Abdullah Gül, President of Turkey, has been voted the winner of the Chatham House Prize 2010. This annual award is presented to the statesperson deemed by members of the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.
PM Erdoğan wanted to state that Turkey is indeed tolerant and lets many Armenian citizens (I usually heard 50,000 but now 100,000 is uttered) work in Turkey “illegally”. However what he meant in his own way turns out to be a scandal that he won’t care much…. This threat was not about Armeanian-Turkish citizens…
When Turkey and Armenia come closest, third country parliaments interfere. Looks like a calculated provocation….
The Resolution Saga Continues, Erdogan Points to “Jewish Lobby” from Turkish Politics in Action by Ragan Updegraff Prime Minister Erdogan said today that Ankara has no plans to send Turkish Ambasador to the United States Namik Tan back to Washington until it receives a clear signal that the resolution is dead. On Friday, the Obama … Read more
And I am sure this will boost the sequel of Valley of the Wolves…
U.S. “genocide” resolution casts shadow over Turkey- Armenia normalization process
Newly-appointed Turkish Ambassador to the United States Namik Tan PHOTO from Hurriyet Daily News
Though with less of a majority than expected, the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday again passed a resolution recognizing the mass deportations organized by the Ottoman Committee for Union and Progrss (CUP) as genocide. By a vote of 23-22, the non-binding resolution now waits to be moved to the House floor for a vote by the entire 435-member body, though it is unclear whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will do so.
US congressional move will definitely help US favorability in Turkey (!)
Turkey recalls ambassador over US vote
FILE – In this Jan. 4, 2010 file photo, Turkey’s new Ambassador to Washington Namik Tan, right, and Turkey’s ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, left, are seen during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey. Turkey says it is recalling its ambassador to the U.S. for consultations following a resolution declaring the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I genocide. The move came minutes after the U.S. congressional panel approved the resolution Thursday. A government statement said Ambassador Namik Tan was being recalled with immediate effect.(AP Photo / Burhan Ozbilici, File)
People upset over Armenia’s warming diplomatic relations with Turkey, protest in front of the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California in 2009. Turkey warned US lawmakers Monday against passing a bill that brands World War One-era massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks “genocide,” saying ties between Washington and Ankara would suffer. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Kevork Djansezian) … Read more
Turkey’s Minister for EU Affairs Egemen Bagis (L) introduces Latvia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Maris Riekstins to Turkey’s delegation members in Riga February 26, 2010.REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
Here are a few accounts of what Onur Öymen, deputy chairman of a social democrat party, CHP, experienced at EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting…
EU Parliament Turkey Rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruitjen
PHOTO from Today’s Zaman
CHP deputy chairman Onur Oymen, speaking to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee at the European Parliament this week, criticized European politicians for only reading one newspaper, namely Today’s Zaman (though the paper was not mentioned by name). The pro-government/moderate Islamist-oriented daily reports:
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16.02.2010
Press release issued by the Registrar
Chamber judgment1
Akdas v. Turkey (no 41056/04)
SEIZURE OF THE NOVEL Les ONZE MILLE verges BY Guillaume Apollinaire and conviction of the publisher hindered public access to a work belonging to the european literary heritage
Unanimously:
Violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression)
of the European Convention on Human Rights
Principal facts
The applicant, Mr Rahmi Akdaş, was born in 1958 and lives in Bandırma. He is a publisher and in 1999 published the Turkish translation of the erotic novel Les onze mille verges by the French writer Guillaume Apollinaire (?The Eleven Thousand Rods? ? On Bir Bin Kırbaç in Turkish), which contains graphic descriptions of scenes of sexual intercourse, with various practices such as sadomasochism or vampirism………………………..
In the last round, relations got worse but I believe this is just another (negative) step in many steps to come… A roundup on Turkish foreign policy… Historic efforts to establish ties between Armenia and Turkey may break down, the Armenian foreign minister warned on Friday, blaming Ankara for obstructing the process. (AFP/Graphic/Paz Pizarro) A … Read more
What you need to know about the person shaping Turkey’s muscular new foreign policy.
Turkey has announced that a Dutch parliamentary delegation will not be welcome if it includes Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. Turkish ministers and MPs will refuse to meet the entire delegation if Wilders is among them. A spokesperson for the Turkish foreign ministry says: ?This man has racist ideas. We fear his presence would overshadow the visit?. The popular Turkish daily Aksam was the first to report the news on yesterday: ?Tension over Mozart?, the paper?s headline read, apparently referring to the Freedom Party leader?s exotic hairdo.
Main opposition party, CHP, has recently opened up an office in Brussels. Some thought it as a good sign that finally CHP would actually support the EU process. There has not been any positive signs though. In the mean time, Brussels office sends email-bulletins. The last one was about CHP’s views on the Kurdish Question. EU leadership proves to be more and more naive and I guess in this respect good, abstract but without substance statements may have an impact on EU public. If only ignores the fact that CHP triggers more nationalist hysteria than nationalist MHP does…Below, there is also a roundup on the EU-TR relations and TR’s Foreign Policy moves…
CHP VIEWS AND PROPOSALS ON THE KURDISH QUESTION
The Turkish Parliament debated the government?s initiative on the Kurdish question on November 10th and 13th.
Background: In 1991, the first proposal of law in Turkey on the abolishment of all obstacles to the use of the Kurdish language was a social-democratic initiative. It was signed and introduced by Mr Deniz Baykal and his colleagues. In 2002, during the rule of the coalition government (Social-Democrats-Liberals-Nationalists) several reforms were adopted to allow the teaching and broadcasting in Kurdish. Recently, the Turkish government declared its intention to implement a new reform on the ethnic issues without making public its proposal. CHP responded in reminding its previous comprehensive reports on the Kurdish question and its very recent concrete proposals.
I have met Andrés a few months ago offline although I knew him for a while online. He is based in Istanbul, a Spanish journalist who has a good regional knowledge background. This cordial guy has released a book entitled as a Transcaucasia Express (in Spanish), which can be downloaded here:
