Turkish Forum

Month: November 2009

  • WE NEED SCHOOLS IN TURKMEN LANGUAGE!

    WE NEED SCHOOLS IN TURKMEN LANGUAGE!

    WE NEED TO BE LITERATE, WE NEED SCHOOLS IN TURKMEN LANGUAGE!

    TurkmenAccording to some reports, Ayatollah Montazeri who had been prevented from replacing the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, wanted an educational opportunity in Turkish language and invited the leaders of the Islamic Republic to grant Turks their basic rights.

    All nations, Turkmen, Azeri Turks, Kashghai Turks, Arabs, Baluchis or Kurds, living in Iran, have had to live under the oppression of a group of chauvinists for eighty years. The regime of the Islamic Republic is not at all more different than regimes of kingdom. The traitor Pahlavi regime tried to represent the multi-national country of Iran as a country of Persians, deceiving the world with historical lies.

    The Islamic Republic has not given the rights of the nations, either. On the contrary, it established an oppressive and extreme religious Shiite regime and embedded hatred among the nations. This regime added religious and sectarian discrimination to the lingual and ethnic discrimination. Thus, the chauvinists have had a much more perfect record!

    Turkmens were slaughtered because they screamed the slogan “We need to be literate; we need schools in Turkmen language”. Azeri Turks were imprisoned and tortured since they wanted “madrassas in Turkish language”. Baluchis were executed because they insisted on protecting their own traditions, language and sects and…

    Now, according to some information, a Shiite leader wanted free education in Turkish in Iran and said that nobody could exploit a religion and race as a right to be superior to others!

    Although it is a bit late, the fact that Ayatollah Montazeri defends the rights of Iranian Turks deserves appreciation. Iranian Turks constitutes nearly the half of the country’s population. Azerbaijani Turks, Turkmens, Kashghais and the others have been struggling for years to gain their rights. A Turkmen child and the children of an Azerbaijani Turk, Kashghai, Arabic, Kurdish and Baluchi should be able to call their mothers as not “madar” but “ene, ana, um, mat”. It is a natural right of all oppressed nations to wish to maintain their traditions, languages and cultures, and deprivation from this right is racial discrimination and genocide. The Iranian regime has now become the symbol of racial, lingual, sectarian, political, cultural, social and sexual discrimination.

    The fact that Ayatollah Montazeri defends the rights of Iranian Turks is appreciated but is not enough. Ending the oppression can merely be possible through the complete annihilation of the factor that causes the oppression. The oppressed nations of Iran fight for to this end and they will reach their right by exterminating this regime that has deprived them of the rights of life, language, sect and gender.

    As Turkmensahra Liberation Organization, we believe that rights cannot be gained only through words. Turkmen population will maintain their fight until they have gained all their rights.

    سازمان آزادیبخش ترکمن صحرا – تورکمن صحرا آزادلیق قوراماسی

    TURKMENSAHRA AZADLYK GURAMASY

    TURKMENSAHRA LIBERATION ORGANIZATION

  • Race attacks force Turkish couple out of home in York

    Race attacks force Turkish couple out of home in York

    Race attacks force Turkish couple out of home in Windsor Garth, Acomb

    By Jeremy Small

    City of York Council flats in Windsor Garth, Acomb
    City of York Council flats in Windsor Garth, Acomb

    A TURKISH woman today claimed she and her husband had been forced out of their York home by a racially-motivated campaign of vandalism that ended in her car being torched.

    Burcu Kaya-Gurer, who is married to Hasan Gurer, said she feared for her life after her car was vandalised and set alight, the couple’s satellite dish was destroyed, and Mrs Kaya-Gurer was subjected to intimidation.

    Mrs Kaya-Gurer, 30, a team leader with a York-based company, said she and her husband had now quit their City of York Council flat in Windsor Garth, Acomb, and had moved to live in private rented accommodation elsewhere in the city, despite having to pay a much higher rent.

    She said of the thugs: “They have won. They have forced me out because I was in fear of my life.”

    Mrs Kaya-Gurer said the ordeal began in June when the satellite dish was broken. She said she reported the incident to the council and the police, but they both told her there was nothing they could do because there were no witnesses.

    She claimed that, earlier last month, a gang of people tried to pull cables off a replacement satellite dish the couple had put up. “When they saw me they ran away laughing,” she said. “There are many satellite dishes outside – why mine? They know I’m Turkish.”

    She said the police told her they could not do anything because nothing had actually been damaged. She said she later saw members of the gang near her car, only to discover the following day that the plastic covering one of the wing mirrors had been pulled off.

