Turk 'genocide' author faces jail
Thursday, 1 September 2005, 18:03 GMT 19:03 UK
BBC News World Edition
One of Turkey's best-known novelists faces three years in jail for making controversial comments on his country's killing of Armenians and Kurds.
Orhan Pamuk has been charged with insulting Turkey's national character.
He was quoted in a Swiss paper as saying that only he had dared to say that Turkey killed 30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians.
[...]
This is a crime under the newly country's revised penal code, criticised by freedom of speech advocates.
[...]
The EU has said Turkey must meet European standards on freedom of expression.
The row over the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1917 has festered for decades.
Armenia alleges that the Ottoman Empire systematically arranged the deportation and killing of 1.5 million Armenians.
Fifteen countries, including France, Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, have classified the killings as genocide.
Turkey says up to 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died during civil strife in eastern Turkey during World War I, but rejects the term "genocide".
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
BBC News World Edition
One of Turkey's best-known novelists faces three years in jail for making controversial comments on his country's killing of Armenians and Kurds.
Orhan Pamuk has been charged with insulting Turkey's national character.
He was quoted in a Swiss paper as saying that only he had dared to say that Turkey killed 30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians.
[...]
This is a crime under the newly country's revised penal code, criticised by freedom of speech advocates.
[...]
The EU has said Turkey must meet European standards on freedom of expression.
The row over the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1917 has festered for decades.
Armenia alleges that the Ottoman Empire systematically arranged the deportation and killing of 1.5 million Armenians.
Fifteen countries, including France, Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, have classified the killings as genocide.
Turkey says up to 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died during civil strife in eastern Turkey during World War I, but rejects the term "genocide".
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 3:14 PM
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