Turkish Forum

Month: December 2009

  • Patrik Bartholomeos, Let’s Turn the Hatred Door into Friendship Door

    Patrik Bartholomeos, Let’s Turn the Hatred Door into Friendship Door

    Sibel Keskin [[email protected]]

    In the recent years, the Fener Greek Patriarchate has been trying to make its name known and gain sympathy with dialogue attempts and peaceful statements in many fields. On the contrary, despite all the efforts, it is known that the Patriarchate is a church which follows its customs as strictly as to reject any negotiation and criticism on issues which are directly related with it.

    Even Patriarch Patrik Bartholomeos, who conveys Turkey that he is a loyal citizen and pays attention to create an image as such, is not able to eliminate certain practices which are regarded as evil attitudes in the public opinion.

    The Fener Greek Patriarchate demands lots from Turkey, and does not refrain from taking its problems to the courts and even complaining to other countries and the ECHR.  However, it stubbornly rejects the proposals to open the “Hatred Door” which has been cited both by the official channels and the non-governmental organizations since the foundation of the Republic and has caused serious suspicion and unrest in the public opinion.

    This strict attitude leads to a widespread approval by the public opinion of the view that the “Patriarchate is a seedbed of trouble and betrayal that has been involved in any kind of activity against Turkey including the Morean rebellion in 1821, the War of Independence, the Lausanne Treaty and the Paris Accord of 1947”.

    The “Hatred Door” which creates serious unrest in the Turkish public opinion has been closed since 1821. In the years between 1820-1821, Greeks massacred thousands of Turks in the Morea; as a result of the investigations, it was found out that the mentioned massacre against the Turks in the Morea was organized by the then Fener Greek Patriarch Gregorius, and the Patriarchate was acting as a “command-control center”. After plans and documents related to the Morean rebellion and the massacre were found in the Patriarchate, Gregorius was tried and executed in front of the main door of the church for having “betrayed his country”.

    The then Patriarchate administration decided “to keep the door closed until the revenge of Gregorius was taken, a Turkish statesman was hung at the same place, and Istanbul was taken over by Greece”. The main door is still closed and the door for the servants is used for entrance. The Hatred Door which has been closed for 188 years cannot avoid causing such a description that “the Patriarchate is the Trojan horse of Greece”.

    Thus, it would be regarded as “an indication of goodwill and sincerity” if the Fener Greek Patriarchate, which nowadays keeps making lists of demands to Turkey, opens and turns the “Hatred Door” into “Friendship Door”.

    Sibel Keskin

    [email protected]

  • california: fetullah gulen conference

    california: fetullah gulen conference

    • Headlines

    Keynote by Reza Aslan

    The opening reception features a keynote from an acclaimed author,…

    Monday, 30 November 2009

    Press Release

    LOS ANGELES, Dec. 1 – Pacifica Institute – The Gulen Movement,…

    Tuesday, 11 August 2009

    Invitation

    Invitation to a conference on “East and West Encounters: The…

    Friday, 29 May 2009

    RSVP

    Thanks to our sponsors, conference registration is free of charge….

    Saturday, 18 April 2009

    East and West encounters: The Gülen Movement

    Office of Religious Life at the University of Southern California, Department of Theological Studies at the Loyola Marymount University, International Education Center, Santa Monica College, Department of Religious Studies at the Humboldt State University, Department of Religious Studies at Whittier College and Pacifica Institute are sponsoring a conference on the general theme of an encounter between “East” and “West” in the case of the Gülen Movement and the movement’s contributions to education, interfaith and intercultural dialogue, tolerance, and world peace.

    Objective
    To explore the appeal, meaning, and impact of Fethullah Gülen and the Gülen movement as exemplifying approaches to education, dialogue, and peace that transcend and mediate traditional distinctions between “East” and West”.

