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ANKARA: Warsaw summit a success despite Armenia reversal

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  • ANKARA: Warsaw summit a success despite Armenia reversal

    Warsaw summit a success despite Armenia reversal

    Wednesday, May 18, 2005

    DIPLOMACY

    ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

    A two-day summit of Council of Europe leaders proved to be a blow to
    hopes for a meeting between the Turkish prime minister and the Armenian
    president, as it witnessed tension between the two countries over the
    issue of the alleged Armenian genocide instead of a much-anticipated
    breakthrough.

    Erdogan rebuked Armenian President Robert Kocharian yesterday for
    raising the issue of the alleged genocide in his address to the
    Council of Europe on Monday and said Turkey would reject outsiders'
    "lobbying efforts" on the issue.

    "We do not appreciate these efforts to lobby (in favor of the Armenian
    claims), lobbying that has no basis on historical documents and facts,"
    Erdogan said.

    But despite reversal on the dialogue with Armenia, the Turkish
    delegation took pride in successfully pushing for the inclusion
    of a call for a fight against Islamophobia in the final statement
    of the summit. "We strongly condemn all forms of intolerance and
    discrimination, in particular those based on sex, race and religion,
    including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia," the leaders said in the
    final statement.

    The Turkish delegation also successfully worked against a Polish
    proposal to refer to international humanitarian laws in the section
    of the final statement dealing with international terrorism. Turkish
    representatives even said it would not sign the statement if the
    reference to international humanitarian laws was not withdrawn,
    threatening to block approval of the text.
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