A few days ago, I posted to an Armenian group on the Web the article published by A1 Plus Armenian newspaper under the title "TURKEY ESCALATES INTERNATIONAL WAVE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL" after which I got a response from a person (mostly a Turk) thinking that the article contains my views and arguing them!! So, I wrote a response to this letter to refute the writer's allegations on Turkish Panel Code and Armenian Genocide.
1. My Posting
14:31:18 16-06-2005 Politics
TURKEY ESCALATES INTERNATIONAL WAVE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL
Activists from across the United States, throughout Europe, and around the world are streaming to the Armenian National Committee of America's (ANCA) website to take part in an on-line response to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recently unleashed international wave of genocide denial. {BR}
In recent weeks, Erdogan has dramatically raised the stakes in his government's campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide, orchestrating the purchase of major media advertisements, applying intense pressure on foreign governments, and severely cracking down on dissidents within Turkey who seek to speak openly about this crime against humanity. Elements of this wave of denial include:
Blocking the first-ever Armenian Genocide conference in Turkey, which was to have taken place in Istanbul this June.
Spending over $1,000,000 to have Time Magazine include DVDs denying the Armenian Genocide in all of its editions throughout Europe, and placing a major genocide denial ad in the Washington Post.
Pressing the U.S. government to withdraw the American Foreign Service Association's "Constructive Dissent" award to U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans for speaking the truth about the Genocide.
Pressuring President Bush, during their June 8th White House meeting, to oppose the Armenian Genocide Resolution before Congress. This legislation (H.Res.316) was introduced on June 14th by Congressmen George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), and Frank Pallone (D-NJ).
Twisting arms at the State Department to continue to exclude any mention of the Armenian Genocide in the Department's official website's section on Armenian history. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5275.htm
Imposing an effective "gag-rule," silencing any U.S. protests over Turkey's new Penal Code provision (Section 305) outlawing even the discussion of the Genocide.
"The powerful response to our action alert reflects the seriousness with which Armenians worldwide are responding to Erdogan's escalation of his attacks on the truth, on the memories of genocide victims, and on the very security of Armenia," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.
"But he will fail - despite all the millions of dollars and vast political capital he will expend. He'll fail - because of the powerful grassroots response he will face from Armenian Americans; because of the moral indignation of the American people as they learn more about how his government's values stand in stark contrast to those held by the vast majority of Americans; because he is finding himself increasingly isolated internationally as he loses his partners in denial, and - perhaps most importantly - because his years of hateful lies and deception will collapse under their own weight," added Hamparian.
http://www.a1plus.am/eng/?go=print&id=29571
2. The Response to my Posting
From:
"FGHF FGHFH"
To:
ara_ashjian@yahoo.com
CC:
armenian@yahoogroups.com
Subject:
Re: TURKEY ESCALATES INTERNATIONAL WAVE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL
Date:
Sun, 19 Jun 2005 11:43:30 +0000 Hi Ara,You're saying that;...Turkey's new Penal Code provision (Section 305) outlawing even the discussion of the Genocide.That's not true. If you can show me such a statement in "Section 305" I'll accept I'm wrong.Law is not Mathematics and it all depends how you intend to interpret the law. Clearly you want to see it with a blind prejudice and without carefully thinking about what the law wants to ban. Every European nation has same or similar laws like 305. It's just to protect the country itself and not to ban free discussion.By the way, I wonder what would happen if someone would want to organize an event to support the Turkish views in Armenia. I guess they would be lucky to get alive from there and you know it's true.Why isn't there anything in the Armenian version of history about the killings of the hunderds of thousands of Turks (or Muslims)? Do you really think that the deportation of the Armenians did happen just for getting rid of the Armenians, while clearly ther were easier ways to do it. In the end the Ottomans were armed barbarians and the Armenians were un-armed innocents, weren't they?:)Democracy and justice are for everyone, not only for the Armenians.RegardsVictim
3. My Response Letter
Hi Victim,
First of all, I would say that if you had read my posting well, you would have realized that it didn't represent my own opinion, for it was an article written by the Armenian A1 Plus newspaper (I have even mentioned the URL of the article).
Anyway, let's discuss the content. You seem very selective as you took merely one point of the article (about Turkey's new penal code provision) which means that you have agreed on the other many points mentioned in the article remarking the escalation of International wave of Armenian Genocide denial by the Turkish state !! Even though, I'll discuss this point with you. In fact, you are the person who "wants to see it with a blind prejudice and without carefully thinking about what the law wants to ban"; because even before you make such accusation against me you confess that "Law is not Mathematics and it all depends how you intend to interpret the law" which is exactly the case of Turkish government with this law particularly. Zoryan Institute of Canada, Inc. urged the Turkey's government in a letter addressed to Turkey's PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 9, 2005, to "make unequivocally and publicly clear that Article 305 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes 'acts against the fundamental national interest,' does not pertain to the Armenian Genocide issue, and that individuals who say that the Armenians suffered a genocide will not be persecuted by the state". And if you think that laws like 305 "is just to protect the country itself and not to ban free discussion", then what will make the Zaman Turkish newspaper note on April 23 (2005) that the Turkish government should "lift all legal and other obstacles to the free investigation, discussion, and comprehension of what happened in 1915" ? I can refute your allegation on the Article 305 from many sources. I would take only one here:
- Bianet - "RSF, Concerned of New Turkish Penal Code":
Parliamentary amendments drawn up ahead of 1st June to the Turkish Penal Code on freedom of expression related articles are very inadequate, says international journalists rights organization RSF. They share concerns of Turkish colleagues.
