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SWISS PARLIAMENT REJECTS PETITION FOR RECOGNITION OF 1915 AS GENOCIDE
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-266790-swiss-parliament-rejects-petition-for-recognition-of-1915-as-genocide.html
Dec 26 2011
Turkey
The Swiss parliament has rejected a petition asking it to grant
genocide status to the killings of Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans and
a few other ethnic communities in 1915 by Ottoman Turks, on the grounds
that "massacres should better be brought to light by historians."
In response to a petition placed on the agenda of the Swiss national
parliament on Dec. 23, the Swiss parliamentary commission on foreign
policy ruled that facts surrounding massacres should better be left
to historians for analysis, and that the active policy of Switzerland
constitutes the best method to answer the call of the petitioners.
Switzerland does not constitutionally mention any ethnicities or
historic events as genocides, but under the Swiss Penal Code,
anti-racism has very severe repercussions and may be applied
extensively by courts. Justifying genocide is considered a violation
of the country's legislation and was applied to Holocaust denial in
the previous years.
A Turkish politician, Dogu Perincek, leader of the Workers' Party
(İP), was charged with the same anti-racism law in 2007 when he
uttered publicly in Lausanne that he was not denying the "Armenian
genocide" because there was no genocide, although he agreed that a
large number of people in both communities suffered heavy losses in
1915. He received a suspended sentence and a fine of close to $2,500,
and his appeal at a Swiss court did not change the results.
An anti-racism law -- including sentences for denial of genocide --
was adopted in 2003 in the Swiss canton of Vaud, where Perincek made
his remarks in protest of the penal code. More than a dozen Turks
were prosecuted on such charges a decade ago but were acquitted.
From: A. Papazian
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-266790-swiss-parliament-rejects-petition-for-recognition-of-1915-as-genocide.html
Dec 26 2011
Turkey
The Swiss parliament has rejected a petition asking it to grant
genocide status to the killings of Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans and
a few other ethnic communities in 1915 by Ottoman Turks, on the grounds
that "massacres should better be brought to light by historians."
In response to a petition placed on the agenda of the Swiss national
parliament on Dec. 23, the Swiss parliamentary commission on foreign
policy ruled that facts surrounding massacres should better be left
to historians for analysis, and that the active policy of Switzerland
constitutes the best method to answer the call of the petitioners.
Switzerland does not constitutionally mention any ethnicities or
historic events as genocides, but under the Swiss Penal Code,
anti-racism has very severe repercussions and may be applied
extensively by courts. Justifying genocide is considered a violation
of the country's legislation and was applied to Holocaust denial in
the previous years.
A Turkish politician, Dogu Perincek, leader of the Workers' Party
(İP), was charged with the same anti-racism law in 2007 when he
uttered publicly in Lausanne that he was not denying the "Armenian
genocide" because there was no genocide, although he agreed that a
large number of people in both communities suffered heavy losses in
1915. He received a suspended sentence and a fine of close to $2,500,
and his appeal at a Swiss court did not change the results.
An anti-racism law -- including sentences for denial of genocide --
was adopted in 2003 in the Swiss canton of Vaud, where Perincek made
his remarks in protest of the penal code. More than a dozen Turks
were prosecuted on such charges a decade ago but were acquitted.
From: A. Papazian