Turkish foreign minister pledges to counter Armenian genocide claims

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
5 May 05

Bishkek, 5 May: Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
Abdullah Gul said on Thursday [5 May] that Turkey was late to take
initiatives against the allegations of the so-called Armenian genocide,
and stressed that organized efforts were needed to make the reality
known by everybody.

Replying to the questions of reporters, Gul said Turkey was late to
take initiatives against the allegations in question. Gul said that
the Armenian issue was even used as a means in domestic policy in
some countries to wear out the government.

Gul said his government would deploy efforts to prevent any process
against Turkey and to make the parliaments step back from making
wrong decisions.

Stating the decision made in Belgium as an example, Gul said, “can you
imagine? They can make such accusations by taking into consideration
just misinformation and lies. We should inform them correctly. We
should struggle against them.”

Gul said that academicians and NGOs also had a crucial role in
telling the truths to the world regarding Armenian claims, noting
that “only if we can start a civilized fight against these claims,
we can correct the mistakes.”

Upon a question, Gul said that all the archives in Turkey were opened
and the views of Turkey were supported in many platforms including
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Gul said “Turkey which had assumed a passive policy till today is
now in an active position.”

Gul said that Turkey evaluated the letter of Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan in a comprehensive way and regarded it optimistically.