Turkish Press
Dec 22 2007
Turkish M.F.A. Expresses Discontent Over Rejection Of Perincek’s
Appeal By Swiss F.S.C.
Published: 12/21/2007
ANKARA – Turkish MFA said the rejection of the appeal of Dogu
Perincek, leader of Worker’s Party (IP) by The Federal Supreme
Court(FSC)of Switzerland was "a serious violation of freedom of
expression".
FSC of Switzerland had announced its rejection of the appeal of
Perincek, IP leader, against the verdicts of Lausanne Court of First
Instance and Regional Court of Appeal on 19 December 2007.
"We maintain the same views put forward in our press release which
was made following the verdict of Lausanne Court of First Instance.
We consider the verdicts of these courts, above all, as serious
violations of freedom of expression," said a press release issued by
Turkish MFA on Thursday.
Turkish MFA noted that ‘an understanding which was predicated on
subjective assessments’ prevailed in the said verdicts instead of
universal norms, principles and rules of law.
"In these verdicts, the historical facts have been replaced by the
self-constructed memory of Armenian circles and the erroneous
convictions of some circles concerning the 1915 events," said the
press release.
Turkish MFA recalled the proposal it had made in 2005 to Armenia for
the establishment a joint commission of historians to study the
incidents of 1915 and said, "history should be evaluated and
commented by historians and not by judicial or legislative organs."
On the other hand, Jean-Philippe Jeanneraz, Spokesperson of the Swiss
MFA told A.A that the Swiss Government was of the belief that
formation of a commission of historians would be beneficial for
shedding light to the incidents that had occured in the last period
of the Ottoman Empire, on Thursday.
Turkish MFA welcomed the statement made by the Swiss MFA following
the verdict of FSC.
IP leader Perincek, who had been fined to 9,000 francs for breaching
the disputed Swiss law on "denying" Armenian allegations of genocide
saying "Armenian genocide is an imperialist lie", had filed an appeal
with the FSC in March 2007.