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ISRAELI LAWMAKERS DEBATE WHETHER TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1682760.php/Israeli-lawmakers-debate-whether-to-recognize-Armenian-genocide
Dec 26, 2011, 13:26 GMT
Jerusalem - Israeli legislators met Monday to discuss whether they
consider the World War I death of numerous Armenians by Turkish
troops to be genocide, despite concerns that the debate would lead
to a worsening of already dire ties with Ankara.
Although the majority of legislators attending the debate in the
Knesset (parliament) Education Committee called for Israel to recognize
the Armenian genocide, no vote was held at the end of the discussion.
However, the committee chairman promised to hold additional hearings
on the issue.
Ankara denies that Ottoman Turkey carried out genocide against the
Armenians in World War I. Armenia has long lobbied for recognition
that the Ottomans massacred 1.5 million people.
France's National Assembly on Thursday approved a bill making it
a crime to deny that Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of
Ottoman Turks during World War I.
The vote sparked a diplomatic crisis between France and Turkey.
Israeli Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin told Israel Army Radio that
Monday's discussion was not political, or aimed at Turkey, whose
prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is a vocal and frequent critic
of the Jewish state.
'We have a moral obligation to remember and honour the tragedy which
befell the Armenian people,' Rivlin said.
However a Foreign Ministry official who attended the meeting read
out a statement, which noted that, while Jews and Israels had 'a
special sensitivity and even an ethical obligation to recognize human
tragedies, including the massacres against the Armenian population
during World War I,' any formal recognition would 'constitute taking
sides along political lines.'
Opposition legislator Othniel Schneller was more blunt, criticizing
the parley as 'irresponsible' and saying Israel had to do everything
in its power to improve relations with Turkey.
Relations between Israel and Turkey, once close allies, have been on
a downward spiral for years, and reached their nadir in May 2010,
when Israeli commandos, intercepting a flotilla bound for the Gaza
Strip, killed nine people on board the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara.
Earlier this year Turkey downgraded its ties with Jerusalem, after
Israel refused to apologize for the flotilla incident.
The downgrade, and Israel's refusal to apologize, came after a UN
report found that Israel used 'excessive and unreasonable force' in
taking over the ships, albeit after facing 'significant, organized
and violent resistance' from passengers on board the Mavi Marmara.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1682760.php/Israeli-lawmakers-debate-whether-to-recognize-Armenian-genocide
Dec 26, 2011, 13:26 GMT
Jerusalem - Israeli legislators met Monday to discuss whether they
consider the World War I death of numerous Armenians by Turkish
troops to be genocide, despite concerns that the debate would lead
to a worsening of already dire ties with Ankara.
Although the majority of legislators attending the debate in the
Knesset (parliament) Education Committee called for Israel to recognize
the Armenian genocide, no vote was held at the end of the discussion.
However, the committee chairman promised to hold additional hearings
on the issue.
Ankara denies that Ottoman Turkey carried out genocide against the
Armenians in World War I. Armenia has long lobbied for recognition
that the Ottomans massacred 1.5 million people.
France's National Assembly on Thursday approved a bill making it
a crime to deny that Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of
Ottoman Turks during World War I.
The vote sparked a diplomatic crisis between France and Turkey.
Israeli Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin told Israel Army Radio that
Monday's discussion was not political, or aimed at Turkey, whose
prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is a vocal and frequent critic
of the Jewish state.
'We have a moral obligation to remember and honour the tragedy which
befell the Armenian people,' Rivlin said.
However a Foreign Ministry official who attended the meeting read
out a statement, which noted that, while Jews and Israels had 'a
special sensitivity and even an ethical obligation to recognize human
tragedies, including the massacres against the Armenian population
during World War I,' any formal recognition would 'constitute taking
sides along political lines.'
Opposition legislator Othniel Schneller was more blunt, criticizing
the parley as 'irresponsible' and saying Israel had to do everything
in its power to improve relations with Turkey.
Relations between Israel and Turkey, once close allies, have been on
a downward spiral for years, and reached their nadir in May 2010,
when Israeli commandos, intercepting a flotilla bound for the Gaza
Strip, killed nine people on board the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara.
Earlier this year Turkey downgraded its ties with Jerusalem, after
Israel refused to apologize for the flotilla incident.
The downgrade, and Israel's refusal to apologize, came after a UN
report found that Israel used 'excessive and unreasonable force' in
taking over the ships, albeit after facing 'significant, organized
and violent resistance' from passengers on board the Mavi Marmara.