NO PROSECUTION FOR APOLOGY TO ARMENIANS
United Press International
Jan 30 2009
USA
ANKARA, Turkey, Jan. 30 (UPI) — None of the people who signed the
online campaign, The Apology to Armenians, will be prosecuted in
Turkey, prosecutors say.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said a group of residents
of the Turkish capital had called for the prosecution of apology
signatories, no action would be taken against those individuals,
Bianet reported Tuesday.
The office said regarding the signatories that even opposite opinions
are protected under the concept of freedom of expression in democratic
societies.
Prosecutors had been asked to target the signatories under Turkish
Article 301, a penal code that made it illegal to insult Turkey,
its government or its culture.
Bianet said the online campaign offers Armenians a direct apology
for any atrocities that occurred in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the
denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were
subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my share,
I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers and
sisters. I apologize to them, the apology reads.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
