Turkey has, perhaps for the first time, seen a public prosecutor prevent the implementation of a court decision, regarding a recent ruling for the release of journalist Hidayet Karaca, the top executive of the Samanyolu Media Group, and 63 police officers who are being held in pre-trial detention at Silivri Prison.
Although an İstanbul court on Saturday night ruled for the release of Karaca and the police officers who have been detained for several months pending trial, the court’s ruling was not enforced by the public prosecutors who were on duty on Saturday and Sunday.
Legal experts say it is incomprehensible to block the implementation of a court ruling once it is handed down, noting that such a move is in violation of the law.
İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu allegedly held an emergency meeting at the İstanbul Courthouse to prevent the entry of the ruling in the judicial network, the National Judiciary Network Project (UYAP).
Former public prosecutor Gültekin Avcı, who is among the lawyers representing Karaca, said nobody can prevent a ruling from being enforced. He said it does not matter whether a court ruling appears in the UYAP system or not, as it is enough for the ruling to be submitted to the prison administrators personally.
Avcı, speaking to the Cihan news agency, said the prosecutor on duty on Saturday night told him that he could not implement the release verdict and “appeared nervous and fearful.” Avcı commented that prosecutors are not authorized to override the decisions of judges. “Once again, we are facing a severe violation of the law,” Avcı said.
Lawyer Ömer Turanlı, who is among the lawyers representing several jailed police officers, also said any attempt to block the implementation of the court ruling constitutes a crime.
On Sunday, the prosecutor on duty changed, yet the new prosecutor also failed to take the necessary action for the release of Karaca and the jailed police officers.
Fikret Duran, another of Karaca’s attorneys, said in a statement read in front of the İstanbul Courthouse on Sunday that the prosecutors are cornered between being sent into professional exile and committing a crime, adding that, on behalf of the Turkish judiciary, he is ashamed of this situation.
He said the lawyers of the suspects for whom release had been ordered could not meet with the prosecutor on duty on Saturday night despite a series of attempts and that the prosecutor told them that Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Orhan Kapıcı told him not to send the court decision to the Silivri Prison administration to prevent it from being enforced.
Duran said pressure continued when the new prosecutor came on duty on Sunday, and that he also failed to enforce the court’s ruling to release their clients.
The lawyer said that public prosecutors have no authority to make an assessment of the court’s rulings and prevent their enforcement.
Duran also said that Karaca’s lawyers will file a criminal complaint against the prosecutors on duty on Saturday and Sunday, as well as Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Orhan Kapıcı, on charges of illegally limiting the freedom of his client and that they will also take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
On Sunday İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Salihoğlu released a written statement describing the İstanbul 32nd Court of First Instance’s release decision as null and void based on an earlier ruling from the 10th Penal Court of Peace which rejected the suspects’ requests for release and ordered the continuation of their incarceration.
Salihoğlu’s statement drew criticism from the lawyers representing Karaca and the jailed police officers.
Attorneys Avcı and Turanlı made a statement later in the day and accused Salihoğlu of laying waste to the law. They said the 10th Penal Court of Peace is a lower court than the İstanbul 32nd Court of First Instance, and as such its decision cannot override that of the higher court.
The lawyers also said that Salihoğlu had committed a crime and gone beyond the scope of his authority by making such a statement. They said Salihoğlu violated Articles 277 and 288 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) regarding intervention in the judiciary.
In the meantime, Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Mahmut Tanal warned on Sunday that the judge who ruled for the release of journalist Karaca and the jailed police officers might be reassigned by the government.
“Unfortunately, judges who have made decisions that the government did not like though they were in compliance with law have either been investigated or reassigned. That judge could also be reassigned,” he said.
Independent deputy Hakan Şükür said the pressure on the members of the judiciary is very obvious. He commented it is like a crisis desk has been set up and orders are sent to it from the government. (TODAY’S ZAMAN, April 26, 2015)
Un ex-magistrat menacé de prison à vie pour un enregistrement visant Erdogan

Un ex-magistrat turc a annoncé samedi qu’il avait été inculpé pour des faits de “terrorisme” et risquait la prison à vie pour avoir diffusé un enregistrement mettant en cause le président turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan dans une affaire de corruption.

Ancien procureur, Gültekin Avci a indiqué sur son compte Twitter qu’il était poursuivi pour “association de malfaiteur en relation avec une entreprise terroriste” et “tentative de complot contre le gouvernement”.

Il a ajouté qu’il encourait une peine maximale de réclusion à perpétuité pour avoir mentionné dans un de ses tweets un lien avec l’enregistrement d’une conversation téléphonique largement diffusée depuis plus d’un an, dans lequel M. Erdogan demande à son fils Bilal de faire disparaître 30 millions d’euros en liquide.

Cette bande sonore, fruit d’écoutes téléphoniques illégales qui ont visé l’homme fort du pays, alors Premier ministre, avait été publiée pour la première fois en février 2014, après l’ouverture d’une enquête pour corruption qui a visé plusieurs membres du gouvernement islamo-conservateur ou proches du régime turc.

M. Erdogan qui a été élu chef de l’Etat en août dernier, a démenti l’authenticité de ces conversations enregistrées, parlant d’un “montage abject”.

Il a accusé l’organisation de l’imam Fethullah Gülen, longtemps un de ses alliés politiques, d’avoir fabriqué de toutes pièces les accusations de corruption visant ses ministres et ses proches dans le cadre d’un “complot” visant à le renverser.

Depuis cette affaire, M. Erdogan a déclaré la guerre à M. Gülen, qui vit aux Etats-Unis, et multiplié les purges et les arrestations contre son organisation.

Aujourd’hui avocat, M. Avci défend notamment les intérêts d’un journaliste, Hidayet Karaca, détenu depuis quatre mois dans le cadre d’une enquête judiciaire visant un groupe de presse proche de l’organisation Gülen. (AFP, 25 avril 2015)


Strict security measures taken at the İstanbul Courthouse (Çağlayan Courthouse), where a prosecutor was killed after being taken hostage by two gunmen on Tuesday, have led to heated arguments after police officers attempted to search lawyers entering the courthouse.
Two gunmen from a banned leftist group — the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) — and Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, died on Tuesday after a shootout with special forces. Kiraz had been overseeing an investigation into the killing of Berkin Elvan, a teenager who was hit by a tear gas canister fired by the police during the Gezi Park protests in the summer of 2013.
After one of the most dramatic hostage events in recent history, strict security measures were taken at the courthouse but when police officers attempted to search lawyers entering the courthouse, some lawyers refused to be searched and as a result were denied access.
Furthermore, an X-ray machine has been installed at the courthouse entrance specially designated for lawyers. Some lawyers also refused to pass through the machine and were therefore also prevented from entering the courthouse.
In protest of the detailed searches of lawyers, a female lawyer — Özlem Özkan — took off some of her clothes in front of the new X-ray machine on Thursday. Özkan also quarreled with some of the police officers waiting in front of the checkpoint.
While some lawyers quarreled with the police officers at the checkpoint, another group of angry lawyers entered the courthouse forcibly without undergoing the security checks. The lawyers shouted slogans saying that they will never accept being searched as searching a lawyer is unlawful.
Those lawyers who forcibly entered the courthouse made a statement to the press inside the courthouse. Speaking on behalf of the lawyers, lawyer Volkan Gültekin said that some of their colleagues were forced to pass their bags through the X-ray machine, which is illegal.
Gültekin said that such searches can be performed with a court decision, adding: “We asked to see a court decision but they [the police] did not show us such a decision. They said that they do not have such a court decision. Then we asked for a written order from the prosecutor’s office, but they said they have just a verbal order.
Speaking with the press in front of the courthouse on Thursday, the İstanbul Bar Association’s regional representative for the İstanbul Courthouse, Betül Yergök, said they already knew that increased security measures would be taken at the courthouse after the prosecutor’s death, but the fact that lawyers are being directly targeted by the police is unacceptable.
“We were subjected to some extreme treatment from the police,” said Yergök, who went on to explain: “They [the police] attempted to search the inside of our bags apart from just checking our identity cards. They also threatened to search our person if we refused to allow them to search our bags. Then we asked if there was any written court decision for this. They said there was no written decision but a verbal one. They also added that a written decision will also be issued soon and that they were ordered to conduct the searches,” Yergök explained.
Yergök said it is normal for the police to check ID cards, but that police do not have the legal right to search lawyers’ bags via X-ray machines or search lawyers. He also added that some lawyers additionally received insulting remarks and treatment from the police officers.
“Some colleagues accepted having to pass through the X-ray machine and being searched by the police because they were late to attend their hearings. Some heated arguments erupted between the police officers and lawyers who refused to be searched. We, as lawyers, made an official report on the maltreatment the lawyers were exposed to. An increasing number of colleagues are putting their signatures on this report,” concluded Yergök.
In the meantime, long queues formed in front of the courthouse as all others entering the courthouse were exposed to detailed searches before they were allowed to enter into the İstanbul Courthouse on Thursday. (TODAY’S ZAMAN, April 2, 2015)
In its annual assessment of the media freedom worldwide, the Committee to Protect Journalists has argued that Turkish authorities now consider declaring critical journalists as “unwanted” is a more efficient, cunning method of stifling the free press, rather than jailing them for their reporting.
“Erdoğan seems to have realized that he no longer needs to resort to jailing journalists,” the report entitled “Attacks on the Press” said, referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. According to the CPJ’s latest report, there are seven journalists remain behind the bars. Since then STV network executive Hidayet Karaca and Taraf journalist Mehmet Baransu are locked up for critical reporting, drawing international condemnation.
The Turkey section of the CPJ report, authored by Yavuz Baydar, an award-winning Turkish journalist who was fired from his newspaper Sabah two years ago, said the Turkish media has fallen into “full compliance with the structures of power,” most notably those of Erdoğan in the past five years. He said he warned repeatedly that the tsunami that is overwhelming Turkish journalism is far beyond the worrisome, unacceptable number of journalists and dissidents in jail, that the future of the Turkish media itself, with its professional values and conduct, is in “serious danger.”
2015 edition of the Attacks on the Press includes articles from around the world, from Egypt to Hong Kong, raising serious concerns over the freedom of journalists to operate in their countries. In Turkey, it said, thousands of journalists are now being forced to operate in what many describe as “prisons without walls” although the number of journalists in prison is falling.
The report said in the conglomerate media — controlled by four or five companies — every newsroom is essentially an “open-air prison” characterized by severe, routine self-censorship where the punishment for professional resistance is to be fired and essentially declared a toxic human resource, making it very difficult to get a job elsewhere.
The report said thanks to “systematic attacks and cunning operations,” by the Turkish authorities but also by complicit media outlets that the country has now a “toothless mainstream media” that lacks efficiency and influence. It added that reporters are either told or give up as a display of self-censorship in chasing stories that would be of public interest. It concluded that along with law-enforced censorship, self-censorship has become the normal, widely internalized practice. “Imprisonment as a punitive measure is on the decline, replaced by firings,” Baydar wrote.
World’s leading press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 149th out of 180 countries, citing an escalating crackdown on media freedom since the corruption scandal that blew into open in December 2013. The corruption charges targeted President Erdoğan and his inner circle.
The lack of coverage and the distortion of news stories, the report noted, showed that the Turkish media proprietors had sealed an alliance with the government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). This “unholy alliance”, the report argued, reached new heights with the massive graft probes of 2013. “From December 17, 2013, until the end of 2014, most of the audio recordings and leaked documents–almost all with news value, in the public interest–were deliberately ignored and self-censored by the same media that had refused to cover the Gezi Park protests,” Baydar wrote.
It added that Erdoğan’s “total intolerance” for even the slightest critique, has made it impossible for the media barons to be seen as reliable sources of news and therefore to turn a profit. With thousands of journalists shackled at their desks, Baydar highlighted, the vacuum in the centerfield is immense. He stated that elected political leaderships in many parts of the world are now busy mastering ways to stifle the media. “It is high time to expose this new dirty media order, which destroys the public’s right to know,” he said. (TODAY’S ZAMAN, April 27, 2015)
A Turkish prosecutor has barred Ekrem Dumanlı, the Editor-in-Chief of the country’s largest circulated daily, from attending a press freedom event organized in the European Parliament.
In a decision issued on Tuesday, Public Prosecutor Hasan Yılmaz said the request by Dumanlı’s lawyer to temporarily lift the travel ban imposed on his client, that would allow Dumanlı to attend the conference in Brussels, “was not proper.” The prosecutor justified his refusal of the request by citing the nature of the crime Dumanlı was accused of.
Dumanlı was invited to speak at a seminar titled “Press Freedom in Turkey” organized by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) and the Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens–EFA) in the European Parliament. The seminar will be held on Wednesday with Guy Verhofstadt, the president of the ALDE group and former prime minister of Belgium, moderating the discussion and Rebecca Harms, the president of the Green group, delivering concluding remarks.
Two other Turkish journalists, Can Dündar, editor-in chief of Cumhuriyet, and Andrew Finkel were also invited to speak. European Parliament members Marietje Schaake, of the ALDE group, and Bodil Ceballos, of the Green group, will also participate.
Dumanlı is expected to contribute to the seminar through a teleconference. The event is a public conference that will be streamed live on Internet.
Dumanlı has been the target of a government-orchestrated operation on critical media and he was detained for five days in December 2014 under anti-terrorism charges before his release pending trial.
But the court imposed a travel ban on him following his release. Dumanlı’s lawyers have challenged the travel ban several times but were overruled. His defense lawyers say the ban is an arbitrary decision and conflicts with the ruling of the judge who said in his ruling that there is a lack of strong evidence necessitating the arrest of the suspect.
Dumanlı petitioned the Constitutional Court in January about rights violations during his more than four-day stay under police custody. He said the law has been violated in various ways during his detention such as his not being allowed to know, due to a confidentiality order placed on the investigation, what he and his journalism colleagues were accused of until they were questioned.
Dumanlı’s lawyer, Hasan Günaydın, asked for TL 100,000 in compensation for non-pecuniary damages caused by a series of rights violations he was subjected to during his detention, which he said violated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Turkey’s Constitution and rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Dumanlı’s lawyer said that as they were not informed about the accusations, they were unable to prepare a defense, saying, “It is unthinkable for a lawyer who cannot examine an investigation file and see the relevant documents and evidence to provide legal support to their client.”
Lawyer Günaydın said although his client repeatedly asked the judge, when he appeared in court, what the charges against him were, the 1st İstanbul Penal Court of Peace Judge Bekir Altun only said his detention was based on two columns and one news article published by the Zaman daily. The lawyer said let alone any piece of evidence, there was not even reasonable suspicion to legitimize Dumanlı’s detention.
The launch of the operation was controversial in the first place because when rumors emerged in early December suggesting that Dumanlı was among those who would be detained in a police operation based on the tweets of a government whistleblower who goes by the name Fuat Avni, Dumanlı visited the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 12 to ask the chief prosecutor whether there is an investigation underway that concerns him.
The prosecutor, who checked the National Judicial Network Project (UYAP), told him that there was no investigation against him. Despite this, they were detained in a police operation two days later.
Lawyer Günaydın said it is not legally possible to explain the detention of his client and his being kept in police custody for days without the presence of any evidence against him when he went to the prosecutor’s office to ask if there was an investigation against him and when his permanent address was known.
Another rights violation Dumanlı was subjected to as mentioned by his lawyer in the petition was his being kept under police custody at the end of his appearance in court on the fourth day of his detention. The lawyer said the judge should have announced his ruling immediately but he detained Dumanlı for another day, which was an open violation of Dumanlı’s freedom.
The petition to release Samanyolu TV network executive and journalist Hidayet Karaca, who has been in jail for 130 days, was also rejected by the court on Tuesday. One of Turkey’s leading investigative journalists, Mehmet Baransu, has been imprisoned since March based on trumped-up charges that he acquired secret documents on the security of the state. (TODAY’S ZAMAN, April 21, 2015)
Press unions and associations have strongly criticized Turkish prosecutors for seeking excessive prison sentences for two columnists, Ceyda Karan and Hikmet Çetinkaya, who write for the Cumhuriyet daily, for their articles that featured the front cover of the French Charlie Hebdo magazine depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had launched a criminal investigation against Karan and Çetinkaya, in which the two columnists were accused of using the media to incite the public to hatred and animosity and of insulting people’s religious values. Karan and Çetinkaya recently testified at the İstanbul Courthouse as part of the investigation.
According to the Cumhuriyet daily’s website, an indictment in the case was recently completed. The indictment reportedly seeks a custodial sentence of up to four-and-a-half years for each of the two columnists on charges of “openly insulting religious values adopted by sections of society.”
The investigation of the two columnists was reportedly launched after complaints from 1,280 individuals.
Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Karan said the image published in their columns by the Cumhuriyet daily did not include any insulting content. She questioned why the prosecutors had launched a trial against the columnists, who were merely defending the magazine’s freedom of expression, instead of launching a trial against those who had threatened them with a banner held in front of the newspaper’s headquarters, which read, “Our C-4 explosives are ready.”
Karan said that the trial would be a case based on rights and freedoms against those “peddlers of religion who try to legitimize terrorism and violence with their ideological ambitions.” She added that such punishments could only take place in authoritarian and fascist regimes, emphasizing that they wouldn’t be intimidated by such trials.
In January the Cumhuriyet daily published a selection of cartoons from an issue of Charlie Hebdo, translating them into Turkish, in a show of solidarity with the weekly magazine after 12 people were killed in a massacre at its Paris headquarters on Jan. 7. The assailants said they had attacked Charlie Hebdo staff to avenge Prophet Muhammad, who was depicted in a number of caricatures by the magazine.
Although the four pages of Charlie Hebdo cartoons published by Cumhuriyet on Jan. 14 did not feature any images of Prophet Muhammad, columnists Karan and Çetinkaya included the controversial Prophet Muhammad caricature in their articles.
Press unions: Journalists cannot be punished for expressing views
The jail terms being sought for Karan and Çetinkaya drew harsh reactions from representatives of various press unions and associations who emphasized that these columnists cannot be punished with a prison sentence for publishing the controversial caricature.
Turkey Journalists Union (TGS) Secretary-General Mustafa Kuleli told Today’s Zaman that the two columnists did not publish the controversial caricature to insult any community, but merely to show their solidarity with the attacked magazine in terms of the freedom of the press.
“No one is obligated to show the same level of respect asked by any person or community regarding that person’s faith or religious beliefs,” Kuleli said. “For instance, if I was a Hindu who worshipped cows, I could not demand that you respect cows at the same level that I do. Furthermore, there cannot be any legislation that can determine the limits of the respect towards religious beliefs. As religion is a matter of the heart, its limits cannot be determined via laws or punishments.”
Saying that he does not believe religious leaders or prophets need to be protected via laws, Kuleli added: “It is not something that can be punished via laws. This is a clear violation of freedom of expression. They [the columnists] do not have any intention to insult.”
Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) Secretary-General Sibel Güneş told Today’s Zaman that it evaluates the jail terms being sought for the two Cumhuriyet columnists in terms of the freedom of the press, adding that democracies should withstand different views. “Punishing people for expressing their own ideas cannot comply with a democratic country,” Güneş said. “What the public should read or not cannot be determined by the government. The public decides it in democratic countries.”
Recalling that Turkey has been called a half-democratic country due to successive punishments and jail sentences given to tens of journalists in the last two years, Güneş added that journalists should not be threatened and intimidated for performing their profession and expressing their ideas.
Commenting on the same issue, Media Ethics Council (MEK) Secretary-General Nejat Sezik told Today’s Zaman that although he doesn’t approve of the publication of the controversial caricature depicting Prophet Muhammad in the columns, he believes that freedom of expression must be preserved. Saying that the columnists simply expressed their ideas in their columns, Sezik said that these columnists should not be punished with any jail time or receive any other punishment, emphasizing that the council supports the freedom of expression of the targeted columnists.
ÇGD: Jail terms against columnists show extent of pressure on Turkish press
Speaking with Today’s Zaman, Progressive Journalists Association (ÇGD) Chairman Ahmet Abakay said the fact that up to four-and-a-half years in prison is being sought against Karan and Çetinkaya shows the extent of the pressure being applied on the media by the central administration.
Saying that Turkey currently has a “repressive and fascist administration,” Abakay added that this clearly shows that the judiciary, which must remain impartial, is under the intense inspection and control of the government.
In the worst militant attack on French soil in recent decades, gunmen stormed the Paris offices of weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7, killing at least 12 people including two police officers.
Charlie Hebdo is well known for courting controversy with satirical attacks on political and religious leaders. (TODAY’S ZAMAN, April 9, 2015)
German photojournalist Andy Spyra deported from Turkey

