TURKEY: COURT BANS CONFERENCE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Istanbul, 23 Sept. (AKI) – An Istanbul court has dealt a blow to
freedom of expression in Turkey, banning an academic conference which
questions the official view that the 1915-21 mass killings of
Christian Armenians under Muslim Ottoman rule never took place. The
decision on Thursday came one day before the conference was due to
start. Turkey’s government slammed the court ruling, saying that “it
goes against democratic and civilised society.” Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul said he saw the decision as an attempt by some political
forces to sabotage Ankara’s integration with European Union.
The remarks from both men contrast with those uttered by the country’s
justice minister, Cemil Cicek, whose harsh criticism of conference
organisers prompted them to postpone the gathering’s original May
opening date. On that occasion Cicek said the conference was
tantamount to “a dagger in the back of the Turkish people.”
Following the decision by the Fourth Administrative Court the
organisers’ spokesman, Halil Berktay, said that they would seek a new
date for the conference, entitled “Ottoman Era Armenians During the
Collapes of the Empire: Intellectual Responsibility and Democratic
Problems.”
The court’s decision came after the Lawyers’ Union Foundation, a group
of nationalist lawyers, filed a complaint against the event.
Before the court’s ruling many nationalist groups announced that they
would stage protests against the conference. Some of these groups,
including the National Powers and Retired Military Officers
Associations, staged a demonstration at the entrance to Istanbul’s
Bogazici University, the conference venue.
The European Commission also said it was disappointed with the
decision and called Court’s decision “a provocation” less than two
weeks before Ankara is due to start entry talks with the EU. `The
absence of legal motivations and the timing of this decision a day
before the conference looks like yet another provocation,” said
Krisztina Nagy, the EU executive’s spokeswoman for enlargement.
Pro-EU newspapers in Turkey reacted negatively to the court’s
decision. Liberal daily Milliyet said that the decision spells trouble
for Turkey. `This decision is a black spot in Turkish justice
history. For democracy, for justice and for the academic freedoms this
conference had to be held,’ a well-knonw columnist, Hasan Cemal,
wrote.
`Court stopped science’ is the headline of another pro-EU paper,
Radikal. The editor-in chief, Ismet Berkan, argued that the ruling
represents the biggest attack by the country’s courts on academic
freedoms and the freedom of scientific research.
`After this decision it is pointless to get angry with Greek Cypriot
politicians who try to block Turkey’s membership of the EU since we
ourselves destroy the way towards the EU more than any others’, wrote
Abdulhamit Bilici, in the pro-Islamic Zaman.
Many historians say that some 1.5 million Armenians were
systematically murdered by the Turks during the 1915-21 period. Turkey
says a much lower number of Armenians died during mass deportations
which the Ottomans ordered after Armenian fighters and their Russian
allies killed Turkish and Kurdish civilans in fighting on Turkey’s
eastern fringes during World War I.
According to the official Turkish view the Armenian deaths were not
due to a policy of genocide, but were caused by epidemics and other
hadrships suffered during the long marches were part of the
deporatation process.
Last month, another Istanbul court opened a case against Orhan Pamuk
the internationally acclaimed Turkish author. He is due to appear in
court on 16 December on charges of insulting Turkey’s national dignity
by telling a Swiss newspaper that one million Armenians and 30,000
Kurds were killed in Turkey and that nobody dared to say so.
(Vah/Aki)
Sep-23-05 14:57
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