Journal of Turkish Weekly
April 11 2005

Turkish Parliament to Debate Armenian Claims

The claims of a so-called Armenians genocide will be debated by the
Parliament on Wednesday, declared Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul this weekend.

Gul also dropped some hints of a new `Turkish road mad’ to cope with
the worldwide campaign of the Armenians against Turkey, but did not
provide any details.

Admitting that Turkey’s efforts against that Armenian campaign were
late in coming, Gul said that he would have more to say about the
`new road map’ in his speech Wednesday to Parliament.

`Turkey could have been more active in the past in coping with this
campaign,’ he told reporters on his plane on Saturday en route to
Algeria. `We should make some extraordinary efforts to deal with it.
The Foreign Ministry is working on that.’

Asked about the possibility of establishing a commission within the
United Nations to deal with the Armenian problem, Gul underlined the
political character of the UN. `The UN is a political institution,
not a judicial one,’ he said. `In the UN, people raise their hands to
vote in accordance with their political aims.’

Speaking on Turkish-Greek relations after the surprise declaration of
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc last week suggesting an end to
Turkey’s `Casus Belli’ threat on the Aegean problems, Foreign
Minister Gul said that both Ankara and Athens are continuing their
efforts to consolidate peace.

`Both Turkey and Greece are countries that apply their will to
solving problems through peaceful means,’ he said.

Arinc’s surprise statement had drawn a declaration by Gul last week
that Turkey’s policy on the Aegean problems had not changed.

Meetings with Algerian officials

Foreign Minister Gul met with Algerian officials during his two-day
visit to this country, including Housing Minister Muhammed Nadir
Hamimid, Energy Minister Shekib Halil and Culture Minister Halide
Tumi. He was also received by Algerian Senate Speaker Abdulkadir
Bensalah.

Asked by journalists about Turkish-Algerian relations, Gul said that
Turkey could influence Algeria in some areas. Underlining that the
Algerian officials had praised Ankara’s reforms on democratization
and human rights, Gul explained, `Arab intellectuals and politicians
are watching very closely the progress within Turkey and praising
it.’ He added that Turkey and Algeria could benefit mutually from
each others’ experiences.

Source: The New Anatolian, 11 April 2005

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress