TURKISH COURT BLOCKS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONFERENCE

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
September 22, 2005, Thursday
16:59:05 Central European Time

Ankara

A Turkish court has banned an academic conference on the massacres
of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman Turks, planned for this week, CNN
Turk reported Thursday

The Istanbul 4th Administrative Court ordered the ban on Monday
after a group from the Lawyers Union Foundation applied to have the
conference cancelled. Bogazici University, where the conference was
due to start on Friday, received news of the order on Thursday.

The circumstances surrounding the 1915 massacres of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians continue to arouse controversy in Turkey today,
with the official line being that while many died the incidents cannot
be regarded as a genocide.

More than a dozen European countries have passed resolutions
specifically stating that the events of 1915 did constitute a genocide
and that Turkey should accept this and make appropriate apologies.

The conference was to include a number of Turkish historians who
are critical of the official stance. It was originally to have taken
place on May 25 but organizers decided to postpone it after Justice
Minister Cemil Cicek described the gathering as a “stab in the back”.

Cicek’s comments came despite assurances from Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey has completely opened its archives and is
prepared to allow historians discuss the issue.

Erdogan said Thursday he regretted the court’s decision saying it
did not comply with democratic rights.

The court decision comes two weeks after prosecutors filed charges
against Turkey’s internationally famous author Orhan Pamuk for
“denigrating the country” when he told a Swiss news magazine that
“a million Armenians were killed”. Pamuk faces up to three years
imprisonment if found guilty.

The latest court decision is sure to embarass the government as it
attempts to convince European countries to give the go ahead for E.U.

membership talks to begin on October 3. dpa cw sr