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ANKARA: Sweden rejects Armenian so-called "genocide" claim

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  • ANKARA: Sweden rejects Armenian so-called "genocide" claim

    Hürriyet, Turkey
    June 14 2008


    Sweden rejects Armenian so-called "genocide" claim

    The Swedish parliament rejected Wednesday a draft law proposing
    recognition of the Armenian allegations regarding incidents of
    1915. The parliament rejected the bill while 245 votes against and 37
    for the proposal.


    Turkey welcomed the decision. "Turkish public, with its government and
    opposition, is grateful to all the political parties represented in
    the Swedish Parliament for both their support to Turkey's EU bid and
    their decision rejecting calls for recognition of Armenian
    allegations," Egemen Bagis, Turkish prime minister's advisor and an
    AKP MP, was quoted as telling reporters by the state-run Anatolian
    Agency.

    Turkey has long been facing a systematic campaign of defamation
    carried out by Armenian lobbying groups. The Armenian diaspora has
    lately increased its organized activities throughout the world for the
    recognition of their unfounded allegations in regard to the events of
    1915 as "genocide" by national and local parliaments.

    Some 300,000 Armenians and at least an equal number of Turks were
    killed in civil strife when Armenians, backed by Russia, rose up
    against the Ottomans in 1915. However Armenians claim in a systematic
    campaign of defamation some 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in
    orchestrated killings during the 1915 incidents.

    The parliaments of Argentina, Belgium, France, Netherlands,
    Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Lebanon, the Russian Federation, Slovakia,
    Uruguay, Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration, Poland, Germany,
    Lithuania, Chile, Venezuela and the European Parliament passed either
    resolutions or issued statements.

    Turkey says parliaments and other political institutions are not the
    appropriate for to debate and pass judgments on disputed periods of
    history. Past events and controversial periods of history should be
    left to the historians for their dispassionate study and evaluation.

    However Turkey's efforts to carry a deeper investigation have yet made
    a positive outcome. In 2005, Turkey has officially proposed to the
    government of Armenia the establishment of a joint commission of
    history composed of historians and other experts from both sides to
    study together the events of 1915 not only in the archives of Turkey
    and Armenia but also in the archives of all relevant third countries
    and to share their findings with the public. Unfortunately, Armenia
    has not responded positively to this initiative, yet. Turkey's
    proposal is still on the table.
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