Ahmet Cetin, a pro-Turkey extremist, who assaulted Armenian community members in Décines-Charpieu commune of Lyon on July 24, will go on trial on Thursday, September 17, 20minutes.fr reports.
He will stand trial at the Bourg-en-Bresse Criminal Court for “inciting violence or racial hatred.”
About five hundred people, including a handful of elected officials, gathered in Décines-Charpieu on July 24 to protest against the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression on the northern border of Armenia, the scene of deadly clashes this summer.
The participants shortly received calls warning them of a threat – the arrival, two streets away, of Turkish ultranationalist Gray Wolves.
Witnesses said they saw masked activists, equipped with bars and bladed weapons, but the was quick to prevent the confrontation with Armenian youth.
The assailants started shouting “Where are the Armenians?”
“Frankly, I organized many rallies and demonstrations, but there I was really afraid that it could turn into a pitched battle,” Raffi Tanzilli, regional chairman of the Armenian National Committee of France told AFP.
A few vehicles were damaged and the window of an Armenian shoe repair shop was broken, but the disaster was averted.
A native of Oyonnax, Ahmet Cetin, a staunch supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been making anti-Kurdish and anti-Armenian calls on social media for several months, and he even filmed himself on July 24 in the streets of Décines.
