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EU PARLIAMENT ARMENIA RESOLUTION "MUTILATES HISTORY AND LAW" BLASTS TURKEY
Merco Press
April 16 2015
Turkey's Foreign Ministry slammed the European Parliament's decision
to adopt a resolution that urges all EU member states and Turkey to
recognize the 1915 events as 'genocide' and accused the resolution
of mutilating history and law, Daily Sabah reports.
"The European Parliament known for contriving obstacles to the
development of Turkey-EU relations aspired once again to rewrite
history regarding the 1915 events," said the statement published on
Wednesday on the ministry's official website.
The statement also said that the parliament repeated the exact mistake
it had made in the past in an incompatible way with international law
and exceeding its competence, recalling another resolution passed by
the parliament in 1987 that recognizes the 1915 events as"genocide".
"We do not take seriously those who adopted this resolution by
mutilating history and law. The participation of the EU citizens
with a rate of 42% in 2014 elections already implies the place that
this Parliament occupies in the political culture of the EU," the
statement reads.
Saying that the parliament's selective and one-sided approach on the
1915 events has the potential to harm the relations between Turkey
and EU, it will also fail to bring a solution to the issue between
Turkey and Armenia.
The ministry reiterated that Turkey has assiduously fulfilled its duty
on the 1915 events and called on Armenia to achieve such a level of
maturity as soon as possible.
During its plenary session on Wednesday the European Parliament adopted
a resolution on the centennial of the Armenian Genocide calling the
massacre a century ago of up to 1.5 million Armenians a genocide,
days after Pope Francis used the same term.
Muslim Turkey agrees Christian Armenians were killed in clashes
with Ottoman soldiers that began on April 15, 1915, when Armenians
lived in the empire ruled by Istanbul, but denies that this amounted
to genocide.
Armenia, some Western historians and foreign parliaments refer to
the mass killings as genocide.
Pope Francis sparked a diplomatic row last Sunday by calling the
killings "the first genocide of the 20th century." His remarks
prompted Turkey to summon the Vatican's ambassador to the Holy See
and to recall its own. The European Parliament sprang to the Pope's
defense, commending the message the pontiff delivered at the weekend.
In the statement MEPs invite Armenia and Turkey to "use examples of
successful reconciliation between European nations" by ratifying and
implementing, without preconditions, the protocols on the establishment
of diplomatic relations, opening the border and actively improving
their relations, with particular reference to cross-border cooperation
and economic integration.
MEPs also commend the statement by Pope Francis of 12 April "honoring
the centenary of the Armenian genocide in a spirit of peace and
reconciliation".
They welcome statements by the President and Prime Minister of
Turkey offering condolences and recognizing atrocities against the
Ottoman Armenians and encourage Turkey to "use the commemoration of
the centenary of the Armenian genocide as an important opportunity"
to open its archives, "come to terms with its past", recognize the
genocide and so pave the way for a "genuine reconciliation between
the Turkish and Armenian peoples".
They also ask Turkey to conduct "in good faith" an inventory of the
Armenian cultural heritage destroyed or ruined during the past century
within its jurisdiction.
MEPs pay tribute to the memory of the one-and-a-half million Armenian
victims who "perished in the Ottoman Empire" a hundred years ago.
Finally, they propose that an "International Remembrance Day for
Genocides", be established to "recall again the right of all peoples
and all nations throughout the world to peace and dignity".
http://en.mercopress.com/2015/04/16/eu-parliament-armenia-resolution-mutilates-history-and-law-blasts-turkey
Merco Press
April 16 2015
Turkey's Foreign Ministry slammed the European Parliament's decision
to adopt a resolution that urges all EU member states and Turkey to
recognize the 1915 events as 'genocide' and accused the resolution
of mutilating history and law, Daily Sabah reports.
"The European Parliament known for contriving obstacles to the
development of Turkey-EU relations aspired once again to rewrite
history regarding the 1915 events," said the statement published on
Wednesday on the ministry's official website.
The statement also said that the parliament repeated the exact mistake
it had made in the past in an incompatible way with international law
and exceeding its competence, recalling another resolution passed by
the parliament in 1987 that recognizes the 1915 events as"genocide".
"We do not take seriously those who adopted this resolution by
mutilating history and law. The participation of the EU citizens
with a rate of 42% in 2014 elections already implies the place that
this Parliament occupies in the political culture of the EU," the
statement reads.
Saying that the parliament's selective and one-sided approach on the
1915 events has the potential to harm the relations between Turkey
and EU, it will also fail to bring a solution to the issue between
Turkey and Armenia.
The ministry reiterated that Turkey has assiduously fulfilled its duty
on the 1915 events and called on Armenia to achieve such a level of
maturity as soon as possible.
During its plenary session on Wednesday the European Parliament adopted
a resolution on the centennial of the Armenian Genocide calling the
massacre a century ago of up to 1.5 million Armenians a genocide,
days after Pope Francis used the same term.
Muslim Turkey agrees Christian Armenians were killed in clashes
with Ottoman soldiers that began on April 15, 1915, when Armenians
lived in the empire ruled by Istanbul, but denies that this amounted
to genocide.
Armenia, some Western historians and foreign parliaments refer to
the mass killings as genocide.
Pope Francis sparked a diplomatic row last Sunday by calling the
killings "the first genocide of the 20th century." His remarks
prompted Turkey to summon the Vatican's ambassador to the Holy See
and to recall its own. The European Parliament sprang to the Pope's
defense, commending the message the pontiff delivered at the weekend.
In the statement MEPs invite Armenia and Turkey to "use examples of
successful reconciliation between European nations" by ratifying and
implementing, without preconditions, the protocols on the establishment
of diplomatic relations, opening the border and actively improving
their relations, with particular reference to cross-border cooperation
and economic integration.
MEPs also commend the statement by Pope Francis of 12 April "honoring
the centenary of the Armenian genocide in a spirit of peace and
reconciliation".
They welcome statements by the President and Prime Minister of
Turkey offering condolences and recognizing atrocities against the
Ottoman Armenians and encourage Turkey to "use the commemoration of
the centenary of the Armenian genocide as an important opportunity"
to open its archives, "come to terms with its past", recognize the
genocide and so pave the way for a "genuine reconciliation between
the Turkish and Armenian peoples".
They also ask Turkey to conduct "in good faith" an inventory of the
Armenian cultural heritage destroyed or ruined during the past century
within its jurisdiction.
MEPs pay tribute to the memory of the one-and-a-half million Armenian
victims who "perished in the Ottoman Empire" a hundred years ago.
Finally, they propose that an "International Remembrance Day for
Genocides", be established to "recall again the right of all peoples
and all nations throughout the world to peace and dignity".
http://en.mercopress.com/2015/04/16/eu-parliament-armenia-resolution-mutilates-history-and-law-blasts-turkey