Turkey’s criminal proceedings for NK visits to backfire, says Sait Çetinoğlu

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. The deputy prosecutor of Istanbul has launched criminal proceedings against four Turkish scholars for visiting Artsakh. The criminal cases were initiated at the request of Azerbaijan. After the proceedings, the prosecution decided to launch court hearings against the scholars, Turkish scholar Sait Çetinoğlu, who has appeared in the crosshairs of the Turkish-Azerbaijani conspiracy, told ARMENPRESS.

“We’ve used the right to free movement, which is one of the fundamental freedoms of people. The Azerbaijani government issued an arrest warrant for us, moreover it is trying to issue a Red Alert against us using Interpol as a tool, with the purpose of restricting our freedom of travel”, he said.

He reminded that for visiting Artsakh “without Azerbaijani authorization”, Azerbaijan began an investigation and demanded Turkey to question the scholars. The deputy prosecutor of Istanbul personally dealt with the case.

“As far as I understood from media reports, a judicial case was launched against us as result of the process. We haven’t yet received a notification about this. Judging by the statements of Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusolgu about the judicial case, it can be understood that Turkey and Azerbaijan are taking similar steps to prevent visits to Nagorno Karabakh”, he said, adding that the Turkish FM has made similar statements in the past also.

However, Çetinoğlu found a similar conduct of Turkey to be odd to say the least, taking into account that Turkey is the one who has actually occupied the northern section of Cyprus. According to him, if proceedings are launched against them for visiting NK, then the same must be applied for Turkish citizens who visit the so-called "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus".

“This process might end with court proceedings being launched against millions of Turkish citizens for visiting occupied territories without authorization”, he said, mentioning that this process, which initiated Turkey, can have unpleasant consequences for Turkey itself.

Araks Kasyan