"TURKEY’S WORKERS’ PARTY CONDEMNS DETENTION OF 2 TURKS IN SWITZERLAND"
Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
July 1 2007
ANKARA (A.A) -01.07.2007 -Turkey’s Workers’ Party (IP)
Secretary-General Nusret Senem condemned Switzerland for detaining
two Turks, who denied so-called Armenian genocide in this country.
A group of IP members protested Switzerland outside Swiss Embassy
in Ankara, carrying Turkish flags and chanting slogans against
Switzerland.
IP Secretary-General Nusret Senem told reporters that his party
representative Ali Mercan and Ethem Kayali, the Chairman of Kemalist
Thought Association (ADD) in Bern, were taken into custody in
Winterhurt, on charges that they said "Armenian genocide is an
imperialist lie."
Senem said they were released after being held in a cell for eight
hours and then interrogated for two hours.
"We learned that Swiss authorities will file a lawsuit against Mercan
and Kayali," Senem said.
"We will continue to raise our outcry against you (western countries)
that Armenian genocide is a lie. We repudiate your laws and we will
keep violating them," he added.
In July 2005, Dogu Perincek, Chairman of IP, was detained in
Switzerland for saying, "Armenian genocide is an imperialist lie"
in a press conference. He was released after being interrogated for
more than three hours.
Perincek was later tried in Swiss court in March 2007 and was fined
to 9,000 francs, but this sentence was delayed for two years. The
Lausanne court also fined Perincek to 3,000 Swiss francs, and decided
to sentence Perincek to 30 days in prison if the Turkish party leader
does not pay this fine immediately.
Perincek was also asked to pay 1,000 Swiss francs to the Armenian
community in Switzerland, and 10,000 francs to Sarkis Sahinyan,
who filed this lawsuit against him.
Perincek, whose appeal was rejected a while ago, filed lawsuit to
federal court.