State Minister of Turkey not afraid of being accused by Switzerland for denial of Armenian Genocide

Turkish European Union Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis has said he is confident regarding a Swiss investigation into his statements regarding allegations of an Armenian genocide as he does not know of any power that can arrest a minister of Turkey after a Swiss prosecutor launched an investigation on Monday in Zurich, Zaman reports.

"No genocide took place in 1915. I will say this again and again. Such initiatives [investigations] are null and void for us. I do not know of any power that can arrest a minister of the Republic of Turkey," he said on Tuesday at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport where he held a press conference before leaving the country for an official visit to Brussels. "I am very confident on this issue," he added.

News about the prosecution's move was published in the Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung. The Zurich Chief Prosecutor's Office launched the investigation into Bagis's remarks -- which he made last month in Zurich on his way back from the World Economic Forum at Davos -- based on a complaint filed by members of Switzerland's Armenian community. Zurich State Prosecutor Christine Braunschweig was quoted by the daily as having said: "Last week we received a petition about this issue, informing us that Mr. Bagis violated the anti-racism Article 261 of the Swiss Penal Code. Our prosecutor's office has taken this allegation seriously and launched an investigation. We will investigate whether Egemen Bag?s uttered words denying the Armenian genocide as asserted in the petition. We will also see if he has diplomatic immunity. At the end of this, we will press charges against him if there indeed is a violation and if he cannot benefit from diplomatic immunity." "We will go to Davos and say the same thing again," a defiant Bagis said on Tuesday.

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged

Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged

Borrell underlined that the European Union will make every effort to support the peace process and to remain a committed partner to the Afghan people. "Of course, we will have to take into account the evolving situation, but disengagement is not an option.  We are clear on that: there is no alternative to a negotiated political settlement, through inclusive peace talks.
Editor's choice
News
Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have recently agreed the text of a historic peace agreement that ends years of animosity and warfare. The agreement is expected to be signed soon. LINKS Europe, which has a long history of engagement with the process of peace in the region, recently launched a new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue format in the framework of the European Union's EU4Peace initiative. In the last two weeks dozens of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, including academics, students, civil society activists, journalists and other professionals, many of them young, were involved. The work is organised in five thematic groups focusing on peace and security, connectivity, environment, governance and gender and equality and in phase 2 of the project, which has just ended, around fifty participants took part in in-person and online meetings, and more than twenty others were involved indirectly. The Chairpersons of the five thematic groups met in Vilnius, 3-6 July to launch the third phase of the program. The five thematic groups are now working on separate reports, which are expected to be finished in November and presented to the two governments and other stakeholders. The reports will outline a vision, up to 2040.

Popular

Editor's choice
News
Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have recently agreed the text of a historic peace agreement that ends years of animosity and warfare. The agreement is expected to be signed soon. LINKS Europe, which has a long history of engagement with the process of peace in the region, recently launched a new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue format in the framework of the European Union's EU4Peace initiative. In the last two weeks dozens of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, including academics, students, civil society activists, journalists and other professionals, many of them young, were involved. The work is organised in five thematic groups focusing on peace and security, connectivity, environment, governance and gender and equality and in phase 2 of the project, which has just ended, around fifty participants took part in in-person and online meetings, and more than twenty others were involved indirectly. The Chairpersons of the five thematic groups met in Vilnius, 3-6 July to launch the third phase of the program. The five thematic groups are now working on separate reports, which are expected to be finished in November and presented to the two governments and other stakeholders. The reports will outline a vision, up to 2040.