TURK GOES ON TRIAL IN SWITZERLAND FOR DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
International Herald Tribune, France
March 7 2007
GENEVA: A Turkish politician went on trial Tuesday in Switzerland for
denying that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during
World War I amounted to genocide.
Dogu Perincek, head of the Turkish Workers’ Party, called the Armenian
genocide "an international lie" during a speech in the Swiss city of
Lausanne in July 2005.
The state prosecutor has called for a six month prison term for
violating a 1995 Swiss law that bans denying, belittling or justifying
any genocide. The maximum penalty is three years.
Perincek told the Lausanne criminal court that there had been no
genocide against Armenians, but there had been "reciprocal massacres,"
according to Swiss Radio.
"I defend my right to freedom of expression," Swiss Radio quoted
Perincek, 65, as saying in German. "There was no genocide, therefore
this law cannot apply to my remarks."
The case has further soured relations between Switzerland and Turkey.
Ankara criticized the decision to prosecute the case and later canceled
an official visit in 2005 by Joseph Deiss, who was the economy minister
at the time.
If found guilty, Perincek would become the first person to be convicted
under the law. Twelve Turks were acquitted of similar charges in 2001.
Turkey denies charges by Armenia and other countries that 1.5 million
Armenians died in a systematic genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks
beginning in 1915.
Turkey says that hundreds of thousands of both Muslim Turks and
Christian Armenians died in a conflict during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire.
A verdict is expected Friday.