    Important Dates

    July 15, 2009 – Abstract submission deadline

    September 20, 2009 – Article submission deadline

    November 1, 2009 – Revised article submission deadline

    December 1, 2009 – Registration deadline

  • High court makes “historic” terrorism evidence ruling

    High court makes “historic” terrorism evidence ruling

    By Michael Holden

    Tue Dec 1, 2009

    logo_reuters_media_uk

    LONDON (Reuters) – London’s High Court ruled against the British government on Tuesday over the use of secret evidence to deny terrorism suspects bail in what campaigners called an “historic” judgement.

    The government expressed disappointment at the “unhelpful” verdict, handed down over the case brought by two men suspected of terrorism-related activities, saying it would make it harder to keep the country safe.

    The court ruled that a person could not be denied bail solely on the basis of secret evidence.

    The judges concluded such applications should be treated the same as “control order” cases, where terrorism suspects must be given an “irreducible minimum” of information about the case against them, the Press Association reported.

    The decision is another judicial defeat for ministers over security measures, beefed up after the September 11 attacks amid much criticism from human rights campaigners.

    “I am surprised and disappointed that the court has made this ruling. My sole objective is protecting the public and this judgement will make that job harder,” said Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

    He said the two suspects, a Pakistani student known as XC and an Algerian referred to as U who face deportation on the grounds they pose a risk to national security, would remain in custody while he sought permission to appeal the verdict.

    XC was one of 12 men arrested amid great publicity by counter-terrorism police in April this year but later released without charge as there was insufficient evidence. The men were then told they would be deported instead.

    “We will do everything possible to keep this country safe and are taking steps accordingly in the light of this unhelpful judgement,” he said.

    Tuesday’s verdict follows a judgement by Britain’s highest court in June that the government had to disclose secret evidence from its spies which it used against suspects to justify stringent home curfews known as control orders.

    The orders, introduced just before the 2005 London bombings that killed 52 people, allow terrorism suspects not charged with any crime to be kept under curfew for up to 16 hours a day, with tight restrictions on who they can communicate with or meet.

    Human rights and justice organisations argued they violated fundamental rights, with suspects placed under tight surveillance without knowing what they have done wrong, and Johnson said in September the system would now be reviewed.

    “Thanks to this historic judgement, the shadowy secret court system that has mushroomed under the War on Terror will now be exposed to the light of day,” said Shami Chakrabarti, director of the campaign group Liberty.

    “The hard lesson of recent years is that diluting Britain’s core values and abandoning justice makes us both less safe and free.”

    Reuters

  • Why Obama Will Praise Erdogan

    Why Obama Will Praise Erdogan

    The Good Rapprochement: Why Obama Will Praise Erdogan
    Soner Cagaptay
    Hurriyet Daily News
    November 25, 2009

    What will U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan discuss when they meet in the White House on Dec. 7? There is going to be some give and take on a variety of issues, including Iran. But both leaders will agree on Iraq.

    Ever since coming to power in 2002, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government in Ankara has come under fire for pursuing rapprochement with the wrong international partners. The AKP has faced criticism for warming up to Sudan and Iran, whose authoritarian and anti-Western regimes contrast with Turkey’s political system. Yet, another rapprochement the AKP has pursued deserves praise: The party has painstakingly built ties between Ankara and Baghdad, and improved relations with the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG. Mr. Erdogan should expect praise from President Obama for holding Iraq’s and the KRG’s hands, and for helping the Iraqis emerge from the trauma of the war and rebuild. What is more, in a region wrought by win-lose thinking, the improvements in Turkish-Iraqi ties nurtured by the AKP serve as a sign that at least part of the Middle East is open to win-win politics.

    The most symbolic sign of Turkish-Iraqi rapprochement is the opening of two Turkish diplomatic missions in Iraq, respectively in Basra and Arbil. A Turkish consulate was opened in Basra recently, and another mission is scheduled to be opened in Arbil soon.

    These two missions serve as a sign that Turkish-Iraqi and Turkish-KRG ties have come around. Only two years ago, I was getting calls from frantic journalists asking whether the Turkish military was going to invade Iraq. Today, it is Turkish diplomats and businessmen who are doing the invading.

