October 26, 2011 - 11:47 AMT
ECHR: Armenian Genocide recognition cannot be criminalized in Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Turkish government's prosecution under Article 301 of its penal code (insulting Turkishness) with respect to Dr. Taner Akçam's public views on the Armenian Genocide violated Akçam's right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

The European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide cannot be criminalized in Turkey. The verdict stemmed from a case brought to the court by noted scholar Taner Akcam.

In the case Taner Akcam vs. Turkey, the court ruled that Turkey’s ongoing criminal prosecution of scholarship on the Armenian Genocide issue constitutes a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.