ITAR-TASS, Russia
TASS
April 14 2005

Armenia demands recognition of 1915-17 genocide from Turkey.

ST. PETERSBURG, April 14 (Itar-Tass) – Artur Bagdasaryan, the speaker
of the Armenian National Assembly, told a news conference held on the
results of the 25th plenary session of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary
Assembly in St. Petersburg on Thursday that Turkey should recognize
the fact of genocide against ethnic Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
in 1915-1917.

Bagdasaryan commented the remarks of Turkish Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul who said on April the 13th that Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Erdogan had sent a letter to Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan with a proposal to create a bilateral expert commission to
investigate the 1915 genocide against the Armenian population in the
Ottoman Empire.

Bagdasaryan reiterated the position of the Armenian authorities aimed
at normalizing the country’s relations with Turkey and other
neighbors in the region.

The discussion of the 1915 events has been on for a long time. `I
think that all of us should condemn those crimes. Many countries have
already condemned the genocide against the Armenians,’ Bagdasaryan
stressed. `Turkey must recognize the fact of committing genocide
against the Armenians without fail, but this subject shouldn’t
prevent the development of relations between the two countries,’ he
added.

The speaker of the Armenian parliament said that his country favored
the development of normal partnership with Turkey. `We want to hold a
joint discussion on all the painful problems in our relations and
find mutually acceptable solutions,’ Bagdasaryan said in conclusion.

The 1915 genocide against ethnic Armenians in the Ottoman Empire has
been one of the main barriers to normal relations between Armenia and
Turkey, which haven’t established diplomatic relations as of yet. One
and a half million Armenians who resided in the Ottoman Empire fell
victim to the genocide in 1915-1917.

The CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly also discussed the future of the
CIS and the Common Economic Space. In this connection, Oleg Grachev,
the vice-speaker of the Ukrainian Supreme Rada Committee for Foreign
Affairs, told the same news conference in St. Petersburg on Thursday
that Ukraine was not planning to quit the CIS and the Common Economic
Space. Grachev headed the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation to the
25th plenary session of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

He explained that some political forces in Ukraine were propagating
views that Ukraine could no longer benefit from the Common Economic
Space or the CIS and that there is no use for Ukraine to continue its
presence in these organizations. However, no official statements on
this subject have been made. The head of the parliamentary delegation
is sure that the Supreme Rada wouldn’t have supported such proposals
even if they were submitted to it.

Speaking about Russian-Ukrainian relations, Vadim Gustov, the head of
the Federation Council Committee for the CIS Affairs, told reporters
that `realistically, Ukraine might be ready for a concrete discussion
with Russia by late May-early June this year.’ He said that Russian
and Ukrainian deputies would meet in May 2005 to discuss accession to
the WTO and NATO, border cooperation and other strategic issues.

Gennady Seleznyov, the ex-speaker of the Russian State Duma, told
reporters that the Ukrainian leaders hadn’t yet worked out a common
strategy of interaction with Russia. `We have been hearing different
points of view from the president, the government and the Ukrainian
parliament,’ Seleznyov said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress