The Perinçek case should be studied in law schools

Years ago, Turkish politician Do?u Perinçek gave a number of conferences in Switzerland on the topic: ?Genocide in an imperialist lie.?

As a result, a Lausanne Police Court tried and found him guilty of racial discrimination on March 9, 2007, sentencing him to 120 days in prison before converting his prison term to a fine and postponing it.

The penalty is not important. If the Swiss court?s verdict is accepted then it would have been difficult to say the ?1915 events were not a genocide? in Europe. Perinçek followed up and took the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). 

The 2nd Chamber of the ECHR ruled that the Swiss court?s conviction of Perinçek was against his human rights. But the judgment was not limited to this: It is extremely important in terms of the definition of the concept of ?genocide.?

The ECHR?s judgment, dated Dec. 17, 2013, is 50 pages long. It contains many quotes from several constitutions, legal declarations and court practices. It not only describes how wide the concept of ?freedom of expression? is in modern law, but it also examines in detail the legal aspect of the concept ?genocide.?

The ECHR said the Holocaust is a proven historical fact, recognized by international courts, but the events of 1915 do not fall into this category. The most important legal finding of the ECHR judgment is this: ?The notion of ?genocide? is a precisely defined legal concept ... for the crime of genocide to have taken place, the acts must have been perpetrated with intent to destroy not only certain members of a particular group, but all or part of the group itself. Genocide is a very narrow legal concept that is, moreover, difficult to substantiate.?

Despite Amal Clooney

The second...