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Turkey’s Unjust Justice System: Armenian MP Garo Paylan Under Attack

January 21, 2019 By administrator

Garo Paylan

by Uzay Bulut

  • Armenian member of parliament Garo Paylan has good reason to fear for his safety. In January 2007, the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was shot and killed outside his newspaper’s office in Istanbul. Dink, known for his outspokenness on the Armenian genocide, was prosecuted under Article 301, and received numerous death threats. It has been 12 years since Dink’s murder, and the case has yet to be solved.
  • Prosecutors are stepping up their efforts to have Paylan’s parliamentary immunity removed, so that he can be tried for “insulting Turkey.” This is a travesty of justice perpetrated by the very system charged with upholding justice.
  • On January 13, US President Donald Trump warned Turkey of possible economic sanctions if it attacks Kurds in Syria following the American withdrawal of troops from the war-torn country. Washington would do well to apply similar pressure to Ankara, a member of NATO, to cease violating the human rights — and endangering the lives — of other ethnic minorities and critics, such as Paylan.

Turkish prosecutors have filed a motion to strip an Armenian lawmaker of his parliamentary immunity over his outspoken criticism of the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Invoking Article 301 of the Turkish penal code — which states that “insulting the Republic of Turkey, the Turkish nation or Turkish government institutions” is punishable by a prison sentence — the prosecutor’s office of Diyarbakir began proceedings against Garo Paylan, who was elected in 2015 to Turkey’s Grand National Assembly as a member of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Since that time, Paylan has been targeted by Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Last March, for example, Paylan and fellow HDP members were physically attacked by a group of AKP lawmakers for speaking out against Turkey’s “ethnic cleansing” of the Kurds in Afrin, Syria. The following day, Paylan tweeted:

“Last night at the parliament, the AKP members tried to lynch us. They show their barbarism everywhere. We will continue to resist the fascists and we will win.”

In May 2017, Erdogan watched as 12 of his guards beat up protestors in Washington, DC. Last July, all but seven indictments against the guards had quietly been dropped.

The assault on Paylan during a parliamentary session was not the first. In May 2016, after voting against a proposed bill to strip parliamentary immunity from some of his fellow MPs, Paylan was shoved, kicked and punched by angry AKP members calling him “Armenian bastard.”

Istanbul’s Committee Against Racism and Discrimination of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD) condemned the attack in a letter to the president of the parliament. The letter read, in part:

“The physical assault by members of the Justice and Development Party against members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party… which in fact left some members of the HDP injured, has thoroughly exposed the absence of the rule of law in this country.

“The perpetrators of the physical attacks, which are reminiscent of lynching, against HDP members of Parliament, have committed an egregious crime at a time when significant efforts are made to sideline the Peoples’ Democratic Party from politics, to imprison the MPs, and to prevent the necessary conditions for the representation of a people.

“This crime is not only one of assault, battery, or injury. This is also a crime of racial hatred…

“This act of racism directed against Garo Paylan under the roof of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey also violates international conventions, signed by the Turkish state, which prohibit racism and discrimination. For instance, Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits discrimination in no uncertain terms. Moreover, the state of the Republic of Turkey has signed the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action of 1993, which obligate the signatory states to take precautions against racism.”

A few months later, in January 2017, Paylan was censored and temporarily banned from parliamentary sessions after delivering a speech in which he said:

“Between 1913 and 1923, we [Turkey] lost four peoples: Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and Jews were lost. They were either exposed to major massacres and genocides or subjected to population exchanges and exiles…

“We [Christians] used to account for 40 percent [of the country’s population]. Now we are barely one out of a 1,000. It seems likely that something happened to us. I call it genocide. You can call it whatever you want.

“The Armenian people know very well what was done to them… I know very well what was done to my ancestors, my grandfather. To you, I am one of the ‘leftovers of the sword’ [a Turkish expression often used to describe survivors of massacres against Christians]… to learn lessons… from the past, let’s look at this together.”

