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ArmenPress
July 28 2005
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE RAISED AGAIN BY URUGUAY PARLIAMENT
MONTEVIDEO, JULY 28, ARMENPRESS: Turkish ambassador to Uruguay
asked for a behind the door meeting with members of an Uruguayan
parliamentary commission on foreign relations but refused to talk to
journalists afterwards. Uruguay was the first nation to officially
recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide back in 1960-s.
According to RFE/RL, members of the commission, spoke to
reporters, describing the meeting as 'very useful," and even
'historic." A member of the National Party was quoted as saying that
it was the first time when a Turkish ambassador came to parliament to
talk about the Armenian genocide. He said the meeting was focused on
a well-known letter of Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan to his
Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian suggesting that an
international commission of historians be established to examine the
mass slaughter of Armenians in the last years of the Ottoman Empire.
He said the Turkish ambassador asked Uruguay to support the idea,
saying also his government was ready to accept the guilt if the
commission found it proven.
An Armenian member of the parliament, Lilian Kechijian, was
quoted as saying that she could support or participate in the
would-be commission's work, but as an Armenian she could not question
the fact of the genocide. She said the parliament of Uruguay is
likely to make a statement addressed to Turkish and Armenian
parliaments.
Armenian ambassador to Uruguay Ara Aivazian, who learned about
the meeting from a local Radio Armenia expressed his concerns and
asked for a similar meeting with the commission. He also asked that
Uruguay parliament to listen to the Armenian viewpoint before coming
out with a statement. The commission was said to accept his proposal.
July 28 2005
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE RAISED AGAIN BY URUGUAY PARLIAMENT
MONTEVIDEO, JULY 28, ARMENPRESS: Turkish ambassador to Uruguay
asked for a behind the door meeting with members of an Uruguayan
parliamentary commission on foreign relations but refused to talk to
journalists afterwards. Uruguay was the first nation to officially
recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide back in 1960-s.
According to RFE/RL, members of the commission, spoke to
reporters, describing the meeting as 'very useful," and even
'historic." A member of the National Party was quoted as saying that
it was the first time when a Turkish ambassador came to parliament to
talk about the Armenian genocide. He said the meeting was focused on
a well-known letter of Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan to his
Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian suggesting that an
international commission of historians be established to examine the
mass slaughter of Armenians in the last years of the Ottoman Empire.
He said the Turkish ambassador asked Uruguay to support the idea,
saying also his government was ready to accept the guilt if the
commission found it proven.
An Armenian member of the parliament, Lilian Kechijian, was
quoted as saying that she could support or participate in the
would-be commission's work, but as an Armenian she could not question
the fact of the genocide. She said the parliament of Uruguay is
likely to make a statement addressed to Turkish and Armenian
parliaments.
Armenian ambassador to Uruguay Ara Aivazian, who learned about
the meeting from a local Radio Armenia expressed his concerns and
asked for a similar meeting with the commission. He also asked that
Uruguay parliament to listen to the Armenian viewpoint before coming
out with a statement. The commission was said to accept his proposal.