Monday, February 13, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

Swiss President Backs Turkish Genocide Commission

by Asbarez Staff
November 12, 2008
in News
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

BERNE, Switzerland (Today’s Zaman)–The president of the Swiss Confederation has backed Turkey’s calls to form a commission that would ostensibly ‘study Armenian claims’ of genocide, saying the dispute over history should be settled by historians, not politicians.

Pascal Couchepin is on a visit to Turkey on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Turkey. He had talks with President Abdullah Gul on Monday and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan on Tuesday.

The lower house of the Swiss Parliament recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2003, causing strain in bilateral relations with Turkey. Last year, Dogu Perincek, a Turkish politician and the leader of the small Workers’ Party (IP) was convicted in a Swiss court in March 2007 under the country’s anti-racism laws for denying the Armenia genocide. He was ordered to pay a fine of 3,000 Swiss fran’s ($2,450) and was given a suspended penalty of 9,000 fran’s ($7,360). The ruling angering Turkey which criminalizes discussion and debate on the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian issue was one of the items discussed in Couchepin’s talks with Gul late on Monday. To Turkey’s dismay, the Swiss leader defended his country’s laws penalizing denial of the genocide at a press conference with Gul. He said the laws were passed 20 years ago with the principal purpose of punishing denial of the Holocaust and that the Swiss judges had the flexibility to interpret laws according to different circumstances. Couchepin also referred to Perincek, without citing his name, as a "provocateur."

"One of the people is currently under arrest in Turkey for provocations," he said. Perincek is one of the 86 suspects in the Ergenekon case, in which the prosecutors blame the shadowy network for plotting against the government and seeking to stage a military coup.

Tags: armenia genocidedogu perincekkoksal toptanprime minister recep tayyip erdoganrecep tayyip erdogan
Asbarez Staff

Asbarez Staff

Next Post

Sarkisian Briefs National Security Council on Brussels Meetings

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recommended

Knights and Daughters of Vartan Announce 2022 Armenian Genocide Essay Contest

Knights and Daughters of Vartan Announce 2023 Armenian Genocide Essay and Visual Arts Contest

5 hours ago
AUA Welcomes Exchange Students From California

AUA Welcomes Exchange Students From California

6 hours ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.