Agence France Presse — English
March 29, 2005 Tuesday 8:48 PM GMT
Switzerland urges Turkey to ‘face the past’ on Armenian question
ANKARA March 29
Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey on Tuesday urged Turkey to
carry out a detailed study of claims that millions of Armenians were
the victims of genocide under Ottoman rule during World War I.
“We think that it is essential that every country conduct an in-depth
historical research of its own past, especially when the question is
so painful,” Calmy-Rey told reporters after talks with her Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul.
The Swiss minister was speaking on the first day of an official visit
which was originally supposed to take place in 2003 but was cancelled
after the Swiss canton of Vaud qualified as genocide the 1915
massacres of Armenians.
Shortly afterwards, the lower house of the Swiss parliament also
followed suit — against the Bern government’s advice — and adopted
a similar resolution, unleashing an angry response from Ankara.
The allegations of genocide “are unacceptable claims by the (Armenian
diaspora) to continue its existence. Unfortunately, the diaspora
sometimes poisons our ties with other countries for its own benefit,”
Gul said.
“Other countries must not allow this,” he added.
Turkey categorically denies the Armenian allegations, but has
recently faced increasing calls for it to accept the killings of
Armenians as genocide.
In a counter-move, Turkey recently called for an unbiased study by
historians, urging Armenia to also open up its own archives.
Calmy-Rey hailed the offer as a “good idea” and said she had proposed
to Gul the inclusion of international experts in such a commission
for the credibility of the work.
The massacres of Armenians during World War I is one of the most
controversial episodes in Turkish history.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen were massacred in
orchestrated killings nine decades ago during the last years of the
Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of modern Turkey.
Turkey, on the other hand, argues that 300,000 Armenians and
thousands of Turks were killed in what was civil strife during World
War I when the Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers.
The Swiss minister said that she had come to Turkey in a bid to
deepen existing ties and that she would discuss prospects of
increased cooperation, especially in the economic field, during her
visit.
Calmy-Rey was scheduled to visit Turkey’s commercial capital Istanbul
and the medieval-walled city of Diyarbakir in the mainly Kurdish
southeast before leaving on Wednesday.