TURKISH INTELLECTUALS DISMAYED BY SWISS COURT’S GENOCIDE RULING

Today’s Zaman
23 October 2008, Thursday
Turkey

A Swiss court’s ruling against three Turks for their denial of
allegations of an Armenian genocide has drawn ire from liberal
intellectuals in Turkey, including Professor Baskın Oran.

The court, in Winterthur, ordered Workers Party (Ä°P) Europe
representative Ali Mercan to pay a fine of 4,500 Swiss francs
($3,900). Two others were ordered to pay 3,600 Swiss francs each for
violating anti-racism legislation.

During a demonstration in June of last year, Mercan had denied Armenian
claims of genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. The other two
Turks were co-organizers of the demonstration.

"Now, wait and see how this massive attack on the freedom of expression
will strengthen fascists in Turkey and elsewhere, and how non-Muslims,
Alevis, Kurds, leftists and liberals will suffer more under this
heavy blow. Maybe this is what is being aimed at by certain circles,"
Oran wrote for a discussion network on the Internet.

Oran himself was prosecuted two years ago under infamous Article 301
of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) on charges of "insulting Turkishness"
for a report on minorities and cultural reports he had prepared for the
Prime Ministry. The report maintained that Turkey’s understanding of
minority rights lagged behind universal norms and proposed far-reaching
amendments to the Constitution and related laws. He was acquitted of
the charges but continued to be threatened by radical groups.

"I cannot see any difference between our courts, which are punishing
people who are saying ‘genocide,’ and the Swiss court. Actually,
the Swiss court is even guiltier than ours because their tradition of
freedom of speech is stronger than ours," Oran said in an interview
with Today’s Zaman. He also pointed out that the Swiss court’s verdict
would have a negative effective on freedom of speech in Turkey, since
the circles that already oppose freedoms will use the verdict to show
that there are limitations to freedom of speech even in a European
country like Switzerland.

"In the present situation it is totally impossible to get rid of
Article 301," Oran added.

In the past there have been many court cases against intellectuals
under the article. As part of Turkey’s ongoing European Union accession
process, the government amended the law and introduced a requirement
under which prosecutors must seek authorization from the Ministry of
Justice before initiating a court case under the article.

Yusuf AlataÅ~_, a lawyer and a former chairman of the Human Rights
Association (Ä°HD), stressed that in Europe the borders of freedom
of thought are determined by racism but that the verdict of the Swiss
court was against freedom of speech.

"There is no conclusion from any international body regarding the
genocide. Until there is such a decision, it is normal that some people
will claim that it is genocide and others will argue the opposite,"
AlataÅ~_ said.

–Boundary_(ID_m7YUAFLSR97O9dWehsWXwQ)–