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PACE DOCUMENT URGES GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
Asbarez.com
January 26, 2012.
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, January, 2012.
STRASBOURG, France - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe on Thursday adopted a declaration calling on Turkey to
recognize the "Armenian, Assyrian, and Pontic Greek genocides,"
reported the press office of the Heritage Party.
The document also draws attention to "the persistent scourge of
impunity in Turkey," as a result of which basic freedoms are being
violated, especially those of journalists, broadcasters and publishers.
Presented by Heritage Party delegate to the PACE Zaruhi Postanjyan,
the document also stresses that reforms in Turkey are not sufficient
to deal with basic human right violations in that country.
"The Criminal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act continue to seriously
impede freedom of expression in Turkey. The provisions of these
pieces of legislation have been applied to disproportionately limit
freedom of expression, including that of journalists, broadcasters
and publishers," the documents pointed out.
"The amendments adopted so far by Turkey have not been sufficient to
deal with the root causes of violations of the right to freedom of
expression found by the European Court of Human Rights. We express
our particular concern about the use of civil and criminal defamation
provisions and invite public figures to refrain from initiating
defamation proceedings which have serious effects on media freedom,"
asserted the document.
"Recalling notably the murder of Hrant Dink, advocate of the
freedom of expression, we urge the authorities to step up efforts
to effectively protect journalists from violence and intimidation,"
urged the document.
"We are concerned about the continuous denial of the Genocide of
Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians (Syriacs) by the Turkish authorities
and the use of Article 301 of the Criminal Code for criminal
persecution of journalists and writers," said the document. "We
strongly condemn the continuous violations of their international
obligations by the authorities of Turkey."
The PACE also adopted another document, again introduced by Postanjyan
that relates to Armenia's environmental crisis and Teghut in
particular. It notes: "We strongly condemn the continuing violations
of the international obligations of the Armenian government and we
demand that all decisions regarding the Teghut mining exploitation
be considered invalid."
Asbarez.com
January 26, 2012.
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, January, 2012.
STRASBOURG, France - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe on Thursday adopted a declaration calling on Turkey to
recognize the "Armenian, Assyrian, and Pontic Greek genocides,"
reported the press office of the Heritage Party.
The document also draws attention to "the persistent scourge of
impunity in Turkey," as a result of which basic freedoms are being
violated, especially those of journalists, broadcasters and publishers.
Presented by Heritage Party delegate to the PACE Zaruhi Postanjyan,
the document also stresses that reforms in Turkey are not sufficient
to deal with basic human right violations in that country.
"The Criminal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act continue to seriously
impede freedom of expression in Turkey. The provisions of these
pieces of legislation have been applied to disproportionately limit
freedom of expression, including that of journalists, broadcasters
and publishers," the documents pointed out.
"The amendments adopted so far by Turkey have not been sufficient to
deal with the root causes of violations of the right to freedom of
expression found by the European Court of Human Rights. We express
our particular concern about the use of civil and criminal defamation
provisions and invite public figures to refrain from initiating
defamation proceedings which have serious effects on media freedom,"
asserted the document.
"Recalling notably the murder of Hrant Dink, advocate of the
freedom of expression, we urge the authorities to step up efforts
to effectively protect journalists from violence and intimidation,"
urged the document.
"We are concerned about the continuous denial of the Genocide of
Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians (Syriacs) by the Turkish authorities
and the use of Article 301 of the Criminal Code for criminal
persecution of journalists and writers," said the document. "We
strongly condemn the continuous violations of their international
obligations by the authorities of Turkey."
The PACE also adopted another document, again introduced by Postanjyan
that relates to Armenia's environmental crisis and Teghut in
particular. It notes: "We strongly condemn the continuing violations
of the international obligations of the Armenian government and we
demand that all decisions regarding the Teghut mining exploitation
be considered invalid."