RIA OREANDA
Economic News
April 21, 2005 Thursday

The Armenian 1915-23 genocide issue can reflect on the Turkey-EU
talks

Yerevan. On Sunday, Armenia will pay respects to the 1.5 million
people killed from 1915 to1923, which it considers the result of a
genocide against the Armenians conducted by the Ottoman Empire.
Armenia thinks that the Ottoman empire was exterminating Armenians
during and after World War One, and that the modern Turkey must
acknowledge the actions of the Ottoman Empire as genocide: Turkey
rejects the fact of genocide, asserting that the Armenians killed in
the war, in the course of which many Turks were also killed.

The controversy surrounding this issue has been going on for a long
time, but the fact that Ankara will start talks on joining the EU on
October 3 has put the issue into the center of the European political
arena. I have no doubt that the genocide issue will be on the agenda
of the EU talks, said the Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian.

Of course we would like for the EU to make it a condition for the
joining by Turkey for it to acknowledge the genocide, he added. Some
European politicians, in particular in France, where around 400 000
Armenian immigrants live, share this point of view.

Armenia thinks that is matter of national security to make Turkey
accept the fact of genocide. If Turkey does not accept the fact of
genocide and does not accept that it was wrong, we will not be able
to trust our neighbor, which commands a large military force,
Oksanian said. Turkey has the second-largest army in NATO, after the
United States, Reuters reports.

Ankara has not had diplomatic relations with Yerevan and in 1993
closed its border with Armenia, in protest of the occupation by
Armenia of Nagorny Karabakh territory which earlier formed part of
Azerbaijan. Russian supplied Armenia with a military contingent
numbering 5000 people for help in the patrolling of Turkish-Armenian
border. At the same time the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict increased
the tension in its relations with Turkey, which takes part in
training of Azeri troops.