March 23, 2007
Ankara is deeply unhappy about an effort in the US Congress to pass a bill declaring the 1917 massacre of Armenians by the Turks to be a case of genocide. Turkey has warned it could sever military ties if the...
March 22, 2007
World briefing: Do Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist leanings make him an unsuitable figurehead for a secular country? discusses the Guardian... * The approaching elections and the Öcalan factor by Etyen Mahçupyan Looks like that DJ Nozem will be one of...
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11:54 AM
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March 18, 2007
Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu: President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s refusal to sign a decree envisaging the appointment of five deputy undersecretaries for the Foreign Ministry, the first of its kind in the history of the republic as described by the daily newspaper Hürriyet...
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02:23 AM
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March 16, 2007
Amanda Akçakoca says: At the end of last week, the think tank where I work in Brussels — the European Policy Centre — held a breakfast meeting with Turkey’s chief negotiator for the EU, Ali Babacan, at which he gave...
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04:41 PM
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March 15, 2007
Kurds celebrating Newroz in Istanbul, 2006. VIA as Newroz or Norouz celebrations are close, conflict over the word 'W' appears again. According to this Radikal news (in Turkish), Office of Diyarbakır Governor does not accept the letter w in...
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04:25 PM
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Güldener Sonumut in Turkey - EU : underwater negotiations says "Turkish-European Union relations are a very passionate topic both in Turkey and in the EU countries. In the EU most politicians are very pleased to express their views about Turkish-EU...
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11:24 AM
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March 13, 2007
The EU urgently needs to give a new account of itself. Old-fashioned grand narrative and Euromyth will no longer do the trick. How about a true and self-critical story woven around six goals? says Timothy Garton Ash Howard Arkley, Australia...
March 11, 2007
The Swiss media have taken a critical look at trial of Turkish politician Doğu Perinçek, found guilty on Friday of racial discrimination over Armenian genocide comments. I guess Mr. Perinçek's move demonstrated the non-senseness of the Swiss law but...
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03:17 PM
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March 08, 2007
This is real cool! VIA Special thanks goes to "client" I have heard that access to YouTube might return to normal anytime, in the mean time: BBC said: Access to the popular video-sharing website YouTube has been suspended in...
March 02, 2007
ONUR BURÇAK BELLİ says Serbia's acquittal on genocide charges stemming from the Srebrenica massacre might have upset the Bosnian families of the victims, but it also raised questions in Turkey: Can the decision, which found Serbia only at fault for...
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06:27 PM
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March 01, 2007
BBC: Turkey did not always deny the mass killing of Armenians. As the US House of Representatives prepares to vote on recognising the 1915 massacres as genocide, journalist and historian Bruce Clark looks at how and why Turkish attitudes have...
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01:32 AM
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February 27, 2007
The UN's highest court has cleared Serbia of direct responsibility for genocide during the 1990s Bosnian war. But the International Court of Justice did rule that Belgrade had violated international law by failing to prevent the 1995 massacre at...
February 23, 2007
The ongoing debate on Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) resonates well beyond Turkey's borders with a significant and negative effect on the country's image abroad, which current promotional campaigns can do little to mitigate, said representatives of...
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12:11 AM
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February 22, 2007
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A French bill criminalising the denial of the Armenian genocide has failed to become law, but a prominent Turkish writer Elif Shafak - previously tried in her country for comments on the sensitive subject -...
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04:15 PM
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February 20, 2007
TDN editorial by Yusuf KANLI: Being Turkish or a citizen of Turkey Having an ethnic Turkish background is not a condition for presidency. Irrespective of his ethnic background, anyone who possesses the conditions listed in the constitution can run for...
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12:56 PM
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February 17, 2007
The Economist: A new dispute over the Armenians may sour Turkish-American relations TURKEY'S fraught relationship with America is heading into a new crisis. This may intensify anti-American feelings among millions of Turks. It could even hurt America's efforts to restore...
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03:40 PM
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February 16, 2007
James G. Neuger says: Turkey accused Cyprus of sabotaging its bid to join the European Union by stirring up conflicts with moves like today's snub of Turkish Cypriots over oil-exploration rights.... As Turkey has warned Cyprus to cancel its tender...
General Büyükanıt, in an effort to garner the support of the Jewish lobby against the Armenian bill, will attempt to persuade Lantos, one of the eminent figures of the Jewish lobby and the US Congress, with military agreements. *** INTERVIEW-Armenian...
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10:09 AM
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February 15, 2007
E. Efe Çakmak, Andreas Huyssen, Susan Neiman interview Susan Neiman and Andreas Huyssen in The Armenian genocide: Issues of responsibility and democracy: "The conference "Ottoman Armenians during the decline of the empire: Issues of scientific responsibility and democracy", held at...
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10:11 AM
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February 13, 2007
The government reiterated yesterday its strong will to change the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül openly expressing uneasiness with the interpretation of the law by the judiciary. Dutch Social-Democrat Bozkurt: Turkey should...
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11:27 PM
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February 10, 2007
Guy Dinmore in Washington and Vincent Boland in Ankara in US-Turkey relations set to worsen over Iraq and Armenian 'genocide' says: Turkey's strained relationship with the Bush administration is likely to worsen after its foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, failed...
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01:31 PM
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February 09, 2007
A group of civic organizations today proposed changes to Article 301, a controversial section of the Turkish penal code that makes insulting Turkey or Turkishness a crime. The section has been used against intellectuals, journalists and writers like the Nobel...
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03:15 PM
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February 08, 2007
İlnur Çevik says: It all started in the 1980s when the Ozal government was under pressure to change articles 141, 142 and 163 of the penal code, which was the main obstacle to freedom of expression in Turkey. Articles 141...
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02:48 PM
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February 04, 2007
Will Turkey Find Its Way to Europe ? by Andreas Marchetti Original Source : Qantara.de 2007 Will Turkey Have an Islamist President? By Michael Rubin VIA * Babacan: Turkey is more 'open' with EU process * Mehmet Ali Birand in...
February 02, 2007
Emre Toros, a political scientist and teaches at Atılım University, Ankara, says: ....I want to illustrate my argument with the slogans used during Dink's funeral: �We are all Hrant� and �We are all Armenians.� Although the former was welcomed by...
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11:42 PM
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January 19, 2007
From Wikipedia: Hrant Dink (b. 15.9.1954, Malatya, Turkey - d. 19.01.2007, Istanbul, Turkey) was an Armenian editor, journalist and column writer from Turkey. Prominent and active in various democratic platforms and civil society organizations, Hrant Dink emphasized the need...
Dr. Otmar Oehring, head of the human rights office of Missio TURKEY: Religious freedom via Strasbourg, not Ankara or Brussels?: There are now two major questions in the struggle for full religious freedom in Turkey, Otmar Oehring of the German...
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02:12 PM
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January 15, 2007
Another 'Kurdish Conference' takes place in Ankara. There were more negative reactions against the one that took place in Bilgi University. It seems that some people expected something to start the attack and it came thru with a quote...
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12:13 AM
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January 07, 2007
Semih İdiz says: 2007 is set to be another year when Turkish-US ties go on a rollercoaster ride. In line with the mood in Washington -- and not least because it features as one of the key recommendations in the...
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06:12 PM
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December 31, 2006
Turkey has received proposal from Armenian government, being out of important projects realized in the region, on establishing of diplomatic relations and opening of frontiers. Letter of Defense Minister of Armenia, Serge Sarkisyan, published in “The Wall Street Journal” reads:...
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12:59 AM
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December 30, 2006
The Economist: Next year marks the EU's 50th anniversary Analysis: Europe's 2006 By STEFAN NICOLA Ralf Beste and Hans-Jürgen Schlamp in Germany Prepares to Take Helm of EU and G8 2007 will be a big year for Germany: As...
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02:11 PM
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November 22, 2006
Mark Beunderman: In a move to curry favour with the EU, Turkey has said it will quickly change a notorious article of its penal code curbing free speech - but at the same time, Ankara has put its ties with...
