Doğu Perinçek, Chairman of the Patriotic Party (Turkey) held a press conference on January 03, 2017 in Swiss capital Zurich at the Turkish Consulate. European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Decision dated December 17th, 2013 and the overall lawsuit process regarding the violation of his freedom expression by the Swiss government was the theme of the conference. The ECHR had finally ruled in favor of Perinçek in October 2015, denying allegations of racial discrimination and evaluating his comments about the 1915 events surrounding Armenians within the framework of 'freedom of speech.' Perinçek has highlighted the outcomes of these decisions from the aspect of the legislative activities in Europe and particularly in Switzerland. Perinçek has emphasized that "The European tradition of freedom, especially the Freedom of Expression has prevailed. This victory is also approved by the recent final decree of the Swiss Federal Court that removes the conviction verdict on me. This is a common success for all of us."
The binding decisions have been summarized as follows in the speech:
1. Genocide is a crime.
2. The crime of Genocide has been defined clearly on the United Nations Convention of Genocide in 1948.
3. Only the courts of jurisdiction may decide on existence of the crime of genocide. These courts are the authorized courts of the country where the related crime occurred, or the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
4. There is no court decision stating the crime of genocide is committed in the incidents of 1915.
5. The incidents of 1915 cannot be considered in the same context with the Jewish genocide called the Holocaust. Because the existence of the Holocaust is determined by a court verdict.
6. The Supreme Court decisions stated above have determined indirectly that the incidents of 1915 cannot be legally interpreted as a genocide as well as securing the freedom of expression.
7. Doğu Perinçek has made the statement "Armenian genocide is an imperialist lie" repeatedly while taking care not to offend the Armenians, therefore he has not engaged in hate speech.
2. The crime of Genocide has been defined clearly on the United Nations Convention of Genocide in 1948.
3. Only the courts of jurisdiction may decide on existence of the crime of genocide. These courts are the authorized courts of the country where the related crime occurred, or the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
4. There is no court decision stating the crime of genocide is committed in the incidents of 1915.
5. The incidents of 1915 cannot be considered in the same context with the Jewish genocide called the Holocaust. Because the existence of the Holocaust is determined by a court verdict.
6. The Supreme Court decisions stated above have determined indirectly that the incidents of 1915 cannot be legally interpreted as a genocide as well as securing the freedom of expression.
7. Doğu Perinçek has made the statement "Armenian genocide is an imperialist lie" repeatedly while taking care not to offend the Armenians, therefore he has not engaged in hate speech.
Perinçek has also noted that owing to the decisions of the supreme courts, a consensus has beeen formed in academic milieu. Postgraduate lectures, seminars are presented, stimulating studies are produced and published on the Perinçek-Switzerland Case in Swiss universities, mostly in the University of Zurich and University of Fribourg, German universities like Augsburg, Frankfurt Viadrina, Bonn and Dresden, French universities like Paris and Champaigne and other academic circles of Europe.
Further details, texts of press releases in Turkish and German are available at Aydınlık Daily's web page
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