PARIS / 31 May 2005
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it shared the concerns of Turkish journalists over threats to press freedom from a new criminal law that still needed major amendments before coming into force on 1st June.
Despite revisions voted by parliament after it was adjourned on 31 March 2005 following strong media protests, the organization repeated its call for the removal of prison sentences for press offences.
"Far from bringing Turkish law into line with European law on freedom of expression, some articles of the code on the contrary would facilitate arbitrary legal action against journalists and entailing a climate of self-censorship damaging to press freedom", it said.
Several articles of the new code are particularly perilous. Article 305, which punishes acts that go against "fundamental national interests" by prison sentences of three to ten years, threatens journalists and the right of the public to be informed.
Any claim to do with the "Armenian genocide" or "withdrawal of Turkish armed forces in Cyprus" would be considered as against "fundamental national interests".
Dozens of journalists have been imprisoned in the past for having simply expressed their opinion on this type of subject.
Turkish deputies did nevertheless agree to remove paragraph 2 of the article which set out a 50 percent increase in sentences if the offence was committed via the press.
Article 301 that is to replace 159 has been used in the past to severely punish any criticism of parliament, the justice system or the security forces.
It will be termed in future "Humiliation of Turkish identity, the Republic, state institutions and bodies".
It will allow wide scope for interpretation and threaten anyone criticizing Turkish identity, the state or parliament with a prison sentence of six months to three years. Any person who attacks the government, justice system or the security forces moreover faces six months to two years in prison.
Article 285 threatens with four and half years in prison anyone "violating the confidentiality of an investigation". This could be a serious threat to the right of journalists to protect their sources.
Article 277 punishes anyone trying to "sway the justice system" with two to four years in prison and potentially puts in danger journalists covering court proceedings.
Under Article 267 of the new code, defamation in the press with the aim of exposing someone to a judicial investigation is liable to a one to four-year prison sentence.
Article 216, formerly 312, punishes with one to three years in prison "deliberate incitement of a section of the population to hatred and hostility through discrimination on the basis of race, region or membership of a religious group, against another section of the population" that causes "a clear and direct danger to the public" (paragraph 1).
"Humiliation of a section of the population due to social, religious, sexual or regional differences" is liable to a sentence of six months to one year in prison (paragraph 2). "Overt humiliation of a person because of their religious principles is liable to six months to one year in prison if the offence threatens social peace" (Paragraph 3). This "humiliation", a very vague legal concept, capable of being interpreted very widely by jurisprudence, directly threatens freedom of expression both for journalists and for the general public.
This is not an exhaustive list. Turkish journalists and press freedom organisations see parliamentary amendments drawn up ahead of 1st June to the version of the code as it was to have been applied on 1st April, as very inadequate. They consider that only six of the 20 problematic points have been revised Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
Call for major amendments to new criminal code that threatens press freedom.
(http://www.flash-bulletin.de/2005/eJune1.htm#1) Your wonder about "what would happen if someone would want to organize an event to support the Turkish views in Armenia" is completely a wrong assumption, because the descendents of victims of Genocide don't discuss the "views" of Genocide perpetrators, but there is only a conflict in the camp of descendents of Genocide perpetrators between deniers of Genocide and those who recognize it. This is the situation now in Turkey which led to the postponement of the conference on the Armenian issue organized by Turkish universities (you can read about the conflict between these two Turkish parties in Ahmed Altan's article in "Gazetem" website on May 30 titled "We the Turks couldn't agree with you the Turks" which I translated from Armenian to English in my posting to the Group on June 8). Yet, there is not "Armenian version of history" for there is only Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide (Read my posting to the Group titled "Why does Turkey deny the Armenian Genocide?" on May 31). Moreover, there isn't "the killings of the hundreds of thousands of Turks (or Muslims)", as this propaganda is not believed even by many Turks (Everyday I read the online articles of Turkish press on the Armenian issue in English and its Armenian brief on Marmara online newspaper). A large number of Turks believe that this is propaganda by the Turks directed to the Turks which can't even convince them, to say nothing of the whole world. I advice you, for instance, to read Prof. Vahakn Dadrian's lecture in Harvard University http://ermeni.org/english/vdadrian_harvard.htm to understand the Armenian Genocide on the basis of compelling evidence, in order not to remain as a "victim" of "blind prejudice' unlike many Turks today who live in Turkey and abroad who recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Rev. Krikor Aghabaloghlu, the outspoken and courageous pastor of Armenian evangelical church in Turkey, who has already been jailed once for challenging the confiscation of his church’s property by the Turkish government, said on Turkish "Flash TV" live talk program that all Turks in Anatolia know the truth about the Armenian Genocide. He said that no one dared to talk about this subject and that anyone who had the courage to speak about it, is called a traitor, condemned by the media, taken to court, and sent to jail.
Rev. Aghabaloghlu also said that he knew the facts first-hand from the experiences of his own family. Besides, he added, there is plenty of evidence for the Genocide in thousands of books and that everyone knew that the Armenians in Anatolia were the victims of Genocide. Otherwise, he said, what did happen to the Armenians inhabiting that region? Did they evaporate? Did they decide to migrate en masse? Are there any Armenians left in Anatolia?
(http:// www.azg.am/?lang=EN&num=2005032502)
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