Press Conference
Assembly of Armenians of Europe
Contact : Arminé Grigoryan
Tel : +32 2 647 08 01
Fax : +32 2 647 02 00
E-mail : <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
Turkey’s accession to the EU – Blind spot for the European Union
Non-Muslim minorities in Turkey as targets of a recent hate campaign
TOMORROW – Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 14:00
Residence Palace – International Press Center
Rue de la Loi 155, 1040, Brussels, Salle « Passage ».
Embargo until 14:00, 22 September 2004
Brussels, September 21, 2004
Will the European Commission, in its report of October 6, 2004, consider
Turkey as « ready » for the EU accession? Will the European Council
start the negotiations for Turkey’s accession to the EU at the end of
this year?
In recent years, Turkey has made certain legal and administrative
progress. Nevertheless, at the same time, it has significantly hardened
its position towards fundamental rights, such as the freedom of opinion
and has adopted a repressive policy towards the minorities living in
Turkey. In particular, traditional prejudice towards Non-Muslim
minorities is kept alive by the public education system and the state
controlled media. Such an attitude, however, is incompatible with the
Copenhagen criteria required for accession negotiations of a new member
State.
In this regard, a Memorandum, initiated by the Working Group Recognition
– Against Genocide, for International Understanding (Berlin) and the
Switzerland-Armenia Association (Bern), was submitted to the attention
of the European Council, Council of the European Union, members of the
European Commission and European Parliament. Recalling the Copenhagen
Criteria, the Memorandum explains the concern of the signatories for a
lasting improvement of the minority situation in Turkey. The dozens of
national and international NGOs which signed this Memorandum protest
against the hate campaign of Turkey’s minister for education, Dr.
Hüseyin Çelik, which includes the official denial of the genocide,
committed on the Christian population of the Ottoman Empire and
resulting in 3.5 million victims (1912-1922). For this reason, the
signatories want to draw the EU’s attention to the necessity of
safeguards and profound reforms in the education system and in media
control, for public education and mass media are the main `opinion
leaders’ and directly responsible for an extremely negative perception
of these minorities in Turkey and for subsequent attacks on institutions
(churches, synagogues, schools and representatives of Non-Muslim
communities), which did not even cease during Turkey’s reform process of
late.
The Assembly of Armenians of Europe, together with the initiators of the
Memorandum are inviting you to the Press Conference for the presentation
of the above mentioned document.
Speakers to the Press Conference (by alphabetical order):
* Mister Baastian Belder, Independence/Democracy Group, Member
of the European Parliament, Netherlands
* Mister Michalis Charalambidis, writer, member of the Central
Committee of the International League for the Rights and Liberation of
Peoples, expert on the genocide of Greeks in Pontos, Athens;
* Baroness Caroline Cox of Queensbury, Deputy Speaker of the
House of Lords, United Kingdom, Chairperson of the Christian Solidarity
Worldwide, London;
* Ms. Hülya Engin, Committee member of TÜDAY, organization for
the defence of human rights in Turkey and Germany, Cologne;
* Dr. Tessa Hofmann, scholar of Armenian studies and sociology;
scientific documentarist at the Free University of Berlin; writer, human
rights activist; chairperson of the Working Group Recognition – Against
Genocide, for International Understanding;
* Monsieur Johny Messo, chairman of the Foundation Study Centre
Aramea, main representative of the Syriac Universal Alliance (SUA) to
the United Nations Office in Geneva;
* Prof. Dr. Yves Ternon, doctor, historian and writer,
researcher and expert in genocide studies, in particular the genocide of
Armenians and its denial, Paris.
Mr. Nicolas Tavitian, expert in international political relations,
Brussels, will assume the role of the moderator.
Simultaneous translating from English and French is offered.
A welcome coffee is offered at 13 :30 at the entrance to the salle
“Passage”, Résidence Palace.
Arminé Grigoryan
Assembly of Armenians of Europe
In charge of the European Union Contact and Information Office
Brussels
All the documentation regarding the Memorandum will be available in the
following web sites from 14:00,
22 September 2004 (in English and French; some documents are also
available in German):
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress