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Earthtimes.org
Aug 23 2007
Turkish government to confer with Israel over genocide claim
Istanbul - The Turkish government plans to confer with Israel over
the issue of a major Jewish group in the United States declaring that
the killings of Armenians nearly 100 years ago should be classified
as genocide, local media reported Thursday. The media reported that
Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed to discuss the issue with his
Israeli counterpart, Ehud Olmert in the next few days.
The reports came as meanwhile Turkey's ambassador to Israel, Namik
Tan, interrupted his vacation in order to sharply criticise the
statement issued by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in New York made
on Tuesday.
Tan said that the ADL's statement to accept the term "genocide" in
describing the killings of Armenians in 1915-1918 was without any
historical or legal foundation.
In a statement issued August 21, ADL national director Abraham H.
Foxman said that previously, his organisation had "always described
the painful events of 1915-1918 perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire
against the Armenians as massacres and atrocities."
But now, "on reflection," the ADL had come to share the view that
"the consequences of those actions were indeed tantamount to
genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would have
called it genocide," Foxman's statement said.
The ADL director added that he hoped "that Turkey will understand
that it is Turkey's friends who urge that nation to confront its past
and work to reconcile with Armenians over this dark chapter in
history."
Foxman at the same time criticised plans by the US Congress to pass a
resolution declaring the killings as genocide. He said this would be
"a counterproductive diversion and will not foster reconciliation
between Turks and Armenians."
The ADL director also warned of the danger that a Congressional
resolution could "put at risk the Turkish Jewish community and the
important multilateral relationship between Turkey, Israel and the
United States."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Aug 23 2007
Turkish government to confer with Israel over genocide claim
Istanbul - The Turkish government plans to confer with Israel over
the issue of a major Jewish group in the United States declaring that
the killings of Armenians nearly 100 years ago should be classified
as genocide, local media reported Thursday. The media reported that
Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed to discuss the issue with his
Israeli counterpart, Ehud Olmert in the next few days.
The reports came as meanwhile Turkey's ambassador to Israel, Namik
Tan, interrupted his vacation in order to sharply criticise the
statement issued by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in New York made
on Tuesday.
Tan said that the ADL's statement to accept the term "genocide" in
describing the killings of Armenians in 1915-1918 was without any
historical or legal foundation.
In a statement issued August 21, ADL national director Abraham H.
Foxman said that previously, his organisation had "always described
the painful events of 1915-1918 perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire
against the Armenians as massacres and atrocities."
But now, "on reflection," the ADL had come to share the view that
"the consequences of those actions were indeed tantamount to
genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would have
called it genocide," Foxman's statement said.
The ADL director added that he hoped "that Turkey will understand
that it is Turkey's friends who urge that nation to confront its past
and work to reconcile with Armenians over this dark chapter in
history."
Foxman at the same time criticised plans by the US Congress to pass a
resolution declaring the killings as genocide. He said this would be
"a counterproductive diversion and will not foster reconciliation
between Turks and Armenians."
The ADL director also warned of the danger that a Congressional
resolution could "put at risk the Turkish Jewish community and the
important multilateral relationship between Turkey, Israel and the
United States."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress