Pan Armenian News

TURKEY’S DENIAL OF GENOCIDE MOVES IT AWAY FROM DEMOCRACY

27.05.2005 07:09

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President declaring the acknowledgement of the
Armenian Genocide as a crime against humanity fits the spirit of the
European values, Armenian Permanent Representative of the CoE Christian
Ter-Stepanian said when addressing a meeting of the Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe. In his words, Turkey denying the Armenian Genocide
shows the length of the road the country has to pass on the way of `memory
of the past’, which is so important for the democratic development of any
society. As noted by Ter-Stepanian, Turkey’s refusal to hold a scientific
conference on Armenian Genocide issues is a sad evidence of that. In
Ter-Stepanian’s words, in spite of a statement by Turkish PM R. Erdogan
during the CoE Warsaw Summit, it is unfair to consider that the 11 countries
that have acknowledged the Genocide did it under pressure. `They made this
move deliberately,’ he stated. Today Erdogan, inspired by coming discussions
over Turkey’s accession to the EU, calls to form a historical commission,
while evidence and works of a number of international scholars and experts
are sufficient for stating the Armenian Genocide is a fact. Armenia
considers that the present and the future of the Armenian-Turkish relations
are in the sphere of responsibility of the authorities of the two countries.
Today it is necessary not to limit oneself to views of the past, but to the
contrary discuss today’s issues and face the future, Armenia’s
representative to the CoE stated.