By:Hambersom Aghbashian
Orhan Kemal Cengiz (born in 1968) is a Turkish lawyer, journalist and human rights activist. He received his law degree from University of Ankara in Turkey in 1993 , worked in London from 1997 to 1998. A Turkish NGO that works on human rights issues ranging from the prevention of torture to the rights of the mentally disabled. He writes for Today’s Zaman (English-language daily based in Turkey) and Radikal. (daily liberal Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul ) . After threats were made to his life in 2008, for his work on the Malatya Bible murder case ,he asked for, and eventually received, a bodyguard. His request was supported by Amnesty International. (1)
Orhan Kemal Cengiz has actively been involved in human rights issues by appearing at meetings and seminars in many other countries including Demark, Bosnia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, and Albania. He is the author of many articles and has written several legal handbooks relating to human rights issues. In addition, he has translated several other works relating to human rights (2). On October 18, 2013 Cengiz wrote in RADICAL about the progress in negotiations on Turkey’s accession to the EU, and mentioned that while the European Commission is pleased that the “activities in Turkey marking the anniversary of the Armenian genocide [on April 24] could take place peacefully and unhindered ”, one recalls that not so long ago, in 2005, an academic debate on the Armenian question held in Istanbul caused significant tensions.(3)
In 2003, he published the report “ Minority Foundations in Turkey: An Evaluation of Their Legal Problems”, which attracted the attention of the government and the European Union. “We were not only talking about the legal gap,” he tells ESI(European Stability Initiative) , “we were also talking about this huge mentality which criminalized the very existence of Christians in Turkey.” Cengiz founded and co-founded various civil society organizations concerned with human rights, such as the Human Rights Agenda Association (2003), which he still chairs, the Civil Society Development Centre (2004), which provides capacity-building support for Turkish NGOs, and new sections of the Izmir Bar Association. (These include a section dealing with torture, which initiated 2,000 legal cases, another section dealing with human rights, and an international committee)( 4).
According to Orhan Kemal Cengiz , Turkish newspapers have exposed attempts by official institutions to control academic research on the Armenian genocide. Out of thousands of master’s theses and Ph.D. dissertations in the social sciences are written each year in Turkey, only four theses have been written on the issue and they all reflect Turkey’s official position on the massacres. He added ” True, the Armenian taboo has been broken in Turkish civil society and intellectual life, yet, it continues to exist in this or that form in the official realm”. (5)
” Will Erdogan visit Genocide Memorial in 2015? Orhan Kemal Cengiz ‘s reaction” . Under this title Armenpress (Dec.2, 2013), stated that Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a well known Turkish writer and publicist who recognized the Armenian Genocide, wrote in an article in “Al-Monitor” that the Turkish nationalists accused the prime minister saying ” Erdogan has done many things to upset us, don’t be surprised if he apologizes to the Armenians”. And after a long analysis he concludes that” If Erdogan doesn’t turn the world upside down with a last- minute surprise , we are likely to see more refined and sophisticated version of Turkey’s denial policy of the past century.(6)
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1-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orhan_Kemal_Cengiz.
2 -http://www.archons.org/conference/bio-cengiz.asp
3-http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/4248991-brussels-finally-hands-out-good-grades
-http://www.armeniangenocidedebate.com/kunta-kinte-039armenian-seed039-denial-racism-orhan-kemal-cengiz
5-http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/fa/contents/articles/originals/2013/12/turkey-armenia-genocide-academic-research-media-exposure.html
6-http://armenpress.am/eng/news/742270/will-erdogan-visit-genocide-memorial-in-2015-orhan-kemal-cengiz%E2%80%99s-reaction.html
Also featured in Nor Or Feb. 20, 2014 No 8