TWO JOURNOS CONVICTED OF ‘INSULTING TURKISHNESS’
The Gate – National Journal, DC
Oct 12 2007
A Turkish court has convicted two journalists for publishing
content that mentions the Armenian genocide, following a vote by
a U.S. congressional panel officially declaring the Ottoman Empire
massacres to be genocide.
Arat Dink and Serkis Seropyan, editors at a Turkish-Armenian weekly,
were given one-year suspended sentences under a law that makes it a
crime to "insult" Turkish culture. The government of Turkey officially
denies that the early 20th-century genocide took place, despite the
widespread consensus of historians.
Dink is the son of slain Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink , who
himself was convicted for writing about the genocide. He was gunned
down in January of this year by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.
Newspapers published photographs of Turkish police officers proudly
posing with the assassin. The resulting outrage led to the officers’
dismissal, according to Turkey’s official news agency.
Turks woke up today to angry headlines about yesterday’s 27-21 House
Foreign Relations Committee vote, one of which read, "27 Stupid
Americans." Protesters took to the streets, and Ankara recalled its
ambassador in Washington to discuss the situation, AP reported. The
Turkish government warned it would act in response to the vote,
but as of now insists the ambassador has not been withdrawn. The
resolution condemning the Armenian genocide is strongly opposed by
the White House.