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

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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.”

 

Turkish-Armenian MP Raises ‘Yeva’ film ban in parliament

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Selina Dogan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament

Selina Dogan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament

Selina Dogan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has brought to the legislature’s attention the issue of the ban placed on the screening of Iranian-Armenian filmmaker Anahid Abad’s “Yeva” at a women’s festival currently underway in Turkey.

Dogan also presented a written request addressed to the Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu querying about the reasons for the ban on the film, Asbarez.com reports.

Dogan highlighted that “Yeva” was to be screened at the “Filmmor” international women’s film festival in Istanbul, but the screening was banned at the request of another country.In her letter to the Interior Ministry Dogan asked whether the ministry had reviewed the film, and if yes, which portions of the film were found to be objectionable to warrant a ban.

She also asked the ministry to delineate the articles of the constitution that were violated by the film.Dogan also added that prohibiting a film depicting a woman’s personal struggles, which is well within the parameters of the festival can “be viewed as an answer to the question why Turkey lags behind the international standards in the fields of science, art, and sports.”

“Yeva” tells the story of a woman who escapes her ex-husband residing in Iran and finds shelter in one of the villages in Artsakh.The film was scheduled to be screened on March 17. However, hours before the screening the Istanbul Governor’s office informed the organizers of the decision by the Interior Ministry to ban the event, referring to a letter received sent to the ministry by the Azerbaijani government.

The organizer of the film festival, Melek Ozman announced that the film was banned due to the active interference of Azerbaijan’s leadership.

Garo Paylan, fellow HDP members attacked by ruling-AKP MPs in Turkish Parliament

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Garo Paylan attacked by ruling-AKP MPs in Turkish Parliament

Garo Paylan attacked by ruling-AKP MPs in Turkish Parliament

Members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including Armenian Member of Turkish Parliament Garo Paylan, were attacked on Wednesday at a parliamentary session. According to Erbil-based Kurdistan 24 news outlet, the parliamentarians were attacked by a group of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers.

HDP Member of Parliament (MP) Mahmut Togrul, who represents the Gaziantep Province had his left arm broken, and his colleague Muslum Dogan of Izmir was kicked in the chest during the melee, which reportedly began after members of the HDP accused the government of engaging in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Kurdish people in Syria’s Afrin.

“The rhetoric ‘we will give Afrin to its rightful owners’ and announcements to settle refugees [in Turkey] there, is a plan of demographic change in a Kurdish-populated region; it is called ethnic cleansing,” Togrul had told the assembly during a speech, as quoted by Kurdistan 24.

“Kurds live in Afrin for a millennium. It is called ‘Kurd-Dagh’ (Kurd Mountain). You cannot resettle someone from Aleppo, Idlib, and Raqqa in the houses and lands of the people of Afrin,” he said, referring to Sunni Arab-populated cities of Syria.

According to Torgul, about 40 AKP members rushed the HDP lawmakers and threw punches and delivered kicks to them when they fell to the ground. The attack ended after members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) intervened.

“I was seriously beaten. I went to the hospital and received a medical report that I cannot work for 45 days,” Torgul added in his comments to Kurdistan 24. He also noted that MPs Garo Paylan and Behcet Yildirim also received serious blows during the attack.

“Last night in Parliament, the AKP tried to lynch us. They show their barbarism everywhere. We will continue to resist the fascists and we will win,” Paylan noted on his Facebook page on Thursday.