Turkish Speaker writes to German counterpart slamming Armenian resolution

Anatolia news agency
22 Jun 05

Ankara, 22 June: Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc sent today a
letter to German Parliament Speaker Wolfgang Thierse to denounce the
adoption (on 16 June) of a resolution by the German parliament to
commemorate the so-called Armenian genocide.

“We feel deep sorrow over the German parliament’s decision which we
believe to have been taken for small political interests and we regard
the decision as an irresponsible initiative,” wrote Arinc in his
letter.

Arinc stressed that this one-sided decision adopted by the parliament
of a “friendly and ally” country also deeply hurt three million
Turkish citizens living in Germany who regarded Germany as their
second homeland.

Arinc underlined the fact that there were many historical mistakes in
the decision which accused Turkish nation of committing a grave crime,
adding that “we are very sorry as the parliament of a country like
Germany which has a well-established state tradition, adopted such a
decision which is full of mistakes and distorted information”.

“In the resolution it was said that Turks don’t face their
history. Turkey is always ready to face its history and there is no
shameful page in our history,” Arinc wrote in his letter.

Referring to the call of the Turkish government and opposition party
for formation of a joint committee – composed of Armenian and Turkish
historians – to investigate the 1915 incidents by studying all
archives – in Turkey, Armenia and third countries – Arinc said that
Premier Erdogan conveyed this proposal to Armenian President Kocharian
by a letter dated 10 April 2005.

Arinc stressed that the recommendation of the German parliament to
include the so-called genocide in textbooks of German schools would
cause prejudice against Turkish people in the minds of German youth.

Arinc also denounced the demand of the German parliament which asked
the German government to help in urging Turks to apologize from
Armenians. “It is impossible to explain such a demand of a parliament
or government by taking into consideration the norms and principles of
international relations. I wonder how the German people and parliament
would react if the Turkish government adopted a decision urging the
German government to do something regarding a third state,” Arinc
asked.

“The German parliament has not referred to the views and documents of
the Turkish side in its decision… [ellipses as received] It is
impossible to qualify the deportation of Armenians who uprose against
the Ottoman State during the First World War as genocide, under the
1948 UN Genocide Convention,” Arinc said.

“Parliaments don’t have the right to judge historical events, as such
decisions don’t have any binding effect in respect of international
human rights… [ellipses as received] No international organization
including the UN had accepted a decision accepting the so-called
Armenian genocide to date,” he said.

Arinc concluded his letter saying that the Turkish parliament
condemned the decision of the German parliament.