Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide: Temel Demirer

By Hambersom Aghbashian

Temel Demirer is a famous Turkish writer and one of the enlightened intellectuals who have recognized the Armenian Genocide . He has been prosecuted for his daring writings and speeches and because of his remarks on the Armenian Genocide.

Temel Demirer is the author of many books and the co- author of many others. His published works include (Ortadogu Yalanci Bahar – Middle East-False Spring), (Kapitalizmin Ekolojic Sorunlan- Ecological Problems of Capitalism), (Kuresel Intifada – Global Intifada), (Eleveda Nosyan..Merhaba Isyan), (Resmi Ideoloji, Devlet, Milliyetcilik- Official Ideology, State, Nationalism), and the list and goes on and it is too long to be mentioned here.(1)

According to (http://bianet.org/english/minorities/105355A), a day after journalist Hrant Dink’s murder on 19 January 2007, writer Temel Demirer read a press statement in central Ankara, saying that the journalist had not only been killed for being Armenian, but also because he had spoken of an “Armenian genocide.” Around a year later, Demirer has been taken to court under Article 301 and 216 for “denigrating the Turkish Republic” and “inciting to hatred and hostility.” In a previous statement Demirer said that he believed that there was a genocide carried out against the Armenians in the Ottoman period.(2)

K. Mouradian wrote on April 24, in (The Armenian Weekly- April 28, 2010), As genocide commemoration events were being held one after the other in different locations in Istanbul, a groundbreaking two-day conference on the Armenian Genocide began at the Princess Hotel in Ankara. The conference, organized by the Ankara Freedom of Thought Initiative , was held under tight security measures. The conference attracted around 200 attendees, mostly activists and intellectuals who support genocide recognition. Among the prominent names from Turkey were Ismail Besikci, Baskin Oran, Sevan Nishanian, Ragip Zarakolu, Temel Demirer and Sait Cetinoglu. Demirer is an author who has been prosecuted for his daring writings and speeches. That panel turned out into a debate on reparations for the Armenian Genocide.(3)

In his book “Modern Turkey and the Armenian Genocide”, Nikolaus Schrodt quoted then Turkish Minister of justice Mehmet Ali Sahin stating to Today’s Zaman (Nov. 18, 2008), “This man, Temel Demirer, is saying Turkey is a murderer state . I am not going to let anyone call my state a murderer. These expressions are not exercising freedom of speech, these are humiliating the state which is exactly what article 301 criminalizes. (4)

In his article titled “Turkish Writer Temel Demirer: There Was A Genocide In Our History”, Jean Eckian (Independent correspondent-Paris, March 6, 2008) mentioned that Demirer, in his press statement in central Ankara announced that “There was a genocide in our history, it is called the Armenian Genocide. At the expense of its life, Hrant said to us, to all this reality. Those who killed the Armenians yesterday attack our Kurdish brothers and sisters today.. I invite all those of you to commit crimes. Yes, there was a Armenian genocide in this country.”(5)

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1- www.idefix.com/kitap/temel-demirer/urun_liste.asp?

2- http://bianet.org/english/minorities/105355-writer-demirer-on-trial-for-armenian-genocide

3- http://www.armenianweekly.com/2010/04/28/ankara-conference/

4http://books.google.com/books?id=m4_IAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT478&lpg=PT478&dq=Temel+Demirer+and+the+Armenian+genocide

5- http://www.armeniandiaspora.com/showthread.php?125139-Turkish-Writer-Temel-Demirer-

Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide: Temel Demirer