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliates in Germany (Deutsche Journalisten Union – DJV and Deutsche Journalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union – dju in ver.di) have today condemned the Turkish authorities for deporting the German photojournalist, Andy Spyra, who was covering the anniversary of the Armenian genocide for Der Spiegel on 29 March.

Spyra was stopped and searched by the Turkish authorities on 28 March when he arrived at the Istanbul airport. The authorities accused him of carrying “military-style equipment” and deported him the next day following an overnight detention. He explained in his recent Facebook post that “the military equipment in question” was in fact his camera dust-blower, army-style boots and khaki-colored clothing.

Spyra believed that his deportation is linked to his reporting on the100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide which is a sensitive topic in Turkey.

“Turkey needs to stop abusing its anti-terror law for the purpose of censorship,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, EFJ President.

“It is shocking that Turkey, as a candidate country to the EU, is barring foreign journalists from entering the country and locking up local journalists because of their critical voices.”

Federike Geerdink, a Dutch journalist reporting in Turkey was on tried yesterday for violating the anti-terror law by conducting propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). To date, 23 journalists are still in prison for alleged violation of the anti-terror law in Turkey. The EFJ and its affiliate in Turkey, the Turkish Journalists’ Union (TGS) continue to campaign for their freedom. (EFJ, April 9, 2015)

In an attempt to surpass the 10 percent election threshold and be a key party in Parliament, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) submitted on Tuesday an inclusive list of candidates to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) for the upcoming general election on June 7.
According to the list, Armenian activist Garo Paylan from İstanbul, former Diyarbakır mufti Nimetullah Erdoğmuş, pro-Kurdish politician Leyla Zana from Diyarbakır, Alevi lawyer Ali Haydar Konca from Kocaeli, former deputy and spokesperson of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat from Mersin, academicians Prof. Mithat Sancar from Mardin and Prof. Kadri Yıldırım from Siirt, Islamist writer Ayhan Bilgen from Kars and former member of the European Parliament (EP) and a member of a Yezidi family Feleknas Uca from Diyarbakır were some of the prominent names among HDP candidates.
While HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş was nominated from İstanbul, another co-chair, Figen Yüksekdağ, was nominated from Van province. Other prominent figures in the HDP such as Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Osman Baydemir and İdris Baluken were nominated from Ankara, İzmir, Şanlıurfa and Bingöl, respectively.
Demirtaş said in an interview on Monday that more than 40 percent of the party’s candidates for parliamentary seats in the June elections will be women, a record in Turkish party politics. The new Parliament might have the all-time highest number of female parliamentarians in Turkish history after the June elections, Demirtaş added.
According a survey by Gezici on March 29, the AK Party has lost the majority support of Kurdish voters in İstanbul, where the tide has turned in favor of the HDP. If the poll of voter intentions translates into hard votes, the HDP will increase its vote to 13 percent, compared to the 5.3 percent the party had received in the 2011 general election when it was known as the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).
Other surveys also show the HDP is likely to pass the 10 percent electoral threshold in the June elections with a percentage of between 10 and 11 percent across Turkey, which will lead to a coalition government as the ruling AK Party will not be able to secure an adequate number of seats in Parliament to form a single-party government.
The 10 percent election threshold and the possibility of lifting it is one of the most debated issues in Turkey, not only among politicians but also countrywide. If the election threshold is lifted, the HDP will have the chance to increase its standing, not only in the predominantly Kurdish-populated southeastern provinces of Turkey but also across society, as it will have the leverage it needs to directly address the problems facing the country.
The possible success of the HDP will be considered as a loss for the AK Party. If the HDP fails to overcome the threshold, its votes will be distributed proportionally among the other parties, which will help the AK Party come out of the current political turmoil stronger. (TODAY’S ZAMAN, April 7, 2015)
A group called Friends of Hrant Dink, including lawmakers and activists, has called for those behind the murder to be punished so that society can be peaceful, after the trial of Dink’s accused murderers was adjourned to Sept. 3.
The fifth hearing in the retrial of defendants accused of assassinating Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink was held on Tuesday. Dink’s family’s lawyers mentioned a separate investigation launched into public officers who they say were informed about the planned murder and asked to wait the result of the investigation for the ruling. However, the prosecutor in the current case, Yavuz Pehlivan, asked for a report from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) on video footage from the day of the murder. The panel of judges ruled that it would wait for the TÜBİTAK report and adjourned the trial until Sept. 3.
In a press statement delivered in front of the İstanbul Courthouse before the hearing, Figen Şakacı, who read the statement on behalf of the group Friends of Hrant Dink, said that as the world marks the centenary of the 1915 killings of the Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, their pain does not heal due to the “the consistent denial of genocide,” the fact that the “genocide” has not been accepted and that justice has not been served.
Stating that they are not seeking revenge or to open new wounds, she said they want their pain to be accepted and the murderers to be unveiled and punished.
Şakacı emphasized that they do not want any other Armenian to share the same destiny as Dink.
She said “the shows,” as she calls the previous hearings into Dink’s death, that have been staged in the name of justice up until today do not serve any purpose, except to deepen their wounds and create unease and unhappiness.
“With these shows, by hiding the murders, they attempt to dismiss the possibility of our living together peacefully by knowing, accepting each other… We will continue our vigil for justice and call everyone who has a conscience to also stand vigil,” Şakacı concluded.
Dink, the late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, was shot and killed in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, by an ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in İstanbul. Evidence discovered since then has led to claims that the murder was linked to the “deep state,” a term that refers to a shadowy group of military and civilian bureaucrats in Turkey believed to have links with organized crime.
Although it has been more than seven years since the assassination, no satisfactory outcome has been produced by the trial.
The 14th Specially Authorized High Criminal Court — as the court was previously called — on Jan. 17, 2012 acquitted all suspects in the case on the charge of being a member of a terrorist organization. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals challenged the ruling, arguing that the suspects had not acted alone but as part of a criminal organization. Later, the 9th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the acquittal of the suspects on charges of membership in a criminal organization. The chamber ruled that the suspects should be retried on this charge. (TODAY’S ZAMAN, April 28, 2015)
Critiques de Dogan Özgüden sur le négationnisme turc en Belgique

Belga: Des militants d’origine turque au côté de la communauté arménienne

Le comité belge des commémorations des victimes du génocide arménien de 1915 a lancé cette semaine un appel à la reconnaissance de ce génocide, réfuté par le gouvernement turc. Des associations d’origine turque figurent parmi la quinzaine d’organisations qui relaient cet appel en Belgique. Le rédacteur Dogan Özgüden déplore que les autorités belges demeurent frileuses à ce sujet, pour des raisons électorales. Le centenaire du génocide sera commémoré dans le monde vendredi, notamment à Bruxelles.
Le comité belge des commémorations des victimes du génocide arménien de 1915 est composé de la coordination belge du centenaire du génocide arménien, ainsi que des fédérations syriaque, kurde, yézidie ou alévie, mais aussi d’associations d’origine turque comme la confédération des ouvriers de Turquie en Europe ou la fondation Info-Türk.

Le rédacteur en chef du bulletin Info-Türk, Dogan Özgüden, déplore mercredi “n’avoir jamais entendu, de la part d’élus belges d’origine turque, de prise de position démocrate au sujet du génocide arménien et déviant de la ligne du gouvernement turc”.

L’appel porté par le comité belge regrette dans la même veine que “des négationnistes turcs occupent des postes clés dans les assemblées fédérales, communautaires, régionales et communales, en raison des considérations électorales de tous les partis politiques belges”.

Environ 160.000 personnes nées avec la nationalité turque résident en Belgique, dont trois-quarts ont acquis la nationalité belge ensuite, estimait en 2013 le Centre pour l’égalité des chances et la lutte contre le racisme. La communauté arménienne en Belgique est, quant à elle, estimée à 30.000 personnes, d’après le Comité des Arméniens de Belgique.

Cette communauté ne bénéficie pas de “la même bienveillance électorale” que la communauté d’origine turque, estime M. Özgüden. Il déplore que “les autorités belges, dans ces circonstances électorales, ne veulent pas intervenir dans l’injustice”. Le sénat belge a toutefois reconnu en 1998 le massacre arménien en tant que “génocide” dans une résolution invitant le gouvernement turc à emboîter le pas.

L’appel du comité des commémorations des victimes du génocide arménien sera relayé lors d’une manifestation à Bruxelles le 24 avril, le jour des commémorations du centenaire du génocide arménien. (Belga, Marie-Pauline Desset, 22 avril 2015)

