Turkey convicts publisher of Armenian genocide book

A Turkish judge has handed down a five-month prison sentence to the publisher of a book on the 1915 Armenian genocide, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on June 21.

Ragip Zarakolu was convicted for insulting the Turkish republic under the country’s notorious article 301. He has been freed on appeal and is not expected to serve time.

The ruling brings to a close a case that lasted more than three years and sparked an international campaign on Zarakolu’s behalf.

The central figure of the book in question is the author’s Armenian grandmother, who survived the Ottoman Empire’s massacre of 1.5 million Armenians. As The Herald notes, “Turkey disputes allegations that the Armenians’ deaths were a result of genocide.”

Sixty writers and journalists have been prosecuted under article 301 since its introduction in 2005.

Zarakolu served prison time in the 1970s for his human rights activism.

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