August 31, 2006

U.S. Appoints Retired General To Coordinate Anti-PKK Campaign


This past Tuesday, Retired General Joseph Ralston was appointed "special coordinator" to head-up efforts aimed at neutralizing the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK ). In this capacity, he will be coordinating policies with the governments of Turkey and Iraq.

During his press release publicizing the appointment, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said, " As the PKK is a terrorist group, it is something that requires the work of all parts of our governments, not only from the political or diplomatic side, but also from the side of coordination among our security forces".

Despite rumors circulating in Turkey to the opposite, Mr. Casey denied any possibility of direct talks with the outlawed PKK.

Robert Kocharian To Be Called Before International Court Of Justice, The Hague ???


On August 16th, Mr. Safa Yurukel, Chairman of the Fund To Research Genocide Against Turks, demanded that Robert Kocharian, President of Armenia, stand trial before the Court of Human Rights for "crimes" against the people of Azerbaijan.

In an interview with the Anatolia News Agency, in Turkey, Mr. Yurukel described the 1992 Khojaly incident in Nagorno-Karabakh as a crime against humanity and declared that President Kocharian was responsible for this and other crimes against Azerbaijan.

***To see an example of how the Republic of Azerbaijan portrays the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict we invite those interested to visit http://www.human.az. This is a site prepared by the Azeri Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Please be forewarned as to the graphic nature of this site!!!!!!!

***Visit this link to see another example of official Azeri propaganda re:Nagorno-Karabakh:
www.azertag.com/eu/map_eng.gif

PLEASE NOTE: SASSNA DZRER offers these links to our readers without comment nor
do we endorse their content.






AN AZERI IN ORBIT???


If all goes according to plan, Anushe Ansari will become the first Azeri astronaut on September 15th.

That's when the 39 year-old millionaire will be launched into space from the Baykanur space station in Kazakhstan.

Ms. Ansari is an American citizen who was born in Tehran, Iran to Azeri parents . The family left Iran after the 1978 Islamic Revolution.

August 30, 2006



IRANIAN M.P. FLIPS OVER AZERI INSULTS...

An Iranian Member of Parliament from Tabriz, Seyed Mohammed Reza Tajoddni, recently called on the Iranian Foreign Ministry to formally protest what he called"recent interventionist and anti-Iranian remarks, including cartoons, insulting Iranian officials".
Readers might remember that on May 16th of this year an article entitled "The Struggle Against Cockroaches" appeared in the Iran Daily. In the cartoon that accompanied the article (above left),the cockroaches were speaking in the Azeri Turkish dialect. Naturally this enraged the ten million Azeris living in Iran. Their anger was not mullified by the subsequent arrest of the "cockroach cartoonist" by the Iranian authorities.
Soon after, thousands of Azeris took to the streets of Tabriz in protest. (above right) During the demonstration the protestors called for the unification of North and South Azerbaijan and chanted "Death to Persian Chauvanism".
Talking cockroaches??? Isn't anything sacred nowadays???

Another Turkish Writer To Go On Trial


Journalist Ipek Calislar is set to go on trial this Oct. 5th for violating Turkey's "Law To Protect Ataturk" (Penal Code # 5816).

In her book Latife Hanim, the author writes that in order to escape an imminent assassination attempt, "Ataturk dresses in a black scarf and flees the house pretending to be a woman". By the way, Latife Ussaki Hanim was Ataturk's wife for two years before he divorced her in 1925.

The book, which was published in Turkey this past June, became an instant best-seller

The case against the author was initiated by an irate reader who took offense at the way Ataturk, the Father of modern Turkey, was portrayed... Woman's clothes indeed...

Calislar defends her portrayal of Ataturk, saying it is based on accounts from Latife's sister Vecihe Ilmen and others..


More Assyrians in Sweden Than Armenia!!!

According to the "ATOUR" Assyrian Association of Armenia there are some 7,000 Assyrians living in Armenia today. In Sweden, on the other hand, some 4,000 miles away, the Asyrian community is estimated at some 100,00o souls.

Worldwide estimates place the Assyrian population at around 3.5 million, with at least 1/3 living outside the historic Asyrian lands of northern Iraq and Syria. In both countries they continue to face political and cultural oppression, from both dominant Arab and Kurdish regimes.

In Turkey, only a few thousand Assyrians remain in the southeast. Over 45,000 have fled Turkey during the past 20-30 years. One need not ask why....


Azerbaijan To Send "Peacekeepers" To Lebanon???

This possibility is presently being discussed in Azeri government circles. However, since the Azeri Milli Majlis (Parliament) is now enjoying a much-deserved vacation, no immediate decision on the matter is in the cards.

Azerbaijan presently has some 200 peacekeepers in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Rumors have it that next on the list to send peacekeepers is the Autonomous Republic of Nakhijevan.....


Kurdish Version of Pippi Longstocking Confiscated in Turkey...

According to the Swedish news agency TT, some 1,000 copies of the children's book Pippi Longstocking were recently confiscated by Turkish authorities at Istanbul's airport.

The book had been translated into Kurdish by a Swedish-based charitable organization and was destined to a number of libraries in eastern Turkey. Authorities in Istanbul claimed that the book shipment lacked "proper import documentation". The books remain in limbo after being pulled off the baggage conveyor belt.

The Pippi Longstocking books about the freckled-faced girl have been translated into 85 languages and published in more than 100 countries.

August 29, 2006


Parents of Turkey's New Army Chief Hail From Armenia......

According to Turkish new sources, the new Chief of Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, General Yashar Boyukanit, was born to a Azeri family that was "forced" to flee Armenia's Amasia region for Turkey in 1920.

The general served in South-eastern Anatolia battling Kurdish separatists and is known as a hardliner.

And now for the bad news......


Lake Van Monster??? Move Over " Nessie " !!!

Seen here is a replica of a creature that has been sighted, on and off, in Lake Van since 1995.

The first to publicly confess sighting the beast was a certain Unal Kozak, who at the time was a teaching assistant at Van University. Over the years Mr. Kozak has interviewed about a thousand "sober" eye-witnesses. Even the world famous scientist, Jacques Costeau, was supposed to have been so impressed with the case that he was planning to visit Lake Van and do some exploring on his own. Unfortunately, Mr. Costeau is no longer with us and it is not clear whether he ever made it to Van. Perhaps his son will make the trip.

The stunning, 4 meter high replica proudly stands at the crossroads of one of Van's major intersections. (We're talking the new city of Van.......)