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ANKARA: Armenian Lobby Makes British Deputy to Retreat

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  • ANKARA: Armenian Lobby Makes British Deputy to Retreat

    Zaman, Turkey
    July 9 2005

    Armenian Lobby Makes British Deputy to Retreat

    By Selcuk Gultasli

    European Parliament (EP) British Member Richard Howitt who supported
    Armenian allegations in a statement he made together with the
    European Armenian Federation defended his stance saying he was not
    sufficiently informed about the panel he chaired last month.

    A European Armenian Federation (AEF) statement said that Howitt
    welcomed the panel without knowing the subject of discussion. The Ari
    Movement was blamed for not informing Howitt about the purpose of the
    panel in the statement that implied he was deceived by the Ari
    Movement.

    After the June 15 forum, the American Armenian Lobby sent a
    delegation to Brussels to gather support for the AEF and also lobbied
    the EP. The Armenian lobby pressurized Howitt in particular and the
    Socialist Group that he is a member of. Howitt, who said several
    times that he wanted to be known as "Mr. Turkey in Brussels," related
    that they had discussed about another meeting with Howitt after the
    forum and negotiated some activities in September. The Ari Movement
    issued a statement of condemnation opposing the EAF statement. The
    Movement also sent a letter to Howitt and asked for an explanation
    about the inconsistency in his remarks. The letter said Howitt's
    remarks were unethical and he should give an official explanation for
    that. It was observed that the French members of EP influenced
    Howitt's statement.

    Howitt: I am not regretful

    The Ari Movement's statement which claims that Howitt was not
    properly informed about the issue is incorrect and he urged the
    cooperation should continue. The statement ended with the sentence:
    "the reactions of EAF will not affect Ari Movement's fight to have
    the 1915 events evaluated from a different perspective in Europe."

    In a telephone conversation with Zaman, Howitt stressed he did not
    regret welcoming and leading the panel and he did not imply that he
    was deceived by the Ari Movement. He further said he was one of the
    members of EP who supported Turkey's European Union (EU) bid most and
    he did not want to offend Turkey and Turkish people with his remarks.
    He said he wanted to send the same message to Armenians by signing
    the same statement with them and added that the peace between Turkey
    and Armenia will be one of the main issues of Turkey-EU relations.

    Meanwhile the Armenian Lobby, which has been busy with heavy lobbying
    in Brussels since June 15, the day the panel was organized, made a
    similar attempt at influencing the European Policy Center (EPC) but
    the Center did not issue any pro- Armenian statement.
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