‘Genocide’ investigation against Diyarbakır Bar Association

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An investigation has been launched against the Diyarbakır Bar Association over its statement "We share the grief for the Great Calamity".

Released on April 24 Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, the statement is now facing an investigation by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Accordingly, the Bar Association Chair and the members of its executive board are charged with "degrading the Turkish Nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey, the institutions and bodies of the state."

Diyarbakır Bar Association Chair Nahit Eren has made a brief statement about the investigation on his social media account.

"Defending the freedom of expression of everyone to the end, the Diyarbakır Bar Association will not restrict its own freedom of expression due to pressures and investigations," Eren has said, adding:

"We will keep on defending our statements befitting our values in a manner befitting the same historical values."

'We share the grief for Great Calamity'

In its statement facing an investigation, the Diyarbakır Bar Association shared brief information about what happened on April 24, 1915 and its aftermath, reminding the public that "since then, this dark day has been called 'Medz Yeghern' or 'Great Calamity' by the Armenian community."

Further in its statement, the Diyarbakır Bar said that "the State, Government and bureaucracy of Turkey, on every April 24, disregard the darkness of 'Great Calamity', while keeping a tally of who defines this calamity in what words and having a fight with the truth."

Reminding the public about the investigations and prosecutions faced by the Bar itself over its previous statements on April 24, the statement has read, "In fact, no matter how we call this calamity and sorrow, they do not change depending on what we call them."

The Diyarbakır Bar Association noted that the incident is called "Medz Yeghern" by the victims, "Fermana Fılla" by the older generations or "genocide", a word coined by lawyer Raphael Lemkin from Poland, who was "inspired by what was done to the Armenian people."

Against this backdrop, the Bar made a call to start a process "to reveal the truth" so that "the crime committed against the Armenian people and denied could be faced and the souls of the Armenian neighbors scattered all across the world could find peace."

Concluding its statement, the Diyarbakır Bar "remembered the victims of Medz Yeghern, Fermana Fılla and Great Calamity with respect and shared the sorrow of Armenian people one more time."

Bar prosecuted for the same reason before

The Diyarbakır Bar Association held a press statement in front of the Tahir Elçi Conference Hall on April 5 Lawyers' Day and shared its report regarding the judicial pressures on lawyers with the public.

According to the data shared in the report, "taken together with the Bar Association Chair and Executive Board members on duty in the 2016-2020 period, at least 69 lawyers from the Bar faced at least 78 investigations due to their institutional and professional activities in 2020."

Some of these legal proceedings were launched into the Diyarbakır Bar Association's statements about April 24:

"An investigation was launched against Ahmet Özmen, who was the chair of the bar association in the period of 2016 and 2018, and the then Executive Board Members on the grounds of the statement titled 'We Share the Unrelieved Sorrow of the Armenian People' dated April 24, 2018; upon the permission of investigation given by the Justice Ministry, a lawsuit was filed on charges of 'publicly provoking the public to hatred and hostility' and 'degrading the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Turkish Nation'. While these two lawsuits were merged later on; the lawsuit is still ongoing.

"The Diyarbakır Bar, on April 24, 2020, released a written statement on '1915 Armenian Deportation' on its website and social media accounts. Over the statement published on the website of the Diyarbakır Bar on April 24, 2020 regarding the genocide committed against the Armenian People, an investigation was launched against the Diyarbakır Bar Chair and Executive Board Members by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office." (AS/SD)