Pan Armenian News
TURKEY SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
22.06.2005 06:18
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The country, which has been Europe-oriented for 80 years
and now bids for the EU should have enough courage and honesty to
acknowledge its responsibility for the cloudy pages of its history, Deutche
Welle reports. However, when the German parliament condemned the mass
killing of Armenians by Turks 90 years ago, it sparked angry protest from
Ankara. But if it wants to be taken seriously by the EU, it needs to face up
to its past. In a vote June 17, Germany’s main parliamentary parties joined
forces to deplore the systematic murder of 1.5 million Armenians between
1915 and 1916. Berlin is now urging Turkey to set up an independent
committee of Turkish, Armenian and international historians to document what
happened. The resolution looks set to test relations between Ankara and
Berlin. So far, the German government has been a key supporter of Turkish EU
aspirations. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul described the resolution
as one-sided and “provocative,” and said German lawmakers had ignored
repeated warnings of the harm the resolution would do to bilateral ties. No
one intended to offend the Turkish people and none of the deputies voting
for the resolution meant to spoil relations with Turkey. The matter concerns
recognition of historical truth and reconciliation of the two nations.
Armenia should also be interested in it. “Generations of Turks have grown up
never learning about this tragedy,” he said. “Now that it’s being discussed,
they’re realizing how little they actually know. At the moment, we’re
experiencing a time of complete confusion”, theorist Ahmet Insel says.
Presently there is a possibility of discussion. However the Turkish Justice
Minister prohibited an Armenian Genocide Conference. Armenia, on its part is
not in a hurry to step forward, since Yerevan has not given a distinct
response to Turkish Prime Minister’s Erdogan’s proposal. Though it is quite
understandable, as what’s the use of the Armenian-Turkish historical
commission if the Turkish party is certain to say, `There was no Genocide’.
Germany has been reluctant to address the issue of Turkish and Armenian
history in the past largely due to its own 2.5 million Turkish residents.
However, a member of the CSU/CSU bloc, Erwin Marschewski, said the EU value
system required that countries “shine a spotlight on the dark pages of our
history.”