The Long Arm of the Assyrian Genocide

An Assyrian Christian university professor was murdered this week in the town of Örebro in Sweden. According to AINA:

Dr. Fuat Deniz, a renowned lecturer and Ph.D researcher in the field of sociology at Örebro University, was pronounced dead today by Örebro University Hospital; Dr. Deniz was stabbed in the neck by an unknown assailant on Tuesday. The murder of a teacher during day time and in his own workplace has shocked the community in Örebro, a mid size Swedish town. There are no witnesses to the stabbing and no suspect yet. Police are working to secure forensic evidence, survey the victim’s daily routine and his circle of acquaintances.

Sweden’s equivalent to the FBI, the Swedish security police (SÄPO), have announced they are looking into this case because the attack could have a political motive. SÄPO noted that Mr. Fuat Deniz dedicated much of his research to Assyrian identity and the Turkish genocide of Assyrians. His masters thesis, A Minority’s Odyssey: the Assyrian Example, was praised for its way of describing developments in social identities among Assyrians.

[…]

Dr. Fuat was to participate in an international conference on Assyrian identity and the Turkish Assyrian genocide at the University of Leiden in Holland on Friday 14 December.

The fact that Dr. Deniz was investigating the Assyrian genocide strongly suggests a political connection. The Turks are known to be sensitive when accused of genocide.

What stands out in the above account is that the victim was stabbed in the neck. This is evocative of the extra $50,000 offered for the murder of Lars Vilks (the Swedish artist who drew the Modoggies), on the condition that the killer “slaughter him like a lamb”, i.e., slit his throat.

Here’s what The Local had to say about the case yesterday:
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A man responsible for the murder in Örebro this week of a 40-year-old sociology lecturer remains at large as police attempt to establish a motive.

Fuat Deniz was stabbed on campus at Örebro University by an unidentified attacker on Tuesday afternoon. He later died from his injuries at Örebro University Hospital.

Police are currently trying to form a picture of the victim’s life in an attempt to discover a possible motive. But their efforts have so far proved fruitless.

“It’s a complicated task,” said police spokesman Torbjörn Carlson.

After Tuesday’s attack, a possible suspect was seen leaving the campus grounds.

A person thought to be the same man was later spotted at a store in central Örebro. Two witness described the man to police, whose image was also captured on security camera.

“But we have not yet identified a suspect. He is not identifiable from the security camera images,” said Carlson.

Notice that The Local studiously avoids any mention of Turkey, the Assyrian genocide, or Islam. We can’t have any “profiling”, now, can we? People murder other people for a variety of reasons; there’s no use jumping to conclusions.

Now let’s look at the other end of Europe and see how Turkey is doing with its human rights efforts. This news article from a couple of weeks ago shows how far the Turks have come in the field of religious tolerance:

Richard Dawkins’ best-selling atheist manifesto The God Delusion was at the centre of a growing row over religious tolerance yesterday after the Turkish publishers of his book were threatened with legal action by prosecutors who accuse it of ‘insulting believers’.

Erol Karaaslan, the founder of the small publishing house Kuzey Publications, could face between six months and a year in jail for “inciting hatred and enmity” if Istanbul prosecutors decide to press charges over the book, which has sold 6000 copies in Turkey since it was published this summer.

“A reader complained, saying that he wanted the book banned and the publishers punished”, said Mr Karaaslan after talks with the Istanbul state prosecutor. Mr Karaaslan, whose company specialises in self-help books and children’s literature, has been given a few days to prepare a written statement of defence.

So two conclusions can be drawn here: There will be no talk of atheism in Turkey, and no talk of the Assyrian genocide in Sweden.

I’m sure the enlightened folks in Brussels can figure out a way to square that with the Framework Decision.


Hat tips: CG, Henrik, Steen, LN, and Cranmer.