MINORITIES

Rakel Dink, in the article titled ‘A Century of Genocide’ she wrote for the April 24, 2015, issue of Cumhuriyet newspaper, relates what befell her family and relatives in 1915, how she met Hrant Dink, and the struggles they put up together: Today, first at Balıklı, at my Çutak’s grave, then in Şişli, at Sevag’s grave, and finally, in Taksim Square, to commemorate the ones we lost during the 1915 Genocide, I will silently wait for this country to become free.

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s announcement that she would not be taking part in the commemoration ceremony in Armenia on the Centennial of the Genocide sparked debate. Yet there were citizens of Norway among the witnesses of 1915. Norwegian missionary Bodil Katharine Biørn stood out amongst them.

The race code procedure implemented by the Ministry of National Education for student registration at non-Muslim schools has been subject to another lawsuit.

The State of Turkey, after having seized a building that belongs to the Bulgarian Exarchate Orthodox Church Foundation, is now demanding a fee in return for occupying the building for 3 years –after returning the building to the foundation. The Treasury has issued a 50 thousand TL fine to the foundation.

Following the land dispute involving the plot on which Diyarbakır Airport today stands, the land plot on which Batman Airport stands has also become the subject of a lawsuit. Zuart Sudjian has filed a case claiming that the State had built an airport on the plot she had inherited. Sudjian’s land in nearby Diyarbakır had also been appropriated by the State, and the Diyarbakır Airport was built on a part of her plot.

The ‘race code scandal’ in minority schools continues despite a broad public outcry. In the most recent case, two students were barred from registering at Armenian schools. An official from the Istanbul National Education Directorate made a statement, saying, “We are checking the race status of the students”. İsmail Cem Halavurt, lawyer of the parents of the students who were not admitted to the schools, said, “The Ministry is committing a crime”.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu made a statement regarding Doğu Perinçek’s case at the European Court of Human Rights: “We do not find it right that Mr. Perinçek is being tried for a thought he expressed. We must stand united for freedom of thought. All the modern world should.”

According to Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu, who made a statement to the official Anadolu Agency, ‘The parallel structure is working against Turkey in the 2015 events’.

Yetvart Danzikyan on the official dinner Prime Minister Davutoğlu held for religious leaders: “This is, of course, a positive meeting, and the messages that have come out of the dinner are also positive. However, regarding the issue of representation, one must accept that there is something strange about the other side of the dinner table. It is part of the job of the Prime Minister to hold such meetings, but once you describe it as a “family” dinner, we have to ask what kind of family we are talking about here, and about those who have been left out.”

Prime Minister came together with representatives of minority communities at an official dinner held in Istanbul: “Our main watchword will continue to be the principle of equal citizenship”