    Mrs Kaya-Gurer said the council gave her an application to move to another council home but told her it might be “ages” before the couple could be rehoused. She claimed her Vauxhall Corsa car was set on fire on Monday October 26, and in the early hours of the following morning, someone who looked like one of the gang was banging on her front door demanding she retract the statement she made about the fire to the police. “I was so scared,” she said. “I was crying; my eyes were red.” She said she then telephoned the council, but claimed she was told there was insufficient evidence for her to be rehoused straight away. “I said ‘What more do you need? Do you want to see me on fire?’” She said the council tried to sort the problem out, but it was too late. “They could have helped me a long time ago. I was ignored. I want a normal life again. I never deserved any of this.”

    A police spokesman said after the car fire, two men aged 18 and 20 were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage. He said they had been released on police bail while inquiries continued.

    He said: “The issue of hate crime is something that North Yorkshire Police takes extremely seriously. Any incident of hate crime is thoroughly investigated whenever it is reported to us.

    “If people are nervous about contacting us directly, for any reason at all, we have recently launched Hate Crime Reporting Centres.

    Full details of these are on our website (northyorkshire.police.uk/hatecrime).”

    A City of York Council spokeswoman said: “We are treating Mrs Kaya-Gurer’s concerns very seriously. We are working closely with the police and other partners to try to resolve the issues.”

    Source:  www.yorkpress.co.uk, 5th November 2009

  • ANCA: Legislators seek increased aid to Armenia

    ANCA: Legislators seek increased aid to Armenia

    November 4, 2009

    Lawmakers Urge
    $48 Million for Armenia;
    $10 million for Karabagh

    Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

    Reps Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) were joined by 30 House colleagues in urging Senate and House Appropriators to reverse proposed cuts by Obama Administration | Read |

    Take Action: Urge Legislators to Support the
    Armenian Genocide Resolution 
    Senate | House

    Turkish Ambassador Cites Protocols in Renewed Attack on Genocide Resolution 
    | Read |

    Majority Leader Reid Shares Community Concerns over Protocols with
    Secretary Clinton | Read |

    ANCA on Horizon180 Broadcasts with Paul Chaderjian

    Kate Nahapetian’s Update on Legal Cases dealing with Genocide Denial
    | Watch |

    Vicken Sonentz Papazian on the Turkey-Armenia Protocols
    | Watch |

    Reps. Pallone and LoBiondo Lead Bipartisan Congressional Effort

    WASHINGTON, DC – Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and New Jersey Republican Frank LoBiondo were joined by dozens of their House Colleagues in urging Senate and House Appropriations Committee leaders to maintain $48 million in U.S. assistance to Armenia, increased aid to Nagorno Karabagh, and continued military assistance parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan in the fiscal year (FY) 2010 foreign aid bill, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

    “We want to thank Congressmen Pallone and Lobiondo for leading this bipartisan outreach to members of the State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee – and also to express our appreciation to our friends serving on this panel, including Nita Lowey, Adam Schiff, Mark Kirk, Steve Rothman, and Jesse Jackson – for their work in support of the pro-Armenia provisions in the FY2010 foreign aid bill,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “We are hopeful that the conference committee, which will be called to reconcile the Senate and House versions of this legislation, will approve the higher House figures for aid to Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh, endorse the House’s decision to maintain military aid parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and support the House language reaffirming Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act.”

    Earlier this year, both the House and Senate adopted their versions of the FY 2010 foreign aid bill, with the House adopting higher figures for Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh and including new language reaffirming Section 907 restriction on U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan, due to that country’s ongoing blockade of Armenia. Read more. . .

    Turkish Envoy Links Denial to Newly Signed Turkey-Armenia Agreement in televised VOA segment

    ANCA Executive Director Aram HamparianWASHINGTON, DC – Turkey’s Ambassador to the United States, Nabi Sensoy, appearing on a Voice of America television news segment on the Senate introduction of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, cited the newly signed Turkey-Armenia Protocols as a new reason for his government’s intensifying campaign to block U.S. recognition of this crime against humanity, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

    Responding to a question on this legislation, the Turkish envoy stressed: “I hope that there will be no progress on this issue. I don’t think it was the right time to take this step since the resolution was introduced immediately after the signing of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols. It is wrong and sad. I am hopeful that it [the resolution] will not reach the [Senate] floor.”

    ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, who was interviewed by Voice of America’s Aram Vanetsyan for this segment, cited the broad-based support for the Armenian Genocide Resolution from President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during their years in the Senate. Responding to reports that the Turkey-Armenia Protocols would harm international Armenian Genocide affirmation efforts, Hamparian explained that Turkey entered into negotiations with Armenia, not because of any charitable impulse, but, rather, because of its desire to somehow derail the growing pressure of Armenians worldwide in isolating Ankara’s bankrupt campaign of denial. Armenian Americans will, Hamparian added, continue to press, assertively, powerfully, and effectively for a truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide.  Read more. . . | Watch Video. . .

    Senate Majority Leader Urges Secretary of State to Meet with Armenian American Leaders

    WASHINGTON, DC – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has formally shared the reservations of the Silver State’s Armenian community regarding the dangers of the recently signed Turkey-Armenia Protocols with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

    In a October 30, 2009 letter to ANCA-Nevada activist Razmig Libarian, the Senate leader reported that he had recently written to Secretary Clinton to pass along the concerns of his state’s citizens of Armenian heritage, and to encourage her to meet directly with the national leadership of the Armenian American community regarding the state of Turkey-Armenia relations.

    In his letter to Secretary Clinton, dated October 20, 2009, Senator Reid wrote: “I am sure you are aware that this agreement has raised concerns in the Armenian community inside the United States. I have received many letters from Nevadans who do not support the creation of an international commission to examine the historical record on the genocide and who believe that the agreements are unfair to Armenia. (I have included a sample letter below). Given the serious nature of the community’s concerns, I felt it was important to raise them directly with you. The commission is particularly sensitive to the Armenian-American community since the Armenian genocide has never been recognized by Turkey.”
    Read more. . .

  • ARMENIANS OF TURKEY PRAY FOR THE SAKE OF ‘ARMENIA OPENING’

    ARMENIANS OF TURKEY PRAY FOR THE SAKE OF ‘ARMENIA OPENING’

    )
    ARMENIANS OF TURKEY PRAY FOR THE SAKE OF ‘ARMENIA OPENING’
    Tuesday, 03 November 2009
    Armenians of Turkey will bless the protocols that Turkey and Armenia signed on October 11 in the homeland of President Abdullah Gul, Kayseri. Religious ceremony will be held in the Surp Krikor Lusavoric Armenian Church in Kayseri.
    Turkish-Armenians will pray for the sake of Turkey-Armenia protocols in an Armenian church in Kayseri. Armenian community will hold the first Sunday prayer in the church which is newly restored. The prayer will be leaded by Deputy Patriarch Aram Ateshian.
    TURKEY’S SECOND CHURCH GESTURE
    After restoring Armenian Akdamar church spending $1,5 million, Turkey makes another gesture and restores Surp Krikor Lusarevic Armenian Church in Kayseri, which is known as the first Armenian Church in Anatolia.
    The restoration work will be completed next week. Surp Krikor Armenian Church Foundation Chairman Zadik Toker invited people of Kayseri to the opening ceremony of the Church next week. Toker said, “Our church is very important as it is the first church of Armenian people in Anatolia. The Church was partially restored in 1996. Icons and themes in the church is restored in accordance with theiroriginals.”
    2)

    US Armenians hope for failure of Ankara-Yerevan deal

    Tuesday, November 3, 2009
    ÜMİT ENGİNSOY
    ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News
    American-Armenians and their congressional backers are keen on the ‘genocide’ recognition, not the creation of normalized ties between Turkey and Armenia, diplomats and experts say. Armenians will try to persuade the world that it’s the Turks that stopped the process, an expert argue Armenian-Americans and their backers in Congress are hoping for the collapse of a normalization deal between Turkey and Armenia so they can continue to lobby for U.S. recognition of what they term the “Armenian genocide,” diplomats and analysts said.
    The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed historic protocols on Oct. 10 that called for the creation of normal diplomatic relations between the two neighbors and the reopening of their shared land border. Their parliaments must first ratify the deal before the provisions go into effect.
    Before reopening the land border, which has remained closed for 16 years, Turkey wants to see some progress toward the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ankara’s close ally.
    Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly Armenian-populated enclave inside Azerbaijan’s borders, has been under Armenian occupation since a war in the early 1990s.

    Reopening border key matter

    Yerevan, however, seeks to keep the normalization deal with Turkey and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue as completely separate processes, urging Turkey to reopen the border as soon as possible. Diaspora Armenians, meanwhile, also staunchly oppose any concessions on Karabakh.
    But without progress on the Karabakh matter, it will be extremely difficult for Ankara to move to reopen the border. “If there’s no progress on Karabakh, Turkey simply can’t reopen the border with Armenia, which will effectively mean that the reconciliation process will have failed,” one Washington-based analyst said. “If this happens, it will be important to see which side will be blamed for the derailed process. The Armenians will try to persuade the world that it’s the Turks that stopped the process.”
    In that case, U.S. Armenians and their backers in Congress will seek to punish Turkey in Congress, the analyst said.

