APOLOGETIC TURKS HEADING FOR JAIL?
Russia Today
Jan 9 2009
Russia
A group of Turkish authors who initiated an online apology for the
WWI killings of Armenians may get jail sentences for ‘insulting the
Turkish people’.
A Turkish prosecutor has opened an investigation into a group of
intellectuals that created a web-page apologising for the massacre
of Armenians in Turkey that started in 1915. The state prosecutor of
Ankara is checking whether the apology violates Article 301 of the
Turkish penal code, which calls ‘insulting Turkish people’ a criminal
deed and carries a jail sentence for those convicted.
The group of suspects set up a web-page which included an apology
for the ‘catastrope’ in the Ottoman Empire (present day Turkey) that
took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians. Writers, academics, and other
intellectuals posted a petition at (We Are Sorry)
and offered a personal apology to Armenians, and also called on the
Turkish government to acknowledge the fact of the massacre. The term
‘genocide’ was not used though.
The mass murder is recognised as genocide by Russia and 21 other
countries, but in Turkey the topic is taboo. The authorities strongly
oppose the use of the term ‘genocide’ and say the figures are greatly
exaggerated, with only thousands murdered. Turkey and Armenia have
no diplomatic ties to this day, though in 2008 they started talks
on normalising relations. According to Turkish Foreign Minister Ali
Babacan, the petition may be instrumental in undermining efforts to
improve relations between the two countries.
Article 301 of penal code was amended last year following pressure
from the EU, an organisation that Turkey would like to join in
the future. Now the Justice Minister has to approve any court
case. Europe is also demanding that Turkey expands its political
freedoms, freedom of speech and improves minority rights to meet EU
standards for membership.
Turkey has a record of prosecuting journalists, academics and authors
for using the word ‘genocide’ when talking about the events that
took place in 1915-1917. Among those who have faced such charges
is Nobel Prize-winner writer Orhan Pamuk, when he stood accused of
‘insulting Turkey’s national character’. On that occasion, however,
the Justice Ministry threw out the prosecution’s case following an
international outcry.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