Paylan’s statements were greeted by angry shouts from AKP members. The deputy speaker of the Assembly, Ahmet Aydin, warned Paylan to “watch out for [his] behavior and attitude, and stop uttering words that offend the Turkish nation.”

The Turkish lawmakers then voted to ban Paylan from participating in the parliament for the next three sessions, and the section of his speech about the Armenian genocide was removed from the parliamentary minutes.

The hysteria over Paylan’s speech, however, did not remain in the confines of the parliament. As a result of the address, and of an interview Paylan gave to an Armenian publication in Canada, a former university rector filed a criminal complaint against him. The office of the chief prosecutor in Ankara accepted the complaint, and by the end of 2017, the Turkish Justice Ministry gave permission to open a formal investigation into Paylan, in accordance with Article 301.

This kind of hostility to Armenians is widespread in Turkish society and, as is evident, protected by the government.

During a pro-Erdogan rally in Trabzon in October 2016, in another example, the crowd started chanting, “Armenian bastards cannot deter us.” Erdogan and the ministers there did not intervene.

Paylan’s lawyer then filed a criminal complaint against rally organizers and those who shouted the ethnic slurs. The complaint read in part:

“The fact that Erdogan stayed silent and did not stop the slogans has facilitated the targeting of Armenians… Paylan has seriously been impacted by these slogans and has been exposed to threats and insults by people encouraged by [them].”

Paylan has good reason to fear for his safety. In January 2007, the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was shot and killed outside his newspaper’s office in Istanbul. Dink, known for his outspokenness on the Armenian genocide, was prosecuted under Article 301, and received numerous death threats. It has been 12 years since Dink’s murder, and the case has yet to be solved.

It has been three years since Paylan was verbally and physically abused by Turkish parliamentarians. Not only has nothing been done by Turkish authorities to prevent Paylan from experiencing the same fate as Dink, but prosecutors are stepping up their efforts to have his parliamentary immunity stripped, so that he can be tried, under Article 301, for “insulting Turkey.”

This is a travesty of justice perpetrated by the very system charged with upholding justice.

On January 13, US President Donald Trump warned Turkey of possible economic sanctions if it attacks Kurds in Syria following the American withdrawal of troops from the war-torn country. This was apparently Trump’s way of leveraging the Erdogan regime to comply with US wishes. Washington would do well to apply similar pressure to Ankara, a NATO member, to cease violating the human rights — and endangering the lives — of minorities and critics, such as Paylan.

Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist born and raised in Turkey. She is presently based in Washington D.C.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13569/unjust-turkey

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: Garo Paylan

Paylan: Why don’t Turks say that Dolmabahçe Palace was built by Armenian architect?

November 21, 2018 By administrator

Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish parliament representing the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) reflected on the Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey during the budgetary debates of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Addressing the parliament session, the lawmaker stressed that the appropriated heritage is misrepresented in the country, noting that those in Turkey fail to admit the fact that the architect of Dolmabahçe Palace in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul was an Armenian, Ermenihaber reports.

“Why don’t you say that Dolmabahçe Palace belongs to us, Akhtamar belongs to us … During the college years, when we visited Dolmabahçe, the guide said that the palace was built by Italian architect Baliani.  I believed, but when I returned to college I found out that Dolmabahçe was built by Armenian architect Garabed Balyan,” Paylan was quoted as saying.

“Can you imagine? There is a perception that an Italian architect is preferable to an Armenian one. Many sites in Istanbul bear the marks of the famous Balyan family. Why do you deny this? Why don’t you say that Sultanahmet, Dolmabahçe Palace and Akhtamar are ours?” he asked.

The Balyan family was a prominent Ottoman Armenian family of court architects in the service of Ottoman sultans and other members of the Ottoman dynasty during the 18th and 19th centuries. For five generations, they designed and constructed numerous major buildings in the Ottoman Empire, including palaces, mansions, konaks, kiosks, yalis, mosques, churches, and various public buildings, mostly in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul).