    Armenian efforts in Congress

    A resolution urging the United States to recognize the World War I-era killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide has been pending in the House of Representatives, Congress’ lower chamber, since February.
    Democratic Senator Robert Menendez and Republican Senator John Ensign introduced a similar resolution in the Senate, Congress’ upper chamber, last month.
    “Pro-Armenian lawmakers in both sides of Congress will step up efforts for genocide recognition in the event of the collapse of the Ankara-Yerevan deal,” said the analyst.
    “Any formal U.S. genocide recognition would kill the normalization process,” one Turkish diplomat said.
    But U.S. Armenians and their congressional backers are keen on genocide recognition, not the creation of normalized Ankara-Yerevan ties,” said the analyst.
    “So there’s a major trap jeopardizing the reconciliation process, and that trap can be prevented only if there’s progress on the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute,” the analyst said.
  • Senate Majority Leader Calls on Clinton

    Senate Majority Leader Calls on Clinton

    to Meet with Armenian-American Leaders

    By Asbarez Staff on Nov 2nd, 2009

    In Letter to ANCA-Nevada, Senator Reid Reports that he has Shared Community Concerns over Protocols with Secretary Clinton

    WASHINGTON–Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has formally shared the reservations of the Silver State’s Armenian community regarding the dangers of the recently signed Turkey-Armenia Protocols with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

    In a October 30, 2009 letter to ANCA-Nevada activist Razmig Libarian, the Senate leader reported that he had recently written to Secretary Clinton to pass along the concerns of his state’s citizens of Armenian heritage, and to encourage her to meet directly with the national leadership of the Armenian American community regarding the state of Turkey-Armenia relations.

    In his letter to Secretary Clinton, dated October 20, 2009, Senator Reid wrote: “I am sure you are aware that this agreement has raised concerns in the Armenian community inside the United States. I have received many letters from Nevadans who do not support the creation of an international commission to examine the historical record on the genocide and who believe that the agreements are unfair to Armenia. (I have included a sample letter below). Given the serious nature of the community’s concerns, I felt it was important to raise them directly with you. The commission is particularly sensitive to the Armenian-American community since the Armenian genocide has never been recognized by Turkey.”

    Despite the high profile of Armenia-Turkey ties in the Obama-Biden Administration’s foreign policy agenda, neither President Obama nor Secretary Clinton has met with the Armenian American community leadership.

    The full text of both letters is provided below.

    October 30, 2009
    Dear Mr. Libarian:

    Thank you for contacting me about your concerns regarding relations between Armenia and Turkey. I appreciate hearing from you.

    I have always, and will continue to, recognize the terrible atrocities that took place in 1915 as genocide. As I said to those gathered for the Armenian American Cultural Society of Las Vegas’ annual commemoration on April 19, 2009, I believe that the United States should acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

    On September 1, 2009, Armenia and Turkey signed protocols that expressed a desire to establish diplomatic relations between the two nations and open the border to trade. Final agreement is pending the ratification of the protocols by each country’s Parliament. As you note, these protocols also called for the formation of a commission to study the Armenian genocide.

    I certainly appreciate the concerns that you raise in your letter and believe that it is important that the specifics issues you raise about the historical commission are taken into consideration. I recently wrote to Secretary Clinton to let her know about the concerns I have heard from my constituents on this issue, and included a sample copy of letters I have received. I also asked her to meet with the Armenian-American community to discuss these issues. The full text of my letter to Hilary Clinton is below.

    Thank you once again for contacting me, and I hope you will continue to keep in touch. My best wishes to you.

    Sincerely,

    HARRY REID
    United States Senator
    Nevada

    TEXT OF SENATOR REID’S LETTER TO SECRETARY CLINTON

    October 20, 2009

    The Honorable Hillary Clinton
    Secretary of State
    Department of State
    22001 C Street, NW
    Room 7226
    Washington, D.C. 20520

    Dear Secretary Clinton:

    I am writing about the recent agreement to establish normal diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia. I know you have personally been involved in the negotiation of this agreement and
    appreciate your attention on the issues I am raising today.

