despite so-called "reforms," Armenians and Christians are still prevented from freely teaching their language, culture and history to their children. Though officially ruled by a director, minority schools are today always directed by a Turk Muslim deputy director who acts as a kind of political commissioner.

Armenians and Christians are still banned from official positions in the administrations and continue to endure severe discrimination especially in the remote areas where they are actually persecuted.

They have to finance their own their priests and places of worship whereas Sunni Muslim clerics and Mosques are granted by the Diyanet, the Ministry of Religion. Local Christian priests are also not allowed to train new priests and foreign teachers are prohibited too.

Christian places of worship are strictly monitored and restricted. They are also economically strangled: Despite numerous announcements, the law dating from 1936 and prohibiting donations to Churches is still in force. Thus, countless donated buildings and assets that have been given to the Christian churches from the 70s' were looted by the government and never returned to these churches. The legal framework behind this organized desecration is deliberately complex and obscure and attempts of reforms didn't change the situation.

The latest episode of organized desecration is the "inauguration" of the Aghtamar Island's church. This church is one of the most famous Armenian Churches of Turkey. It is located on the Aghtamar Island in Lake Van in historical Armenia. It dates back from the Xth century and it is one of the few remaining Armenian churches that miraculously escaped destruction in 1915, during the genocide. Its legal owner remains the Armenian Church since its representatives never left Turkey even in the aftermath of the Genocide. For a while the official name given by the authorities to this architectural monument was turkified in Akdamar and presented as typical of the Bagratid dynasty to avoid the name "Armenian" .

Recently, under the pretext of so-called reconciliation, the church was " restored" by erasing all its Christian Armenian symbols. For example, centuries-old khatchkars (cross-stones) around the church were displaced (if not destroyed since nobody knows where they are now) and the cross at the top of the dome was removed. To avoid utter provocation, the " inauguration" of the desecrated church was moved to late March 2007 instead of the initially forecast date: 24th April, the anniversary of the Genocide! The initial reaction of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople was to denounce this scandal and he stated that he will not attend the "inauguration". Nevertheless, he attended to diffuse the threats against his community. This soft looting is up to now the last phase of the desecration and destruction process against the Armenian Church in Turkey, a country that appears as a
lawless area from this point of view.

3. GLOOMY PROSPECT FOR INTELLECTUALS

Dink's murder and the nationalist wake-up of Turkey sounded the end of Istanbul's spring. It triggered a brutal censorship and even self-censorship of frightened intellectuals who were used up to then as a democratic showcase by the authorities. One of the most noteworthy reactions was the escape of Nobel Prize laureate Orhan Pamuk who also transferred all his bank accounts in the United States. In the aftermath, so-called "controversial issues" were banned from the public debate. Prominent intellectuals such as Ismaïl Kaboglu, Etyen Mahcupyan, Elif Safak, Ismet Berkan, or Baskin Oran were put under police protection. Columnist Gulay Gökturk described the atmosphere
as resurgence of the "Union and Progress spirit", the one that finally led to the Armenian genocide in 1915.

In the framework of this nationalist blow compared by some newspapers as an "ending Weimar republic", repressive legislations were reinforced.

For instance, the Grand Assembly adopted a package of laws allowing the censorship of Internet websites supposed to propagate "insults to Ataturk". This package of laws was enacted by President Sezer in May 2007.

Beforehand, many websites mentioning Kurdish or Assyrian issues or the Armenian genocide had been blocked in Turkey, including the popular website Youtube.

Additionally, progressive newspapers such as Nokta or Gundem were closed as well as some radio broadcasting stations. Columnist Ozkoray who published articles in these papers on militarism in Turkey is now in exile in France. Ozkoray and others fear major pogroms. These views are shared by Turkey's specialists from abroad such as Hamit Bozarslan who heads the prestigious French "Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales".

4. THE ALARMING DEEP STATE CONNECTION

The inquiry on Dink's murder gave evidence for strong connections between the killer Ogun Samast and his accomplices Ehran Tuncel and Yasin Hayal with high-rank military officials such as Veli Kucuk. Major General Veli Kucuk was responsible for the JITEM, the Gendarmerie's Special Forces. His name was previously mentioned during the investigation on the attack against the Constitutional Court (May 2006).

Kucuk was known to be in close connection with Muzaffer Tekin, a former lieutenant-colonel of the Turkish army who was also member the so-called "Turkish resistance group" a notorious paramilitary organisation known for having performed murders of Turkish and Greek pacifists in Cyprus.

Muzaffer Tekin is suspected of having headed Erhan Timuroglu and Alparslan Arslan who made the attack against the Court. Pictures recently disclosed give evidence of direct connections between Tekin, Kuc uk and Arslan and also with Kemal Kerinciz, the ultranationalist lawyer who filed cases against Dink and against numerous other intellectuals. Ku cuk' name was previously mentioned during the Susurluk scandal but civil prosecutors were forbidden to launch
investigation against him. Kucuk was also present during the last trial of Hrant Dink. This very unusual and concerning fact was perceived as a direct threat.

Recurrent usage of concepts, methods and wordings referring to and taking pride from the Armenian genocide is a significant feature of these groups. For instance, Tekin is nicknamed "cete" which literally means "gangster". Cete was also the denomination of the Special Organisation mobs which implemented the genocide in 1915-1916. In April 2006, Kucuk, Tekin, Kerinciz, former minister
of culture Namik Kemal Zeybek and others paid tribute to Kemal Bey, a high ranking official involved in the genocide. Those people are also linked to Kizilelma (Red Apple) a group gathering leftist and rightist extremists. The name " Kizilelma" is also a direct reference to the "Turan" - the Turkish world, an expansionist project dating back from the Ottoman time. Last but not least the very same groups made projects to foster the denial of the Armenian genocide in Europe (see next chapter): one of these projects was named "Talat Pasha" after the name of the genocide's main architect.