The nine well-known members of the family served six sultans in the course of almost a century and played an important role in the westernization of Ottoman architecture during the Tanzimat period.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: Dolmabahçe Palace, Garo Paylan

Istanbul: A powerful image of unity against #Turkish fascism, Garo Paylan protect Arat the son of Hrant Dink Video

August 25, 2018 By administrator

A powerful image of unity against Turkish fascism as HDP deputies of Armenian origin Garo Paylan protect and defend the son of murdered Armenian writer, Hrant Dink. the Man in the front is Arat, son of the murdered Armenian writer Hrant Dink from arrest at the 700 weeks Saturday Mothers vigil that was attacked by Erdogan’s militias today in Istanbul.

This morning, Terrorist State of Turkey Police: Attack Garo Paylan – Կարօ Փայլան (Turkish deputy of #Armenian origin) was beaten by the Turkish police during a demonstration in Istanbul, while he was trying to protect human rights defenders and some of the participants in the meeting of “Saturday mothers”. They were also attacked by the police.

 

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Arat, Garo Paylan, Protect

Armenian MP Paylan’s party garnered 65 percent of the votes in Diyarbakır, Video

June 25, 2018 By administrator

Istanbul Armenian MP and vice-chairman of the opposition pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), Garo Paylan, whom HDP had nominated in Diyarbakır, achieved brilliant results in Sunday’s parliamentary election in Turkey.

According to preliminary results, Paylan’s party garnered 65 percent of the votes in Diyarbakır, reported Milliyet newspaper of Turkey.

As a result of his active politics in parliament and magnificent election campaign, Garo Paylan secured a large number of votes for his party and was reelected into the legislature.

HDP has once again won seats in the Turkish parliament.

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Garo Paylan, Turkish election

Turkish parliament to have two Armenian MPs Garo Paylan and Margaret Yesayan

June 24, 2018 By administrator

YEREVAN, JUNE 24, According to the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections in Turkey, there will be 2 Armenian deputies in the parliament.

As Armenpress reports, the new parliament will be Garo Peilan, a prominent Armenian Democratic Party nominated by Diyarbakir, and Margar Yesayan, a candidate from the ruling Justice and Development Party, in Istanbul’s second polling station.

Following the November 2015 parliamentary elections, there were 3 Armenian MPs in Parliament: Garo Pylaan, Margar Yesayan and Selina Dogan, member of the Kemalist Republican People’s Party. The latter’s candidacy did not nominate the party in these elections.

During his parliamentary career, Garo Pylaan has always raised issues of concern to the Armenian community. He has distinguished himself in the murders of the Turkish Parliament in which he has repeatedly voiced the Armenian Genocide calling on the authorities to confront their own history and to accept their own crime. The deputy even submitted a relevant proposal, which was intended to officially recognize the 1915 incidents as genocide. Offer rejected. He also periodically raised questions about the concerns of the Constantinople-Armenian community, in particular the need to elect the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. He was subject to disciplinary penalties for talking about genocide from the podium of the parliament. In addition, it became known recently that an investigation was launched under Article 301 of the Criminal Code. A request for deprivation of immunity was made within the framework of the investigation.

Unlike Pasha, Yesayan is known for having close ties with the authorities. Since his election in 2015, he did not notice any pro-Armenian initiative. Moreover, in June 2016, at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, he voted for the British parliamentary Robert Walter’s anti-Armenian “Increase in Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and Other Occupied Territories” report, which was abused by the PACE.

Two Armenian candidates, Ludmila Bjuyum (People’s Democratic Party) and Elmas Kirakos (“Good” Party), who are nominated for this election, will not be in the mazhilis with preliminary results.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will have 295 seats in the parliament, the Republican People’s Party – 146, the Nationalist Movement – 49, the Democratic People’s Party – 66, the Good Party – 44 seats.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Garo Paylan, Margaret Yesayan, Turkey

Garo Paylan: “We will never kneel”

June 4, 2018 By administrator

Garo Paylan: “We will never kneel”

The HDP candidate in the Turkish parliamentary elections of 24 June has galvanized an audience of nearly 2,000 people in the Phocaean city. Curtain up on a man of exception.

The doors of the Docks du Sud, a cultural and associative center of Marseilles, were open from 7 pm on Friday, June 1st, to host a meeting to support Garo Paylan. A member of the HDP (People’s Democratic Party), emblematic figure of the Armenian community, he seeks a mandate in one of the 81 provinces of the country, that of Dyabekir, June 24. The same day as the presidential election. HDP’s candidate, Selahattin Demirtaş, will campaign from his prison cell where he has been incarcerated since November 2016. A favorite of the elections, however, mistreated in the latest polls against the background of the economic crisis and the fall of the Turkish lira, the outgoing president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling party, the AKP, hope to establish a dictatorship with the legitimacy of the ballot box, legitimacy mingled with the media steamroller at their command, the independents having been banned or muzzled.

This large-scale event has been possible, once is not customary, by the joint mobilization of many organizations (Armenian, Kurdish, Turkish and French) and personalities: HDP Europe represented by Eyyup Doru, CCAF South (Coordinating Council of Armenian organizations in France), Solidarity & Freedom, CKDM (Kurdish Democratic Center Marseille), Marseille MPs François-Michel Lambert (LREM) and Pierre Dharréville (Democratic and Republican Left). All succeeded brilliantly in the tribune before giving way to the star of the evening, Garo Paylan, who came especially to France for this single meeting. One would have thought that the young 46-year-old speaker would find it difficult to hold the room in his speech in Turkish, requiring breaks for French translation purposes. It was not so, on the contrary. For many, who are wondering how and why Garo Paylan does not take refuge in Europe to escape the very serious risks to his security and freedom – he dared to mention in the Turkish National Assembly on 14 January 2017, ” the disappearance of four peoples between 1913 and 1923, Armenian, Greek, Assyrian and Jewish [in our country] “, using the terms” massacres “and” genocides “- it is enough to read the answer on his face transfigured on the podium, by the podium. He is an authentic tribune. He exults, he is as inhabited and astonishingly, he displays a disarming smile, which he undoubtedly draws from the conviction that his cause is just and therefore necessarily victorious. Garo Paylan drives the nail. “We politicians tend to present every election as a decisive deadline, but this time I tell you, this June 24 election is as important as the one that saw Hitler take power in 1933.” Rain of applause.

The hecatomb of arrests of HDP members and elected officials would have been right for any party in the world but the HDP did not burst. Do you know why ? He launches as a challenge to the audience. “Because we fight for honor, it’s a fight for honor. We never knelt and we will never kneel. The Western observer will seek in vain in the flow of his words, the bases of an economic, social, political program. It is that the stake is well upstream. Garo Paylan sees himself as one of the “fighters of freedom and peace”, opposed to the forces of “obscurantism and fascism”. As for the goal, it’s simple. Block “Erdogan’s dreams” by crossing the fateful threshold of 10%, sesame to enter the Assembly. “Every voice counts. Are you ready to mobilize? Without understanding either Turkish or Kurdish, one can guess the answer that is fuse.

Jean-Jacques Avedissian

Filed Under: News Tagged With: "We will never kneel", Garo Paylan

Armenian MP of Turkey: Judging me will not force me to abandon fight for justice for genocide

May 20, 2018 By administrator

Garo Paylan, Istanbul Armenian MP and vice-chairman of the opposition pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey, responded to the announcement on the launching of a criminal case against him, and under the infamous Article 301 (“insulting the Turkish nation”) of the Turkish Penal Code.

Paylan told Agos Armenian weekly of Istanbul that he has always called the tragedy which his family and nation survived a “genocide.”

“As a deputy of the Turkish parliament, I have demanded from the Turkish parliament to call it like it is,” Paylan said, in particular. “Like everywhere, also in the interview noted in the criminal case filed against me, I have said the word ‘genocide.’ But I didn’t accuse today’s Turkish people, but the then junta with a genocidal mindset.

