by Günter Verheugen

This policy brief discusses the potential for cooperation between Turkey and the EU in  the countries that are going through political transformation in the Middle East and North Africa. Since both sides have a vested interest in seeing stability, peace and strong economic development in this shared neighbourhood, they must work together and develop a common strategy by which to combine their strengths and advantages while offsetting their weaknesses. The brief highlights how the relationships between Turkey, the EU, and the Arab world are all fraught with diffi culties and tensions that prevent coordinated action between the fi rst two parties. Despite these limitations, if the European Union and Turkey managed to cooperate on such a geopolitically important project, it would have an enormous additional benefit: revitalizing the stalled relationship between the EU and Turkey and lending it a sense of urgency and importance.

To read the full report both in English and in French, visit:

http://policyleadershipinstitute.org/tepav.html

We wish him Good-luck, and we will support his actions  in the coming years and with all membership and with all available means of Turkish Forum.

We also wish good-luck to ATAA’s sister organization FTAA . FTAA is now led by President Ali Cinar who is supported by wast majority of membership during the last months election. we  recognize the wast amount work with Mr. Ali Cinar has to face. Similarly, Our support will also be with FTAA  if he so desires.

Dr. Kayaalp Buyukataman, President

Turkish Forum -Dunya Turkleri Birligi

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President Message By Ergün Kırlıkovalı

Dear Members of the Turkish American Community coast-to-coast:

I hope you and your family have adjusted to the hustle and bustle of the New Year after having a wonderful holiday season.

The month of January has passed with fury and left me wondering where the whole month went.  When you take a look at what was achieved, you will see why.

What a start to the New Year!

ATAA component associations were busy arranging local events and our TABAN and Student Outreach programs were on the road, visiting Colorado, Nevada and Canada. Membership drive and fundraising were in full swing.  ATAA Türk Evi hosted the visiting graduate students from Bahcesehir University (İstanbul, Türkiye),  where distinguished lecturers like Mark Meirowitz, David Saltzman, and Gunay Evinch, have addressed the students, explaining to them how the U.S. Government operates and the U.S. legal system works.

ATAA leadership paid an official visit to the brand new headquarters of the Turkish Coalition of America only steps from the White House.  Joint programs were discussed.

ATAA leadership visited the offices of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to sign the book of condolences for the legendary Turkish Cypriot leader and the founder of TRNC, Rauf Denktash, who passed away on January 13, 2012.

ATAA leadership also paid a courtesy visit to the Turkish Embassy to show our community’s deep respect and love for our motherland, Türkiye.

ATAA leadership met with Dr. Elizabeth W. Shelton, executive director of American Friends of Turkey, to coordinate the upcoming events.  AFOT will be bringing to the U.S. Dr. Ufuk Kocabas, the Project Director of the Yenikapi, Istanbul Project (the Byzantine Port of Constantinople). As you know, the Istanbul University group undertaking the excavations has unearthed 36 vessels and cargoes, going back to the Fifth Century. It has been an amazing find. As you may well know, his trip will be the first time any information about this project will be presented to American audiences, and by all indications, the audiences will be packed to see his presentation and hear him lecture.

Congratulations FTAA President Ali Çınar!

On behalf of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), I congratulate Mr. Ali Çınar for his election to the presidency of the Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA). Established in 1956, FTAA is one of America’s leading national Turkish American organizations in a critical part of the country, New York and New Jersey. Ali Çınar comes to the FTAA Presidency with vast knowledge and experience in public advocacy and community empowerment. A former Vice President of ATAA (2009-11) and as Chief Advisor to the ATAA President since June 2011, Mr. Çınar a much loved, hard-working, creative, and energetic community leader. Mr. Cinar was also the founder of the Istanbul University Mezunlari US (IUMEZUS) and its first president.

ATAA looks forward to continued excellence in solidarity and cooperation with FTAA. I wish President Ali Çınar and the FTAA Team all the success.

Elections at ATAA

The ATAA Board of Directors resolved on January 18, 2012 to start a Nominating Committee to oversee the upcoming elections where one third of the Board will be up for election.

I am grateful to Lale Iskarpatyoti for accepting to chair the Nominating Committee and members Gunay Evinch (Past President, ATAA), Tunca Iskir (Past President, ATAA), Nurten Ural (Past President, ATAA) and Mehmet Celebi (President Elect, ATAA) for accepting to serve on this very important committee.

