Swiss arrest 2 Turks for allegedly denying Armenian genocide
AP Worldstream
Published: Jun 30, 2007

Two Turks were arrested Saturday on suspicion of breaking Swiss
anti-racism laws for allegedly denying that the killing of Armenians in
the early 20th century was genocide, police said.

The two were arrested at a conference in the Zurich suburb of
Winterthur, where posters were hung up and leaflets distributed
rejecting that the killing was genocide. One of the Turks organized the
event and the other was shouting slogans before a crowd.

Switzerland’s anti-racism legislation, which previously applied to
Holocaust denial, was used earlier this year to prosecute a Turkish
politician for denying at a gathering in 2005 that the Turks committed
genocide in the World War I-era killings.

Last week, a Swiss cantonal court upheld the conviction against Dogu
Perincek, the leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party, as well as an order
for him to pay a fine of 3,000 Swiss francs (US$2,450; A1,870).

The case of Perincek, who was also ordered to pay 1,000 francs (US$820;
A620) to an Armenian association, has caused diplomatic tension between
Switzerland and Turkey. Turkey insists Armenians were killed in civil
unrest during the tumultuous collapse of the Ottoman Empire and not in
a campaign of genocide. Turkey also rejects Armenian claims that the
death toll reached 1.5 million.

Perincek was invited to Saturday’s conference, but was prevented from
entering Switzerland because he had not applied for a visa, said
Dominique Boillat, spokesman for the Federal Office for Migration.

Police in the canton (state) of Zurich identified the two arrested
individuals as a 57-year-old resident of Germany and a 51-year-old
Swiss resident.