Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

The Fate of Father Yusuf Akbulut
by Assyrian Universal Alliance, Press Release - Tuesday, February 20, 2001
Posted: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 08:09 pm CST

Please be informed that Father Yusuf Akbulut, the Assyrian priest of St. Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church in Diyarbekir, Turkey, remains under house arrest. The Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) is monitoring this situation and is using its international connections to ensure that Father Akbulut receives a fair trial. Mr. Praydon Darmo, AUA's Secretary of Europe, will be present at the court during the course of the trial.

Father Akbulut is to be brought to trial again on February 22, 2001. The charge against him stems from a reference he made to a Turkish correspondent about the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks against the Assyrians, Armenians and Pontic Greeks during World War I (WWI). He faces years of imprisonment for speaking about a historical fact officially denied by the Turkish government but acknowledged publicly and privately throughout the world.

Father Akbulut was originally arrested in October and was tried on December 21.2000. Due to the attention in Europe, largely by media and government agencies, prosecutors and defense postponed the trial for further preparation of the case. It is now scheduled to take place within days. The fate of this thirty-five year old priest is being monitored worldwide by the Assyrian people and other related communities whose suffering is being denied by the Turkish government. His human rights and the rights of our religious community are being trampled in order to uphold the denial of the first genocide of the twentieth century.

Emboldened by the refusal of the United States to join with European governments in acknowledging the reality of the genocide perpetrated during WWI, the Turkish government has drawn the United States government into its ring of denial. Indeed, there is some evidence that the seriousness of this arrest may be linked to former President Clinton’s pressure on Congress to ignore the need to pass a resolution condemning Turkey's genocidal past.

We urge you to join us in supporting Father Akbulut. We will be happy to provide further information about his case.

Senator John J. Nimrod
Secretary General
Assyrian Universal Alliance

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