Special project: The Armenian Genocide. Breaking the Silence. Doğu Perinçek apologizes for insulting religious feelings of Christians

Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Aysor.am starts a project that aims to discuss the cultural program being implemented.

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held hearings in “Perinçek vs. Switzerland” case on January 28.  Armenia and Turkey are involved in the case as third parties. A team of prominent lawyers, Amal Clooney among them, is representing Armenia’s interests. While many in Armenia, the Diaspora, and Turkey are awaiting the trial outcome with great interest, Perinçek celebrates his victory in advance.

Ahead of the hearings at the Grand Chamber of ECHR, Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party, answered questions of Astghik Igityan.

- It would be interesting to know your opinion as a lawyer about the European Court of Human Rights. How influential is the European Court fpr you? Are you prepared to accept its verdict?

- ECHR enjoys much authority in the international arena. It also has prestige with me, otherwise I would not appeal to ECHR. I trust ECHR.

- Imagine for a moment that ECHR decides against you, it decides that you were wrong. Are you prepared to accept that ruling of ECHR? 

- I cannot imagine such a thing. I am going to win. It is like imagining that the sun does not rise at sunrise.

- In any case, what if “the sun does not rise at sunrise”? 

-  ECHR once decided in my favor in relation to that case. For this reason, I expect it to take a favorable decision for a second time.

- As you know, Turkey ranks second in the world by the number of suits filed against it to ECHR. In fact, the country does not enjoy a very good reputation, to put it mildly. 

- This is so, but as for me, I already won three cases at ECHR so I assess my chances as high. 

- You maintain that the denial of the Armenian Genocide is within the limits of your right to free speech. But where does your freedom of speech end? When commenting on news that internationally acclaimed human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is set to represent Armenia, you exercised your right to free speech and targeted all Christians by saying “Even if Jesus’s wife comes, nevertheless I will win the case”. 
   
- I had no intention of insulting anyone, let alone making Christians a target.

- Then why did you say “Jesus Christ’s wife” and not some other person’s wife?

- In reality, I said that and then regretted. It was an incorrect expression. When saying such a thing, I meant that Jesus had no wife.  In any case, if anyone is offended by these words, I beg their pardon.

- You have freedom of speech to deny the Genocide, and there are also people who have freedom of speech to present facts about the Armenian Genocide and hold events about the Genocide, for example, in Turkey.

- Of course, they have that right.

- Yet you and the Talaat Pasha Committee founded by you are struggling against those people’s right to free speech.

- I don’t think that my activities damage their freedom of speech. I would also like to say that nowadays all platforms, in particular in Turkey, are given to those who recognize the Genocide, rather than to me. All Turkish television companies invite people who say “there was genocide”.

- Weren’t you invited to any TV program?

- The trial will start in a few days, but no one invites me. I have not been invited because in Turkey all the television channels are under control of the United States.

- Perhaps there is no public demand?

- I am an important person for Turkey as regards the Armenian issue. After all, I won a huge case, but they do not invite me.

- Did any pro-government media outlets invite you?

- No, the government is pro-American, too. This government is gradually proceeding along the path of genocide recognition, but our activities stopped that game. America is trying to split Turkey by means of the Armenian issue. Erdogan was also involved in that game, but we foiled the program.

- Does the government assist you, specifically during this trial?

- It did not assist in the past, but now it seems to have begun to assist a bit, although not to a sufficient degree.
 
We would remind you that on 9 March 2007, Perinçek was found guilty by a Swiss district court of conscious violation of Swiss laws against genocide denial with a racist motivation and was fined CHF 12,000. The case was a result of Perinçek's description of the Armenian genocide as "an international lie" at a demonstration in Lausanne on 25 July 2005; he later clarified to a Swiss court that there had been massacres, but reiterated his belief that these did not constitute genocide.[8] The verdict was confirmed by the Vaud cantonal appeal court on 19 June, and by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland on 12 December 2007. Perinçek announced he will take recourse to the European Court of Human Rights. In December, 2013 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Switzerland violated the principle of freedom of expression.  After the ruling, the government of Switzerland announced its decision to appeal the court’s ruling. On 3 June 2014 the European Court of Human Rights accepted the appeal to move on to the Grand Chamber to clarify the scope available to Swiss authorities in applying the Swiss Criminal Code to combat racism.

The project was prepared with the assistance of the Information and Analytical Center of the Armenian Government Staff.