SWISS PRESIDENT: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SHOULD BE STUDIED BY HISTORIANS, BUT ITS DENIAL SHOULD BE PUNISHED
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.11.2008 14:47 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The President of the Swiss Confederation has backed
Turkey’s calls for a study of the Armenian Genocide, saying the
dispute over history should be settled by historians, not politicians.
Pascal Couchepin is on a visit to Turkey on occasion of the 80th
anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between
Switzerland and Turkey. He had talks with President Abdullah Gul on
Monday and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Parliament Speaker
Koksal Toptan on Tuesday.
To Turkey’s dismay, the Swiss leader defended his country’s laws
penalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide during a news conference
with Gul. He said the laws were passed 20 years ago with the principal
purpose of punishing denial of the Holocaust and that the Swiss
judges had the flexibility to interpret laws according to different
circumstances, Today’s Zaman reports.
The lower house of the Swiss Parliament recognized the Armenian
Genocide in a 2003 vote, causing strain in bilateral relations
with Turkey.
Last year, Dogu Perincek, a Turkish politician and the leader of the
Workers’ Party (IP), was charged of denial of the Armenian Genocide.