Armenian Allegations And Azerbaijan Reality Symposium

Turkish Press
May 7 2005

ANKARA (AA) – The final statement on the “First International Symposium
on Armenian Allegations and Azerbaijan Reality,” organized at the
Capital Teachers’ Home, has been announced today. The statement
said, after encouragement by British historian Andrew Mango, that
“Armenians want to cover up their occupation of Azerbaijan and the
massacre they are doing by spreading their lies and implementing an
anti-Turkish campaign.”

Eurasia Strategic Researches Center (ASAM) Armenian Researches
Institute Chairman retired ambassador Omer Engin Lutem has evaluated
a possible decision to open the Turkey-Armenia border crossing.

Lutem indicated that Armenia currently does not need the Kars border
crossing open. “Armenia does trade with Russia and meets its energy
requirements with the help of the Russians,” told Lutem.

Lutem remarked that Armenia brings up the issue of border crossing in
order to leave Turkey in a difficult position vis-a-vis EU and ruin
Turkey’s ties with Azerbaijan. “There is immense pressure on Turkey,
put by the U.S. and EU, since the beginning of the twenty-first
century for the opening of the border crossing,” commented Lutem.

The final statement read:

“Turkey was the side defending itself. Russia, Britain and France
used the Armenians as puppets and armed the Armenians to reach their
goals. The three countries motivated Armenians to uprise and attack the
Ottoman Turkish army. The Ottoman government reacted by re-locating
a certain portion of the Armenian population to provinces in the
south of the empire. What took place was re-location but definitely
not a genocide. Many Muslim Turks were killed by Armenians at the
time. Some Armenians died due to poverty, famine and hunger. In the
past two centuries, thousands of Azeri Turks have been butchered
by Armenians. Armenia must immediately withdraw its troops from the
occupied Azeri territory.”