The World Council of Churches (WCC) has expressed “great concern” over the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment in the case of Perincek v. Switzerland.

WCC recalled that the Swiss National Council and the Federal Tribunal in the past have clearly recognized the Armenian genocide as a historical fact, Nouvelles d’Arménie reports. 

In an official letter sent to the Federal Department of Justice and Police of Switzerland, WCC General Secretary Olav Fykse Tveit urged “the Swiss government to make use of its right to appeal the ECtHR judgment, which constitutes an affront to the memory of the victims of the Armenian genocide and their descendants.”

Tveit called this an issue of “ethical and social significance.”

On December 17, 2013, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of Armenian Genocide-denying Turkish politician Dogu Perincek’s lawsuit that was filed against Switzerland. The said judgment by the ECtHR was made on the grounds of freedom of speech. In 2008, a Swiss court had convicted Perincek for denying the Armenian Genocide. Dogu Perincek is Chairman of the socialist Workers’ Party of Turkey. In addition, he heads the Talat Pasha organization, which actively fights against the Armenian Genocide’s recognition in Europe.