TURKISH JUDGE PUBLICLY CRITICIZES DENIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Harut Sassounian
AZG Armenian Daily
08/11/2008
Armenian Genocide
Scores of highly sympathetic articles about the Armenian Genocide
have appeared in the Turkish press in recent months, despite Turkey’s
repressive laws that make it a crime to discuss this taboo subject.
One such article appeared in the October 30 issue of the liberal
newspaper Taraf. It was authored by a very unlikely writer — Judge
Faruk Ozsu from Odemish, near Izmir. This is probably the first time
that a sitting Turkish judge publicly expresses such daring thoughts
in violation of article 301 of the penal code. He criticizes and mocks
the Turkish government’s distorted version of the Armenian Genocide
that has been fed to the public for decades.
Judge Ozsu asserts that Turkish denialists contradict themselves by
first denying that anything happened in 1915 and then stating that
those killings were committed "in defense of the homeland."
Referring to the three Turks, recently sentenced by a Swiss Court
for denying the Armenian Genocide, Judge Ozsu writes that contrary
to widespread Turkish misrepresentation Switzerland did not restrict
freedom of expression, but in fact upheld human dignity. Moreover,
he ridicules all those who claim that "from the point of view of
freedom of expression, Turkey is more advanced that Switzerland" —
a statement he characterizes as a hilarious comedy! In his judgment,
those toeing the official Turkish line on the Armenian Genocide are
"blind patriots" who accuse of treason anyone expressing the slightest
human sensibility on this subject.
Judge Ozsu describes himself as "a simple man who has not lost his
conscience, despite his nationalistic education." He explains that
since Switzerland has acknowledged 1915 as genocide, everyone in that
country is obliged to obey the law of the land. He goes on to quote
Elie Wiesel as saying that the denial of genocide is the continuation
of genocide. That is why, the Judge writes, "it is mandatory that
denial be deemed a crime."
The Honorable Judge further contends that the denial of genocide
is unrelated to the scholarly investigation of facts. He condemns
French historian Gilles Weinstein and Turkish Professor Baskin Oran
for claiming that "there are no documents proving that the killings
were committed according to a government plan, therefore it is not
possible to qualify these events as genocide." In the Judge’s view,
those making such comments are simply trying to save their necks from
"the claws of article 301."
In a direct reference to Dogu Perincek who was convicted by the Swiss
Supreme Court last year for denying the Armenian Genocide, Judge Ozsu
made the following observations:
– "Perincek’s association bears the name of Talaat Pasha who is viewed
as a ‘Turkish Hitler.’"
– "Those who declare that the Armenian Genocide is ‘an imperialist
lie,’ show no respect for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of
people, but exclaim: ‘Long live the Ittihadists; we were right [to
kill the Armenians] and we can do the same thing now,’ then the only
person who will pay attention to them is a Swiss judge."
– "Disputing the genocide, making racist statements, and praising
the commission of a crime is now a legal issue in Switzerland, and
not an attempt to seek the truth through scientific inquiry."
To be sure, the Judge takes a dim view of his country’s educational
system which keeps Turks in a state of ignorance about 1915, while
people outside Turkey, who have not had a "Turkish education," view
things differently. Explaining that the term genocide was coined by a
Polish-Jewish attorney named Raphael Lemkin in 1933, in the aftermath
of the Armenian Genocide, and before the Holocaust had taken place,
which means that "the Genocide Convention signed by Turkey was inspired
by the Armenian Genocide."
The Judge is particularly irate at the Turkish government’s
insensitivity toward the mass killings of Armenians. He states:
"The official Turkish position is that during the war Armenians from
certain regions were temporarily sent to the Southern region and
during that period about 300,000 Armenians perished due to different
circumstances. Any Turk who has not been through ‘Turkish education’
and has kept his conscience intact, upon hearing the 300,000 figure,
would say, ‘Oh My God’ and will start thinking about that number."
Consequently, the Judge suggests that the first thing Turks should do
is "to state that we feel terrible regarding these events…. Those
who died at that time were not our enemies, but our citizens. Some of
those who died were children. No one can speak of children as enemies."
Judge Ozsu concludes: "The Swiss Court’s verdict is neither against
democracy nor freedom of expression. Switzerland simply does not
allow the events leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands
of people to be characterized by racist and insensitive words that
insult people’s dignity. Switzerland simply does not allow that the
victim be victimized for a second time!"
Given the Turkish government’s well-established record of punishing
all factual references to the Armenian Genocide, we fear that this
righteous judge may be dismissed from his job and even get imprisoned
for simply telling the truth!
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
