NEW YORK, NY — On February 23, Armenian National Committee (ANC) Eastern Region director Doug Geogerian and American Hellenic Institute (AHI) founder Gene Rossides met with officials at Amnesty International’s (AI) Washington, DC office to discuss issues pertaining to Turkey’s current record of human rights violations. Representing AI were its advocacy director for Europe and Eurasia Maureen Greenwood and its Turkey specialist William Jones.

During the meeting, Greenwood reviewed some of AI’s previous work concerning Turkey, pointing out that AI focuses on three specific areas: torture, human rights defenders, and violence against women. However, AI particularly focused on the transfer of arms used in the 1980s to subjugate Turkey’s Kurdish population. According to Greenwood, Turkey still remains one of the countries from which AI most often receives reports of human rights violations.

Geogerian pointed to the issue of Turkey’s penal code and its provision which criminalizes discussion of the Armenian Genocide or withdrawal of Turkish troops occupying Northern Cyprus. Greenwood said that provision violated the right to free speech, and therefore would fall under AI’s mission. “It’s very likely that Turkey will be cited for this provision in AI’s upcoming six month report on Turkey, due to be released this spring.”

AI was very involved in getting Turkey to revise its penal code regarding torture. While it has credited Turkey for removing such provisions, AI found that torture is still widely practiced there. Greenwood said that AI was successful in getting the European Commission to raise the issue of Turkey’s failure to implement reform regarding torture, referring to a Turkish parliamentarian who traveled through the country to find that torture devices are still used in many jails.

The organization also said that it has reported in and intervened on behalf of Turkish human rights defenders such as doctors, lawyers, journalists, and religious leaders who have been silenced or detained as advocates for human rights. Geogerian asked if AI had been aware of teachers being arrested for questioning or defying the educational policy requiring all Turkish students to deny the Genocide. Jones said that he had heard about the issue, but that AI had not reported on it.

Geogerian also provided the recent report in the Turkish Daily News of writer Orhan Pamuk, who was charged by various bar associations for his public statements about the Turkish government. Pamuk said, “30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians had been killed in Turkey,” a statement argued to constitute a crime, according to the Turkish penal code. Greenwood indicated that she would investigate the matter.

Geogerian also pointed to reports of wide-spread human rights violation in Azerbaijan, and their likely reoccurrence during Baku’s upcoming parliamentary elections. “Human Rights Watch reported that Baku’s treatment of dissidents during its last presidential election involved one of the worst government crackdowns it witnessed in years,” said Geogerian. Greenwood indicated that AI would deal with any election fallout involving torture, wrongful detainment, or denial of free speech, and noted that AI’s six month report on Azerbaijan is also due to be released in the spring.

Later, Rossides raised the issue of Turkey’s illegal occupation of Northern Cyprus. “President Bush demands that Syria remove its troops from Lebanon, but mentions nothing about the illegal presence of Turkish forces in Cyprus,” said Rossides. “Turkey not only killed 1.5 million Armenians, but later under [Kemal] Ataturk, killed hundreds of thousands of Greeks in the Pontus,” Rossides and Geogerian pointed out. Geogerian, Greenwood, and Rossides agreed that their respective organizations share many common goals regarding Turkey’s human rights record.

The ANC and AHI are both interested in seeking ways to establish closer ties on the grassroots level and each has co-sponsored the other’s legislative initiatives on Capital Hill for over a decade. Both organizations also have a common interest in exposing Turkey’s problematic human rights record as it pursues accession to the European Union.

Photo Caption: (L to R) Amnesty International Turkey specialist William C. Jones, Amnesty International advocacy director for Europe and Eurasia Maureen Greenwood, ANC Eastern Region director Doug Geogerian, and American Hellenic Institute founder Eugene Rossides