TURKISH AUTHORITIES SELECTIVE AMNESIA PREVENT ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA
Pan Armenian News
18.06.2005 04:19
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ This year Armenia marked the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. British political circles did not allow marking the
anniversary in UK, however this conference reminds that commemoration
and censuring are not merely limited to the anniversary. As reported
by the Press Service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Armenian FM
Vartan Oskanian stated it when addressing an international conference
on genocide in UK. He appreciated the commemoration event being held
in the fatherland of Arnold Toynbee and James Brice, a historian and
a diplomat, who researched documents on the treatment of Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey. “Today’s Turkish authorities wish to review
their works. Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote about it in a
letter to the British Parliament at the beginning of this year,”
Oskanian said. “Moreover, they lived most part of the past century
having reshaped their history, and now they want to remake yours,” the
Minister emphasized. It is disappointing that the contemporary Turkish
Government, held up as an example of democracy, can cynically deny its
own and the Armenian history, V. Oskanian said. “We wish to normalize
relations of our countries. However we consider Turkey’s attitude to
the matter is diametrically opposite,” Oskanian noted. “There is no
normal atmosphere in Turkey for discussing these issues. Turkey has
passed a Criminal Code, which considers any mentioning of the word
genocide as a penal act.” He also reminded that under the pressure
of Turkish authorities a scientific conference on the Armenian
Genocide was canceled. “One cannot knock at Europe’s door, closing
at that the eyes of historians and writers. Under the conditions of
absence of relations and in a situation of vacuum the commissioning
of solving complex problems to a few historians and experts is an
insincere attempt to start a dialogue. The involvement of the Turkish
State is necessary to start a dialogue,” the Armenian FM said. In his
words, Armenia and Turkey are not the only neighbors, whose relations
were undermined. This was the response of Armenian President Robert
Kocharian to the Turkish Premier. In the FM’s words, R. Kocharian
also remarked Armenia is ready to political dialogue, which may
include issues of today’s borders and the past history. “Contemporary
Turks are not guilty of the crimes of the past, of course if they do
not want to defend these,” the Minister emphasized. In his words,
Armenians and Turks, along with the rest of the world, can censure
these actions and denounce the Ottoman Empire crime. Each country
edits its past just in the way it does its expectations of the
future. “The selective amnesia of the Turkish authorities hampers
our efforts aimed at overcoming the common past,” he underscored.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress