Apologizing to Armenians Under Prosecution

Six people, Hasan Hüseyin Satır, Sabahat Özgür, Mehmet İnal Kolburan, Hüseyin Erdgğan, Serdar Orhaner and Kürşat Karacabey, have filed a complaint against the organisors and signatories of the Internet signature campaign to apologise to their “Armenian brothers and sisters” for the events of 1915.

"Great Catastrophe" of 1915

The campaign can be found at www.ozurdiliyoruz, and a brief text is presented in Turkish and other languages. The English text reads:

“My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers and sisters. I apologize to them.”

The six people filed complaints claiming that this campaign denigrated the Turkish nation because it accused the nation of committing a genocide. This means that the prosecution will investigate under the controversial Article 301.

At the time of writing, the campaign has been signed by over 27,000 people.

Previous complaint

Last month judge Hakkı Yalçınkaya of the Şişli 2nd Penal Court had also filed a complaint against the campaign, demanding its trial under Article 301 and the closure of the website.

Yalçınkaya is known for his intimate relationship with nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz, himself a suspect in the Ergenekon trial. Yalçınkaya, too, has been investigated by the Ministry of Justice for asking Kerinçsiz on the phone if there was “anything he could do”.

Yalçınkaya was involved in the court case against the Armenian newspaper Agos’ licence holder Serkis Seropyan and editor Aris Nalcı when they stood accused of influencing the judiciary. He acquitted them.

In a previous case, he was part of the group of judges who sentenced former Agos editor Arat Dink and Seropyan under Article 301 with a suspended sentence. (TK/AG)