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02:52 AM
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November 17, 2006
The commander of the Turkish army says his country has suspended all military ties with France. Gen Ilker Basbug said this was in protest at a bill passed by the French National Assembly to make it a crime to deny...
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12:39 AM
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November 16, 2006
On the occasion of the International Day of Tolerance (16 November), Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg stressed that European governments needs to take stronger action to ensure that the current increase in Xenophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Tziganism is curtailed. "I fear that if...
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06:22 PM
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November 13, 2006
Jody Sabral in Turkish complexities:: The recently released European Commission's annual report on Turkey's progress towards EU membership has criticised Ankara's pace of reforms, but has not brought to light new challenges since accession talks began in October 2005. 'Öğretment'...
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06:00 PM
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A multinational group of scholars, politicians and religious leaders convened by the United Nations began meeting Sunday in Istanbul to discuss ways to improve increasingly violent relations between Islamic and Western societies. The group, formed in 2005 as part of...
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01:10 PM
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November 11, 2006
Un documentaire radiophonique bouleversant diffusé cette semaine sur France Culture raconte le voyage d’un Turc et d’un Arménien à Istanbul et à l’Est de la Turquie. Là où la sagesse d’un Arménien rencontre une Turquie en pleine mutation, voilà le...
November 07, 2006
In WorkPermit.Com, it is said that "The European Commission will decide this week if it will recommend a partial suspension of Turkey's membership negotiations for joining the European Union. Turkey has failed in several key areas, including failure to open...
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03:43 AM
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November 05, 2006
HELSINKI - The Finnish presidency of the European Union on Sunday called for Iraq not to use the death penalty against former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, a statement said. Meanwhile Turkey said Saddam sentence is no excuse to split up...
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11:47 PM
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The weekly news magazine Tempo has a special coverage on the Armenian genocide issue and asks some Turkish experts or journalists in Turkey how many Armenians and Turks were killed during 1915 events... Here I omitted the sources they state...
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02:06 PM
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November 04, 2006
FT says ...Yet the real problem that could cause negotiations to be suspended - or at least put in cold storage - in December is far more precise and immediate: the failure to make any progress on a settlement of...
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02:23 PM
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November 02, 2006
Olli Rehn, the EU Commissioner for Expansion, has characterized EU relations with Ankara as "schizophrenic" in an interview with the French newspaper Liberation. While asserting that he was against the freezing of talks with Ankara, Rehn did underscore some of...
November 01, 2006
By Izel Rozental Mr Olli Rehn; Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enlargement Europe's Next Frontiers Lecture at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs Helsinki, 27 October 2006 These are in French: * Nese Duzel interview with Ayhan...
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04:43 PM
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Dossier of Tuesday, October 31, 2006; The cost of global warming Netherlands - Trouw | Tuesday, October 31, 2006; The Armenian question in the Dutch legislative elections Sweden - Dagens Nyheter | Monday, October 30, 2006; Ralf Dahrendorf on the...
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11:40 AM
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October 26, 2006
The survey by A&G shows a dramatic drop in Turkish public support for entering the EU. This signal comes as a warning only weeks before the Commission’s report. Only 2.8 per cent of respondents trust France, and 3.2 per cent...
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10:44 PM
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October 25, 2006
Talking or Patronizing Turkishness Here is my late note on the Talking Turkishness show that was aired on October 17th, 2006. One expects from a relatively independent and alternative news source a more nuanced production but what happened in the...
October 23, 2006
It is the first day of Ramadan today as I managed to get up early this time to make it to the family breakfast at my parents'. Last year it was a disaster as I could only make it...
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09:01 AM
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October 21, 2006
Yusuf Kanli says: Moving to a presidential system would not only help to get rid of many of the current shallow and rather anti-democratic impositions carried out by conservative elements but would also provide Parliament with the power to undertake...