Le Soir: La longue et difficile reconnaissance du génocide
En 1998, sur proposition du socialiste Philippe Mahoux, le Sénat votait une résolution dans laquelle il invitait «le gouvernement turc à reconnaître la réalité du génocide perpétré en 1915 par le dernier gouvernement de l’Empire ottoman.» Aujourd’hui, vu ce que sont devenues les attributions du Sénat, on jugerait cette position purement symbolique. Ce n’était pas le cas alors. Il n’en reste pas moins qu’à ce jour, l’État belge n’a pas reconnu le génocide arménien. La Belgique adopte un profil bas dans ce dossier. Sa position reste ambiguë, et pas seulement aux yeux des 30.000 membres de la communauté arménienne. Ce vendredi, jour anniversaire du centenaire du génocide, ses représentants demanderont aux autorités belges de pénaliser la négation du génocide, au même titre que celle de la Shoah.
Ce n’est pas gagné car, on l’a compris, notre pays a tendance à éviter soigneusement le sujet. Le ministre des Affaires étrangères, Didier Reynders (MR), sera lundi en Arménie, mais une avancée majeure n’est pas attendue. A ce jour, la position des Affaires étrangères, qui ne sont évidemment pas liées par la résolution du Sénat, reste la suivante: encourager le rapprochement voire la réconciliation entre Ankara et Erevan et laisser historiens et juristes se prononcer sur la pertinence du mot « génocide ». « Il ne paraît pas opportun que le politique se substitue au pouvoir judiciaire », dit la diplomatie belge. Ce qui ne diffère pas énormément de la position des États-Unis ou de la Turquie…
L’appartenance de la Turquie musulmane au camp occidental explique évidemment la prudence de certains. Mais, en Belgique, d’aucuns pointent une autre explication: le poids électoral de la communauté turque dans certaines communes. Quand il était en politique chez Ecolo, irréprochable sur le dossier, Jean-Claude Defossé a tenté à plusieurs reprises de faire voter des résolutions condamnant la Turquie. «C’est impossible, peste-t-il. Le PS, aidé par le CDH, fait blocage pour ne pas indisposer l’électorat PS turc de Schaerbeek et Saint-Josse. Ce qui est insultant car cela laisserait penser que tous les Turcs sont des fascistes. »
Une thèse d’ailleurs corroborée par… des Turcs de Belgique. Dogan Özgüden, rédacteur en chef du bulletin Info-Türk, a ainsi déploré mercredi n’avoir «jamais entendu de la part d’élus belges d’origine turque de prise de position démocratique déviant de la ligne du gouvernement turc, d’autant que des négationnistes turcs occupent des postes clés en raison de considérations électorales : il y a 160.000 Turcs en Belgique et 30.000 Arméniens… »
Un site a d’ailleurs répertorié les élus ou candidats du PS (3), du MR (3), du CDH (1) ou du FDF (1) ayant assisté à des réunions ou tenu des propos qualifiés de « négationnistes». Interrogés par nos soins, ces partis marchent sur des œufs. Tous appellent à la «prudence» et à la «vigilance». Le MR adopte le discours des Affaires étrangères. Le PS et le CDH affirment que leur position est celle de « la réalité historique du génocide arménien ». Cela n’a pas empêché, mercredi, le PS de faire capoter l’idée d’une minute de silence au Parlement bruxellois afin, raconte La Libre, que « les députés socialistes d’origine turque n’aient pas à pratiquer une ostensible politique de la chaise vide ».
La position du PS est pourtant «une et indivisible», selon sa porte-parole. Façon de se démarquer de la position de certains de ses membres? Emir Kir, bourgmestre de Saint-Josse qui réfute le mot « génocide », avait été interpellé en 2004, quand il était ministre bruxellois. «Je n’ai pas changé d’avis depuis, mais je n’ai pas souhaité rouvrir cette discussion, répond-il aujourd’hui. Je reconnais les faits de 1915 et leur gravité, je trouve normal que la Turquie présente ses condoléances. Je ne suis pas négationniste mais le mot que vous utilisez doit être cautionné par des historiens et des juristes. Si vous voulez y voir une divergence de vue avec mon parti, libre à vous. Pour moi, il ne s’agit que d’une question sémantique. » Et de rappeler la proposition… du président turc Erdogan (alors premier ministre) en 2006 : une commission de l’ONU qui trancherait pour l’Histoire, piste restée lettre morte car d’aucuns y virent un enterrement de première classe. (Le Soir, JEAN-FRANÇOIS LAUWENS , 24 avril 2015)
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once again refused to recognize that Turkey has a Kurdish issue, contrary to previous statements which have acknowledged the problem, a move considered an attempt by Erdoğan to garner nationalist votes for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
En route back to Turkey from Kuwait on Tuesday, Erdoğan, for the second time, alleged that using the term “Kurdish problem” is a form of discrimination, arguing: “Those who still insist that the country has a Kurdish issue embark on this discourse to occupy the country’s agenda and garner more votes in the election. Calling the matter the ‘Kurdish problem’ is a step towards dividing the country, a type of discrimination.”
Erdoğan also accused the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) of “engaging in illegal methods,” refusing to recognize the HDP as an interlocutor in the talks on the Kurdish issue, further claiming: “Who do you think you are, claiming to be an interlocutor? There is a state in this country. There is not a table that is being sat around. If there were, it would mean the collapse of the state. The state does not lay down its arms and if the terrorists take up arms, then the state will do whatever the situation requires.”
Ongoing talks between the HDP and imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Öcalan to find a solution to the decades-old Kurdish problem have apparently stalled ahead of the June 7 election amid criticism that the government is not sincere in its initiative due to Erdoğan declining to recognize the Kurds’ suffering and deprivation of rights. Thus, Erdoğan’s remarks have exacerbated a worsening situation amid fading hopes of a solution.
Erdoğan, in sharp contrast to his remarks in a historic speech in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır in 2005 in which, for the first time, he acknowledged the existence of a Kurdish problem in Turkey, contended in March that Turkey never had a Kurdish problem, raising concerns about the talks and overshadowing the solution process.
“My brothers, there has never been any problem called the Kurdish issue in this country. Yet, there are intentional efforts to keep this on the agenda. … We ended it [the problem] in a speech I made in Diyarbakır in 2005 and that is it. My Kurdish citizens could have problems. They could have problems just like the problems of Turkish citizens. Thirty-six ethnic groups in the country have their own problems. There is constant talk about the Kurdish problem. Turkey has been kept busy with this for years — 40,000 people have been killed in this country for this reason,” Erdoğan argued during a speech in March.
The government, the HDP and the PKK agreed on a roadmap based on 10 articles, including a commitment to change the Constitution in order to solve the Kurdish problem after a meeting at Dolmabahçe Palace in early March, as Öcalan called on the PKK to lay down its arms.
All ethnic and religious groups’ demands fall on deaf ears
However, Erdoğan’s backpedaling on the Kurdish issue is not only specific to the settlement process but also the government’s previous, similar initiatives with Alevis, an orthodox sect of Islam that uses a different interpretation of Sunni Islam, and Roma people, which did not yield any results while Erdoğan was prime minister and leader of the AK Party.
Nearly 10 workshops with Alevi organizations in recent years to identify their demands yielded no tangible results, as conditions worsened for Alevis in terms of enjoying even basic freedoms and rights and their demands for cemevis (Alevi places of worship) to be recognized by the government as places of worship have been persistently rejected though the European court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently ruled that cemevis must be recognized by the Turkish government as places of worship equivalent to mosques.
In a similar vein, the government, which kicked off an initiative to follow the EU ideal and promised to follow the EU path for the democratization of Turkey after it came to power in 2002, abandoned the path after consolidating support in subsequent elections.
Promoting the idea of a “New Turkey,” which represents a real deviation from the EU ideal, while maintaining a sound relationship with Russia, China and the former Soviet republics rather than the EU, Erdoğan has thereby disappointed large parts of society that once backed him in hopes of a stronger democracy and more freedoms.
Erdoğan also did not hesitate to declare groups enemies that once declared their support for Erdoğan and a more democratized Turkey.
These civil society groups offered their support to scores of former changes to the laws that expanded the scope of freedoms but have been since been replaced by repressive laws that are intended to save Erdoğan and the political group he represents.
In this context, Erdoğan has labeled the faith-based Gülen movement (also known as the Hizmet movement), whose ideas are inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, as an “enemy” since the country’s largest corruption scandal — which implicated Erdoğan’s family, inner circle and high-ranking figures within the AK Party — went public on Dec. 17, 2013. Instead of backing the investigation, Erdoğan stifled the probe and made the movement a scapegoat by accusing it of plotting to topple the government via the graft probe.
As part of the crackdown on the movement, Erdoğan and the government have carried out intimidation operations against individuals and groups who are thought to have links with the movement. In this context, thousands of judges, prosecutors and police officers have been reshuffled, detained or arrested on charges of being members of a terrorist group, paving the way for a police state managed by the AK Party.
Hypocritical stance of Erdoğan and gov’t lambasted by HDP and experts
Erdoğan’s comments rejecting the existence of the Kurdish issue and problems related to the country’s other ethnic and religious groups, have been lambasted by the HDP and experts on the matter.
HDP Muş deputy Demir Çelik replied to Erdoğan’s remarks by saying: “The whole world recognizes the existence of the Kurdish problem. His comments imply that military options and security precautions will once again step in, as has been done for the last 40 years, and a total war will be waged against Kurds instead of seeking a solution to the subject based on peaceful talks.”
“If there is not an interlocutor on the Kurdish issue, then why do you continue to meet with Öcalan and send delegations to İmralı Island where Öcalan is being held? What do those meetings between the government and delegations mean? Denying reality is an empty effort,” Çelik emphasized.
Speaking to Today’s Zaman regarding Erdoğan’s U-turn over the Kurdish issue, Mesut Ülker, a retired colonel and strategist, said the government, Erdoğan and those circles who offer their support to the government are in a panic because they have realized that the government is, for many reasons, losing popular support. This has in turn urged them to engage in new election ploys to secure the votes that they appear to have lost.
“The Kurdish issue is a leading issue in terms of the democratization of Turkey. The real problem is in essence non-democratization. What Erdoğan is trying to do is regain the nationalist votes. Even though Erdoğan ignores the Kurdish problem, it is still a core issue. This is an indication of a serious inconsistency when the previous practices of the political authority are considered — a process of unlawfulness accompanied by many anti-democratic actions, such as silencing the free media and putting pressure on the judiciary. If the Kurdish issue had been solved, then it would upgrade Turkey’s level of democracy. However, society’s demands for more freedom and rights cannot be crushed anymore. More efforts on this path will face more reactions from the people. No one is eager to lose the rights that they have been enjoying for years. These demands will go further and they [Erdoğan and the government] are concerned with the increasing demand, that is why they are trying to block all channels to democracy,” Ülker added.
Professor Sedat Laçiner from Çanakkale 18 March University also highlighted similar concerns regarding the government and Erdoğan’s policy of denial regarding the country’s substantial issues, such as the Kurdish issue: “For years, the Kurdish side and the government have conducted negotiations around a table. Most recently, a declaration was reached at Dolmabahçe but Erdoğan undermined the process. The reason is simple: The talks made the PKK stronger and the people have realized this. The unease among the people has increased recently. Kurdish votes, which were previously secured by the AK Party, now show a tendency toward the HDP. Accordingly, nationalist voters have preferred the Nationalist Movement Party [MHP] in line with those election polls. After Erdoğan realized this, he changed his rhetoric on the matter and began to reject the existence of the Kurdish issue. He is weak in terms of developing solutions to the country’s problems but a good strategist in terms of dealing with his opponents. Instead of focusing on solutions to the problems, Erdoğan aims to collect more votes in an opportunistic manner.” (TODAY’S ZAMAN, April 29, 2015)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants were given more than 100,000 fake Turkish passports in order to travel to Turkey and then enter Syria to join ISIL, a daily reported on Thursday.
According to a story in the Meydan daily, A.G., an aide of Nurali T., a Uyghur Turk working for ISIL to provide militants with passports worldwide, Nurali T.’s office in İstanbul’s Zeytinburnu district functions as an ISIL passport office. Each passport was sold for $200, A.G. told Meydan.
More than 50,000 Uyghur Turks came to Turkey with these fake passports from China via Thailand and Malaysia and entered Syria after staying a day in İstanbul, Meydan reported. A.G. claimed that most of the Uyghurs with fake passports were caught by police in Turkish airports but they were released in Turkey after their passports were seized. “The Uyghurs’ release in Turkey is due to a secret [little-known] Turkish law on Uyghur Turks. More than 50,000 Uyghurs joined ISIL through this method,” A.G. added.
A.G. further said that Nurali T. organizes recruits from around the world from his İstanbul office. Militants who entered Turkey with these fake passports are hosted either in hotels or guesthouses for a day before they join ISIL in Syria, A.G. said.
The Turkish government’s stance toward ISIL has so far been ambiguous. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has been accused of supporting the terrorist organization by turning a blind eye to its militants crossing the border and even buying its oil. There have also been claims that Turkey has sent weapons to opposition groups fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. The NATO ally has also been facing a backlash for its reluctance to join US-led coalition efforts to eliminate ISIL, feeding speculation that this reluctance may be an indicator that some Turkish officials are ideologically close to the terrorist group.
Based on a 2014 report, Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said that ISIL terrorists fighting in Syria have also been claimed to have been treated in hospitals in Turkey. However, publicly, Turkish authorities have strongly condemned the terrorist acts of ISIL militants and say these actions have nothing to do with Islam. (TODAY’S ZAMAN, April 9, 2015)
La construction de la centrale a été attribuée en mai 2013 à un consortium réunissant les Japonais Mitsubishi et Itochu, GDF Suez (qui en sera l’exploitant) et le turc EUAS. Ankara prévoit de construire trois centrales d’ici 2030.
Le Parlement turc a donné son feu vert mercredi à la construction de la deuxième centrale nucléaire du pays, située dans la province de Sinop, sur la côte nord de Turquie. au nord. Une adoption qui s’est faite en dépit des remarques de l’opposition.
Le député de Mersin du Parti républicain du peuple (CHP), Aytug Atici a appelé à tirer des leçons de la catastrophe nucléaire de Fukushima au Japon. Il a aussi estimé que la construction d’une centrale nucléaire ne sera pas le bon choix à cause des risques, ainsi que des aspects économiques.
L’opposition turque demande un référendum sur le projet
Contesté dès le départ, le projet de centrale nucléaire de Siinop suscite toujours la controverse en Turquie.
Même si le contrat a été attribué en 2013, en début d’année l’opposition et notamment le parti d’opposition, le CHP, a appelé à un référendum, estimant que ce type d’installation n’était pas sure et n’avait pas obtenu toutes les autorisations nécessaires.
Cette centrale d’une puissance totale de 4.400 mégawatts représente un marché de plus de 15 milliards d’euros. La construction de la centrale a été attribuée en mai 2013 à un consortium mené par les Japonais Mitsubishi et Itochu, comprenant GDF Suez – qui en sera l’exploitant – et le turc EUAS.
Elle comprendra quatre réacteurs Atmea-1, un modèle conçu en collaboration par Mitsubishi Heavy Industries et Areva, dont c’est le premier succès commercial.
Préparer le cadre financier et contractuel du projet
« Le consortium va maintenant réaliser une étude de faisabilité, comprenant notamment des études géologiques, des analyses d’impact environnemental et de risques sismiques afin d’évaluer l’adéquation du site de construction proposé, explique GDF Suez dans un communiqué publié ce jeudi.
Le consortium « procédera également à la préparation et à l’analyse du cadre financier et contractuel du projet », explique encore le groupe français qui rappelle que sa présence en Turquie est ancienne.
Un projet symbolique pour Ankara
Le projet de Sinop est particulièrement symbolique pour Ankara. En théorie et sauf retard la centrale doit être opérationnelle en 2030, à l’occasion du centenaire de la République turque.
Qui plus est, hasard du calendrier l’aval donné par le Parlement est intervenu deux jours après une panne d’électricité géante qui a paralysée le pays. « La Turquie ira de l’avant avec son chantier nucléaire », a d’ailleurs réaffirmé mardi le président Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
La Turquie, qui importe l’essentiel de son énergie de Russie et d’Iran, prévoit de construire trois centrales nucléaires pour une capacité cumulée de 5.000 mégawatts, qui devraient fournir 8% de ses besoins électriques en 2020 et 20% en 2030.
La construction de la première d’entre elles, celle d’Akkuyu au sud du pays doit commencer dans les semaines qui viennent.
En savoir plus sur Les Echos

