Turkish political commentator Burhan Ozkoshar, in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, named the decision on the prohibition of criminalizing denial of the 'Armenian genocide', adopted by the ECHR, as an opportunity "to show the world that the Armenian genocide is a lie and an invention of the imperialists."
Recall that the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling, according to which the so-called ‘Armenian genocide’, that means, the Armenian point of view on the tragic events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, is not a historical fact, but only an opinion, in connection with which the Turkish politician Dogu Perincek should be acquitted for denying the Armenian genocide, and the very negation of this event as a manifestation of freedom of expression cannot be a criminal or administrative offense.
"In fact, this provided good resistance to those countries that have verbally encouraged criminalizing denial of the genocide. This decision of the organization, which includes 47 permanent and 7 honorary members of the ECHR, is a very great victory for the Turks, who until now have been blamed for the ‘genocide.’ According to the verdict of the ECHR, equating punishment for denial of the Armenian genocide to infringement of freedom of expression, it follows that the 1915 events are not genocide. The only genocide that will remain in history that gained a legal assessment is the action of the Nazis against European Jews," Burhan Ozkoshar said.
"Within the framework of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, which was adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly, only the international court may decide on the recognition of genocide. In this struggle, the opposite side made a mistake by comparing the ‘Armenian genocide’ to the Holocaust. The ECHR reliably investigated the issue and answered in the document that the events were not similar to the Holocaust. If we can explain that part of the document to the world community, we can confront those who accuse us of ‘genocide.’ This is a legal victory for the Turks over the imperialists," the Turkish political observer concluded.
"The document notes that the nature of the events of 1915 is different from genocide, and I believe that this is also our great victory. This solution will be extended to the whole of Europe, as the ECHR includes all the countries of the Council of Europe, because all countries will have to comply it. This means that no country will be able to penalize the denial of the ‘Armenian genocide’, that means even Armenia, as Armenia is in the Council of Europe. This is a basic solution that will put an end to the lies about the ‘genocide’ and, of course, this legal victory will be a political victory and will serve as a guide for all countries," Mehmet Perincek concluded.
A member of the Supreme Advisory Council of the Caspian Strategic Institute, the first head of the Permanent Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Georgia, Halil Akinci, on the sidelines of the international conference ‘Russia and Turkey: strengthening multifaceted cooperation’, organized by the Russian Council on Foreign Affairs, said the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights, according to which the so-called ‘Armenian genocide’ is the Armenian point of view on the tragic events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, is not a historical fact, but only an opinion in connection with which the Turkish politician Dogu Perincek should be freed from prosecution for denying the ‘Armenian genocide’, and the very negation of it being a manifestation of freedom of expression cannot be a criminal or administrative offense.
