Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country will not recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Speaking at the Turkish Parliament on Thursday, Nov 6, Cavusoglu also referred to the European Court of Human Rights’ hearing on the Dogu Perincek case over the issue of the public denial of the Armenian Genocide and stressed that his ministry is closely monitoring the case, Asbarez reported, citing Gercekgundem news agency.

Under the provisions of the Swiss law, in 2007, Turkish politician and chairman (since 1992) of the socialist Workers' Party, Perinçek was convicted for denying the Armenian Genocide. Failing to win two appeals against the judgment, Perincek appealed the ECHR, which on Dec 17, 2013, ruled that the Swiss courts’ rulings violated the appellant’s right to freedom of expression.

The ECHR ruling in December stated that “the free exercise of the right to openly discuss questions of a sensitive and controversial nature is one of the fundamental aspects of freedom of expression and distinguishes a tolerant and pluralistic democratic society from a totalitarian or dictatorial regime.”

The original case emerged from Perincek’s participation in a number of conferences in Switzerland in 2005, during which he publicly denied that the Ottoman Empire had perpetrated the crime of genocide against the Armenian people in 1915.

The Lausanne Police Court found Perincek guilty of racial discrimination on March 9, 2007, based on the Swiss Criminal Code. After a complaint filed by the Switzerland-Armenia Association on July 15, 2005, the court found that Perincek’s motives were of a “racist tendency” and did not contribute to the historical debate.

Switzerland has appealed the decision of the ECHR, which, in June 2014, agreed to hear the appeal.

Meanwhile, according to Ermenihaber, a conference on the denial of the Armenian Genocide was held recently in Istanbul with participation of retired Turkish diplomat Alev Kilic, Azerbaijani member of parliament Ganira Pashaeva and others.