Turkish Court denies lawsuit against TV host for verbally abusing Garo Paylan

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. A Turkish Court denied launching a lawsuit against a Turkish TV host who verbally abused lawmaker Garo Paylan by calling him “bastard”, Cumhurriyet reports.

The General Prosecution of Ankara cited the European Human Rights Convention and said politicians should display flexibility against criticism.

Garo Paylan delivered a speech in the Turkish Parliament on January 13 about the Armenian Genocide, which resulted in harsh criticism from lawmakers. The President of the Parliament banned Paylan from three sessions, and his speech was deleted from the records.

Özlem Özcan, a TV host, commented on the issue on Twitter, saying : “If Genocide did happen, what is a bastard like you doing in the Parliament”.

Earlier the Constitutional Court also denied Paylan’s suit, where he demanded to cancel the ban from sessions for using the term “Armenian Genocide”.