The positions up for election are the following: Treasurer (Esra Ugurlu), Vice President Midcentral (Feridun Bek), Vice President Southwest (Sibel Pakdemirli), Vice President Northwest (Sevgi Baran), West (Maria Cakiraga). Please note that all incumbents can run again for their seats as this is their first term in office and that the race is wide open to all other qualified candidates. I would be delighted, therefore, if you kindly participate in this democratic process by nominating candidates and/or voting.

We will issue a CIS on this immediately with more election information and specifics. Due to time limitations and in the interest saving paper and labor, a separate paper mass-mailing via USPS will not be done. We will try to reach every member via this monthly e-Newsletter and a separate CIS, as well as press releases, media coverage, and www.ataa.org site. We hope, with your support, to complete the nominating process by February 15, 2012, so that the elections may be completed by March 15, and the approved by the AOD on April 15, 2012. Your cooperation and participation is, again, greatly appreciated.

Damnation Without Representation:  French Memory Law

We all know what “taxation without representation” led to in 1776: Expulsion of the British from colonial America.

And now we will see what “damnation without representation” will lead to in 2012: expulsion of the French culture from the Turkish/Turkic world.

I am, of course, referring to the draconian French memory law that cleared the French Senate on January 23, 2012, which criminalizes the denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide”, allegedly carried out in Ottoman Empire during World War I.  The passage of the measure, adopted a month earlier by a mere 50 out 577 deputies in the lower chamber of the French Parliament, makes a mockery of the notion of “participatory democracy”, not to mention the freedom of speech.

The WW I era atrocities in Eastern Anatolia were never tried by a “competent tribunal” as the 1948 United Nations Convention on Prevention and Punishment of genocide stipulates. “Intent” to exterminate was never proven, leaving the discredited political claim as just that.  “No court verdict” was issued characterizing these events a genocide. This historical controversy has become fodder to election year politics in France, destroying the freedom of expression along with it.  No law can be used retroactively, 1948 UN convention on genocide included. And yet, these rock solid facts, values, and concepts,  which are foundations of modern life cherished by humanity were respected by only 86 courageous French Senators who tried to stop that shameful memory law with their “No” votes.  The law passed by the “Yes” votes of 127 Senators, despite the rejection of the same law by the Constitution Sub-Committee a few days earlier.  Now it looks like it is heading for the Constitution Committee for a final verdict on whether it is constitutional to criminalize thought.

Some French parliamentarians, it seems, felt compelled by ethnocentric political agenda in an election year, to play the judge, the jury, the executioner, and while at it, the expert historian. We all know they are none of these.  The harsh memory law, reminiscent of those in the defunct Soviet Empire, places a severe limitation on the French democracy, curbs free speech, undermines dialogue, destroys scholarly research, and discourages scholarly dissent.

France currently serves as a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group on the resolution of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Adoption of a law upholding the victims of one ethnicity over another on a historically controversial issue would question the practicality of French role as a mediator on an issue, which both Azerbaijan and Turkey view as directly linked to Turkish-Armenian reconciliation.

This law might also be considered the epitaph of the Nabucco pipeline and the European energy security, if not also anything French in the culture of the people of the vast geography that stretches from the Balkans to the Caucasus, from the Middle East to North Africa, and from Anatolia to Central Asia.

Armenians have a cause, not a case

Armenians took up arms against their own government. They joined the invading enemy armies. They wreaked havoc among the unprotected Muslim villages of Anatolia with their Huncak, Dashnak, Ramgavar, and other bands and thugs. They demanded territory for what can only be described as the first apartheid  of the 20th Century (i.e. the Greater Armenia.)  These and other such aspects are grouped under the “NINE T’s OF THE TURKISH ARMENIAN CONFLICT”.   If one ignores these, one ignores half the story gets no closure.

The assertion of Armenian genocide is based on a racist and dishonest version of history. Racist because Turkish suffering is deliberately ignored; and dishonest because the 9 T’s are ignored.

Just look at this 1906 photo of Cadets at an Armenian Military Academy, established in Bulgaria, with all in uniforms and their Russian “Mosin” weapons brandished. This single frame of an old photo destroys the entire Armenian narrative: that Armenians were peaceful; that they were poor, starving, and helpless; that all happened one day in 1915 without provocation; and that Armenians never killed any Turks.  How much evidence does one need to wake up and smell the Armenian deception? Didn’t Armenians die?  Didn’t they suffer?  Yes, of course, but along with many more Muslims, mostly Turks.  Wartime suffering? Yes.  Genocide? No, not by even a long shot.

