Armenian News... A Topalian... How to destroy the truth...Take it to the Europe Courts.... Is this political??? I ask myself...

TURKISH POLITICIAN HAD RIGHT TO DENY ARMENIA 

GENOCIDE: EUROPE COURT
Agence France Presse
October 15, 2015 
The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that a Turkish
politician should not have been prosecuted for denying that the mass
killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turkey in 1915 was a genocide.

In a landmark free speech ruling, the ECHR judges ruled by 10 votes to
seven that Dogu Perincek, chairman of Turkey's Patriotic Party, should
never have been convicted of racial discrimination by a Swiss court
for saying that the "Armenian genocide is a great international lie".

Ihe ECHR ruled Perincek's 2007 conviction and fining over the remark
was an infringement on his right to free speech.

In its judgement, the court said Perincek's statements related to an
issue of "public interest and did not amount to a call for hatred or
intolerance... and could not be regarded as affecting the dignity
of the members of the Armenian community to the point of requiring
a criminal law response".

The court made a clear distinction with Holocaust denial, whose
specific history meant it could always be "seen as a form of incitement
to racial hatred" in certain countries.

Its judges had earlier that the historical facts of the Holocaust,
"such as the existence of gas chambers" were "considered clearly
established by an international jurisdiction".

- 'A worthless provocateur' -

More than 20 nations have so far recognised the killings as genocide,
a definition supported by numerous historians.

But Turkey has always denied that the killings, which started in 1915,
were a pre-meditated attempt by the then-ruling Ottomans to wipe out
the Armenians.

It says 500,000 died out of the two million Armenians living in the
Ottoman Empire, not 1.5 million as claimed by Armenia.

In a series of press conferences in Switzerland in 2005, Perincek
repeatedly blamed "imperialists from the West and from Tsarist
Russia" for stoking tensions between Muslims and Armenians, and said
the resulting deaths were not a calculated attempt to wipe out an
ethnic group.

The Swiss government said this was tantamount to "accusing the
Armenians of falsifying history, one of the worst forms of racial
discrimination".

But even though the ECHR ruling went in Perincek's favour, it was
welcomed by Armenia's government, which said that although the Turkish
politician was exonerated, the court had recognised Armenians right
to protection against hate speech.

"It means that states in Europe can punish Armenian genocide denial if
it is calculated to incite violence or racial disharmony," Armenia's
prosecutor general Gevorg Kostanyan said in a statement.

"The judgement is a very good result for Armenia and for Armenians,"
he added.

That interpretation was backed by Geoffrey Robertson, the high-profile
British lawyer representing Armenia, who said the ruling clearly
stated Armenians had "a right to respect for their history".

The Swiss authorities were indeed wrong to prosecute Perincek,
Robertson added, but only because he was "a worthless provocateur".

- 'No historical overtones' -

The ECHR said it did not have the authority to rule on whether
the Armenian killings were a genocide or not, which was a job for
international criminal courts.

But democratic society should not have gone as far as prosecuting
Perincek over his comments, it found.

"The context in which they were made had not been marked by heightened
tensions or special historical overtones in Switzerland," the ruling
said.

"The Swiss courts appeared to have censured Mr Perincek simply
for voicing an opinion that diverged from the established ones in
Switzerland," it said, while emphasising that "the dignity" of the
victims of the massacres and the "dignity and identity of modern-day
Armenians" were protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.

The ECHR's Grand Chamber ruling is final and binding on all Council
of Europe members.


IS GERMANY SHOWING TOO MUCH DEFERENCE TOWARD TURKEY

OVER ARMENIA?

Deutsche Welle, Germany
Oct 16 2015

Was the massacre of Armenians 100 years ago genocide? The German
parliament is hesitant to say it was. Is this because they don't want
to anger Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan?

That would be really be a serious case of political pragmatism:
according to advance reports from this Saturday's edition of the
Hamburg-based news magazine, "Der Spiegel" (17/10/2015), the German
government is going out of its way to win over Turkey. The report
says that the approval of the Armenian Resolution that was so hotly
debated this April in parliament will be postponed. It claims that
the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union
(CSU) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) have "quietly" agreed to delay
the pending final reading of the bill for as long as possible. The
article does not name sources.

Other sources claim that the resolution has been delayed due to efforts
by the CDU. The opposition Green party insists that the parliament,
or Bundestag, must recognize the massacre of Armenians one century
ago as "genocide" before the end of this year. Green party leader
Cem Ozdemir criticized: "The coalition is stalling, but the clock is
running out, for the commemorative year is quickly coming to an end."

Gauck and Lammert speak out clearly

In April, parliamentarians observed the 100th anniversary of the
displacement and annihilation of Armenians at the hands of their
Ottoman rulers. According to Armenian accounts, some 1.5 million
members of the Armenian minority community were killed in what is
today Turkey, between April 1915 and 1917. Turkey on the other hand,
says that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians were killed, and that just as
many Turks died during the same period. Ankara speaks of an atmosphere
of civil war and of famine.