“Sadly, Turkey currently is again rolling back and attempting to prevent—with pressures—the demands for confrontation with the past. [But] let the [Turkish] prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice—which gave a green light to their criminal case—know that by filing a criminal case against me they will not force me to abandon the fight for justice for what has occurred in the present and in the past.”

 

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: Garo Paylan, Turkish Parliament

Garo Paylan being investigated for ‘insulting Turkishness’ under Turkey’s Article 301

May 17, 2018 By administrator

Ankara’s chief prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation of Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) for allegedly violating the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish penal code that deems “insulting Turkishness” as illegal offense.

“Article 301, which is an article of the Turkish Penal Code making it illegal to ‘denigrate Turkishness, the Turkish Republic, the foundation and the institutions of the State,’ has been interpreted by the ECHR [European Court of Human Rights] as ‘a permanent threat to freedom of expression,’ and considered incompatible with the principle of the state of law,” read a part of Paylan’s statement.

Ankara’s prosecutor’s office opened Paylan’s investigation after he used the word genocide to describe the event of 1915 in an interview, in which he asserted that genocide is continuing today.

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office demanded that Parliament to lift Paylan’s parliamentary immunity so he can be investigated.

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: being, Garo Paylan, investigated

Garo Paylan and Selina Dogan extend congratulations to Armenian people

May 10, 2018 By administrator

Garo Paylan and Selina Dogan – ethnic Armenian lawmakers of the Turkish parliament, extended congratulations on the recent events in Armenia, reports Armenpress.

“The Armenian people won in fight for democracy. Congratulations!” Paylan, MP of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), said on Twitter.

MP of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Selina Dogan also posted on Twitter which says: “Developments are taking place in Armenia that will pass into the history of the world democracy. No power can stop the people’s demand for change and democracy. Congratulations to the victory of the leaders and people fighting for this demand. #GetzeHayastan!”

Armenian lawmakers elected Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister of Armenia on May 8.

59 MPs voted in favor, 42 voted against.

The extraordinary sitting of the Armenian parliament kicked off 12:00 with 100 MPs in attendance for the second round of vote to elect a Prime Minister. Nikol Pashinyan, the opposition leader who spearheaded the recent nationwide demonstrations, was the only candidate for the position, just like during the first round on May 1.

English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan

 

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Garo Paylan, Selina Dogan

Garo Paylan has submitted a law draft for the recognition of Armenian Genocide, to National Assembly of Turkey

April 20, 2018 By administrator

Law Draft Submitted for Recognition of Armenian Genocide

Law Draft Submitted for Recognition of Armenian Genocide

HDP MP Garo Paylan has submitted a law draft for the recognition of Armenian Genocide, the removal of genocide perpetrators’ names from public places and an amendment to the Turkish Citizenship Law.

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) İstanbul MP Garo Paylan has submitted a law draft to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for the “Recognition of Armenian Genocide”, “Removal of the Names of Genocide Perpetrators from Public Places” and “Amendment to Turkish Citizenship Law.”

In the general preamble of the law draft, it has been stated, “According to a census conducted in 1914, approximately two million Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire. At the night of April 24, 1915, around 250 Armenian intellectuals, including MPs and writers were arrested in İstanbul.”

In the preamble, it has also been indicated, “After these people were sent into exile in Ayaş and Çankırı, the vast majority of them were killed. Among the ones sent into exile and killed were Dr. Nazaret Dağavaryan (MP of Ottoman Empire), Armen Doryan (poet and journalist), Şavarş Krisyan (editor of the sports magazine Marmnamarz), Levon Larents (poet), Rupen Sevag (poet), Yenovk Şahen (theater artist), Siamanto [Atom Yarcanyan] (poet), Hagop Terziyan (pharmacist and writer), Taniel Varujan (poet), Krikor Yesayan (teacher and translator), Rupen Zartaryan (writer and poet), Diran Kelekyan (writer and Professor of Turkish language) and Krikor Zohrab (MP of Ottoman Empire and writer). (PT/SD)

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: armenian genocide, draft, Garo Paylan

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