Turkey: no action against apology to Armenians

Turkey: no action against apology to Armenians

The Associated Press Published:

January 26, 2009


ANKARA, Turkey: Prosecutors have decided not to take action against organizers of an online apology campaign for the World War I massacres of Armenians in Turkey, a prosecutor's office official said Monday, suggesting an easing of attitude toward free expression.

The prosecutor's office began investigating the campaign after six people formally complained that the apology violated the controversial law Article 301, which makes it illegal to "humiliate" the Turkish nation.

More than 28,000 people added their names to the apology by a group of prominent academics, journalists, writers and artists. The campaign was hailed as a sign that many in Turkey are ready to break a long-held taboo against acknowledging Turkish culpability for the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians and had raised hopes for a reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.

A counter campaign on the Internet under the title "I do not apologize" has attracted more than 65,000 signatures.

Article 301 has been used to punish statements deemed to insult Turkey and to restrict free speech. Nobel Prize winning writer Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted for statements on the massacres of Armenians, but charges were dropped.

The Ankara Chief Prosecutor's office ruled there were no legal grounds on which to prosecute organizers of the apology by Turkish intellectuals issued on the Internet, the official said a sign that the Turkish judiciary is relaxing its attitude toward expression of independent thought.

The prosecutor's office ruled that "in democratic societies adverse opinions are also protected within the framework of freedom of thought," the official said anonymously because civil servants are barred from speaking to reporters without prior authorization.

Historians estimate that, in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, Armenians were massacred by Ottoman Turks in what is widely regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century. Armenians have long pushed for the deaths to be recognized as genocide.

While Turkey does not deny that many died in that era, the country has rejected the term genocide, saying the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest during the Ottoman Empire's collapse.

Turkey and Armenia have recently taken steps toward repairing ties. The two neighbors have no diplomatic relations and their shared border has been closed since 1993, when Turkey protested Armenia's occupation of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey backs Azerbaijan's claims to the region, which has a high number of ethnic Armenian residents but is located within Azerbaijan's borders.

In September, however, President Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia, where he and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian watched their countries' football teams play a World Cup qualifying match.

IHT.com