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TURKEY SAYS ECHR RULING ON 'GENOCIDE'
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 18 2013
ANKARA
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has applauded the Dec. 18 ruling of the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which stated that denying that
the mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 was genocide
was not a criminal offence.
"The ECHR ruling is a milestone regarding the preservation of freedom
of expression, which is a basic element of societies attached to
the principle of freedom, democracy and the rule of law," a written
statement from the Foreign Ministry said on Dec. 18.
The ruling is a significant warning against attempts to enforce a
unilateral view of history through legal means, and also against the
politicization of law and history, the statement added. A Swiss court
had fined the leader of the leftist Turkish Workers' Party (İP),
Dogu Perincek, for having branded talk of an Armenian genocide "an
international lie" during a 2007 lecture tour in Switzerland. However,
the ECHR ruled on Dec. 18 that a Swiss law against genocide denial
violated the principle of freedom of expression.
The ruling has implications for other European states, such as France,
which have sought to criminalize the refusal to apply the term
"genocide" to the massacres of Armenians during the breakup of the
Ottoman Empire.
The ECHR ruling did not elaborate on the legal description of
"genocide," the statement read, adding that this suggests opinions that
the term "genocide" has a legal dimension are mistaken. The ruling is
an answer to legislative actions in Europe on "denial" of "genocide,"
the statement added, expressing hope that such initiatives will end.
December/18/2013
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-says-echr-ruling-on-genocide.aspx?pageID=238&nID=59808&NewsCatID=339
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 18 2013
ANKARA
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has applauded the Dec. 18 ruling of the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which stated that denying that
the mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 was genocide
was not a criminal offence.
"The ECHR ruling is a milestone regarding the preservation of freedom
of expression, which is a basic element of societies attached to
the principle of freedom, democracy and the rule of law," a written
statement from the Foreign Ministry said on Dec. 18.
The ruling is a significant warning against attempts to enforce a
unilateral view of history through legal means, and also against the
politicization of law and history, the statement added. A Swiss court
had fined the leader of the leftist Turkish Workers' Party (İP),
Dogu Perincek, for having branded talk of an Armenian genocide "an
international lie" during a 2007 lecture tour in Switzerland. However,
the ECHR ruled on Dec. 18 that a Swiss law against genocide denial
violated the principle of freedom of expression.
The ruling has implications for other European states, such as France,
which have sought to criminalize the refusal to apply the term
"genocide" to the massacres of Armenians during the breakup of the
Ottoman Empire.
The ECHR ruling did not elaborate on the legal description of
"genocide," the statement read, adding that this suggests opinions that
the term "genocide" has a legal dimension are mistaken. The ruling is
an answer to legislative actions in Europe on "denial" of "genocide,"
the statement added, expressing hope that such initiatives will end.
December/18/2013
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-says-echr-ruling-on-genocide.aspx?pageID=238&nID=59808&NewsCatID=339