JAILED TURKISH PUBLISHER CALLS FOR PARLIAMENT’S RECOGNITION OF GENOCIDE
Tert.am
11.01.12
Turkish publisher and human rights activist Ragip Zarakolu has called
upon his country’s parliament to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Jailed in October amid the anti-Kurdish operations in Turkey, the
activist has asked his lawyer to submit to the Grand National Assembly
a petition to acknowledge the Genocide ahead of its 100th anniversary.
“It’s more than clear,” he said. “The Republic of Turkey is the
successor of the Ottoman Empire. It is necessary to apologize for
the 1915 Genocide, and the subsequent policies of deportation and
assimilation. From the moral standpoint, it is the duty of Turkey’s,
not other countries’ parliaments to make such apologies. ” he said,
noting that 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the tragic events .
“In the run-up to the 100th anniversary of the Genocide, the Republic
of Turkey has to shoulder such a serious and the same noble burden,”
the publisher said, according to the Turkish media.
Zaeakolu was detained on October 27, 2011 during the operations against
the Kurdish Communities’ Union (KCK), the right wing of the Kurdistan
Labor Party (PKK).
His son, Denis, was jailed earlier with over 90 Kurdish activists. He
was accused of attempted coup and complicity in the KCK operations.
Zarakolu is among Turkey’s most prominent intellectuals struggling
against the denial of the Armenian Genocide. He has been periodically
persecuted by the Turkish authorities for attempts to insult Turkishnes
(Article 301 of Turkey’s criminal court). He was earlier sentenced
to six months in prison for translating Franz Werfel’s Forty Days
of Musa Dagh and printing it in his publishing house. He was also
convicted for publishing the Turkish translation of George Jerjyan’s
book titled devoted to the Armenian Genocide.
From: Baghdasarian