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KNESSET DISCUSSES MURDER OF MORE THAN A MILLION ARMENIANS AT THE HANDS OF THE TURKS MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS AGO; MERETZ LEADER GAL-ON ACCUSES GOV'T OF USING TRAGEDY TO ATTACK TURKEY, CALLS FOR 'MARMARA' APOLOGY.
Rivlin: Remembering Armenian genocide not attack on Turkey
By GIL HOFFMAN, JPOST.COM STAFF
06/12/2012 18:35
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin [file] Photo: Courtesy: Knesset Channel
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Tuesday that Israel has an
obligation to remember the murder of more than a million Armenians
at the hands of the Turks more than a hundred years ago, but warned
that the issue should not be turned into an attack on the Turkish
government of today. The Knesset speaker made the comments at a
Knesset discussion of the Armenian genocide.
Speaking a day before State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss was
scheduled to release a report on Israel's interception of Turkish
ships bound for the Gaza Strip which led to a diplomatic crisis
between the countries, Rivlin insisted that the discussion of the
Armenian genocide was not politically motivated.
"We have an ethical obligation to remember that a million Armenians
were killed. It is forbidden to make the issue political. Our charges
are not pointed at the Turkish regime today. We must make our voices
heard when other nations are targeted for destruction," Rivlin stated.
"Those who drafted the Final Solution for the Jews figured the world
would be silent as they were when the Armenians were murdered. The
Knesset cannot ignore this episode that is factual. We cannot forgive
nations who ignore our disaster and we cannot ignore the disasters
of others," the Knesset speaker added.
Meretz chairwoman Zehava Gal-On, who initiated the Knesset discussion,
accused the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of using
the Armenian tragedy to attack Turkey.
Gal-On stated the government should "finally recognize" the episode as
a genocide and restore relations with Turkey by agreeing to apologize
for the deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists at the hands
of IDF commandos during the May 2010 raid of the Mavi Marmara vessel,
which was part of a flotilla attempting to break the blockade of the
Gaza Strip.
"The Armenian genocide is not an opportunity for public diplomacy,"
Gal-On told the Knesset plenum, adding that "Israel is strong enough
to apologize for the killing of Turkish citizens without it harming
Israel's honor or its security. We don't need to choose between
recognizing genocide and relations with Turkey. We can have both."
The Meretz leader stated that "the Jewish people who have experienced
the worst Holocaust have an obligation to show sensitivity to the
disasters of others."
National Union MK Arieh Eldad called on Turkey to recognize its
responsibility for its "historical crime," which he said included
children being "put into cellars and gassed." Eldad quoted Adolf
Hitler as having said "who remembers what happened to the Armenians,"
when he was asked what the world would say about his Fianl Solution
against the Jews.
Kadiam MK Robert Tibayev was the only lawmaker to speak against Israel
recognizing the Armenian genocide, saying that Israel should not
interfere in the issue, but rather let historians, or an international
body decide if there was a genocide.
Balad MK Saed Nafaa, a Christian, took the opportunity to accuse
current Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being
hypocritical by complaining about the atrocities being committed by
Syrian President Bashar Assad against his people while he himself
has killed dozens of Kurds.
Rivlin: Remembering Armenian genocide not attack on Turkey
By GIL HOFFMAN, JPOST.COM STAFF
06/12/2012 18:35
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin [file] Photo: Courtesy: Knesset Channel
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Tuesday that Israel has an
obligation to remember the murder of more than a million Armenians
at the hands of the Turks more than a hundred years ago, but warned
that the issue should not be turned into an attack on the Turkish
government of today. The Knesset speaker made the comments at a
Knesset discussion of the Armenian genocide.
Speaking a day before State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss was
scheduled to release a report on Israel's interception of Turkish
ships bound for the Gaza Strip which led to a diplomatic crisis
between the countries, Rivlin insisted that the discussion of the
Armenian genocide was not politically motivated.
"We have an ethical obligation to remember that a million Armenians
were killed. It is forbidden to make the issue political. Our charges
are not pointed at the Turkish regime today. We must make our voices
heard when other nations are targeted for destruction," Rivlin stated.
"Those who drafted the Final Solution for the Jews figured the world
would be silent as they were when the Armenians were murdered. The
Knesset cannot ignore this episode that is factual. We cannot forgive
nations who ignore our disaster and we cannot ignore the disasters
of others," the Knesset speaker added.
Meretz chairwoman Zehava Gal-On, who initiated the Knesset discussion,
accused the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of using
the Armenian tragedy to attack Turkey.
Gal-On stated the government should "finally recognize" the episode as
a genocide and restore relations with Turkey by agreeing to apologize
for the deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists at the hands
of IDF commandos during the May 2010 raid of the Mavi Marmara vessel,
which was part of a flotilla attempting to break the blockade of the
Gaza Strip.
"The Armenian genocide is not an opportunity for public diplomacy,"
Gal-On told the Knesset plenum, adding that "Israel is strong enough
to apologize for the killing of Turkish citizens without it harming
Israel's honor or its security. We don't need to choose between
recognizing genocide and relations with Turkey. We can have both."
The Meretz leader stated that "the Jewish people who have experienced
the worst Holocaust have an obligation to show sensitivity to the
disasters of others."
National Union MK Arieh Eldad called on Turkey to recognize its
responsibility for its "historical crime," which he said included
children being "put into cellars and gassed." Eldad quoted Adolf
Hitler as having said "who remembers what happened to the Armenians,"
when he was asked what the world would say about his Fianl Solution
against the Jews.
Kadiam MK Robert Tibayev was the only lawmaker to speak against Israel
recognizing the Armenian genocide, saying that Israel should not
interfere in the issue, but rather let historians, or an international
body decide if there was a genocide.
Balad MK Saed Nafaa, a Christian, took the opportunity to accuse
current Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being
hypocritical by complaining about the atrocities being committed by
Syrian President Bashar Assad against his people while he himself
has killed dozens of Kurds.