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TURKISH MINISTER BACKS PARTY LEADER ACCUSED OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Jan 9 2015
ANKARA (AA) -Turkey's Foreign Minister has backed the leader of a
small Turkish political party accused by the Swiss authorities of
racial discrimination over remarks made about the "Armenian genocide"
issue in 2007.
Dogu Perincek, chairman of the nationalist Workers' Party, is due
to attend a European Court of Human Rights appeal hearing on Jan. 28
to defend Turkey's position on the claims of a genocide perpetrated
against Armenians in 1915.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara on Friday, Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu said Turkey would defend its thesis in the best way possible.
"I hope he [Perincek] will be able to attend the appeal hearing,"
Cavusoglu said.
However, Perincek is currently prevented from leaving Turkey after
being jailed in connection with the "Ergenekon" coup plot case.
"The process is in the [Turkish] Supreme Court's hands now,"
Cavusoglu added.
Perincek spoke at a conference in Switzerland in 2007 and denied that
the incidents of 1915 involving Armenians constituted genocide. The
Swiss authorities found him guilty of racial discrimination.
After the Swiss court's decision, Perincek appealed to the European
Court of Human Rights in 2008 in Strasbourg, arguing for "freedom
of expression."
In December 2013, the court ruled that Perincek should not have been
found guilty of racial discrimination when he called the idea of an
Armenian genocide an "international lie."
Prominent actor George Clooney's wife, Amal Ramzi Clooney, is expected
to represent Armenia at the Jan. 28 hearing.
On a related issue, when asked about whether Turkey's Athens embassy
is trying to prevent an expected protest today over the Armenia
controversy by Turks in Greece, Cavusoglu said Turkish citizens had
the democratic right to protest, therefore there would be no effort
to prevent it.
"This also happened once again in France," Cavusoglu said. "Nobody
has the right prevent these kinds of protests, we will support it."
Turks living in Athens are expected to hold a protest on Friday at
2.p.m. local time.
-Minister hails Ambassadors' Conference
Cavusoglu also talked about the 7th Annual Ambassadors' Conference
in Ankara, saying the meeting was "very successful in terms of both
quantity and quality."
"This year's conference hosted the biggest number of foreign guests
in its history," Cavusoglu said.
Foreign ministers of the Netherlands, Argentina and Nigeria as well as
the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, the
director-general of UNESCO Irina Bokova and the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees Antonio Guterres attended.
The next conference in 2016 will be held in Turkey's Eskisehir
province.
From: Baghdasarian
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Jan 9 2015
ANKARA (AA) -Turkey's Foreign Minister has backed the leader of a
small Turkish political party accused by the Swiss authorities of
racial discrimination over remarks made about the "Armenian genocide"
issue in 2007.
Dogu Perincek, chairman of the nationalist Workers' Party, is due
to attend a European Court of Human Rights appeal hearing on Jan. 28
to defend Turkey's position on the claims of a genocide perpetrated
against Armenians in 1915.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara on Friday, Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu said Turkey would defend its thesis in the best way possible.
"I hope he [Perincek] will be able to attend the appeal hearing,"
Cavusoglu said.
However, Perincek is currently prevented from leaving Turkey after
being jailed in connection with the "Ergenekon" coup plot case.
"The process is in the [Turkish] Supreme Court's hands now,"
Cavusoglu added.
Perincek spoke at a conference in Switzerland in 2007 and denied that
the incidents of 1915 involving Armenians constituted genocide. The
Swiss authorities found him guilty of racial discrimination.
After the Swiss court's decision, Perincek appealed to the European
Court of Human Rights in 2008 in Strasbourg, arguing for "freedom
of expression."
In December 2013, the court ruled that Perincek should not have been
found guilty of racial discrimination when he called the idea of an
Armenian genocide an "international lie."
Prominent actor George Clooney's wife, Amal Ramzi Clooney, is expected
to represent Armenia at the Jan. 28 hearing.
On a related issue, when asked about whether Turkey's Athens embassy
is trying to prevent an expected protest today over the Armenia
controversy by Turks in Greece, Cavusoglu said Turkish citizens had
the democratic right to protest, therefore there would be no effort
to prevent it.
"This also happened once again in France," Cavusoglu said. "Nobody
has the right prevent these kinds of protests, we will support it."
Turks living in Athens are expected to hold a protest on Friday at
2.p.m. local time.
-Minister hails Ambassadors' Conference
Cavusoglu also talked about the 7th Annual Ambassadors' Conference
in Ankara, saying the meeting was "very successful in terms of both
quantity and quality."
"This year's conference hosted the biggest number of foreign guests
in its history," Cavusoglu said.
Foreign ministers of the Netherlands, Argentina and Nigeria as well as
the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, the
director-general of UNESCO Irina Bokova and the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees Antonio Guterres attended.
The next conference in 2016 will be held in Turkey's Eskisehir
province.
From: Baghdasarian