‘NO JEWS, ARMENIANS. DOGS WELCOME’
Brisbane Times
Feb 17 2009
Australia
ANKARA – The head of a Turkish nationalist group could face up to a
year in jail after being charged over a placard he put in his office
barring Jews and Armenians from entering.
"No Jews or Armenians are allowed through this door. Dogs are free
to enter," read the sign that Niyazi Capa, general manager of the
Osman Gazi Culture Federation, placed in the window of his office
in the central Anatolian city of Eskisehir in January just after the
Israeli military began it’s three-week operation in Gaza.
Prosecutors have now charged Capa with "discrimination on the basic
of race or religion", a crime punishable by between six months and
one year imprisonment.
News agency Dogan said that Capa had denied the charges, telling
prosecutors investigating the case that he was not a racist and that
he had no problem with Armenian or Jewish people.
Capa’s alleged action in January coincided with large-scale protests
across Turkey condemning the Israeli military operations in Gaza.