Agence France Presse via Kurdish Media
April 13 2005

Turkey proposes joint study of genocide claims to Armenia

13/04/2005 AFP
ANKARA, April 13 (AFP) – 15h28 – Turkey has formally proposed to
Armenia the creation of a joint commission to study allegations of
genocide against the Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as a first
step towards normalizing relations, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
said here Wednesday.

The proposal was outlined in a recent letter by Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Armenian President Robert Kocharian,
Gul told parliament during a special session on a damaging Armenian
campaign for the recognition of the controversial World War I
massacres as genocide.

“We informed them that if our proposal is accepted, we are ready to
negotiate with Armenia on how the commission will be established and
how it will work and that such an initiative will serve to normalize
relations between the two countries.

“I repeat this appeal once again… Turkey is ready to face its
history, Turkey has no problem with its history,” Gul said.

Ankara has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan
since the former Soviet republic gained independence in 1991 because
of Armenian efforts to secure international condemnation of the
massacres as genocide.

In 1993, Turkey shut its border with Armenia in a show of solidarity
with its close ally Azerbaijan, which was at war with Armenia over
the Nagorny-Karabakh enclave, dealing a heavy economic blow on the
impoverished nation.

Gul urged the international community to press Yerevan to accept
Turkey’s proposal for a joint study of the genocide allegations.

The Armenian massacres of World War I are one of the most
controversial episodes in Turkish history.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in orchestrated
killings nine decades ago during the final 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, backed by Russia, rose against their
Ottoman rulers.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress