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TURKISH HISTORIAN CLEARED OF CHARGES FOR DECLARING 'GENOCIDE'
The New Anatolian, Turkey
April 2 2007
An Istanbul court decided late in January not to pursue charges against
a Turkish historian for declaring a "genocide" of Armenians had been
committed during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, daily Radikal
revealed over the weekend.
In an article in Agos, a Turkish-Armenian weekly, historian Taner
Akcam had written, "The 1915-1917 deportations and massacres of
Armenians constituted a genocide."
The complaint against Akcam was filed by Recep Akkus at the
prosecutor's office of Istanbul's Eyup district. The charges against
Akcam were under controversial Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301
for insulting Turkishness, as well as various other articles for
instigating a crime, praising a crime and criminals, and instigating
public animosity and hatred.
The prosecutor's office said that such writing about an alleged
genocide is covered by freedom of speech and thus it is not "insulting
Turkishness." The Jan. 30 decision came just 12 days the assassination
of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, Agos' editor in chief. Dink,
too, had been facing charges for insulting Turkishness when he was
murdered.
Radikal noted that the prosecutor of Istanbul's Sisli district filed
a case against Dink after remarks in which he said, "Of course I say
this is a genocide."
In another article titled "Hrant Dink, 301 and a criminal complaint,"
Akcam wrote, "I believe the 1915-1917 deportations and massacres
of Armenians constituted a genocide. I reiterate this at every
opportunity. I have written books, articles and even columns on this
issue. If describing this as genocide is a crime, I commit this crime
nearly every week."
Akcam's lawyer Erdal Dogan also underlined that the decision is late
but important within the framework of freedom of speech.
Speaking to bianet, Dogan said "I wish our prosecutors had made
similar decisions before Dink was murdered. It's sad that justice
was remembered after the assassination of Dink."
Article 301 is a controversial article of the penal code which took
taking effect in June 2005, introduced as part of a package of penal
law reform in the process preceding the opening of negotiations for
Turkey's European Union membership, in order to bring Turkey up to
EU standards. It makes it a crime to insult "Turkishness." Since this
article became law, charges have been brought in more than 60 cases,
some of which are high profile.
The New Anatolian, Turkey
April 2 2007
An Istanbul court decided late in January not to pursue charges against
a Turkish historian for declaring a "genocide" of Armenians had been
committed during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, daily Radikal
revealed over the weekend.
In an article in Agos, a Turkish-Armenian weekly, historian Taner
Akcam had written, "The 1915-1917 deportations and massacres of
Armenians constituted a genocide."
The complaint against Akcam was filed by Recep Akkus at the
prosecutor's office of Istanbul's Eyup district. The charges against
Akcam were under controversial Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301
for insulting Turkishness, as well as various other articles for
instigating a crime, praising a crime and criminals, and instigating
public animosity and hatred.
The prosecutor's office said that such writing about an alleged
genocide is covered by freedom of speech and thus it is not "insulting
Turkishness." The Jan. 30 decision came just 12 days the assassination
of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, Agos' editor in chief. Dink,
too, had been facing charges for insulting Turkishness when he was
murdered.
Radikal noted that the prosecutor of Istanbul's Sisli district filed
a case against Dink after remarks in which he said, "Of course I say
this is a genocide."
In another article titled "Hrant Dink, 301 and a criminal complaint,"
Akcam wrote, "I believe the 1915-1917 deportations and massacres
of Armenians constituted a genocide. I reiterate this at every
opportunity. I have written books, articles and even columns on this
issue. If describing this as genocide is a crime, I commit this crime
nearly every week."
Akcam's lawyer Erdal Dogan also underlined that the decision is late
but important within the framework of freedom of speech.
Speaking to bianet, Dogan said "I wish our prosecutors had made
similar decisions before Dink was murdered. It's sad that justice
was remembered after the assassination of Dink."
Article 301 is a controversial article of the penal code which took
taking effect in June 2005, introduced as part of a package of penal
law reform in the process preceding the opening of negotiations for
Turkey's European Union membership, in order to bring Turkey up to
EU standards. It makes it a crime to insult "Turkishness." Since this
article became law, charges have been brought in more than 60 cases,
some of which are high profile.