Wonders never cease, sort ot...

Yesterday’s Times reported that Turkey and Armenia are moving towards establishing diplomatic ties after nearly a century of mutual antagonism.

The two countries are to hold six weeks of talks aimed at developing ties after which MPs on both sides will vote on agreed protocols, their foreign ministries announced in a joint statement. The protocols are intended to establish diplomatic ties and develop bilateral relations.

The Elephant in the room will not be subject of discussion though— the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

Expectations of a diplomatic breakthrough have been growing before a planned visit by Armenian President Serge Sarkisian to Turkey in October, to attend a World Cup qualifying football match between the two countries. Last year Abdullah Gül, the Turkish President, paid an unprecedented visit to Armenia and sat alongside Mr Sarkisian in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to watch the 2008 qualifying match.

While the Armenian massacre will not be a deal breaker for the Armenians, Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has linked the discussions to a resolution of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azeri region occupied by Armenian troops. Turkey closed the border between the two countries in 1993 as a gesture of support for Azerbaijan in the dispute and Azerbaijan is pressing Turkey for help in recovering its land.

"We want to normalise our relations with Armenia, but we also want full normalisation of relations in the South Caucasus, including Nagorno-Karabakh," said Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu "This would provide a stable, sustainable peace and stability in our region. The Caucasus has already suffered a lot from ethnic tension and frozen conflicts," he said. "We know very well from our experiences in the Caucasus and Balkans that frozen conflicts are like bombs in our hands and if we cannot control them, they could blow up in our hands," Mr Davutoglu said.

What to say? Better indeed to jaw-jaw than War-war. I have no idea what will come of these talks but if it can at least open some level of communication between the two countries then that cannot be a bad thing.

The Turkish publisher of a British writer goes on trial today accused of publishing books “insulting Turkishness”. Ragip Zarakolu is facing up to three years in prison for publishing a book that promotes reconciliation between Turks and Armenians - by George Jerjian, a writer living in London. The Truth Will Set Us Free was translated into Turkish in 2005. It chronicles the life of Jenjian’s grandmother who survived the early 20th century massacres of Armenians thanks to an Ottoman soldier.

Zarakolu is being tried under Turkey's 301 article of law, the same legislation that was used against Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk in 2005. However, senior officials in Turkey's current administration have promised to rescind the notorious piece of legislation. Yesterday the Turkish justice minister, Mehmet Ali said that "freely expressed views that neither promote terrorism nor violence should be protected".

While Turkish diplomats admit that the law has probably done more damage to Ankara's efforts to join the EU than any other single piece of legislation, there has been little headway made over reforming the spirit and letter of the law. State prosecutors and police officials continue to level charges against artists, musicians and writers perceived to publicly denigrate However, the unveiling of a new constitution later this month will be a significant turning point in the campaign to overturn the law.

The dangers of You Tube

For me, You Tube is a goldmine of music videos that I can blog when I am too tired to post , if I have nothing to say, or if I just want to put up a video of a favourite musician. Copyright issues aside, You Tube should be a harmless entertainment medium. It should not be banned (as it was recently in Thailand) and unless someone posts a criminal act it should;d not land anyone in prison. Criticising an exam system does not in my view constitute a criminal act, but then I am not the Turkish state!

Last year , a Turkish teenager made a video of himself lip-synching a song that blasted Turkey's university entrance system and put it on YouTube. Unfortunately the video did not go down well with the Turkish authorities. Deli, the band that released the song, faces charges of insulting state employees and will go on trial May 2 in Ankara. If convicted, the five musicians, along with their manager and a former band member, face up to 18 months in jail, although they could get off with a fine or a warning.

I'm not sure if this is the original video

The clip shows a teenager bopping around and making gestures against a blank backdrop while lip-synching the song. The minor, identified in media reports only by his first name, Hakan (or hako?) , will take the exam this year. Hiss video logged hundreds of thousands of hits and elevated the song to prominence among young Turks who dread the university exam, and many older Turks who viewed the experience as a trauma.

The song is called "ÖSYM," the Turkish acronym for The Student Selection and Placement Center, the state institution that decides which students go to university, based on a three-hour exam every June . The lyrics of are mild by western standards (Apparently the worst thing said is “shove that exam up your arse”) and despite claiming to enjoy the video Prof. Ünal Yarımağan, chairman of the university placement system, asked lawyers to investigate anyway.

Deli will release its first album in April, and didn't include the song "ÖSYM" to avoid controversy. Bass guitarist Enis Çoban, who studied textile manufacturing, said there was more censorship in Turkey than in Europe or the United States, but less than in China or Iran. "Compared to dictatorships, Turkey is like heaven," Çoban said. "Turkey still has a lot missing, but we believe that it is on the right track to improve itself."

News source: Today's Zamam