Ankara postpones Deiss visit to Turkey
Swissinfo, Switzerland
Aug 5 2005
The Turkish authorities have postponed a visit to Turkey next month
by Swiss Economics Minister Joseph Deiss.
They have cited agenda problems of his Turkish counterpart, although
it is widely considered in Switzerland that the real cause for the
postponement is the Armenian genocide issue.
It is the second time that Ankara has made such a delaying move. In
September 2003, Turkish authorities cancelled a visit by the Swiss
foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey. She eventually visited the
country in March.
The Swiss authorities confirmed reports in Friday~Rs edition of
the Zurich newspaper Tages Anzeiger and Geneva~Rs Le Temps that
Switzerland~Rs ambassador to Turkey had received an official note
cancelling Deiss~Rs trip.
It said that the Turkish economics minister, Kürsad Tüzmen, was
unavailable on the dates that had been pencilled in. As a result the
planned trip could not take place in September.
However the Turkish embassy in Bern said the visit had only been
postponed and denied any link to a criminal investigation into a
Turkish party leader in Switzerland.
“Mr Deiss’s visit is to be worked out through mutual contacts on both
sides in the period ahead,” Sibel Gal, press attaché at the Turkish
embassy, told swissinfo.
Snub
The snub is the latest episode in tensions between Ankara and Bern,
provoked indirectly by the commemoration two weeks ago of the 1923
Treaty of Lausanne, which defined the borders of modern Turkey.
Ankara has criticised Swiss authorities for opening an investigation
into Doðu Perinçek, head of the Turkish Workers~R Party who denied
the Armenian genocide at a news conference in canton Zurich.
Under Swiss law, any act of denying, belittling or justifying genocide
is a violation of the country~Rs anti-racism laws.
Perinçek, who appeared before the public prosecutor of Winterhur, is
also the subject of investigation for the same reason in canton Vaud.
A similar investigation in Winterthur has been opened in the case of
Turkish historian Yusuf Halaçoðlu.
The Turkish government, which has strongly condemned the Swiss action,
considers that the investigations are contrary to international law
and has demanded they be stopped.
Diplomatic spat
In a diplomatic spat, the ambassador of Switzerland in Turkey was
last week summoned to explain Switzerland~Rs position, while Turkey~Rs
envoy in Bern visited the Swiss foreign ministry a day later.
The Swiss economics ministry has expressed regret at Ankara~Rs
decision, hoping that the visit could take place at a later date.
The trip was a working visit with a delegation of Swiss business
leaders. Such trips take place about once every four years with
countries that represent an important market for Switzerland.
The ministry commented that if the real reason for the postponement
were due to the investigations it would regret that because Switzerland
practised “the separation of powers which is an essential value of
its democracy”.
The House of Representatives is the only federal institution that
has officially recognised genocide against the Armenians.
–Boundary_(ID_jNAs7v+PoMXWhEFeaiRvbA)–
From: Baghdasarian