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EP PASSES RESOLUTION CALLING ON TURKEY TO RECOGNIZE 'ARMENIAN GENOCIDE'
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 15 2015
Members of the European Parliament take part in a voting session in
Strasbourg. (Photo: Reuters)
April 15, 2015, Wednesday/ 20:58:49/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM / ISTANBUL
European Parliament in a vote on Wednesday adopted a resolution that
refers to the killings of Armenians during the final years of the
Ottoman Empire as genocide and calls on Turkey to recognize that
'genocide."
The non-binding resolution which was approved by a show of hands of a
large majority, said "Armenia and Turkey should use the centenary of
the Armenian genocide to renew diplomatic relations, open the border
and pave the way for economic integration." European also MEPs stress
the need for Turkey to recognize "the Armenian genocide", so as to pave
way for "genuine reconciliation". They also commended the statement
by Pope Francis on 12 April honoring the centenary of the "genocide."
The resolution also invites Armenia and Turkey to "use examples of
successful reconciliation between European nations" by ratifying and
implementing, without preconditions, the protocols on the establishment
of diplomatic relations, opening the border and actively improving
their relations, with particular reference to cross-border cooperation
and economic integration.
Armenians say 1.5 million people were killed during the First World
War years in eastern Anatolia as part of a systematic genocide campaign
against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey disputes
that claim, saying both that the death toll is inflated and that the
Armenians were killed while the Ottoman Empire was trying to quell
unrest caused by Armenian attacks on the Turkish population while
they were trying to establish an Armenian state in eastern Anatolia.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute and normalize relations
between Turkey and Armenia have produced no result after protocols
signed to that effect were shelved amid disagreements over Turkish
demands that a settlement should also include a resolution on the
Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is occupied by
Armenia.
Armenians are preparing for commemorations on centennial of the
killings on April 24, the date they say marks the beginning of the
alleged genocide campaign in 1915. The annual commemoration is also
an opportunity for increased lobbying for greater recognition of the
alleged genocide worldwide.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the resolution adopted by the
European Parliament "literally repeats the anti-Turkish clichés
of the Armenian propaganda." "The European Parliament repeated
exactly a mistake it has made in the past in an incompatible way with
international law and exceeding its competence," a statement released
after the vote said.
"We do not take seriously those who adopted this resolution by
mutilating history and law. The participation of the EU citizens with
a rate of 42% in 2014 elections already implies the place that this
Parliament occupies in the political culture of the EU.
We return this text, which is an unprecedented example of incoherence
in all its aspects, verbatim to the abovementioned institution so
that the text finds its place among the documents that the European
Parliament will shy away from remembering in the future," the Foreign
Ministry said.
It added that lawmakers who backed the resolution were in partnership
with "those who have nothing to do with European values and feeding
on hatred, revenge and the culture of conflict".
Turkey's European Union Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkır said the
resolution cannot be explained with legal and historical reasons,
adding that such decisions are "null and void for Turkey and the
Turkish nation."
Turkey is a candidate country to join the 28-nation EU but accession
talks have dragged on for years with little progress.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news
conference that "whatever decision the European Parliament takes on
Armenian genocide claims, it would go in one ear and out the other".
"It is out of the question for there to a stain, a shadow called
'genocide' on Turkey," he said at Ankara airport before departing on
a visit to Kazakhstan.
Then prime minister Erdogan last year offered what his government
said were unprecedented condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians
killed in World War One.
The parliament's resolution said such statements were a step in the
right direction, but legislators urged Turkey to go further and to
recognize the events as genocide.
"We shouldn't forget that people were murdered and that these
particular events are rightly described as a genocide ... I believe
this should lead to a further recognition by Turkey that there was a
genocide under the Ottoman empire," German Christian Democrat Elmar
Brok said.
http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_ep-passes-resolution-calling-on-turkey-to-recognize-armenian-genocide_378103.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 15 2015
Members of the European Parliament take part in a voting session in
Strasbourg. (Photo: Reuters)
April 15, 2015, Wednesday/ 20:58:49/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM / ISTANBUL
European Parliament in a vote on Wednesday adopted a resolution that
refers to the killings of Armenians during the final years of the
Ottoman Empire as genocide and calls on Turkey to recognize that
'genocide."
The non-binding resolution which was approved by a show of hands of a
large majority, said "Armenia and Turkey should use the centenary of
the Armenian genocide to renew diplomatic relations, open the border
and pave the way for economic integration." European also MEPs stress
the need for Turkey to recognize "the Armenian genocide", so as to pave
way for "genuine reconciliation". They also commended the statement
by Pope Francis on 12 April honoring the centenary of the "genocide."
The resolution also invites Armenia and Turkey to "use examples of
successful reconciliation between European nations" by ratifying and
implementing, without preconditions, the protocols on the establishment
of diplomatic relations, opening the border and actively improving
their relations, with particular reference to cross-border cooperation
and economic integration.
Armenians say 1.5 million people were killed during the First World
War years in eastern Anatolia as part of a systematic genocide campaign
against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey disputes
that claim, saying both that the death toll is inflated and that the
Armenians were killed while the Ottoman Empire was trying to quell
unrest caused by Armenian attacks on the Turkish population while
they were trying to establish an Armenian state in eastern Anatolia.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute and normalize relations
between Turkey and Armenia have produced no result after protocols
signed to that effect were shelved amid disagreements over Turkish
demands that a settlement should also include a resolution on the
Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is occupied by
Armenia.
Armenians are preparing for commemorations on centennial of the
killings on April 24, the date they say marks the beginning of the
alleged genocide campaign in 1915. The annual commemoration is also
an opportunity for increased lobbying for greater recognition of the
alleged genocide worldwide.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the resolution adopted by the
European Parliament "literally repeats the anti-Turkish clichés
of the Armenian propaganda." "The European Parliament repeated
exactly a mistake it has made in the past in an incompatible way with
international law and exceeding its competence," a statement released
after the vote said.
"We do not take seriously those who adopted this resolution by
mutilating history and law. The participation of the EU citizens with
a rate of 42% in 2014 elections already implies the place that this
Parliament occupies in the political culture of the EU.
We return this text, which is an unprecedented example of incoherence
in all its aspects, verbatim to the abovementioned institution so
that the text finds its place among the documents that the European
Parliament will shy away from remembering in the future," the Foreign
Ministry said.
It added that lawmakers who backed the resolution were in partnership
with "those who have nothing to do with European values and feeding
on hatred, revenge and the culture of conflict".
Turkey's European Union Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkır said the
resolution cannot be explained with legal and historical reasons,
adding that such decisions are "null and void for Turkey and the
Turkish nation."
Turkey is a candidate country to join the 28-nation EU but accession
talks have dragged on for years with little progress.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news
conference that "whatever decision the European Parliament takes on
Armenian genocide claims, it would go in one ear and out the other".
"It is out of the question for there to a stain, a shadow called
'genocide' on Turkey," he said at Ankara airport before departing on
a visit to Kazakhstan.
Then prime minister Erdogan last year offered what his government
said were unprecedented condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians
killed in World War One.
The parliament's resolution said such statements were a step in the
right direction, but legislators urged Turkey to go further and to
recognize the events as genocide.
"We shouldn't forget that people were murdered and that these
particular events are rightly described as a genocide ... I believe
this should lead to a further recognition by Turkey that there was a
genocide under the Ottoman empire," German Christian Democrat Elmar
Brok said.
http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_ep-passes-resolution-calling-on-turkey-to-recognize-armenian-genocide_378103.html