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TANER AKCAM FILED APPLICATION AGAINST TURKEY TO EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
PanARMENIAN.Net
21.06.2007 14:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Professor Taner Akcam, a Turkish scholar and Visiting
Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota, filed
an application before the European Court of Human Rights against
the Republic of Turkey, independent French journalist Jean Eckian
told PanARMENIAN.Net.
The complaint is based on the criminal investigation launched against
him earlier this year under Turkish Penal Code Article 301, for
"insulting Turkishness" by having publicly used the term "genocide"
to describe the mass murder of Armenians in 1915.
Despite its changed wording over time, Article 301 remains prominent
among the many enduring obstacles in Turkey's path to membership of
the European Union. The same law has in recent years been the basis
for the prosecution of other leading Turkish intellectuals, writers,
journalists and academics on similar grounds.
The most notable victims of Article 301 include Nobel Prize winning
novelist Orhan Pamuk, recently assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, and publisher Fatih Tas.
The Court, based in Strasbourg, France, enforces the Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It rules
over private individuals' complaints against human rights violations
committed by signatory States. Turkey signed the Convention in 1954.
"Facing history and coming to terms with past human rights abuses
is not a crime but a prerequisite for peace and reconciliation
in the region," says Professor Akcam. "My goal is to help Turkey
realize its full potential to evolve into a truly free and democratic
society. This cannot happen if Turkey continues to criminalize academic
discussion." His legal team is headed by Dr. Payam Akhavan, former
UN war crimes prosecutor and professor of international law at McGill
University in Montreal. "In a world where Holocaust denial is a crime,
state-sanctioned denial of genocide is all the more reproachable,"
says Dr. Akhavan. "Limitations on freedom of speech should apply to
hate speech, not to speech against hate."
The Court will examine Professor Akcam's application and rule on
its admissibility within one year. If the application is declared
admissible, the Court will then encourage the parties to reach
a friendly settlement. Only if no settlement can be reached will
the Court consider whether or not there has been a violation of the
Convention. Should the Court find that there has been such violation,
it will deliver a judgment which will legally bind Turkey to comply.
PanARMENIAN.Net
21.06.2007 14:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Professor Taner Akcam, a Turkish scholar and Visiting
Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota, filed
an application before the European Court of Human Rights against
the Republic of Turkey, independent French journalist Jean Eckian
told PanARMENIAN.Net.
The complaint is based on the criminal investigation launched against
him earlier this year under Turkish Penal Code Article 301, for
"insulting Turkishness" by having publicly used the term "genocide"
to describe the mass murder of Armenians in 1915.
Despite its changed wording over time, Article 301 remains prominent
among the many enduring obstacles in Turkey's path to membership of
the European Union. The same law has in recent years been the basis
for the prosecution of other leading Turkish intellectuals, writers,
journalists and academics on similar grounds.
The most notable victims of Article 301 include Nobel Prize winning
novelist Orhan Pamuk, recently assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, and publisher Fatih Tas.
The Court, based in Strasbourg, France, enforces the Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It rules
over private individuals' complaints against human rights violations
committed by signatory States. Turkey signed the Convention in 1954.
"Facing history and coming to terms with past human rights abuses
is not a crime but a prerequisite for peace and reconciliation
in the region," says Professor Akcam. "My goal is to help Turkey
realize its full potential to evolve into a truly free and democratic
society. This cannot happen if Turkey continues to criminalize academic
discussion." His legal team is headed by Dr. Payam Akhavan, former
UN war crimes prosecutor and professor of international law at McGill
University in Montreal. "In a world where Holocaust denial is a crime,
state-sanctioned denial of genocide is all the more reproachable,"
says Dr. Akhavan. "Limitations on freedom of speech should apply to
hate speech, not to speech against hate."
The Court will examine Professor Akcam's application and rule on
its admissibility within one year. If the application is declared
admissible, the Court will then encourage the parties to reach
a friendly settlement. Only if no settlement can be reached will
the Court consider whether or not there has been a violation of the
Convention. Should the Court find that there has been such violation,
it will deliver a judgment which will legally bind Turkey to comply.
