Turkish MPs ask UK parliament to disown Armenian claims

TRT 1 television, Ankara
13 Apr 05

[News presenter] The Turkish Grand National Assembly called on the
British parliament to declare as a propaganda material “The Blue
Book”, on which the so-called Armenian claims are based.

In a letter bearing the signatures of all deputies, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and CHP [opposition Republican People’s Party]
leader Deniz Baykal revealed the historical truth with relevant
documents.

[TRT-1 offscreen reporter] [Applause in parliament] Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and CHP leader Deniz Baykal signed the letter at
the general assembly.

After noting that during World War I, two reports were ordered under
the titles “The German Savagery” and “The Turkish Savagery”, the
letter points out that in 1925 the then British foreign secretary
announced that the report entitled “The German Savagery” was baseless
war propaganda.

The letter, which includes information that refutes the claims found
in the report on the Ottoman Empire and published under the title of
“The Blue Book”, notes that to date the book has not been declared
baseless, despite a confession by its author, Arnold Toynbee, to this
effect.

The letter expressed the view that the destructive and infamous
effects of “The Blue Book” are still continuing in our present day and
playing a role in disseminating malice and hatred against Turkey
through the deception of the international media, statesmen,
intellectuals, opinion-makers, and scholars by the Armenian activists.

The six-page letter makes the following call to members of the British
House of Commons and House of Lords: We, all the members of the
Turkish Grand National Assembly, ask the British parliament and
government to publicly announce that the book called “The Treatment of
the Armenians In the Ottoman Empire” is propaganda material prepared
by the British War Propaganda Bureau during World War I and that the
information in the said book about the Ottoman Armenians’ rebellion
and the measures taken against it by the Ottoman state are baseless
and unreliable.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress