Jailed Turkish publisher calls for parliament's recognition of Genocide.

Turkish publisher and human rights activist Ragip Zarakolu has called upon his country’s parliament to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Jailed in October amid the anti-Kurdish operations in Turkey, the activist has asked his lawyer to submit to the Grand National Assembly a petition to acknowledge the Genocide ahead of its 100^thanniversary.

“It’s more than clear,” he said. “The Republic of Turkey is the successor of the Ottoman Empire. It is necessary to apologize for the 1915 Genocide, and the subsequent policies of deportation and assimilation. From the moral standpoint, it is the duty of Turkey’s, not other countries’ parliaments to make such apologies. ” he said, noting that  2015 marks the 100^th anniversary of the tragic events .

“In the run-up to the 100^th anniversary of the Genocide, the Republic of Turkey has to shoulder such a serious and the same noble burden,” the publisher said, according to the Turkish media.

Zaeakolu was detained on October 27, 2011 during the operations against the Kurdish Communities’ Union (KCK), the right wing of the Kurdistan Labor Party (PKK).

His son, Denis, was jailed earlier with over 90 Kurdish activists. He was accused of attempted coup and complicity in the KCK operations. 

Zarakolu is among Turkey’s most prominent intellectuals struggling against the denial of the Armenian Genocide. He has been periodically persecuted by the Turkish authorities for attempts to insult Turkishnes (Article 301 of Turkey’s criminal court). He was earlier sentenced to six months in prison for translating Franz Werfel’s Forty Days of Musa Dagh and printing it in his publishing house. He was also convicted for publishing the Turkish translation of George Jerjyan’s book titled devoted to the Armenian Genocide.