97 ans de déni : ça suffit !

SOUDAN

RIA Novosti

20:51 19/09/2012

KHARTOUM, 19 septembre - RIA Novosti

Les ambassadeurs des pays européens au Soudan ont reporté sine die leur visite au Darfour programmée pour mercredi et jeudi en raison des manifestations de protestation contre le film anti-islamique tourné aux Etats-Unis, a annoncé mercredi la chaîne de télévision soudanaise Al Chourouk.

"Nous avons des informations selon lesquelles de nouvelles manifestations se tiendront vendredi prochain devant les ambassades de plusieurs pays occidentaux à Khartoum. Il a été décidé de remettre à plus tard le déplacement des chefs des missions diplomatiques au Darfour", a indiqué un responsable de la Commission européenne à la chaîne Al Chourouk.

L'assistant du président soudanais Abdel Rakhman Magdy a pour sa part réaffirmé l'intention du gouvernement du pays de garantir la sécurité des ambassades et des bureaux d'organisations étrangères à Khartoum, lors d'une rencontre avec l'ambassadeur de l'Union européenne au Soudan Thomas Ulicny.

Des manifestations contre le film "Innocence des musulmans" (Innocence of Muslims) présentant le prophète Mahomet sous un jour défavorable se sont tenues la semaine dernière au Yémen, en Egypte, en Iran et au Soudan. L'ambassadeur américain et plusieurs autres diplomates ont été tués lors d'une attaque contre l'ambassade des Etats-Unis à Benghazi, en Libye.

La police a dû avoir recours aux gaz lacrymogènes pour disperser la foule rassemblée devant les ambassades américaine et allemande à Khartoum. Les protestataires ont pénétré dans l'ambassade d'Allemagne et y ont mis le feu. L'ambassade est toujours fermée. Vingt diplomates américains et leurs familles ont quitté la capitale soudanaise après une tentative d'assaut entreprise par les manifestants.
http://fr.ria.ru/world/20120919/196087966.html

http://www.collectifvan.org/article.php?r=4&id=67366

9. 
   TWITTER – AU FIL DU BOSPHORE
   

http://collectifvan.org/article.php?r=4&id=62603

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http://collectifvan.org/article.php?r=4&id=62603

10. RUBRIQUE EN ANGLAIS

Actress Arsinée Khanjian and lawyer Fethiye Çetin spoke about what it means to be an Armenian in Turkey and in the Diaspora in a series of programs called “Climbing the Mountain” launched by the Civilitas Foundation and Anatolian Culture.

Istanbul - BIA News Center

10 September 2012, Monday

Writer, human rights activist and lawyer Fethiye Çetin and Armenian actress Arsinée Khanjian spoke about what it means to be an Armenian both in Turkey and in the Diaspora in a series of travelling programs called "Climbing the Mountain" launched by the Civilitas  Foundation and Anatolian Culture (Anadolu Kültür.)

The first series of programs took place in Berlin on Sept. 4, while the second one hit the screen in Istanbul on Sept. 6. The third run will take place in Yerevan on Sept. 13 and will be livestreamed, videotaped and shared on a trilingual website.

The programs aim to shed light on the personal aspect of Armenian-Turkish relations and relate the mutual prejudices between Armenians and Turks, and people whose families were forced to leave Anatolia and those who remained behind.

"My grandparents were citizens of the Ottoman state. I was born in Beirut. I climbed the mountain; I climbed Ararat. This is very important for people born in places outside of [their native lands] against their own will and [to help them] construe an identity. As I climbed Mt. Ararat, there I found truth and justice. I buried on that mountain the pictures of my grandparents who were born in Erzurum and the gloves of my mother who died at an early age," said actress Arsinée Khanjian, a Canadian citizen of Armenian descent who was born in Lebanon.

Khanjian had played the role of "Ani" in director Atom Egoyan's movie "Ararat."

Lawyer and human rights activist Fethiye Çetin, the author of the book "My Grandmother," ("Ananem") then took the floor:

"I was born [in the northeastern province of Elazığ.] I began living with my muslim grandparents at a young age. Then I became a socialist. One day, my grandmother took me on her lap and told me of a story I had never heard before with gestures that looked as if she were trying to swab down the dirt over her skirt. It was as if she was sweeping with her hands all that she had gone through at the age of nine. I believed my grandmother. She was telling the truth," said Çetin.

Fethiye Çetin is also known for having acted as a lawyer for the family of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist murdered in broad daylight in Jan. 19, 2007 before his office in Istanbul. Only two suspects received sentences in connection with his assassination, while other suspects and a number of officials who were implicated in the case received no penalties at all.

"Many local Kurdish guides I met near Mt. Ararat approached me and said their grandmothers were Armenians, expecting me to take some delight in this. Out of astonishment, I did not know what to say, however. What they were saying proved an entire reality; those grandmothers had been forcibly married off, and there was not a single Armenian grandfather to be found," Khanjian said.

"Now that I have a double identity, I can speak with ease," lawyer Çetin said, adding that it was difficult for her to share her story even with her socialist friends in the beginning.

"It was not out of fear, but we could not tear down the taboos we ourselves had created. We bore the policy of denial as part of that muted silence. For that reason, I now bear a responsibility. My grandmother had loaded the dirt she had swept off of her skirt onto my shoulders, and I do not wish to transmit this burden to future generations," she said.

Khanjian also added there were thousands of books about the Armenian Genocide but that she preferred to express the issue through artistic means:

"When we shot the movie 'Ararat,' this was perceived in Turkey as propaganda material. By contrast, however, this movie was not about the genocide. Its main theme was about Turkey's ongoing policy of denial," she said. (NV)

A monument honoring Turkish Military Attaché Col. Atilla Altıkat, who was slain by the Armenian militant group ASALA in 1982, was opened yesterday by the Turkish and Canadian foreign ministers, daily Hürriyet reported.

20 September 2012 / SELÇUK GÜLTAŞLI, BRUSSELS

The European Commission is about to publish one of its most critical progress reports on Turkey in recent years, Today's Zaman has learned.

The draft report harshly criticizes Turkey's shortcomings, despite its efforts to reform, citing as basic reasons the almost virtual halt of the reform process and deficiencies with fundamental freedoms, in particular freedom of expression and of the press.

The draft report will welcome the “democratic and the participative work” taking place on a new constitution, the adoption of the law on the ombudsman institution and the improvements in the Turkish criminal justice system introduced through the third judicial reform package, despite shortcomings. It will also praise Turkey's role and open door policy regarding the Syrian crisis and stress Ankara's constructive role in North Africa. However, while welcoming positive developments in civilian-military relations, the draft has adopted a more critical approach vis-à-vis coup investigations.

The report's focus this year will be on fundamental freedoms, in light of which it asks Ankara to present the fourth judicial package to Parliament before the end of September and to work for its rapid endorsement. A meeting document viewed by Today's Zaman reads, “A presentation by the government, before the end of September, of the fourth judicial reform package, which we know is in preparation at working level and aims to tackle the issues mentioned, would make a real difference and tone down the criticism in the report.”

The draft will highlight the shortcomings in the judicial system by noting the executive's presumed influence on judicial bodies. Criticizing the legal framework on terrorism and organized crime, the draft says the laws are interpreted so widely that they lead to “recurring infringements of the right to liberty and security, of the right to a fair trial and of freedom of expression, assembly and association.”

Removal of the prosecutors in the German-based Turkish charity Deniz Feneri case is referred to as a source of “concern” regarding the influence of the executive on the judiciary, while the judiciary is criticized in general for not working according to international standards.

The meeting document also warns Turkey of the exceptionally critical tone of the draft, stating, “In the light of developments, in particular in the area of freedom of expression and other fundamental rights, we will express concern and this will influence the overall tone of the progress report compared to earlier years.” While it acknowledges that domestic debate on sensitive issues has continued, restrictions on freedom of the media and new court cases against writers and journalists are described as issues of “serious” concern. Brussels argues that self-censorship is now widespread among journalists in the country.

The draft welcomes work on the new constitution and emphasizes that it could be an opportunity to address the Kurdish problem, although it notes that secret talks with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been abandoned and that no major progress has been made recently. Referring to the meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to exchange views on how to tackle the Kurdish issue, the draft notes that there was no follow-up to the meeting, which took place in June.

The draft is also critical of the lack of discussion around political responsibility for the Uludere incident, in which 34 Kurdish smugglers were killed by Turkish jets after being mistaken for terrorists, and of legal cases against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), as it argues that local government in the Southeast has suffered and been affected adversely by such actions.

The draft will also highlight that the democratic opening, which started in 2009, has now come to a virtual halt. As in previous years, the draft is expected to condemn PKK terror by recognizing that it is on the EU list of terror organizations, and also to underline increased tensions in the wake of the PKK's escalation of terror attacks. The start of Kurdish language elective courses at secondary schools is also expected to be canvassed.

The European Commission is adopting a more critical approach vis-à-vis coup investigations this year, focusing on the shortcomings in the cases. Addressing the rights of defendants, lengthy pre-trial detention and long indictments, the draft refers to former Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ without naming him. “During the Internet Memorandum investigation, the former chief of staff of the armed forces was arrested in January 2012 on charges of attempting to overthrow the government and of membership of a terrorist organization. This led to significantly enhanced public scrutiny of the legitimacy of these cases,” says the draft. Prime Minister Erdoğan has on several occasions called on the judiciary to release the retired four-star general.

On Cyprus, the draft will repeat the commission's conventional position, reiterating that Ankara has not fully implemented the Additional Protocol to the Association Agreement and has not removed all obstacles to the free movement of goods, including restrictions on direct transport links with Cyprus.

However, this year the draft also refers to Turkey's decision to freeze relations with the EU during the presidency of Greek Cyprus, and to boycott meetings chaired by the Greek Cypriot presidency. Nicosia's presidency will end on Dec. 31, 2012.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-292942-.html