The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) of Turkey has launched an investigation against Kemal Şahin, a judge in Istanbul, for the photo and the comments he posted on social networking websites, according to Hürriyet daily newspaper of the country.

The “crime” of this Turkish judge was taking a photograph—together with his two daughters—with renowned Diyarbakır Armenian writer Mıgırdiç Margosyan, at the Istanbul Book Fair.

In addition, the Turkish judge had commented the following as attachment to this photograph: “We apologized—with my daughters Yaren and Dilan—from master Mıgırdiç Margosyan, a son of a people you scattered from the Gavur [i.e. a vulgar term for non-Muslim] neighborhood [in Diyarbakır], like ‘prayer beads.’”

This photo and comment by Şahin, as well as some critical comments in connection with the massacre of civilians in primarily Kurdish-populated Cizre town of Şırnak Province and Sur district of Diyarbakır city, were among the reasons for HSYK to launch an inquiry against him.