EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO HOLD ARMENIA-TURKEY DISCUSSIONS

   STRASBOURG, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS: The European Parliament will hold
discussions on Aril 12 in Strasbourg, titled “The Future of the Past:
Armenians in Turkey” and “Ankara-Yerevan Relationships.” Discussions,
according to Turkish ANT, are organized by The Greens/ European Free
Alliance in the European Parliament and will be moderated by Jem
Ozdemir, a Turkish member of the European Parliament from Germany.
   According to ANT, Taner Akcam, a Turkish professor at Minnesota
University will take part in the discussions. He will present a
report called “The Ottoman archives as witness to the past: A new
understanding and re-evaluation of official Turkish history”.
   Also Etjen Mahcupian, a Turkish Armenian columnist from Zaman
daily and Hrant Dink, editor of an Armenian weekly Agos, published in
Istanbul, will partake in the discussions along with members of the
European Parliament and representatives of Armenian Diaspora
organizations.
   NTV reminded that the European parliament adopted a resolution in
1987 recognizing the Armenian genocide and by another resolution in
2004, December 15 it demanded that Turkey must recognize it.
   A press release by The Greens | European Free Alliance in the
European Parliament said the current situation of the Armenian
minority in Turkey as well as the Turkish discussion of its own
history with respect to the Armenians remains one of the largest
remaining taboos. Many in the Armenian Diaspora demand that Turkey
accepts responsibility for its crimes of 1915 as a precondition for
its EU membership. The official Turkish position, on the other hand,
has difficulty recognizing Armenian suffering.
   “By planning an event at the European Parliament, we seek to bring
a larger European dimension to the Armenian discussion and give
constructive opposing voices a fair debate forum. Any discussion
about Turkey’s future includes confrontation of the past based on
collective respect and empathy. Our goal is to contribute to this
process of understanding. More broadly, it is our goal to better the
future cohabitation of different cultures and ethnicities in Turkey,”
the press release said.

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