Turkish parliament speaker urges U.S. not to declare 20th century
killings as genocide
AP Worldstream
May 26, 2005
The speaker of Turkey’s parliament, Bulent Arinc, said Thursday that
the U.S. Congress should avoid allowing political considerations
affect historical judgments _ implicitly urging lawmakers not to
recognize the World War I-era killings of Armenians as genocide.
“We find it wrong that the U.S. Congress should be forced into a
position of passing judgment on historical issues,” Arinc said in a
speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a
Washington think tank.
Armenia accuses Turkey of genocide in the killings of up to 1.5
million of its people between 1915 and 1923 as part of a campaign to
force them out of eastern Turkey. Turkey denies this.
Several countries have declared the killings a genocide and there have
been calls from Armenians worldwide for the U.S. Congress to do the
same.
Arinc said it was important to oppose “such narrow-minded attempts.”
He said Turkey is ready to establish an independent commission to
investigate the killings.
Arinc offered a generally upbeat view of U.S.-Turkey relations. “What
unites us is far more pronounced than what may divide us,” he said.