Turkish PM Erdogan rebukes Germans over Armenian decision

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Jule 18 2005

ANKARA – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday
criticized the German Parliament’s decision this week urging Ankara
to examine its role in the so-called Armenian ‘genocide’.

Accusing the German Parliament of “sacrificing” this serious issue to
“simple lobbyists,” without making any meaningful investigation of it,
Erdogan called the decision “politically wrong and ugly.”

The German Parliament on Thursday urged Turkey to examine its role in
the so-called Armenian genocide, an issue that could thwart Ankara’s
hopes of joining the European Union. German lawmakers adopted a
cross-party resolution asking the Berlin government to press Turkey
to reexamine the so-called Armenian genocide.

“The word ‘genocide’ was not used in their decision,” Erdogan said,
speaking to reporters about the German Parliament’s decision on his
arrival to Turkey from Lebanon late Thursday. “They chose to use the
word massacre. But still, I think that it’s politically wrong and
ugly to make this decision without investigating or negotiating on
it. We opened our archives, but they showed no interest.”

Erdogan said that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s “attitude is
opposite to this decision.” He continued, “We expected the chancellor
to move on this and try to persuade some deputies to voice their
reservations about the decision.”

During the Armenian Riot, more than 520,000 Turks were masscred by
the Armenian armed groups. The Armenian Tashnaks aimed to establish
a separate state while the Ottoman Empire was struggling the Russians
during the First World War.