Reliable analysis considers that these gangs are controlling the narcotic transit from Central Asia to Europe via Nakhichevan, a lawless area in Azerbaijan, and via Trabzon. Their opposition to Turkey's EU application would be motivated by their will to withdraw Trabzon from the EU custom controlling practices. For instance, Kucuk and Arslan have attended a worldwide Azeri congress in Stockholm and Arslan declared that activists are trained in training camps in Azerbaijan "to kill Armenians". After the Constitutional Court attack, Timouroglu also declared "we should have killed Armenians".

Facing this reality, Turkish Premier Erdogan recognized that there is a Deep State ("derin devlet") in Turkey. In the aftermath of Dink's murder, he stated "We can describe it as gangs inside a state organization, and this kind of structure does exist since the Ottoman time. Our state and our nation have paid a high price because we have not been able to crack down on such networks."

In the very same vein, Mete Gökturk, the former prosecutor of Istanbul State Security Court, declared on the 9 February 2007 that he doesn't " think that the inquiry [about Dink's murder] will come to its term because the ideological profile of the involved criminals is the same than the one of the persons who are within the State institutions and who are in charge of the investigations."

5. GENOCIDE DENIAL AND OTHER FOREIGN ACTIVITIES OF TURKISH GOVERNMENT

The denial of the Armenian Genocide is the most constant and aggressive policy of Turkey abroad. It never slowed down even during the Istanbul's spring from the end of 2003 to the end of 2005. It is nearly impossible to report countless initiatives taken by Ankara for the sake of this policy. From the beginning of 2007, the most notorious initiatives were: ï~B§ to hinder an exhibition on the Tutsi Genocide in the UN (New York) under the pretext that one of the posters was mentioning Raphael Lemkin' s stance on the Armenian genocide, ï~B§ to trigger a threadbare "reconciliation" initiative eluding the Genocide issue - through some mislead Nobel prize laureates, ï~B§ to attempt capitalizing on Hrant Dink's murder in organizing superficial evidences of "reconciliation" but in covering again the Genocide issue and their own responsibility both in Dink's murder and in the Genocide, ï~B§ to organize denial conferences in Europe, especially in Brussels (Belgium) and Paris. This last operation is particularly notable since it has been planned and achieved by the notorious Talat Pasha committee (the equivalent of what would be
a Hitler committee for the Jewish Holocaust). This committee has a executive board headed by Dogu Perinc ek, the denier who was recently condemned in Lausanne (Switzerland) and a board of trustees gathering representatives of all the major Turkish political parties (AKP, CHP, MHP, DYP, ANAP and IP) and headed by Rauf Denktas, the former president of the unrecognized Turkish entity of Northern Cyprus, ï~B§ to send various missions to Washington to derail the recognition process of the Genocide initiated by the U.S. House of Representatives; to press as well various governments to avoid either to recognize to genocide (Israel) or to penalize its denial (the Netherlands) - to similarly threaten Chile for having recognized the Genocide or to leverage
Turkish-speaking brethren in Bulgaria to derail the recognition process in Bulgaria, ï~B§ to place pressure even on the European Council to try to exclude the Armenian genocide from the field of the EU framework decision against racism and xenophobia so that only the Armenian Genocide would be denied, - to inspire physical aggressions against Armenians in Europe. On the 23rd April 2007, a young Armenian boy was wounded by knife by a young fanatic Turk.

It should be emphasized that all these initiatives are not standalone actions led by unconnected groups but are generally headed and coordinated by governmental bodies. The global aim of this policy is to make the world (and especially the EU) endorse the racist position of Turkey against the Armenian (a good illustration would have been the framework decision penalizing all genocide denial but the one of the Armenian genocide).

6. CREEPING FASCISM AND OTHER HOME ACTIVITIES OF THE DEEP STATE To fulfill 7. RECOMMENDATIONS The most recent elements regarding Turkey and the rise of intolerance, xenophobia and ultranationalism in this important country should be an actual concern of the European Union. It is not only a matter of moral principles but this evolution is endangering the whole regional stability from Iraq to Eastern Mediterranean Sea, from Armenia to Eastern Europe.

Henceforth, we recommend the European Parliament and the European Commission: - to demand that Turkey continue Dink's murderers' trials throughout its due process. The preceding similar cases about Susurluk and Semdinli just ended on sanctioning second mates and have not allowed to punish the backers ; to envisage if needed an International Court as for the murder of Rafic Hariri in Lebanon, - to record notorious Turkish criminal organisations such as ADD, Grey
Wolves, Alperen and Ulku Ocaklari in the EU terrorist organizations list, to closely monitor them and to ban their activities in Europe, - to make a comprehensive and fair assessment of the Turkish legal texts (Constitution, penal code and other various codes) legalizing the past and present discrimination and destruction of the Armenians of Turkey, - to condition the financial support of the pre-accession strategy to actual progress in freedom of speech, withdrawing of denial policy and respect of minorities rights ; to set up mandatory educational programs within this pre-accession strategy to teach tolerance and genocide history to Turkish pupils and scholars, - to address these issues and especially the official recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Turkish government among the top-level political priorities of the negotiations chapter.

- to avoid cautioning counterproductive Turkey's strategies of fake dialog. Past experiences show that so-called "reconciliation" initiatives involving dialog between civil societies or experts committees or historians committees are merely tactical way to delay the issue and to avoid fair and frank political recognition of the Armenian genocide by Turkey.