BRITISH JOURNALSIST READY TO GO TO PRISON FOR SPEAKING ABOUT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ArmRadio.am
28.03.2007 15:56

British journalist Robert Fisk is ready to defend his statements about
the Armenian Genocide in the Turkish Court, the Turkish Daily News
reports, turning to the hesitation of Turkish publishers to publish
his latest book because of concerns over the possibility of legal
charges under infamous Article 301 of the penal code that makes it
a crime to denigrate Turkish identity or Turkishness.

"Fisk’s book is invaluable in terms of investigative journalism. Of
course, I want to publish it but I have hesitations because a
court case might be filed against the book under Article 301 due
to its reference to the Armenian question in one of the chapters,"
Osman Akınhay, editor of Agora Publishing House, told the Turkish
Daily News.

The book "The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle
East" is made up of 24 chapters but one chapter is about the alleged
genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World
War I.

"The fact that Fisk’s book, which is easily published and sold in
Europe, cannot be published in a country that aspires to join the EU
is not a problem of mine individually but a problem of Turkey. The
[Turkish] government and Parliament are responsible for safeguarding
the freedom of expression," Akınhay said.

For his part, Fisk assured he is ready stand in court and go to
prison with them if they are in trouble. But instead of publicity
and media hype, the Turkish publishers wanted to publish the book
quietly, said Fisk, as if it were some kind of pornography. He said,
"This is a serious book and you publish it properly."

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