Nothing infuriates Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more than
when the term "genocide" is used in this context. The resolution
of the Bundestag avoids any clear classifications of it. Bundestag
President Norbert Lammert (CDU), and Federal President Joachim
Gauck, on the other hand, did not mince words on the subject. Both
gave speeches this year clearly defining the historical incident as
genocide carried out on the Armenians by the Turks. Both instances
led to angry reactions in Turkey. "The Turkish people will not forget
German President Gauck's words, nor will they forgive him," was the
response that Ankara's foreign office released after Gauck's speech
in the cathedral of Berlin in April.

Merkel flies to Turkey

One thing is clear at the moment though, the German government needs
Turkey in tackling the refugee crisis. Turkey is an important - right
now the most important - transit country for refugees from the Middle
East who hope to reach Europe, and especially Germany. Currently, two
million refugees are in Turkey. Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to get
President Erdogan to cooperate more closely with the EU than he has
until now. The chancellor will fly to Turkey this Sunday to that end.

Merkel is thus meeting the Turkish president under difficult
circumstances. A Turkish-EU action plan agreed to this week in
Brussels stipulates that Turkey will improve the registration and
care of refugees in exchange for EU cash.

Announcements of Merkel's trip led to mixed reactions in Berlin: A
general election is being held in Turkey on November 1. This spring,
Erdogan's governing conservative Islamic party AKP lost its absolute
majority, and is now hoping to recover it. Germany's opposition Green
and Left parties fear that Merkel's trip could unwittingly turn into
an electoral boost for the president.


TURKEY WELCOMES EUROPEAN COURT'S RULING GRANTING 

RIGHT TO DENY 'GENOCIDE'
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Oct 16 2015
Welcoming a ruling by the top European court of human rights, which
said Switzerland had violated a Turkish politician's right to freedom
of speech by convicting him for denying the killing of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks in 1915 amounted to genocide, Turkey has called the
ruling "an important turning point, as it provides a reply to the
exploitation of history and law for political motives."

"Turkey, having intervened as a third party from the beginning to the
case, welcomes its conclusion in line with its views," the Turkish
Foreign Ministry said in a written statement released late on Oct. 15,
referring to the European Court of Human Rights' ruling delivered
earlier in the day.

Dogu Perincek, the leader of Turkey's Vatan Party (VP), was convicted
in a Swiss court after speaking at several public events in Switzerland
in 2005 and his appeals were rejected. He filed a case at the European
court in June 2008.

"Based on the principles of democracy and law, we deem the judgment
as a very strong signal against all efforts imposing the 'genocide'
allegation as the only and absolute truth along with attempts and
practices which even forbid questioning it," the Foreign Ministry said.

"The judgment has registered the fact that parliaments and leaders
are not competent to rewrite history by going beyond their powers. It
also acknowledges that courts could not adjudicate on history by
disregarding the relevant judicial norms. The judgment will establish a
precedent for similar cases as a significant source of European human
rights jurisprudence. The judgment also sets an important turning
point as it provides a reply to the exploitation of history and law
for political motives," it said.

"The judgment constitutes a significant legal gain from the point of
democracy, freedom of expression and human rights and the policy Turkey
has pursued in recent years with patience and moderation on the events
of 1915. According to the judgment, the events of 1915 are a matter
of legitimate debate and different opinions relating to what happened
during that period are under the protection of freedom of expression.

Likewise, it is in no way possible to compare what happened in 1915
with the Holocaust," it said.

The events of 1915 are a highly sensitive issue both in Turkey
and among Armenians in Armenia and in diaspora. Turkey accepts that
Christian Armenians were killed by Ottoman forces during World War I,
but denies there was any systematic attack on civilians amounting
to genocide.

The court said it did not fall into the scope of the case to determine
whether the massacres and mass deportations of Armenians by the Ottoman
Empire from 1915 constituted genocide as defined by international law.


ECHR GAVE OPEN MESSAGE TO ARMENIAN DIASPORA
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 16 2015

ECHR gave an open message to the Armenian diaspora, Turkish former
minister for EU Affairs Egemen Bagis said in an exclusive interview
with Trend Oct. 15.

He said that the decision of European Court of Human Rights is not
only victory of Dogu Perincek, but also is the victory of democracy,
freedom of speech and the history of Turkey.

"The decision of the ECHR is a slap to the community that prides
itself on its actions to limit the freedom of speech", - he said.

Bagis also noted that earlier when he was the minister for EU Affairs,
it also was a criminal case due to the fact that he rejected the
so-called rejected "Armenian genocide", which led to a diplomatic
crisis.

"I advice to Armenia, which took advantage of a centennial common
tragedy, think about how to return Azerbaijani refugees to the occupied
lands", - Bagis said.