    One reason driving this change has been the shift in Iraqi Kurds’ evaluation of their strategic environment. Between 2003 and 2006, when a majority of Sunni Arabs and Shiite Arabs fought against the United States, the Iraqi Kurds were a significant ally for Washington in Iraq. This equation earned the Kurds American backing in Baghdad. In due course, the Kurds achieved many gains, such as recognition of the KRG as a federal entity.

    That situation, however, changed after 2006. First, the United States co-opted the Sunni Arabs through the Awakening Councils. Then, Washington made peace with the Shiite Arabs. The new relationship with both Arab groups allowed the United States to zoom out from Baghdad and see the big picture in Iraq. Washington realized that if the Iraqi state is to function, its modus operandi must continue to satisfy the Arabs, who constitute the vast majority of Iraq’s population.

    Hence, the United States started to back the Arabs over the Kurds on several crucial issues. In February 2007, Washington pressured the Kurds until they agreed to a hydrocarbon law favorable to the Iraqi Arabs and the central government. The United States dealt a second blow to the Kurds on the Kirkuk issue. Washington pressured the Kurds to drop their insistence on carrying out a referendum in Kirkuk by the constitutionally mandated deadline of Dec. 31, 2007. The referendum would have annexed oil-rich Kirkuk to the KRG, fulfilling a Kurdish dream.

    These U.S. actions convinced the Kurds, perhaps somewhat prematurely, that America had abandoned them in favor of the Iraqi Arabs. This rationale forced the Iraqi Kurds, already fearful of Iran’s influence in Iraq, to turn to their remaining neighbor: Turkey.

    The KRG’s turn towards Ankara brought the Iraqi Kurds into closer cooperation with Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. In the 1990s, the Iraqi Kurds helped Ankara against the PKK when Turkey helped them. At this time, Ankara provided the Iraqi Kurds with access to U.S. military protection against Saddam. After Saddam was removed in 2003, the Iraqi Kurds shortsightedly concluded that they did not need Turkey anymore. This calculus precipitated four years of KRG foot dragging on the PKK issue. That ended in 2007. Within the background of their new security environment, the Iraqi Kurds decided that they still needed Turkey and that they were better served by building a long-term relationship with Ankara.

    Enter the AKP. The party utilized this strategic opening, building ties with Iraqi Kurds. At the same time, the AKP was smart enough to also cultivate good ties with non-Kurdish Iraqi factions. In due course, Turkey emerged as an honest broker inside Iraq, enjoying good ties with Kurds and Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites alike.

    Subsequently, the KRG and Turkey have built strong ties, extending from Iraqi Kurdish commercial contracts awarded to Turkish companies, to likely pipeline and energy deals between Turkey and the KRG, to close contact between Turkish and KRG intelligence officials. Meanwhile, Turkey has become a force to reckon with inside Iraq, from Arbil in the north to Basra in the south.

    Turkey’s rapprochement with Iraq and the KRG has been quite smart. Iraq is more stable today thanks to Turkey. Ankara enjoys unprecedented political and economic power inside Iraq, and moreover, it has managed to align the Iraqi Kurds along its policy of countering the PKK.

    Furthermore, the AKP’s rapprochement with Iraq has earned it brownie points with the Obama administration. Since the administration wants to wrap up the Iraq war while ensuring the nation’s future stability, Turkey’s constructive involvement in Iraq has made Ankara an asset for President Obama ahead of Erdogan’s Dec. 7 Washington visit. The Turkish-Iraqi-KRG rapprochement is indeed a win-win case. That is rare indeed in the Middle East, and this is one reason why Erdogan should expect some praise from President Obama.

    Soner Cagaptay is a senior fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute.

  • Protest Against Genocide Denial

    Protest Against Genocide Denial

    Jewish Editor and Turkish Commentator

    Protest Against Genocide Denial

    sassounian3

    Publisher, The California Courier

    Armenians are understandably distressed when they encounter statements that distort or deny the facts of the Armenian Genocide, and feel comforted when it is properly acknowledged. While they are quick to castigate the deniers, they rarely take the time to recognize those who speak the truth.

