Is the Denial of the “Armenian Genocide” an Obstacle to Turkey’s Accession to the EU?

Abstract

The persistent refusal of the Turkish government to qualify the Armenian massacres performed in 1915–1916, during the Ottoman Empire, as a genocide is here taken into consideration from the point of view of the ongoing accession process of Turkey to the European Union (EU). Even if the recognition of the “Armenian Genocide” as such does not pertain to Article 49 TEU, is not included in Article 2 TEU and does not constitute one of the so-called “Copenhagen criteria”, the criminalization in the Turkish legal order of any dissenting opinion on the matter could however indirectly affect the Copenhagen legal criteria (because of the compulsory nature of Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA) as well as Articles 2 and 49 TEU and the Copenhagen political criteria (because of the attenuation of the right of freedom of expression).