October 11, 2007
Two Journos Convicted Of 'Insulting Turkishness'
A Turkish court has convicted two journalists for publishing content that mentions the Armenian genocide, following a vote by a U.S. congressional panel officially declaring the Ottoman Empire massacres to be genocide.
Arat Dink and Serkis Seropyan, editors at a Turkish-Armenian weekly, were given one-year suspended sentences under a law that makes it a crime to "insult" Turkish culture. The government of Turkey officially denies that the early 20th-century genocide took place, despite the widespread consensus of historians.
Dink is the son of slain Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink , who himself was convicted for writing about the genocide. He was gunned down in January of this year by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. Newspapers published photographs of Turkish police officers proudly posing with the assassin. The resulting outrage led to the officers' dismissal, according to Turkey's official news agency.
Turks woke up today to angry headlines about yesterday's 27-21 House Foreign Relations Committee vote, one of which read, "27 Stupid Americans." Protesters took to the streets, and Ankara recalled its ambassador in Washington to discuss the situation, AP reported. The Turkish government warned it would act in response to the vote, but as of now insists the ambassador has not been withdrawn. The resolution condemning the Armenian genocide is strongly opposed by the White House.
