THE END OF A CENTURY OF DECEIT

Ancient words of wisdom say: "You can't live through a century without the truth". The Armenian lie about the mythical genocide of the Armenians, which was allegedly committed in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, was dealt a fatal blow by the European justice system last week. But let's deal with this in the right order…

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) came to a final verdict in the "Dogu Perincek v Switzerland" case on 15 October. The court's collegium voted by an absolute majority to reject the appeal of the Swiss government, the Armenian diaspora and Armenia itself, declaring that the "genocide of the Armenians" is not a historical fact but most likely a hypothesis. The criminal prosecution of any rejection of it is nothing more than a violation of Article 10 on freedom of expression in the "European Human Rights Convention". 

The court's ruling says: The essence and nature of the events in 1915 remain debatable. There is no court decision describing the details of the events. What happened in 1915 differs from the European holocaust committed during the Second World War. The events of 1915 are a topic for discussion and debate among historians. In other words, parliaments are not justified in taking any kind of decision on this issue. Criminal prosecution for denying that the events of 1915 were a genocide is contrary to common sense. This type of repression and ban cannot be examined within the framework of the article in the "European Convention of Human Rights. 

It is worth reiterating yet again that, according to the latest ECHR ruling, denial of the "Armenian genocide", i.e. stating the truth, cannot a priori be regarded as unlawful. This decision has also come as a blow to the countries whose parliaments have recognised the events of 1915 as "a genocide against the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire". For the ECHR's final ruling is binding on the 42 member-states of the European Council, as are other rulings of the court within the framework of international rights. Thus the hypotheses relating to the "Armenian genocide" should be discussed exclusively in scientific circles, and the court's ruling will create a precedent for similar cases in Europe and form an important example in judicial practice on human rights.

This historic ruling is the outcome of the long and thorny path traversed by the Turkish politician Dogu Perincek and his associates.

Just how everything was…

In 2005 Dogu Perincek and the now deceased leader of Turkish Cyprus, Rauf Denktas, took part in several conferences in Switzerland. During one of the speeches, Perincek referred to the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire as "an imperialist lie". After that the "Switzerland-Armenia" association filed a complaint in the court against the Turkish politician.

In 2007, the court in Lausanne found Perincek guilty of racial discrimination, but the latter appealed the decision in the European Court of Human Rights, accusing Switzerland of violation of freedom of speech. The ECHR upheld this complaint on 17 December 2013. In its turn, Switzerland lodged an appeal against the decision in March 2014. On 28 January 2015 a vitally important court case took place from the point of view of the defence of the basic right of freedom of expression and for the restoration of historical justice.

Dogu Perincek himself defended Turkey's position during the trial against the lawyers of Switzerland and Armenia, one of whom was Amal Clooney, the wife of the well-known Hollywood actor George Clooney. The participation of the latter was nothing more than another cheap attempt by the world's Armenian community to attract the attention of the world public.

Switzerland's assertion that denial of the Armenian genocide is the same as accusing Armenia of falsifying history is extremely noteworthy. The Perincek side built its defence on the fact that the Armenian genocide is not universally recognised. "Proceeding from the framework of the court session, on our part, we did not want to touch upon the historical facts relating to the admissions by Armenian statesmen, which largely demonstrate the truth of our point of view. But our main purpose in this trial was to show that denial of the "Armenian genocide" is the right of any free person," D. Perincek said after the court session in a conversation with the author of this article.

As soon as he arrived in his motherland after winning the last ECHR court case, Dogu Perincek made an exclusive statement for the readers of Regionplus: "Naturally this is not only a victory for Turkey, but also for Azerbaijan, and for Turks throughout the world. We are a nation accustomed to live with our heads held high. We have withstood the historical onslaughts which are based on falsifications and lies. We have stood our ground and come out victorious. I particularly want to note the significance of this victory with regard to the liberation of Nagornyy Karabakh.

"The united propaganda effort of the Armenian community throughout the world is aimed at legalising and justifying their actions against the Azerbaijani Turks in Nagornyy Karabakh, alleging that they were subjected to genocide 100 years ago and lost their own motherland. I believe that the ruling of the ECHR Grand Council will be able to help promote the immediate cessation of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands. We will take advantage of this verdict in all international arenas. But the most important thing in my view is that the lie about the so-called "Armenian genocide" was invented 100 years ago by imperialist forces, and today we can see that the European court was forced to at least recognise the fact that this issue is exclusively a matter for scholarship and should not be on the agenda at parliamentary sessions.