He also noted that, after the decision of the ECHR, Armenia also
would be better to think about how to solve their economic problems.

Bagis congratulated all who supported and participated in this
decision.

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has recognized
on Oct. 15 that the denial of the so-called Armenian genocide fits
into the freedom of speech and can't be prosecuted.

In particular, the judges said it is inadmissible to condemn the leader
of Turkey's Patriotic Party Dogu Perincek of racial discrimination in
connection with his remarks that the "Armenian genocide" is a big lie.

Perincek was charged with the said accusation by a Swiss court.

He was convicted and fined by the court in 2007, while the European
Court of Human Rights declared the decision a violation of his right
to freedom of speech.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey's predecessor, the
Ottoman Empire, committed the so-called genocide against Armenians
living in Anatolia in 1915.

While strengthening the propaganda of "genocide" in the world,
Armenians achieved its recognition by parliaments of some countries. 

EUROPEAN COURT SHOWS RULE OF LAW OVER ARMENIA'S 

POLITICAL SPECULATIONS
Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 16 2015
By Anakhanum Khidayatova - Trend:
The decision of the European Court of Human Rights that the denial
of the so-called Armenian genocide is kept within the freedom of
expression and can not be prosecuted in accordance with the law,
has strengthened the faith in its impartiality, Aurelia Grigoriu,
the chairperson of the Public Chamber of Moldova, told Trend Oct. 16.

"This decision demonstrated to the whole world that the European
Court is far from double standards," she said.

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights recognized
that the denial of the so-called Armenian genocide is kept within
freedom of expression and cannot be prosecuted in accordance with the
law. In particular, by ten votes versus seven the judges considered
the conviction of Turkish VATAN party leader Dogu Perincek by the
Swiss court as inadmissible.

Perincek was accused of racial discrimination in connection with his
statements that the "Armenian genocide" is a big lie.

Perincek was found guilty and fined by the Swiss court in 2007. The
European Court of Human Rights considered this decision as a violation
of his right to freedom of expression.

Grigoriu said somehow, the Armenian lobby managed to put forward
this initiative of criminalizing the denial of the so-called Armenian
genocide, contrary to the norms of the European Convention on Human
Rights, but this was not allowed.

"The matter does not rest in the fact that the positions of the
Armenian lobby are weakened in the world," he said. "It is still very
influential. However, the European Court's decision is important not
only for Turkey but also for the rest world."

She said that the decision of the European Court is particularly
important because it showed the triumph of the Convention on Human
Rights and the rule of law over political speculation and lie.

"This decision is final," she said. "It can not be appealed. It is
enforceable. Armenia will react soon. New actions will be taken."

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey's predecessor, the
Ottoman Empire allegedly carried out "genocide" against the Armenians
living in Anatolia in 1915. Turkey in turn has always denied "the
genocide" took place. While strengthening the efforts to promote the
"genocide" in the world, Armenians have achieved its recognition by
the parliaments of some countries.


NAGORNO-KARABAKH: BAKU REMINDS ECHR OF ITS VERDICT
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Oct 16 2015
The Azerbaijani representative to the European Court, Chingiz Askerov,
sent a letter to the President of the European Court of Human Rights,
Dean Spielmann, in connection with the large number of applications
by Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons.

He recalled that the Court has recently made a contribution to the
legal aspects of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. On 16 June 2015,
the Court delivered its judgments in Chiragov and Others v. Armenia
and Sargsyan v. Azerbaijan. These applications were filed on 6 April
2005 and 11 August 2006. The respondents received their answers in
June-July 2007.

In June 2008, the Court gave Azerbaijan notice of another application
- Arakelyan v. Azerbaijan. The parties' submissions were made by the
end of April 2009. Following the judgment in the Sargsyan case, the
Court has resumed examination of Arakelyan's application and asked
the parties to make further submissions.

"In this connection I should draw your attention to the fact that
a large number of applications lodged by Azerbaijani refugees and
internally displaced persons against the Republic of Armenia are
pending before the Court as from 2005. According to the information
received by the Government of Azerbaijan, these applications concern
not only the alleged violation of property rights or the right to
respect for private and family life, but also alleged violations
of the right to life and the prohibition of torture. There were
also applications from victims of the act of genocide in Khojaly,"
1news.az cited Askerov as saying.

He also spoke about Azerbaijani nationals Firuze Askerova and Albina
Veselova, who filed an application concerning alleged violations of
the rights of their husbands, who were forced out of their homes
in the Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan by the Armed Forces of the
Republic of Armenia. They wanted to visit the the graves of their
relatives in Kalbajar, but were sentenced to long-term imprisonment.

The Court gave priority under Rule 41 to more than ten applications
against the Republic of Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan objects against such treatment of applications by the
Court, which should, at least, demonstrate impartiality and fairness
towards all Europeans," he note