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TURKISH ULTRANATIONALIST PARTY LEADER TO MEET WITH ASSAD
Cihan News Agency (CNA), Turkey
March 1, 2015 Sunday
Ä°STANBUL (CÄ°HAN)- The leader of Turkey's ultranationalist Land
Party (VP), which was known as the Labor Party (Ä°P) until recently,
departed for Syria on Sunday to meet with President Bashar al-Assad,
the Dogan news agency has reported.
Dogu Perincek spoke to the media at Ataturk Airport before leaving
for Syria. Stating that Turkey needs the friendship and brotherhood
of Syria, Perincek said, "Syria's resistance against a global attack,
which supports Turkey's territorial integrity, is one of the most
important matters in recent years. Our visit will boost the cooperation
between Middle Eastern countries as well as Turkey's friendship with
Syria, Iraq and Iran. We will return with good news from our meeting
with Mr. Bashar al-Assad in terms of peace and ending terrorism in
Turkey and near our borders."
Perincek, who went to Syria accompanied by a committee, briefly met
with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Ä°stanbul's
Ataturk Airport before boarding his flight. Ahmedinejad was in Turkey
for a few days to attend events commemorating the anniversary of the
death of former Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan.
Among those accompanying Perincek on his visit to Syria were Birgul
Ayman Guler, who recently resigned from the Republican People's Party
(CHP), and Abdullatif Å~^ener, a founder and former member of the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as well as a former
deputy prime minister.
Perincek came into the spotlight after having been convicted by a Swiss
court for calling claims of an Armenian genocide an "international
lie" during a series of speeches he delivered in Switzerland in
2007. Perincek brought the case to the European Court of Human Rights
(ECtHR), which ruled in favor of the Turkish politician on Dec. 17,
2013, saying that the VP leader had exercised his "right to free
speech." In late January, the ECtHR began hearing an appeal filed by
the Swiss government against Perincek.
Perincek's original conviction centered on his denial of claims that
1.5 million Armenians were killed in the final years of the Ottoman
Empire in a systematic genocide campaign, a claim categorically denied
by Turkey.
Cihan News Agency (CNA), Turkey
March 1, 2015 Sunday
Ä°STANBUL (CÄ°HAN)- The leader of Turkey's ultranationalist Land
Party (VP), which was known as the Labor Party (Ä°P) until recently,
departed for Syria on Sunday to meet with President Bashar al-Assad,
the Dogan news agency has reported.
Dogu Perincek spoke to the media at Ataturk Airport before leaving
for Syria. Stating that Turkey needs the friendship and brotherhood
of Syria, Perincek said, "Syria's resistance against a global attack,
which supports Turkey's territorial integrity, is one of the most
important matters in recent years. Our visit will boost the cooperation
between Middle Eastern countries as well as Turkey's friendship with
Syria, Iraq and Iran. We will return with good news from our meeting
with Mr. Bashar al-Assad in terms of peace and ending terrorism in
Turkey and near our borders."
Perincek, who went to Syria accompanied by a committee, briefly met
with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Ä°stanbul's
Ataturk Airport before boarding his flight. Ahmedinejad was in Turkey
for a few days to attend events commemorating the anniversary of the
death of former Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan.
Among those accompanying Perincek on his visit to Syria were Birgul
Ayman Guler, who recently resigned from the Republican People's Party
(CHP), and Abdullatif Å~^ener, a founder and former member of the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as well as a former
deputy prime minister.
Perincek came into the spotlight after having been convicted by a Swiss
court for calling claims of an Armenian genocide an "international
lie" during a series of speeches he delivered in Switzerland in
2007. Perincek brought the case to the European Court of Human Rights
(ECtHR), which ruled in favor of the Turkish politician on Dec. 17,
2013, saying that the VP leader had exercised his "right to free
speech." In late January, the ECtHR began hearing an appeal filed by
the Swiss government against Perincek.
Perincek's original conviction centered on his denial of claims that
1.5 million Armenians were killed in the final years of the Ottoman
Empire in a systematic genocide campaign, a claim categorically denied
by Turkey.