Turkish Consulate Official Intervenes at IFEX Panel in Oslo

At the general meeting of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) in Oslo, a panel was discussing "Laws on Holocaust Denial and Politics: Legal Limits".

Publisher Ragip Zarakolu from Turkey also spoke at the panel.

Official denial continues

Following the presentations, a person describing themselves as an offical at the Turkish consulate in Norway, objected to the use of "genocide" that had been used by speakers to describe both what happened to Jews in the Third Reich and what happened to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

He added, "They were not deported because they were Armenians or because of their race, but because they collaborated with the enemy."

Criticism of Turkish legislation

Zarakolu, owner of Belge Publications, had joined the panel instead of historian Taner Akçam, who was unable to attend. Akçam's book, entitled " A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and The Question of Turkish Responsibility", has caused controversy in Turkey, and he is one of the first Turkish academics to name what happened a genocide.

Zarakolu criticised Articles 301 and 305 of the Turkish Penal Code, saying that they prevented people from discussing the Armenian genocide. He himself has been convicted under Article 301 for "denigrating the Turkish state or state organs", but was acquitted of "inciting hatred and hostility." Zarakolu said, "The laws encourage denial."

The consulate official said that, following international formulations, what happened could not be called a "genocide". As for Article 301 and other laws, he said, "All countries make such laws to protect the unity of their territory and security."

The audience was surprised at the interference of the consulate official.

"Memories are erased"

Yael Danieli, manager for the US-based Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children, said, "If the judiciary and the media do not do their duty, they do not only deprive genocide victims and avoid telling the truth, but they also erase memories."

Anton Weiss-Wendt of Oslo's Holocaust and Religious Minorities Studies Centre, said, "I don't believe that denial can be solved in courts. Expectations are so high that expecting a court to define and prove a genocide would cause disappointment."

New members

Two organisations from Turkey are members of IFEX: bianet and the Initiative against Crimes of Thought. The following are new members, increasing the number of IFEX members to 88 worldwide:

* The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) helps to cover an underrepresented area in IFEX, with 200 members in over 20 countries in the Caribbean.

* Since 2003, the Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre) in Honduras has circulated around 150 free expression alerts across various networks.

* The Latin American Observatory for the Freedom of Expression (OLA) based in Peru brings together free expression news from members in 10 countries, and covers some of the more untraditional communicators, such as artists, cartoonists and TV and radio production staff.

* The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) in Malaysia is one of the founding partners of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, focusing on training, media defence and advocacy for journalists in Malaysia.

* Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF) is a new network of mainly independent media that covers 21 countries in the Pacific.

* The Exiled Journalists Network (EJN), based in the U.K., is run by and for exiled journalists. It has recently announced plans to create Press Freedom House, a safe house in London modelled after the Maison des Journalistes in Paris, that will give new arrivals temporary accommodation and training - and a chance to adapt to life in the U.K.

* London-based Privacy International has been around since 1990, campaigning worldwide to protect people from surveillance and privacy invasions by governments and corporations.

* Public Association of Journalists (PAJ) is IFEX's first member in Kyrgyzstan, and the second in the region.

* The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) is the first IFEX member located in the volatile Palestinian Territories and the only group exclusively dedicated to free expression there. (EÖ/AGÜ)