Hurriyet

Steps that would harm Turkey should be avoided if the aim is the development of Turkish-Armenian relations, the country’s chief foreign policy advisor to the prime minister said Tuesday following his contacts in Washington.

“We are in an era in which mutual confidence based relations between Turkey and Armenia have started. A wrong step not only harms cooperation between Turkey and the United States, but also risks such expansions from Turkey,” Ahmet Davutoglu, chief foreign policy advisor to the Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters in Washington.

Davutoglu’s remarks came after he met U.S. officials, including the advisors of both U.S. presidential candidates Democrat Barack Obama, who has repeatedly made remarks in favor of the so-called Armenian “genocide” claims, and Republican John McCain.

There is no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called “genocide” claims instead of accepting Turkey’s call to investigate the allegations, and Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan. 

A warmer period began between Turkey and Armenia after Turkish President Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to Armenia early September.

“Such remarks are made in the presidential election campaign. But when you take over the administration, you need to be interested in all problems in the world.

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An annual United States report evaluating religious freedom pointed to growing anti-Semitism in Armenia, following the presidential elections in the country. 

“On February 27, 2008, the state-operated H1 public television channel’s news program presented coverage of a post-presidential election opposition rally, focusing primarily on an Israeli flag — one of many nations’ flags in the crowd — with the intention of vilifying Levon Ter-Petrosyan, whose wife is Jewish,” said the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report 2008.

The report continues: “In May and June 2008, the pro-government Hayots Ashkharh and Golos Armenii daily newspapers published anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic accusations against Ter-Petrosyan. Local observers viewed the inflammatory articles as attempts to portray the opposition leader as a traitor to the country and stir up anti-Semitic sentiment in a country traditionally known for its welcoming attitude toward Jews.”

“On June 1, 2008, H1 broadcast a 10-minute segment on its weekly 360 Degrees news magazine program, the sole focus of which appeared to be to disparage and undermine the opposition. The footage incorporated the anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic attacks by Hayots Ashkharh and Golos Armenii.”

The report released finds that while the Constitution of Armenia provides for freedom of religion, Armenia places restrictions on the religious freedom of adherents of minority religious groups.

In the section dealing with such restrictions the report mentions that the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations prohibits but does not define “proselytizing”.

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Hurriyet

The French Senate will never adopt the bill aiming to criminalize the denial of the Armenian claims of “genocide”, a prominent leader in the Senate told the Turkish Daily News (TDN) on Thursday.

 In 2006 the French National Assembly adopted the bill criminalizing the denial of the 1915 incidents as “genocide”.

The bill was blocked by the Senate, but the vote in the lower house of the parliament dealt a blow to bilateral relations between Turkey and France.  

“The issue is over. It is impossible for the Senate to adopt this law,” said Hubert Haenel, president of the Senate’s Commission for European Union Affairs.

Heanel, in Turkey to attend seminar titled, “The Republic in France and Turkey” at Bilgi University in Istanbul, told TDN that the bill was blocked in the Senate, adding French intellectual circles had also criticized the bill, as it prejudged the studies of historians.

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Turkish Daily News

The French Senate will not adopt the bill aiming to criminalize the denial of the Armenian claims of genocide, a prominent leader in the French Senate told the Turkish Daily News yesterday.

“This issue is over. It is impossible for the Senate to adopt this law,” said Hubert Haenel, president of the Senate’s Commission for European Union Affairs.

  In 2006 the French National Assembly adopted the bill criminalizing the denial of the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans as genocide.

The bill would have to be passed by the Senate to become a law, but the vote in the lower house of the parliament dealt a heavy blow to bilateral relations.

Haenel, in Turkey to attend a seminar titled, “The Republic in France and Turkey,” at Bilgi University in Istanbul, told the TDN that the bill was blocked in the Senate, adding that French intellectual circles had also criticized the bill, as it prejudged the studies of historians. Haenel said the atmosphere between the two countries had changed, implying also that there was a different conjecture that would also make it difficult for the Senate to make a decision that would damage bilateral relations.

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