Le Parlement européen,
–    vu la convention des Nations unies pour la prévention et la répression du crime de génocide de 1948,
–    vu sa résolution du 18 juin 1987 sur une solution politique de la question arménienne ,
–    vu sa résolution du 12 mars 2015 concernant le rapport annuel 2013 sur les droits de l’homme et la démocratie dans le monde et la politique de l’Union européenne en la matière ,
–    vu le protocole sur l’établissement de relations diplomatiques entre la République d’Arménie et la République de Turquie, ainsi que le protocole sur le développement des relations entre la République d’Arménie et la République de Turquie signés à Zurich le 10 octobre 2009,
– vu la déclaration prononcée le 12 avril 2015 par le pape François,
–    vu l’article 123, paragraphes 2 et 4, de son règlement,
A.    considérant que l’année 2015 marque le centenaire du génocide arménien perpétré dans l’Empire ottoman;
B.    considérant qu’un nombre croissant d’États membres et de parlements nationaux reconnaissent le génocide arménien perpétré dans l’Empire ottoman;
C.    considérant que l’une des principales motivations du mouvement d’unification européen est la volonté d’empêcher que des guerres et des crimes contre l’humanité ne se reproduisent en Europe;
D.    considérant que la Turquie et l’Arménie se sont engagées dans un processus de normalisation diplomatique en signant, en 2009, à Zurich, des protocoles sur l’établissement et le développement de relations;
E.    considérant qu’il est d’une grande importance d’entretenir le souvenir du passé, puisqu’il ne peut y avoir de réconciliation sans vérité ni œuvre de mémoire;
1.    rend hommage, en cette veille du centenaire, à la mémoire des victimes innocentes arméniennes, au nombre d’un million et demi, qui ont perdu la vie dans l’Empire ottoman; participe à la commémoration du centenaire du génocide arménien dans un esprit de solidarité et de justice européennes; invite la Commission et le Conseil à se joindre à la commémoration;
2.    rappelle que, dans sa résolution du 18 juin 1987, il reconnaissait entre autres que les actes tragiques perpétrés entre 1915 et 1917 contre les Arméniens sur le territoire de l’Empire ottoman constituaient un génocide au sens de la convention pour la prévention et la répression du crime de génocide de 1948; condamne tout crime contre l’humanité et tout génocide et déplore vivement toute tentative de dénégation de ces actes;
3.    rend hommage à la mémoire des victimes innocentes de tous les génocides et crimes contre l’humanité; propose d’instaurer une journée internationale de commémoration des génocides afin de réaffirmer le droit de tous les peuples et de toutes les nations du monde à la paix et à la dignité;
4.    souligne que la prévention en temps utile et la condamnation effective des génocides et des crimes contre l’humanité devraient figurer parmi les priorités principales de la communauté internationale et de l’Union européenne;
5.    se félicite des déclarations de Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, président de la République de Turquie, et d’Ahmet Davutoğlu, Premier ministre de la République de Turquie, qui ont adressé leurs condoléances aux Arméniens ottomans et reconnu les atrocités commises à leur égard, et les considère comme un pas dans la bonne direction; encourage la Turquie à saisir l’occasion propice offerte par la commémoration du centenaire du génocide arménien pour poursuivre ses efforts de réconciliation avec son passé, notamment par l’ouverture de ses archives, pour reconnaître le génocide arménien et pour poser ainsi les jalons d’une véritable réconciliation entre les peuples turc et arménien;
6.    Se félicite du message du pape François en date du 12 avril 2015, dans lequel il commémore le centenaire du génocide arménien dans un esprit de paix et de réconciliation;
7.    invite la Turquie à respecter et à remplir pleinement les obligations qu’elle a contractées pour la protection du patrimoine culturel et, en particulier, à effectuer en toute bonne foi un inventaire complet du patrimoine culturel arménien et autre détruit ou endommagé au cours du siècle dernier sur son territoire;
8.    encourage l’Arménie et la Turquie à prendre exemple sur la réconciliation des nations européennes et à privilégier une stratégie mettant au premier plan la coopération entre les peuples; ne doute pas que cela contribuera à une réconciliation historique des peuples arménien et turc dans un esprit de vérité et de respect; appuie les initiatives de la société civile entre la Turquie et l’Arménie destinées à normaliser les relations; exhorte la Turquie et l’Arménie à normaliser leurs relations en ratifiant et en mettant en œuvre, sans conditions préalables, les protocoles sur l’établissement de relations diplomatiques, en ouvrant la frontière et en s’efforçant d’améliorer leurs relations eu égard notamment à la coopération transfrontalière et à l’intégration économique;
9.    charge son Président de transmettre la présente résolution au Conseil, à la Commission, à la vice présidente de la Commission/haute représentante de l’Union pour les affaires étrangères et la politique de sécurité, aux gouvernements et aux parlements des États membres, au gouvernement et au parlement de la République d’Arménie et au gouvernement et au parlement de la République de Turquie.
 informations du mois passé click Informations of the past month
Toutes les informations depuis 1976 click All informations since 1976

根源

カテゴリー

タグはこちら

, ,