Criminal charges for display of racial sign
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 20, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - A prosecutor has sought a one-year prison term for a man who has been charged with racist behavior, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Niyazi Çapa, chairperson of the Osmangazi Cultural Foundations Federation, is facing a possible one-year prison term, daily Radikal reported yesterday.
Çapa was charged with a racist offense following an incident last month when he released a press statement in the presence of members of his foundation who each held a dog on their laps and banners that read "Jews and Armenians cannot enter" and "Entrance is free for dogs."
Racial discrimination
The prosecutor’s office in the Anatolian city of Eskişehir, where the incident occurred, has filed a case against Çapa charging him with "discrimination against people based on language, race, color, sex, political ideas, philosophical beliefs, religion and other similar reasons." The case is set to be heard in May. Çapa will not be detained for the period leading to his trial.
In his defense, Çapa released a statement to the prosecutor that said he did not act in a racist manner. "The banners that read ’Jews and Armenians cannot enter’ and ’Entrance is free for dogs’ were hung on the foundation’s gates at the same time but weren’t related. But the media interpreted this as ’Dogs can enter, but Jews and Armenians cannot.’ "
Actions a response
Çapa also said his press statement was in response to Israel’s attacks on Palestine and the apology campaign to Armenians for the events of 1915. "I did this to protest the Armenian-American rock band, "System of a Down," which put up a banner at their concert in France that read, ’Turks and dogs cannot enter,’" he said. Çapa claimed that he had no problems with Jewish or Armenian people.
The accusation regarding the banner displayed by the American band, whose members are of Armenian origin, is considered to be a fabricated tale made up in Turkey and the same accusation was leveled at European bands such as Saxon and Sodom in the past. The existence of such banners were never witnessed or photographed in any event by any of the three bands.
Çapa was charged with a racist offense following an incident last month when he released a press statement in the presence of members of his foundation who each held a dog on their laps and banners that read "Jews and Armenians cannot enter" and "Entrance is free for dogs."
Racial discrimination
The prosecutor’s office in the Anatolian city of Eskişehir, where the incident occurred, has filed a case against Çapa charging him with "discrimination against people based on language, race, color, sex, political ideas, philosophical beliefs, religion and other similar reasons." The case is set to be heard in May. Çapa will not be detained for the period leading to his trial.
In his defense, Çapa released a statement to the prosecutor that said he did not act in a racist manner. "The banners that read ’Jews and Armenians cannot enter’ and ’Entrance is free for dogs’ were hung on the foundation’s gates at the same time but weren’t related. But the media interpreted this as ’Dogs can enter, but Jews and Armenians cannot.’ "
Actions a response
Çapa also said his press statement was in response to Israel’s attacks on Palestine and the apology campaign to Armenians for the events of 1915. "I did this to protest the Armenian-American rock band, "System of a Down," which put up a banner at their concert in France that read, ’Turks and dogs cannot enter,’" he said. Çapa claimed that he had no problems with Jewish or Armenian people.
The accusation regarding the banner displayed by the American band, whose members are of Armenian origin, is considered to be a fabricated tale made up in Turkey and the same accusation was leveled at European bands such as Saxon and Sodom in the past. The existence of such banners were never witnessed or photographed in any event by any of the three bands.