TURKISH LAWYER ASKS ANKARA COURT TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
HULIQ
March 31 2010
SC
A top notch lawyer in Turkey has urged the the court in Ankara and
the government of Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide and remove
all the statues of the former interior minister Talat Pasha from the
country as one of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide.
This may be one of the very rare cases when the Armenian genocide
discussion moves from parliaments to legal field in courts. In a very
rare case, the Armenian genocide discussion moves from parliament
to a legal field in court. Most importantly, the case originated in
Turkey’s capital, Ankara.
According one of the top Turkish newspapers Haberturk, a famous
Turkish lawyer Bendal Jalil Ezman petitioned the Turkish government
and the court to recognize the Armenian Genocide whcih happened in
1915-1921 and remove all the statues of Talat Pasha from the country
as well as rename all the street names that are named after him.
According to the Ezman, after examining the events of those years he
came to the conclusion that Talaat Pasha actually committed a crime
and is the author of the Armenian Genocide.
Thus, with this connection, Ezman asks the court in Turkey to qualify
those horrific events of killing 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. He
said Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire were systematically
slaughtered and Turkey should face its past.
"Turkey must face its past. Such a case is opened for the first time in
Turkey," said attorney Ezman. Asked if he fears any negative reaction
he said "if it comes, predestination is something in my head."
More members of the Turkish society have come forward in the recent
years acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. As the society aspires for
European Union membership and the government proceeds more democratic
reforms and opening discussions about the past are being made possible
and more people learn about the past dark pages of the Ottoman period
when 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered and deported from their
living place and thus deprived from their fatherland in Eastern
Anatolia as part of a systematic ethnic cleansing program carried be
the government of Young Turks. More than 20 parliaments in the world
have called those events genocide.
It’s unknown when the court will consider Ezman’s lawsuit.
Submitted by Armen Hareyan on Wed, 2010-03-31 13:58
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