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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 26 2015
Turkey's Worker's Party chair says he is confident of ECHR ruling on
1915 incidents claims
ISTANBUL ` DoÄ?an News Agency
Turkey's Workers' Party (Ä°P) Chairman DoÄ?u Perinçek, who is being
tried at the European Court of Human Rights' (ECHR) Grand Chamber for
publicly denying that the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against
Ottoman Armenians in 1915, has said he is confident that the ruling
will be in his favor.
Speaking at Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen Airport en route to Strasbourg
for the court hearing, Perinçek said it was "difficult to make just
decisions where prejudices prevail," but added that he still awaited a
positive result.
`The second chamber of the ECHR made a bold decision on Dec. 17, 2013.
Now we are waiting for the same from the Grand Chamber. We are
confident because we are right,' he added.
A national court verdict in Switzerland in 2007 resulted in the case
being brought to the ECHR. Perinçek was found guilty by a Swiss court
on March 9, 2007 after his participation in a number of conferences in
Switzerland in 2005, during which he publicly denied that the Ottoman
Empire had committed the crime of genocide against Ottoman Armenians.
Denying that the killings amounted to genocide is a criminal offense
in Switzerland.
According to Armenians, up to 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians were
killed starting from 1915 in a systematic campaign. Turkey denies that
the deaths amounted to genocide, saying the toll during the mass
deportation of Ottoman Armenians has been inflated and that those
killed in 1915 and 1916 were victims of general unrest during World
War I.
Perinçek had complained to the ECHR that Swiss courts had breached his
right to freedom of expression. The ECHR ruled on Dec. 17, 2013 that
his statements in Switzerland fell within the limits of freedom of
expression.
The ECHR ruling stated that `free exercise of the right to openly
discuss questions of a sensitive and controversial nature is one of
the fundamental aspects of freedom of expression and distinguishes a
tolerant and pluralistic democratic society from a totalitarian or
dictatorial regime.'
Switzerland objected to the judgment, after which the case was taken
to the ECHR's Grand Chamber for the final verdict. The Grand Chamber
approved the inclusion of the state of Armenia as a third party
litigant in the case in September.
The case came to the world's attention with news that Amal Clooney,
the prominent British-Lebanese lawyer and wife of Hollywood celebrity
George Clooney, would be one of the attorneys representing Armenia in
the case.
January/27/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-workers-party-chair-says-he-is-confident-of-the-echr-rule-about-claims-on-1915-incidents-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=77534&NewsCatID=338
Jan 26 2015
Turkey's Worker's Party chair says he is confident of ECHR ruling on
1915 incidents claims
ISTANBUL ` DoÄ?an News Agency
Turkey's Workers' Party (Ä°P) Chairman DoÄ?u Perinçek, who is being
tried at the European Court of Human Rights' (ECHR) Grand Chamber for
publicly denying that the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against
Ottoman Armenians in 1915, has said he is confident that the ruling
will be in his favor.
Speaking at Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen Airport en route to Strasbourg
for the court hearing, Perinçek said it was "difficult to make just
decisions where prejudices prevail," but added that he still awaited a
positive result.
`The second chamber of the ECHR made a bold decision on Dec. 17, 2013.
Now we are waiting for the same from the Grand Chamber. We are
confident because we are right,' he added.
A national court verdict in Switzerland in 2007 resulted in the case
being brought to the ECHR. Perinçek was found guilty by a Swiss court
on March 9, 2007 after his participation in a number of conferences in
Switzerland in 2005, during which he publicly denied that the Ottoman
Empire had committed the crime of genocide against Ottoman Armenians.
Denying that the killings amounted to genocide is a criminal offense
in Switzerland.
According to Armenians, up to 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians were
killed starting from 1915 in a systematic campaign. Turkey denies that
the deaths amounted to genocide, saying the toll during the mass
deportation of Ottoman Armenians has been inflated and that those
killed in 1915 and 1916 were victims of general unrest during World
War I.
Perinçek had complained to the ECHR that Swiss courts had breached his
right to freedom of expression. The ECHR ruled on Dec. 17, 2013 that
his statements in Switzerland fell within the limits of freedom of
expression.
The ECHR ruling stated that `free exercise of the right to openly
discuss questions of a sensitive and controversial nature is one of
the fundamental aspects of freedom of expression and distinguishes a
tolerant and pluralistic democratic society from a totalitarian or
dictatorial regime.'
Switzerland objected to the judgment, after which the case was taken
to the ECHR's Grand Chamber for the final verdict. The Grand Chamber
approved the inclusion of the state of Armenia as a third party
litigant in the case in September.
The case came to the world's attention with news that Amal Clooney,
the prominent British-Lebanese lawyer and wife of Hollywood celebrity
George Clooney, would be one of the attorneys representing Armenia in
the case.
January/27/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-workers-party-chair-says-he-is-confident-of-the-echr-rule-about-claims-on-1915-incidents-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=77534&NewsCatID=338