Social construction of Memory

This is a term used by sociologists to describe the process of rebuilding a group memory by social acts, not history’s facts. In order to make the long discredited political claims of Armenian genocide stick, Armenian propaganda, agitation, terror, raids, revolts, treason, territorial conflicts and the Turkish victims resulting from them, are all swept under the rug. Novels, letters, exhibits, parliamentary resolutions, films, rallies, political pressure, in short, anything but facts are employed in “social reconstruction” process. Such dramaturgical approaches and ethno-methodology, unfortunately shape most perceptions, feelings and behaviors. People soon start thinking “All this hype cannot be without justification.” French politicians or American columnists or others are not immune to such symbolic and seemingly humane interactions. Before long, one is consumed by “social construction of reality”, i.e. defining reality through social interactions, not objective realities, just like in the case of the alleged Armenian genocide today. Consider this: until 1990s, most media reports used the qualifier “alleged” before genocide, but now they dropped it. Why? Did new research unearth heretofore unknown information? Did a “competent court” determine Ottoman “intent” to exterminate? No and no. What happend is, the Armenians have since increased the dose of pressure to intimidation and harassment levels. That’s social construction at its worst !

May love and peace win over hate, bigotry and discrimination one day . . .

Ergün Kırlıkovalı
President
Assembly of Turkish American Associations

The recent step by France with respect to the 1915 incidents represents a great victory for the Armenians before 2015, the 100th anniversary of the incidents.

The rising image of France, which kept its promises to the Armenians, may appeal to the leaders of other countries where the Armenian diaspora has been active. Leaders who exerted efforts to attract the support of Armenians in elections have more often than not changed their attitude and stance after the elections; in most cases, they failed to keep the promises they made during their election campaigns. This situation has now been changed.

Yerevan welcomed the French move, as evidenced by joyous demonstrations held around the French Embassy by Armenians and political party representatives. In particular, old ladies hugged the French diplomats and officers there and sobbed; this sends a clear message and signal as to what sort of sensitivities should be held on the matter. Turkey, which failed to appreciate and notice the growing French investments in Armenia following an important visit by Nicolas Sarkozy to Yerevan in October, was shocked by the French move and started new discussions on French policy.

As these discussions now focus on what kind of attitude Turkey should adopt vis-à-vis France, the Armenian side refers to this ironic situation as surprising; it seems Turkey has been ignoring the main points — that is to say, the 1915 and Armenian issues. Armenian experts note that Turkey should develop dialogue with Armenia immediately and recall that they do not understand why Turkey is focusing on potential measures against France.

The Armenian authorities last year set up an international commission for the remembrance and commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide; the commission has so far engaged in lobbying activities and carried out a number of studies as well as completed scientific research concerning 2015. Likewise, Armenia has intensified its ties with the diaspora; to this end, they held meetings where they decided to generate policies focusing on the link between Armenia, the diaspora and Nagorno-Karabakh.

In fall 2011, at the Pan-Armenian Congress, where a number of Armenians from different countries participated and which focused on the intensification of ties with the diaspora, domestic and international developments were discussed; the congress also discussed several matters on youth, language and education, preparations towards the 100th anniversary of the genocide and improvement of relations with the diaspora.

‘The diaspora should be fed by the homeland’

President Serzh Sarksyan, who said, “Our formulation is clear: We want the maximum of the homeland opportunities for the diaspora and the maximum of the diaspora opportunities for the homeland,” stated the need for the diaspora and the importance attached to it at the Pan-Armenian Congress as follows: “The diaspora and the homeland should ensure their mutual survival. The diaspora should be fed by the homeland in political, cultural, scientific, health and sports terms; and the homeland should also be fed by the diaspora as well.”

The gains of Armenia and the diaspora may of course be linked to the decision of the Jewish lobby in the West to no longer support Turkey. However, this could only have a limited impact based on the political reflex considering the intricate web of relations in the Caucasus, particularly along the Israel-Azerbaijan and Iran axis. In addition, some unexpected developments may take place with regard to the Armenian genocide up until2015. Inthis case, Turkey needs to devise a short-term strategy on 2015 and drop its longstanding traditional and routine policies. This strategy should complement the normalization process with Armenia and focus on existing problems rather than imitating the steps of the diaspora. Turkey should realize that the publication of some books in response to thousands of scholarly accounts on the historical aspect of the problem will not do anything influential; instead, focusing on public diplomacy may alleviate the fever. Considering that it is not possible to train genocide experts in a very short time, it will be appropriate to rely on civilian democracy and the improvement of economic relations.

