Zurich Court of Appeal leaves unchanged the court decision on Turks denying Armenian Genocide

February 10, 2010 - 16:39 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net -
On February 9, the Zurich Court of Appeal confirmed the judgment in first proceedings of three partisans of the Turkish politician Dogu Perinçek for Armenian Genocide denial and violation of the standard antiracism (art.261bis CSP).

According to an independent French journalist Jean Eckian, the defendants, Swiss citizens of Turkish descent had been stopped on July 2007 during a meeting organized in a hotel of Winterthur. The principal defendant, Ali Mercan, 59, representing Workers Party, had declared that the Armenian genocide was "an international historical lie ". He was condemned to a fine of 4500 francs. The accomplices, organizers of the meeting are condemned with a fine of 3600 francs. In 2008, Dogu Perinçek, leader of the Workers Party, was condemned by the Federal court for similar declarations.

Sarkis Shahinian, President of Association Switzerland-Armenia (ASA), was pleased with the decision of the Swiss court, noting that it breaks the line of the denial of Turkish State.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.