Date of final decision on diaspora head sued by Armenians in Netherlands made public

Baku. 18 October. REPORT.AZ/ The trial has been held in Zvolle City Court on the basis of the appeal by the head of the Azerbaijani-Turkish Cultural Association, İlhan Aşkı, who was sued by the Armenian lobby in the Netherlands.

In his statement to Report, Aşkı said that the facts on the issue would be re-examined during the next two weeks and the final decision would be announced on October 31:

"You know, on February 24, 2014, Armenians established a monument to the so-called genocide in Almelo city, Netherlands. Our organization together with other Turkish organizations staged a protest against it. I was among the protest participants. During my speech, I said that you occupied Karabakh, this land belongs to us, and if you do not abandon this land, it will be grave for your future. I had a 6-minute speech, and I also used these words at the end of my speech. They cut my 6-minute speech in 2016 and gave only one minute to the court. I was sentenced to 1 month imprisonment and 120 hours of public work. We also protested against it and appealed to the Supreme Court. The meeting was based on our appeal."

The head of the diaspora said that the Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with the Diaspora, especially Fuad Muradov always supported them on this issue and followed the process. "Fuad Muradov supported us from material and moral point of view. From this standpoint, I express gratitude to Mr. Fuad. However, I expected support from diaspora leaders in Netherlands, representatives of the diplomatic corps, since this issue is our common problem. Some of them were by my side. For example, Fuzuli Mammadov, Safar Rahimli and others have always supported me. "