Institutions which have firsthand ties with Armenia should be supported to create a common bridge in Turkey. This should be considered in reference to additional efforts on educational, economic, cultural and political relations. As part of bilateral educational cooperation, comprehensive programs may be developed to attract students in Turkish studies departments in Armenia and Armenian youngsters who speak the Turkish language. The Yunus Emre Institute has been pursuing a similar strategy in a number of countries.

In order to improve commercial ties with Armenia, the relevant think tanks focusing on economic affairs might be supported to resolve the problems in bilateral commercial relations through joint action. Considering that 70 percent of the Armenian people support this type of action, it becomes apparent that immediate steps should be taken on this matter. In cultural terms, an approach of civilian diplomacy by which both sides would recognize each other should be advanced. The parties and people who have never seen an Armenian or a Turk in their whole life should be brought together. Political relations will represent the final stage of this process, where Turkish foreign policy will secure great achievements in this conflict-torn region.

By approaches that consider the sensitivities and demands of the Armenian side without turning a blind eye to the reality and truth, Turkey may gain a more prestigious place in the eyes of the Armenian people than the one France has gained and facilitate the resolution of common problems. An Armenia which has to buy agricultural devices from Belarus will be able to have the chance of purchasing its needs from Turkey after the resolution of its problems. If reconciliation is desired, increased attention should be paid to the process of normalization.

Mehmet Fatih ÖZTARSU – Today’s Zaman

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-270139-turkey-needs-to-devise-a-2015-strategyby-mehmet-fatih-oztarsu*.html

Below zero: Snow falls on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue. Turkey was paralysed by the blizzard, and elsewhere in Europe the freezing temperatures proved deadly. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

FREEZING weather has killed dozens of people in central and eastern Europe over the past few days.

And temperatures are set to drop even further, authorities warned yesterday.

In Poland, police said 10 died over the weekend as temperatures plunged to -27C, raising the death toll from exposure to 46 since the start of the winter, which had been unusually mild up to now.

Ukraine’s health ministry said 18 people have died of hypothermia in the last four days. Most of them were homeless who froze to death in the streets or old people who died in their flats or after hospitalisation.

Nearly 500 people sought medical help for frostbite and hypothermia in just three days last week, the emergency situations ministry said. Authorities have opened 1500 shelters to provide food and heat, as temperatures plunge to 30 degrees below zero Celsius in some regions of the country.

Police also reported that at least three people died of exposure over the weekend in the Baltic state of Lithuania. A 91-year-old woman and a 78-year-old man were among the victims.

A Palestinian migrant froze to death trying to cross the river Evros between Greece and Turkey and two more were missing, one of them a nine-year-old girl, local police said yesterday.

The Palestinian, whose age was not disclosed, was part of a group of 15 Asians and Africans trapped by rising waters on the river, a key crossing point into Europe for scores of thousands of migrants annually.

Another nine migrants were rescued from the Evros on Sunday after their rubber dinghy allegedly overturned but a nine-year-old Afghan girl and her 55-year-old grandfather were still missing, a local police source said.

Temperatures in the area fall to around -20C after nightfall.

In the Czech Republic, a 26-year-old man was found frozen to death in a field near the eastern town of Opava on Saturday.

Forecasters have warned temperatures are likely to plunge to -30C in the country this week, after hitting -20C in some places on Sunday.

In Bulgaria, five died in snow storms last week, local media reported yesterday as a Siberian cold front hit the Balkan country with temperatures dropping to -24C in some places. Most were elderly people who lost their way and were left stranded out in the cold.

The towns of Chirpan in the south and Sevlievo in the centre recorded the lowest temperatures early yesterday, at -24C and -23.4C respectively, the national weather service said.

It forecast that the mercury would drop even further in the next few days.

Four more people died over the past 24 hours in Romania, the health ministry said, raising the overall death toll to six.

In Serbia, three died of hypothermia over the weekend, the Tanjug news agency said yesterday.

In the Valjevo region, 80km south-west of Belgrade, a 49-year-old woman was found dead by workers clearing snow on a road and a 52-year-old man died close to his home in the village of Bobovo.

An 81-year-old woman was found dead in her own home in the village of Taor, Tanjug said.

Heavy snowfalls, that seriously disrupted road traffic and power supplies, ceased yesterday but the country was still experiencing a fierce cold snap as temperatures fell to -20C overnight in central Serbia.

Heavy snowfall blanketed Turkey’s commercial hub Istanbul, a city of 15 million, yesterday, paralysing daily life and disrupting air and land transport.

Officials said almost 200 flights were cancelled due to the snow expected to continue until late today, while hundreds of people were stuck in private vehicles or public transport.

Turkey is facing a severe winter and temperatures in the capital Ankara are expected to fall as low as -15C in the next couple of days.

via Killer freeze hits Europe | The Courier-Mail.

ISTANBUL — Expatriates living in Turkey scrambled this week to try to fulfill a new requirement that foreign residents register and pay for national health insurance by Tuesday, January 31, or face a fine said to be 886.50 lira, or about $495.

Early reports indicated that an as-yet unspecified level of coverage would cost foreign residents about 2,500 lire per year.

Confused Americans and Britons flooded their consulates in Istanbul with phone calls and e-mails, struggling to learn how to register, or whether they might be exempt if already covered by their home country’s national health plan or a private insurer.

Others went directly to their neighborhood office of the Sosyal Guvenlik Kurumu, or Social Security Institution. The result? Hours-long lines and office workers who either hadn’t heard of the law or gave conflicting instructions on how to comply.

Confused Americans and Britons flooded their consulates with phone calls and e-mails, struggling to learn how to register. Others who tried to register faced hours-long lines and office workers who hadn’t heard of the law or gave conflicting instructions.

Jolee Zola, a retiree from Cambridge, Mass., who is covered by Medicare, the government insurance plan for the elderly in the United States, visited two S.G.K. Offices.

At first, the director “threw the blame for the ignorance of expats on their consulate,” Mrs. Zola said. “He then told us we needed a signed document describing the kind of coverage we have in the States,” and to take it to another office that deals with foreign applications. At the second office, she was told that she needed a signed, notarized and translated letter from the U.S. Consulate testifying to her insurance status in the United States.

Although the S.G.K. employees did not necessarily know the details, Mrs. Zola said, “They really did try to help us.”

In a message to Americans living in Turkey, the American Embassy in Ankara acknowledged that “exactly how this new law applies to U.S. Citizens and the foreign community is difficult to interpret.”

Mrs. Zola then called the consulate’s American Citizens Services office, and was told that the Tuesday deadline was being postponed to Feb. 29 and that the “consulate was negotiating with the Turkish government to try to come up with a clear procedure.” The consulate on Thursday did not confirm the extension.

“I was very relieved when I heard that,” Mrs. Zola said, “because we wouldn’t have to spend the next few days going nuts, getting documents copied, etc., standing in line.”

Could there be a silver lining in all the confusion?

Some expats without health insurance coverage living in Istanbul said they would welcome the chance to sign up for local health insurance, if the Turkish authorities would only clarify — and simplify — the procedure.

Meanwhile, the British Embassy in Ankara posted a statement about what it called “the sudden changes to the Turkish health insurance system.”

The statement said that after the British ambassador and a consular team met with Turkish authorities about the “the substance, cost, lack of clarity and short notice of the change,” British residents in Turkey would be exempt. But that those who had already chosen to join the Turkish system would be allowed to remain in it.

Do you have a mind-boggling expat insurance or tax story to tell? We want to hear it. Do you think it only fair that foreign residents pay into public health insurance funds in their host countries? Or is this just a way to fill state coffers?

via Expats Face Confusing New Law to Buy Insurance in Turkey – NYTimes.com.

The occupation of Starbucks at the public Boğaziçi University has been going on for over a month and was at the beginning a struggle for clean, healthy and inexpensive food on the campus and for free student certificates and shuttle buses. Has these demands been met and has the occupation produced new needs and desires?

The country is one of success stories of the last decade, but is its increasingly autocratic government slowly threatening progress?

Turkey’s government has been stepping up its efforts to arrest and prosecute dozens of army generals accused of a military coup plot.

The former head of the Turkish armed forces has become the biggest casualty of yet another crackdown on alleged conspirators.

In part three of our special series on Turkey, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra takes a look at why Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, is ramping up civilian control to bring the military firmly under civilian control.

By Dr Aland Mizell:

As Europe continues to grapple with its economic crisis, Turkey appears to be slowing its move toward EU membership.

The economy is booming, and as it strengthens relationships in the Middle East, the country is debating whether its future lies more in the east than the west.

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra reports from Ankara.