A trial has begun in Switzerland against a Turkish nationalist for denying that the mass killings of ethnic Armenians in Turkey during the the early part of the 20th century constitutes genocide.
Turkish Workers Party leader Dogu Perincek was charged under Switzerland's antiracism laws after he told a 2005 rally in Switzerland that it was an "international lie" to describe the killings as genocide.
In 2003, Swiss lawmakers recognized the mass killings at the end of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.
Turkish authorities continue to reject that description. In Turkey, there are laws aimed at discouraging people from describing the killings as genocide -- a position that has complicated Turkey's European Union membership bid.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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