Turkey rejects criminal prosecution in apology campaign to Armenians

The prosecutors' office in Ankara earlier this month launched an investigation into the issue after six Turkish prosecutors submitted a petition calling for the organizers of the apology campaign to be charged with "insulting the Turkish nation openly" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

"It has been decided that there is no need for criminal prosecution on the legal grounds that opposing opinions are also protected under freedom of thought in democratic societies," the prosecutors' office, which completed its investigation regarding the demands, said in its ruling.

Around 200 Turkish academics, writers and journalists launched a website issuing an apology to Armenians regarding the 1915 incidents and called for people to sign on in support.

The efforts of the intellectuals drew fierce reaction in Turkey and incited counter website campaigns, and exhibitions containing information and photographs from studies conducted into the events.

Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915.Turkey rejects the claims saying that 300,000 Armenians, along with at least as many Turks, died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians took up arms, backed by Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.

The issue remains unsolved as Armenia drags its feet on accepting Turkey's proposal to form an independent commission to investigate the claims.