"This signifies that we have now got the right to fight against the decisions of parliaments in different countries regarding the recognition of the 'Armenian genocide'. This means that new possibilities are opening up to us to take the next steps in restoring historical justice. I have no doubt that we shall always be aware of the support of our Azerbaijani brothers with regard to this issue. I want to express my conviction yet again that Nagornyy Karabakh, which has been the territory of Azerbaijan since time immemorial, we regard as our land and our native land too. This is why, when I speak of Azerbaijan, I never mean some kind of foreign country. I am talking about my own native land and I feel sure that the whole of Turkey shares these feelings. I would like to note yet again that this ruling in our hands will be a weapon in achieving the liberation of Nagornyy Karabakh."       

What will happen after this?

It is impossible not to agree with D. Perincek's words. By taking advantage of the "Armenian genocide" myth in all kinds of ways, the world's Armenian community has long tried to justify its actions on Azerbaijani lands and has also justified the terrorist actions of the ASALA against representatives of the Turkish diplomatic corps. The process of destroying the genocide myth is undoubtedly consolidating Azerbaijan's positions in the world arena.

When speaking of the world arena, we should not forget about the fact that the "Armenian genocide" issue has long been a strong lever which Western countries to manipulate Turkey, for they created this myth 100 years ago. It is not worth arming ourselves with blind optimism to such an extent that we believe that their political views with regard to Turkey will change. It is simply that "the Armenia genocide is such an impudent and reckless" myth that the judiciary, even in the European countries opposed to Turkey, cannot go on "unpicking" it forever.

The "Armenian genocide" myth is customarily examined on three planes - on the historical, the judicial and the political one. From a historical perspective, the "genocide hypotheses" have long sunk into oblivion. Scholars from Turkey, Azerbaijan and other countries have already been able to demonstrate unreservedly the baselessness and groundlessness of the Armenian false doctrines. This has at least long been proven by the political motives and engagement, in short, the falsifications of these "traditional" sources talking about the "Armenian genocide" like Henry Morgenthau, Arnold J. Toynbee or even worse, "the Andonian documents".

Understanding that there were no prospects in advancing their "historical" hypotheses, the Armenian community throughout the world has tried to avoid their falsifications being exposed by adopting laws criminalising rejection of the genocide, taking advantage in so doing of their own lobby and anti-Turkish rhetoric in some countries of the West. But, after the above-mentioned ECHR ruling, the Armenians have lost the fight on the judicial battlefield too. Even if Switzerland does become involved in the matter, in reality Armenia and the Armenian diaspora are on the losing side. 

In other words, the world's Armenian community either does not understand or does not want to understand that nothing has changed over the 100 years: just as they [the Armenians] were a weapon in the hands of the imperialist powers against Turkey, so they remain a weapon, and everyone knows what happens to a weapon after it has been used. The events that took place in Armenia last week are extremely significant from this point of view.

Therefore for some countries (except individual states in South America where the Armenian diaspora is sufficiently strong), which have recognised the "Armenian genocide", the reasons were factors like taking advantage of this issue against Turkey, seeking a rapprochement with Armenia, and ideally consolidating their own fifth column in Armenia to bring them to power and create another headache for Russia.

An international conference has been held in Yerevan where the issue of "compensation for the genocide" was discussed.  It is worth remembering that Aram I, the Catholicos from the Great House of Cilicia, a candidate for the "Dashnaktsutyun [Armenian Revolutionary Federation] party and the Armenian diaspora in the West, who replaced Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, has already lodged an application with Turkey's Constitutional Court, demanding the "return" of a monastery in the Turkish town of Kozan in Adana province. We shall soon learn what new, super clever steps are to ensue from the recent conference. It is clear, just as Dogu Perincek said, that the fight is only just beginning, the fight for freedom and enlightenment against obscurantism. No matter what the motives are, the recent ECHR ruling has definitely consolidated the position of truth against that of lies and falsification.