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Turkey rejects EU pressure on killings

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  • Turkey rejects EU pressure on killings

    Turkey rejects EU pressure on killings
    Aljazeera.Net

    Thursday 29 September 2005, 0:17 Makka Time, 21:17 GMT


    Armenians every year mark mass killings by Ottoman Turks


    Turkey's prime minister has rejected a European Parliament resolution
    calling on Ankara to recognise the mass killings of Armenians during the
    first world war as genocide.
    "That resolution is not binding. It does not matter whether they took such a
    decision or not. We will continue on our way," private CNN-Turk television
    quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying during a visit to Abu
    Dhabi.

    Turkey is scheduled to open accession talks with the EU on Monday.

    The EU lawmakers said in their resolution that recognition of the 1915-1923
    killings as genocide should be a prerequisite for Turkey to join the
    European Union.

    Armenians across the world have been commemorating the anniversary of what
    they brand as genocide on 24 April each year.

    Ottoman Turks

    Armenians say that 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
    Ottoman Turks around the time of the second world war, which Armenians and
    several nations around the world recognise as the first genocide of the 20th
    century.

    Turkey denies that the killings were genocide, saying the toll is inflated
    and that Armenians were killed in civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire
    collapsed.

    Speaking to Turkish reporters in Abu Dhabi, Erdogan also reiterated his view
    that the EU has to admit Turkey or risk being branded a "Christian club".

    "The EU ... has to prove that it is not a Christian club. To say 'the EU is
    not a Christian club' will not save it from becoming a Christian club," he
    said.

    "What will the EU achieve by admitting Turkey? It will become a bridge
    between the 1.5-billion strong Muslim world and the EU. It will start an
    alliance of civilisations," he added.

    http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F8F24B6B-582C-4404-B919-1E95EE9E6343.htm
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