TURKISH CONSULATE OFFICIAL INTERVENES AT IFEX PANEL IN OSLO
BIA Magazine
expression/115018-turkish-consulate-official-inter venes-at-ifex-panel-in-oslo
June 5 2009
At a panel discussing the denial of an Armenian "genocide", a Turkish
consulate official reiterated the argument that Armenians were deported
for treason.
Erol ONDEROÄ~^LU [email protected] Oslo – BÄ°A News Center 05 June
2009, Friday
At the general meeting of the International Freedom of Expression
eXchange (IFEX) in Oslo, a panel was discussing "Laws on Holocaust
Denial and Politics: Legal Limits".
Publisher Ragip Zarakolu from Turkey also spoke at the panel.
Official denial continues Following the presentations, a person
describing themselves as an offical at the Turkish consulate in Norway,
objected to the use of "genocide" that had been used by speakers
to describe both what happened to Jews in the Third Reich and what
happened to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
He added, "They were not deported because they were Armenians or
because of their race, but because they collaborated with the enemy."
Criticism of Turkish legislation Zarakolu, owner of Belge Publications,
had joined the panel instead of historian Taner Akcam, who was unable
to attend. Akcam’s book, entitled " A Shameful Act: The Armenian
Genocide and The Question of Turkish Responsibility", has caused
controversy in Turkey, and he is one of the first Turkish academics
to name what happened a genocide.
Zarakolu criticised Articles 301 and 305 of the Turkish Penal Code,
saying that they prevented people from discussing the Armenian
genocide. He himself has been convicted under Article 301 for
"denigrating the Turkish state or state organs", but was acquitted of
"inciting hatred and hostility." Zarakolu said, "The laws encourage
denial."
The consulate official said that, following international formulations,
what happened could not be called a "genocide". As for Article 301
and other laws, he said, "All countries make such laws to protect
the unity of their territory and security."
The audience was surprised at the interference of the consulate
official.
"Memories are erased" Yael Danieli, manager for the US-based
Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children, said,
"If the judiciary and the media do not do their duty, they do not
only deprive genocide victims and avoid telling the truth, but they
also erase memories."
Anton Weiss-Wendt of Oslo’s Holocaust and Religious Minorities
Studies Centre, said, "I don’t believe that denial can be solved in
courts. Expectations are so high that expecting a court to define
and prove a genocide would cause disappointment."
New members Two organisations from Turkey are members of IFEX: bianet
and the Initiative against Crimes of Thought. The following are new
members, increasing the number of IFEX members to 88 worldwide:
* The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) helps to cover an
underrepresented area in IFEX, with 200 members in over 20 countries
in the Caribbean.
* Since 2003, the Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre) in Honduras
has circulated around 150 free expression alerts across various
networks.
* The Latin American Observatory for the Freedom of Expression (OLA)
based in Peru brings together free expression news from members in 10
countries, and covers some of the more untraditional communicators,
such as artists, cartoonists and TV and radio production staff.
* The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) in Malaysia is one of
the founding partners of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, focusing
on training, media defence and advocacy for journalists in Malaysia.
* Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF) is a new network of mainly independent
media that covers 21 countries in the Pacific.
* The Exiled Journalists Network (EJN), based in the U.K., is run by
and for exiled journalists. It has recently announced plans to create
Press Freedom House, a safe house in London modelled after the Maison
des Journalistes in Paris, that will give new arrivals temporary
accommodation and training – and a chance to adapt to life in the U.K.
* London-based Privacy International has been around since 1990,
campaigning worldwide to protect people from surveillance and privacy
invasions by governments and corporations.
* Public Association of Journalists (PAJ) is IFEX’s first member in
Kyrgyzstan, and the second in the region.
* The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms
(MADA) is the first IFEX member located in the volatile Palestinian
Territories and the only group exclusively dedicated to free expression
there. (EO/AG)