Turk PM urges probe of Armenia genocide claims

ANKARA, March 8 (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
called on Tuesday for an impartial study by historians of Armenian
claims that their people suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman
Turkish troops during and after World War One.

Turkey has always denied the genocide claims but has been irked
by growing calls, especially from within the European Union which
it aspires to join, that it recognise a genocide occurred as an
historic fact.

Some EU politicians have even suggested that Turkey should not be
allowed to start entry talks to join the bloc on Oct. 3 unless it
accepts the genocide claims.

“We have opened our archives to those people who claim there was
genocide. If they are sincere they should also open their archives,”
Erdogan told a news conference.

“Teams of historians from both sides should conduct studies in these
archives. We are ready to take steps on this issue.

“We do not want future generations to have a difficult life because
of hatred and resentment,” he added.

Armenia says 1.5 million of its people died between 1915 and 1923
on Ottoman territory in a systematic genocide and says the decision
to carry it out was taken by the political party then in power in
Istanbul, popularly known as the Young Turks.

Turkey denies any genocide, saying the Armenians were victims of
a partisan war which also claimed many Muslim Turkish lives. Turkey
accuses Armenians of carrying out massacres while siding with invading
Russian troops.

In an unusual gesture that underlined the sensitivity of the issue
in Turkey, opposition leader Deniz Baykal joined Erdogan at the news
conference to stress his party’s full backing for an independent
inquiry into the claims.

“We are facing a political campaign (against Turkey),” said Baykal,
leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Several foreign parliaments, including those of Canada, France and
Switzerland, have approved resolutions recognising an Armenian genocide
as fact, much to Turkey’s irritation.

Armenians will mark the 90th anniversary of the killings on April 24.

Turkey has no diplomatic relations with its tiny neighbour Armenia and
its border has been closed since 1993 in protest against the former
Soviet republic’s occupation of part of the territory of Ankara’s
regional ally Azerbaijan.

03/08/05 11:52 ET