    I am sure you are aware that this agreement has raised concerns in the Armenian community inside the United States. I have received many letters from Nevadans who do not support the creation of an international commission to examine the historical record on the genocide and who believe that the agreements are unfair to Armenia. (I have included a sample letter below). Given the serious nature of the community’s concerns, I felt it was important to raise them directly with you. The commission is particularly sensitive to the Armenian-American community since the Armenian genocide has never been recognized by Turkey.

    I would also respectfully suggest that you meet directly with Armenian-American groups so they have an opportunity to share their views with you. Thank you again for your consideration of this request and your interest in this important national security issue.

    Sincerely,

    HARRY REID
    United States Senator

  • Creationism in Islam

    Creationism in Islam

    Where religion is taking Turkey can be seen even by unbiased foreigners.

    Let us in Turkey wake up and step up into the 21st century.

    DEMIRTAS BAYAR

    ———————————————————————————————

    Science

    Creationism, Minus a Young Earth, Emerges in the Islamic World

    By KENNETH CHANG

    Published: November 2, 2009

    AMHERST, Mass. — Creationism is growing in the Muslim world, from Turkey to Pakistan to Indonesia, international academics said last month as they gathered here to discuss the topic.

    But, they said, young-Earth creationists, who believe God created the universe, Earth and life just a few thousand years ago, are rare, if not nonexistent.

    One reason is that although the Koran, the holy text of Islam, says the universe was created in six days, the next line adds that a day, in this instance, is metaphorical: “a thousand years of your reckoning.”

    By contrast, some Christian creationists find in the Bible a strict chronology that requires a 6,000-year-old Earth and thus object not only to evolution but also to much of modern geology and cosmology, which say the Earth and the universe are billions of years old.

    “Views of scientific evolution are clearly influenced by underlying religious beliefs,” said Salman Hameed, who convened the two-day conference here at Hampshire College, where he is a professor of integrated science and humanities. “There is no young-Earth creationism.”

    But that does not mean that all of evolution fits Islam or that all Muslims happily accept the findings of modern biology. More and more seem to be joining the ranks of the so-called old-Earth creationists. They do not quarrel with astronomers and geologists, just biologists, insisting that life is the creation of God, not the happenstance consequence of random occurrences.

    The debate over evolution is only now gaining prominence in many Islamic countries as education improves and more students are exposed to the ideas of modern biology.

    The degree of acceptance of evolution varies among Islamic countries.

    Research led by the Evolution Education Research Center at McGill University, in Montreal, found that high school biology textbooks in Pakistan covered the theory of evolution. Quotations from the Koran at the beginning of the chapters are chosen to suggest that the religion and the theory coexist harmoniously.

    In a survey of 2,527 Pakistani high school students conducted by the McGill researchers and their international collaborators, 28 percent of the students agreed with the creationist sentiment, “Evolution is not a well-accepted scientific fact.” More than 60 percent disagreed, and the rest were not sure.

    Eighty-six percent agreed with this statement: “Millions of fossils show that life has existed for billions of years and changed over time.”

    The situation in Turkey is different and changed only in the past couple of decades. One of the conference participants, Taner Edis, said he never encountered creationist undertones when he was growing up in Turkey in the 1970s. “I first noticed creationism when I came to America for graduate school,” said Dr. Edis, now a professor of physics at Truman State University in Missouri. He thought it an American oddity.

    Some years later, while browsing a bookstore on a visit to Turkey, Dr. Edis found books about creationism filed in the science section. “It actually caught me by surprise,” he said.

    In Turkey, officially a secular government but now ruled by an Islamic party, the teaching of evolution has largely disappeared, at least below the university level, and the science curriculum in public schools is written in deference to religious beliefs, Dr. Edis said.

    Harun Yahya, a Turkish creationist of the old-Earth variety, has gained prominence in Turkey and elsewhere. A quarter of a world away, most of the biology teachers in Indonesia use Mr. Yahya’s creationist books in their classrooms, the McGill researchers found, although some said they did that to provide counterarguments to materials their students were reading anyway.

    In the McGill research, fewer students in Indonesia than in Pakistan thought evolution a well-accepted scientific fact, yet 85 percent agreed that fossils showed that life had existed for billions of years and changed over time.

    The quality of biology education “varies highly depending on what country you’re in and what school you’re in,” said Jason R. Wiles, a professor of biology at Syracuse University and associate director of the McGill center.

    In addition, the situation in Iran, where the Shiite sect of Islam dominates, may be far different than in neighboring Iraq, where Sunnis are more numerous. There is no single leader, like the Roman Catholic pope, who can dictate an official view that holds for all Muslims.