GERMAN-LANGUAGE WEBSITE ABOUT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LAUNCHED –
YEREVAN, February 2. /ARKA/. A German-language website has been
launched about the 1915 genocide of Armenians –
The new website offers various information on the genocide, including
videos and archive documents, and tells about the Armenian community
of Germany and its efforts to achieve acknowledgment of the genocide
by Germany.
News from all over the world on the genocide problem, including on
Perincek’s case, is posted on the website created by the committee
for Armenian genocide centennial measures in Germany.
The target audience of the resource is the German speaking population
of Europe. The site has also a feedback option.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Wednesday heard an appeal
filed by Switzerland against Turkey’s Workers’ Party chairman Dogu
Perincek, who was convicted earlier by a Swiss court of denying the
Armenian genocide. Armenia was represented in Strasbourg by human
rights lawyer Amal Clooney and Geoffrey Robertson. The Strasbourg
court will announce its ruling on the case at a later date.
Perincek had earlier won an appeal at the European court against the
Swiss court decision to convict him of having branded the Armenian
genocide an “international lie” during a series of speeches in
Switzerland in 2007. The ECHR said in its December 17, 2013, decision
that the politician had exercised his “right to free speech.”
The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth century.
According to Armenian and many other historians, up to 1.5 million
Armenians were killed starting in 1915 in a systematic campaign by
the government of Turkey. Turkey has been denying it for decades.
The Armenian genocide was recognized by tens of countries. The first
was Uruguay that did so in 1965. Other nations are Russia, France,
Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden,
Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina,
42 U.S. states.
It was recognized also by the Vatican, the European Parliament, the
World Council of Churches and other international organizations. -0-