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KNESSET C'TTEE DISCUSSES ARMENIAN MASSACRE
Globes
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000709930
Dec 26 2011
Israel
The Prime Minister's Office is worried that the discussion will cause
another diplomatic crisis with Turkey.
The Knesset Education, Sports and Culture Committee is publicly
discussing the Armenian genocide by the Ottomans in 1915 during World
War I. The Prime Minister's Office is worried that the discussion
will cause another diplomatic crisis with Turkey.
Yesterday, National Security Council chairman Yaakov Amidror asked
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin to postpone the discussion to a less
sensitive date, but Rivlin said that the discussion would go ahead
as scheduled.
"We have the moral duty to remember and commemorate the tragedy that
befell the Armenian people," Rivlin said during the discussion. "We
do not want to exploit a political situation to settle accounts with
another country. It should be remembered that, since 1989, we, Haim
Oron and I, have put the issue on the agenda every year to prevent
the denial of the catastrophe that happened to another nation. We are
now calling on the nations of the world not to deny the Holocaust of
the Jewish people, and we, as Jews and human beings, have no moral
right not to do the same to another nation. We are not talking about
a political matter, but a moral matter of paramount importance."
Rivlin admitted that, for years, the government had asked for the
discussion on the Armenian genocide not to be held "due to Turkish
sensitivities". He added, however, "There are no diplomatic exigencies
for postponing this moral duty."
Rivlin later clarified, "Diplomatic considerations, however important
they may be, do not allow us to deny the catastrophe of another
nation. We are not referring to the current Turkish government or to
the current political situation, but to a historical event that should
be made known so that it will not happen again. The State of Israel
aspires to restore friendly relations with Turkey, and I do not see
why the commemoration of the Armenian catastrophe should prevent this."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news
Globes
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000709930
Dec 26 2011
Israel
The Prime Minister's Office is worried that the discussion will cause
another diplomatic crisis with Turkey.
The Knesset Education, Sports and Culture Committee is publicly
discussing the Armenian genocide by the Ottomans in 1915 during World
War I. The Prime Minister's Office is worried that the discussion
will cause another diplomatic crisis with Turkey.
Yesterday, National Security Council chairman Yaakov Amidror asked
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin to postpone the discussion to a less
sensitive date, but Rivlin said that the discussion would go ahead
as scheduled.
"We have the moral duty to remember and commemorate the tragedy that
befell the Armenian people," Rivlin said during the discussion. "We
do not want to exploit a political situation to settle accounts with
another country. It should be remembered that, since 1989, we, Haim
Oron and I, have put the issue on the agenda every year to prevent
the denial of the catastrophe that happened to another nation. We are
now calling on the nations of the world not to deny the Holocaust of
the Jewish people, and we, as Jews and human beings, have no moral
right not to do the same to another nation. We are not talking about
a political matter, but a moral matter of paramount importance."
Rivlin admitted that, for years, the government had asked for the
discussion on the Armenian genocide not to be held "due to Turkish
sensitivities". He added, however, "There are no diplomatic exigencies
for postponing this moral duty."
Rivlin later clarified, "Diplomatic considerations, however important
they may be, do not allow us to deny the catastrophe of another
nation. We are not referring to the current Turkish government or to
the current political situation, but to a historical event that should
be made known so that it will not happen again. The State of Israel
aspires to restore friendly relations with Turkey, and I do not see
why the commemoration of the Armenian catastrophe should prevent this."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news