According to the Turkologist Gevorg Petrosyan, the ECHR decision could be affected by the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
On October 15, the Armenian and Turkish media spotlight was the ECHR Grand Chamber’s judgment for “Perinçek v. Switzerland”. The judgment of the European Supreme Court was in favor of the Turkish nationalist leader and the Turkish Workers’ Party leader Doğu Perinçek. He is known for his activities against the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Armenia was involved in the case as a third party. On the day of declaring the judgment, the statement issued by the RA Prosecutor’s office mentioned that all the requirements of Armenia’s Government presented to the European Court were satisfied. In contrast to this, Turkey, at the state level represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that according to the judgment, the events of 1915 are the subject of legal proceedings, and the expression of opinions about the occurrence is protected by freedom of expression. The 1915 events cannot be compared with the Holocaust in any way.
Turkologist Gevorg Petrosyan, in conversation with “Aravot”, referring to the ECHR judgment, said, “If the denial of historic justice is viewed in the frame of freedom of expression, it already becomes a negative development and can be the precedent.” The Turkologist does not give a legal assessment to the case, saying that the case needs to be investigated by the international lawyers, however, as a specialist, he sees political motives in this case.
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“Most interestingly is the stance of the Turkish side in this issue and the fact that in Turkey this case is considered a national case. The Turkish media presented this judgment as a national victory. It should be noted that Perinçek was allowed to be present at the trial by the decision of the Turkish Foreign Ministry. The Turkish court had banned him from leaving the country. So, we need to understand that with the Perinçek case, Turkey shows that his denial policy is ongoing and it supports Perinçek at the state level.”
Mr. Petrosyan considered the fact expected that the European Court does not treat the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide in the same way, he says that this attitude has years-old tradition. Talking about the statement issued by the Prosecutor’s Office, the Turkologist notes that if we look at the legal point of view, the judgment perhaps should not have a reason for complaint. “But anyway, the fact that Perinçek is declared a winner, it is a negative development.”
This year, the world attention was captured by the events organized pertaining to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, an occurrence happened one century ago was recognized as a genocide by many countries. This fact, according to the Turkologist, could not and did not have a direct impact on the ECHR judgment.
HRIPSIME HOVHANNISYAN “Aravot” daily
