WRITER DEMIRER ON TRIAL FOR "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE"
Erol Onderoðlu
BIA
March 5 2008
Turkey
In protest at Hrant Dink’s murder, writer Demirer had called on others
to commit the same "crime" as Dink had done, i.e. to recognise the
factuality of an "Armenian genocide." He is now facing a trial under
Articles 301 and 216.
A day after journalist Hrant Dink’s murder on 19 January 2007, writer
Temel Demirer read a press statement in central Ankara, saying that
the journalist had not only been killed for being Armenian, but also
because he had spoken of an "Armenian genocide."
Trial under Articles 301 and 216 Around a year later, Demirer has
been taken to court under Article 301 and 216 for "denigrating the
Turkish Republic" and "inciting to hatred and hostility." The case
will be heard at the Ankara 2nd Penal Court tomorrow (6 March).
Temel Demirer and the Solidarity Initiative had said, "We owe something
to those being tried for their thoughts and actions, those being
obstructed, tortured, imprisoned and killed."
In a previous statement Demirer said that he believed that there was
a genocide carried out against the Armenians in the Ottoman period,
that the state was then the "customs of the the Committee of Union
of Process", and that these customs had been continued up to cases
like the Susurluk scandal (which revealed connections between the
state and contract killings).
Calling on others to commit "crimes" in protest The indictment prepared
by Chief Public Prosecutor Levent Savas on 24 December 2007 is based
on police reports and police recordings.
According to the indictment, Demirer said the following at the
protest meeting:
"We live in a country where murders and silencing the truth are
partners. Hrant was murdered not only because he was Armenian but
because he said expressed the reality that a genocide took place in
this country. If the Turkish intellectuals do not commit 301 crimes
under Article 301, then they will be guilty of Hrant’s murder, too."
"There is a genocide in our history, it is called the Armenian
genocide. At the cost of his life, Hrant told us all about this
reality. Those who do not commit a crime against the murderous state
are part of the murder. Those who killed the Armenians yesterday are
today attacking our Kurdish brothers and sisters. Those who want the
brotherhood of peoples need to face up to this history. We have to
commit crimes to avoid that what happened to the Armenians happens
to the Kurds. I call on all of you to commit crimes. Yes, there was
an Armenian genocide in this country."
The statement was signed by the following:
Fikret Baþkaya, Ýsmail Beþikci, Yuksel Akkaya, Mehmet Ozer,
Necmettin Salaz, Ahmet Telli, Ruþen Sumbuloðlu, Tayfun Ýþci, Mahmut
Konuk, Ýbrahim Akyol, Abdullah Aydýn, Oktay Etiman, Sait Cetinoðlu,
Halil Ýbrahim Vargun, Ozgen Seckin, Ziþan Kurum, Mete Kaan Kaynar,
Hakký Atýl, Mustafa Kahya, Anýl Aslan, Huseyin Ontaþ, Erol Býyýklý,
Cennet Bilek, Serpil Koksal, Selcuk Kozaðaclý, H. Ýbrahim Vargun,
Evrim Kýlýc, Yýlmaz Erdoðan, Pýnar Dursun, Samet Erdemir, Ozer Akkuþ,
Ozgur Doðan, Mehmet Toðan, Ramazan Gezgin, Metin Uzunoz, Onur Iþýk,
Huseyin Gevher, Ulku Cevik, Huseyin Gungor, Muzaffer Celikkol, Rýza
Karaman, Metin Ayhan, Ýrfan Kaygýsýz, Caðdaþ Kupeli, Devrim Kahraman,
Tulay Kocak, Ali Ersin Gur, Muharrem Demirkýran, Haldun Acýksozlu,
Adil Okay, Confederation of Europe Workers from Turkey (ATIK) (EO/GG)
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