    These thoughts came to mind as I was reading two truthful and bold articles on the Armenian Genocide — the first by a Righteous Jew, editor of the Intermountain Jewish News of Denver, Colorado, and the second by a Righteous Turk, commentator Burak Bekdil of Hurriyet Daily News.

    The editor of the Intermountain Jewish News did not mince words, starting with the headline: “All that lying about the Armenian Genocide did not help.” He then proceeded to launch a frontal attack on Jewish organizations and Israel’s leaders who have been playing immoral games with the Armenian Genocide, just to appease the Turkish government. Here are some excerpts from that powerful editorial:

    “We could use the word ‘diplomacy’ or ‘politics’ or ‘ignorance’ or ‘objectivity’ or ‘fairness.’ In truth, there is only one word: lie. For many years, some national Jewish organizations lied about the Armenian genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks during WW I. These organizations said it didn’t happen, or that it was a matter of ‘historical dispute.’

    “…On the grounds that Israel had to maintain good relations with Turkey, these national Jewish organizations — not to mention Israel herself — accepted Turkey’s denial of the Armenian genocide, or said it was ‘disputed.’ Good relations with Turkey could only be purchased by acceptance of Turkey’s lying about the Armenian genocide, we were told. It was disgraceful.

    “…Lying about the Armenian genocide should not be part of the currency of Israeli — or American Jewish — diplomacy with Turkey. Israel and these national Jewish organizations should now see that, even pragmatically, the lying did not help. And morally? When it comes to genocide, diplomacy and politics have no place. There can be no denying, ignoring or low-prioritizing genocide. Israel and national Jewish organizations denied that principle — and this denial is now coming back to bite them.

    “…Regarding genocide, posterity is enormously unkind. Today, even in Turkey the number of scholars who acknowledge the Armenian genocide is growing. Various counter-claims, denying the Armenian genocide, look ever more outlandish. Can you imagine anyone credibly claiming that the Warsaw Ghetto revolt in 1943 shows that the Holocaust was just a ‘civil war’ between the Jews and the Germans? That’s how ridiculous the ‘civil war’ characterization of the Turkish prosecution of the Armenian genocide is coming to look. Posterity, we repeat, treats genocide deniers very unkindly.

    “…When bad people murder a whole population, good people must respond, as respond we must in Darfur today. When time passes and we look back on people who murdered a whole population, we must never allow that transcendent evil to be denied or downplayed because of diplomatic or political considerations. It’s wrong. And it won’t work.”

    Liberal Turkish commentator Burak Bekdil’s article is just as powerful. Several years ago, he received a suspended 20-month sentence for writing an article that criticized the Turkish judiciary. Now, once again, Bekdil risks being thrown into jail, as article 301 of the Turkish penal code makes it a crime to refer to the Armenian Genocide.

    In his commentary, Mr. Bekdil is boldly suggesting that the Turkish government make a list of all its past crimes, adopt a resolution in Parliament led by the AKP party, and issue an apology to the victims! He specifically mentions “The Armenian Genocide” among Turkey’s past Turkish crimes! Here is an excerpt from Bekdil’s daring article:

    “First, let’s make a list of the Turkish atrocities of the past century. There is Dersim, of course. But for a start, I shall also propose the Armenian genocide; war crimes against Greeks during the War of Independence; pogroms and other violence against Greeks, Armenians and Jews during the earlier years of the Republic; the deaths of 40,000 Kurds as the only Turkish Nobel laureate once put it; and more Kurdish atrocities between 1984 to 2002. Of course, these sorrowful events can be multiplied endlessly and any other ideas are most welcome…. I would urge our pro-AKP liberals to pen a draft text in recognition of a full list of Turkish atrocities in the 20th century, decorated further with an official apology to the victims and their relatives.”

    Armenian organizations should pay tribute to these two righteous men for daring to condemn their own leaders and expose their lies on the Armenian Genocide!