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02:31 PM
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October 20, 2006
Suat Kiniklioglu: Turkey is in an uproar. Turks are reacting bitterly to the tactlessness of the French National Assembly in passing a bill that would criminalize "denial" of the Armenian "genocide." Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy of France is right: The...
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03:36 PM
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October 19, 2006
The recent remarks made by the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on the slow pace of reforms taking place in Turkey with a view to its entry into the EU have revived the debate on the country's...
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11:05 PM
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October 18, 2006
Susanne Fowler in International Herald Tribune The old ways linger in this modernizing Turkish metropolis, whose 15 million residents are both eager and hesitant to be embraced as European. The feeling is perhaps most tangible during Ramazan, as the Islamic...
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06:13 AM
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October 17, 2006
A Polish student has won a competition to design a logo for the EU's 50th birthday celebrations next year. EU to celebrate subdued 50th birthday party Heads of state and government will try to advance energy talks with Russia...
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11:57 PM
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Andrew Borowiec in THE WASHINGTON TIMES correctly says "Despite threats of retaliatory action and national anger, Turkey appears to be stepping back from a prolonged clash with France over a French parliamentary bill on the 90-year-old Armenian massacres...." Well, this...
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01:45 AM
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October 15, 2006
Houston Chronicle editorial entitled as "Legislating truth" says: .....By trying to legislate history, France's parliament might silence "genocide doubters." That's different from persuading them. By smothering debate, France also silences its best advocates for truth — voices, perhaps, like those...
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01:38 AM
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"La proposition de loi socialiste visant à sanctionner la négation du génocide arménien a donc été mise à l'ordre du jour de l'Assemblée nationale française (le 12 octobre). Cette loi, qui semble faite pour combattre les génocides, et se veut...
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12:58 AM
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October 14, 2006
John Ward Anderson of Washington Post says: The complex relationship between Turkey and Europe played out Thursday in two European capitals, as Turkey's leading novelist was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in literature in Stockholm and French lawmakers here passed...
October 13, 2006
Turkey has condemned a French parliamentary vote which would make it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered "genocide" at the hands of the Turks. Brussels also condemns the French law...a thin turnout of French legislators approved a bill, but...
October 12, 2006
The French parliament has adopted a bill making it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered "genocide" at the hands of the Turks, infuriating Turkey. As quoted, Cengiz Candar says "The opposition against Turkey in the EU has begun to...
The law draft on criminalizing the rejection of the so-called Armenian genocide, to be discussed in the France Parliament on October 12 jeopardizes the shares that French companies, some of which had made their way to the shortlist, can get...
October 11, 2006
French Government Distances Itself From Armenian Genocide Bill while Rehn warns France against adopting Armenia genocide law Referring the coming French vote, Denis MacShane says "Europe is doing its level best to tell Turkey it is no longer wanted as...
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06:45 PM
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David Rennie of Telegraph says "Turkey's painful progress towards European Union membership has been plunged into crisis by a dispute with the French over the massacre of Armenians during and after the 1914-18 war." FP Passport's should also be...
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06:49 AM
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October 10, 2006
BBC also covered the event quoting PM Erdogan: "This is an issue between Turkey and Armenia. It is none of France's business." Though I am not sure whether that is only the business of Turkey and Armenia, thanks to French...
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08:30 AM
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The Armenian Question Between Genocide, Tragedy, and Hypocrisy by Barin Kayaoglu It seems sensible to ask Turkey to recognize the so-called "Armenian Genocide" if it is to join the European Union that supposedly roots itself on the principles of human...
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01:22 AM
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October 08, 2006
Members of the left-wing Workers' Party chant slogans as they wave Turkish flags during a protest against France in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2006. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with representatives of French companies doing business...
October 06, 2006
Fransisco Veiga started his posts on the Armenian-Turkish relations in a historical perspective. Most of the first post is devoted to a critique of Robert Fisk's book on The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East ....
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03:34 PM
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October 01, 2006
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, left, French President Jacques Chirac, second left, and his wife Bernadette, right, take part in a wreath laying ceremony as they pay tribute to the Armenian genocide victims at the Tsiteernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan,...
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