Turkey sentences Armenian writer Hrant Dink
Turkey sentences Armenian writer Hrant Dink
The verdict is in and Hrant Dink, one of the few remaining and visible Armenians in Turkey, the publisher of bilingual Armenian-Turkish news daily AGOS, has been found guilty by a Turkish court for insulting the "Turkish identity," whatever that means. BBC reports on the verdict and let's wait and see what is EU going to do about it. But I am afraid that the gutless EU is going to do nothing that will go beyond a smokescreen of verbiage. Is this the Turkey that EU swung its doors open to? Imagine someone being sued and found guilty for insulting say the Irish identity or the Luxemburgan identity. If you can't imagine, well you are not alone.
A journalist in Turkey has been found guilty of insulting Turkish identity and given a suspended six-month jail sentence by a court in Istanbul.
Hrant Dink, of Armenian-Turkish descent, wrote a newspaper column which he argued was aimed at improving relations between Turkey and Armenia.
The prosecution interpreted one part as an insult, but Mr Dink has said he will appeal against the ruling.
The verdict follows criminal code reforms as Turkey seeks to join the EU.
The reforms were intended to improve freedom of speech in Turkey.
The article written by Mr Dink addressed the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during Ottoman rule in 1917.
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Turkey sentences Armenian writer
BBC NEWS
7 October 2005
Turkey sentences Armenian writer
Journalists have raised concerns about aspects of the penal reforms
A journalist in Turkey has been found guilty of insulting Turkish identity
and given a suspended six-month jail sentence by a court in Istanbul.
Hrant Dink, of Armenian-Turkish descent, wrote a newspaper column which he
argued was aimed at improving relations between Turkey and Armenia.
The prosecution interpreted one part as an insult, but Mr Dink has said he
will appeal against the ruling.
The verdict follows criminal code reforms as Turkey seeks to join the EU.
The reforms were intended to improve freedom of speech in Turkey.
The article written by Mr Dink addressed the killings of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians during Ottoman rule in 1917.
Armenians, supported by several countries, want Turkey to recognise the
events as a genocide. Turkey rejects that description, saying the deaths
occurred in a civil war in which many Turks were also killed.
Humiliation
A paragraph in the article calling on Armenians to symbolically reject "the
adulterated part of their Turkish blood" was taken as offensive.
" If I'm guilty of insulting a nation then it's a matter of honour not to
live here" Hrant Dink.
The judge ruled that Mr Dink's newspaper column implied that Turkish blood
was dirty.
He is the editor of a bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper, Agos.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford said the judge ordered a suspended sentence as it
was Mr Dink's first offence.
But the nationalist lawyers who brought the case were disappointed.
"There was an obvious humiliation and result of this case should be at least
two and a half years or three years criminal charge," one said.
"But I think that Turkish courts are under big pressure due to these
European Union accession talks."
'No crime'
Mr Dink's lawyer Fethiye Cetin said the ruling showed how little had changed
under Turkey's new criminal code, despite international and internal
pressure.
"There was no crime here," she told the BBC. "We expected our client to get
off."
Our correspondent says human rights lawyers believe his case shows there are
still no-go areas for discussion here and the new laws leave substantial
room for interpretation.
Mr Dink says he will appeal against the ruling. But if he cannot clear his
name, he will leave the country.
"If I'm guilty of insulting a nation," he told the BBC, "then it's a matter
of honour not to live here."Leave a comment:
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Journalist faces three years in Turkish jail
ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF CANADA
COMITÉ NATIONAL ARMÉNIEN DU CANADA
3401 Olivar-Asselin
Montréal, Québec
H4J 1L5
Tél. (514) 334-1299 Fax (514) 334-6853
Communiqué de Presse - Press Release
July 21 juillet, 2005
Contacts: Shant Karabajak 514-334-1299
Roupen Kouyoumdjian 514-336-7095
For immediate release:
Pour diffusion immédiate:
Journalist faces three years in Turkish jail
Montreal - State prosecutor has called for a three year prison sentence
for Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian journalist, under article 301
of the penal code, which came into force on 1st of june.
The world press freedom organization said it was concerned about
fuzzy language in the new criminal code that could easily be used
against journalists discussing sensitive topics, such as the Armenian
Genocide or withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus.
Reporters Without Borders criticized the current trial for "insulting
Turkish identity" in discussing the 1915 genocide against Armenians.
"This trial based on a total misunderstanding," Dink told Reporters
Without Borders. "I never meant to insult Turkish citizen."
"The Turkish authorities continue their policy of denial of the
Armenian Genocide by adopting new laws to prosecute and punish any
expression of recognition of the historical fact" stated Dr. Girair
Basmadjian of the Armenian National Committee of Canada.
"This despite the fact that Turkey pretends to be ready for open
discussions."
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