18 12 2008 - Website özür diliyoruz removes the 13.315 names signatories of the petition

Turkish Petitions: War on internet
Website özür diliyoruz removes the 13.315 names signatories of the petition
Yesterday, December 18, after a 3 hours interruption, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m, website özür diliyoruz which diffuses the petition of the intellectuals Turks be sorry " to the Armenians for the Great Catastrophe of 1915" erased the 73 pages on which were registered 13 315 signatories names brought together in 3 days.

One cannot prevent oneself from thinking that the initiative is to be brought closer to the declaration of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan, which had declared yesterday "I do not accept nor supports this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to present excuses". It thus seems, for this hour, that the censure fell once more on the freedom expression in Turkey. Unless the authors of the petition considered to be necessary to protect the identity from the thousands of people come to give their support for the declaration. probable or not, the Turkish authorities already had to raise them. Always it is that it is not possible any more maintaining to join the 250 original signatories. The petition is blocked on number 13.315.

For answer to the petition of the intellectuals, Turkish nationalists also launched a similar website <www.ozurdiliyorum.com/>with the following sentence: "there was no genocide was to defend the nation, we will no excuses." And in Germany, Union of European Turkish Democrats denounced the "campaign initiated by a group of so-called intellectuals".

In addition, Azeri Press Agency, reports that, according to Turkish information, "Member of MHP, parliamentarian, Janan Aritman, dropped has hint that the president's mother was Armenian. "We see that the president supports this campaign. Abdullah Gul should be the president of the whole Turkish nation, not off his ethnic origin. Investigate the ethnic origin off the president's mother, and you will see," He said. Adding "the organizers of this petition are traitors".

Summon claim in Turkey that Abdullah Gul's mother was born to year Armenian-origin family from Kayseri and father was year Arab moved to Kayseri.

To note that the petition of Turkish intelligentsia aroused a great interest in the international press which sees an opening of the Turkish civil society there there on its Ottoman past.

Jean Eckian

Jean Ec .