The New Anatolian
Aug 8 2005
Swiss Senate: Leave Armenian question to historians
ANKARA – A Swiss House of Representative banning the rejection of the
so-called Armenian genocide damaged relations between Turkey and
Switzerland. Taking Turkish reactions into consideration, the Senate
decides to leave the subject to experts.
‘The genocide claims will never be an issue for the Swiss Senate,’
says Swiss foreign affairs committee President Briner. He says that
other countries ‘have no business pointing the finger at Turkey, 90
years after the disputed events’
The Swiss Senate will not debate or make any decision related to the
Armenian genocide, said the president of the Senate foreign affairs
committee, Peter Briner in a statement on Saturday, a move decidedly
opposite to that of the Swiss House of Representatives who recognized
the So-called genocide in 2003.
The controversial events of the early 20th century between the
dissolving Ottoman Empire and its Armenian minority “will never be an
issue for the Swiss Senate,” Briner was quoted as saying by
Swissinfo.
Briner said that other countries had no business pointing the finger
at Turkey 90 years after the disputed events.
Noting that the foreign affairs committee had decided that the death
or deportation of Armenians between 1915 and 1919 would not be the
subject of a plenary session, Briner said the committee agreed with
the government that it was not Parliament’s job to decide on the
whether the events constituted genocide.
The Armenians’ claims have been recognized as truth by the
parliaments of several countries, including Canada, France, Russia
and Italy.
Although Switzerland’s House of Representatives recognized the
so-called genocide a few years ago, the Swiss government however does
not officially speak of “genocide” but rather of “mass deportations”
and “massacres.”
Briner said that the committee believed that it was more important
for the parties involved, namely Turkey and Armenia, to reach an
agreement.
Support for PM Erdogan’s proposal
Briner, backing the earlier proposal by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, said that a mixed commission of historians should “work
through the terrible events,” just as Switzerland had reappraised its
history during the World War II.
Attempts by international scholars to determine once and for all what
really happened between 1915 and 1919 have never got much further
than agreeing on which two peoples were involved.
In June, Alev Kilic, the Turkish ambassador in Bern, told Swissinfo
that during Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey’s visit to Turkey in
March, her counterpart Abdullah Gul talked about establishing a
commission of historians from both sides and opening all files and
archives.
“Of course the proposal was also made to the Armenian government, but
we can’t establish anything without their agreement,” Kilic said. “We
have still not received a positive reply.”
Genocide decision shadow over Turkish-Swiss relations
The decision by the Swiss House of Representatives recognizing the
so-called genocide greatly damaged relations between Turkey and
Switzerland. Another of their decisions which bans the rejection of
the so-called Armenian genocide only throws fuel on the fire.
At the end of July, the Swiss ambassador in Ankara was forced to
deflect a barrage of diplomatic flak concerning the Swiss
investigation of a Turkish politician who had proffered revisionist
views about the Armenian genocide in 1915.
Last Friday Turkish authorities announced the indefinite postponement
of a visit to Turkey by Swiss Finance Minister Joseph Deiss scheduled
for September, citing agenda problems of his Turkish counterpart.
During the First Woorld War years the Armenians rioted against the
Istanbul Government in order to establish an Armenian State. The riot
caused an ethnic conflict and more than 520,000 Turks were massacred
by the Armenian armed groups while many Armenians were also killed or
died due to the clashes and war circumstances.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress