Cihan News
July 14 2004

Turkish Committee Members Meet With Welsh Party Leader To Discuss
‘so-called Armenian Genocide’ Resolution

LONDON (CÝHAN) – Representatives of the Committee for the Protection
of Turkish Rights met with Plaid Cymru Party Deputy and leader of the
Welsh House of Commons, Elfyn Llwyd in response to a local council
resolution which officially recognized an Armenian Genocide.

Representatives of The Committee for the Protection of Turkish Rights
including Haluk Savas, Günay Aydin and N.Fatih Sener visited House
deputies.

The committee first met with Plaid Cymru Party Deputy and leader of
the House of Commons, Elfyn Llwyd who stated that the attempts of the
district council of Gweynedd would injure the amity between Turkey
and Wales.

Dafydd Iwan the Chairman of a parliamentary group of Plaid Cymru had
presented a bill to the Welsh Gwynedd District Council, and the bill
was passed on March 4, 2004. The bill demands the recognition of an
Armenian genocide.

The bill claims that more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed in
Eastern Anatolia during World War I by the Ottoman Empire. The bill
also includes the statements, “If the Turkish government does not
officially recognize the Armenian Genocide, Turkey’s European Union
membership should not be supported by the English Parliament nor by
the regional Welsh Parliament.” The bill also called on other Welsh
district parliaments to recognize so-called genocide.

Llwyd claims he wasn’t informed of the proposal which was supported
by local representatives of his party at the city council of
Gweynedd. He declared that he understood Turkey’s concerns and added
that he would propose to officially include Turkey’s views against
“The Armenian Genocide Proposal”.

A similar motion which would recognize an Armenian genocide was
recently presented to the English House of Commons by Labour Party
member Jeremy Corbyn.