TURKEY REJECTS EU PRESSURE ON GENOCIDE

Al-Jazeera, Qatar
Sept 29 2005

Turkey’s prime minister has rejected a European Parliament resolution
calling on Ankara to recognise the mass killings of Armenians during
the first world war as genocide.

“That resolution is not binding. It does not matter whether they
took such a decision or not. We will continue on our way,” private
CNN-Turk television quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as
saying during a visit to Abu Dhabi.

Turkey is scheduled to open accession talks with the EU on Monday.

The EU lawmakers said in their resolution that recognition of the
1915-1923 killings as genocide should be a prerequisite for Turkey
to join the European Union.

Armenians across the world have been commemorating the anniversary
of what they brand as genocide on 24 April each year.

Ottoman Turks

Armenians say that 1.5 million Armenians were killed by

Ottoman Turks around the time of the second world war, which Armenians
and several nations around the world recognise as the first genocide
of the 20th century.

Turkey denies that the killings were genocide, saying the toll is
inflated and that Armenians were killed in civil unrest as the Ottoman
Empire collapsed.

Speaking to Turkish reporters in Abu Dhabi, Erdogan also reiterated
his view that the EU has to admit Turkey or risk being branded a
“Christian club”.

“The EU … has to prove that it is not a Christian club. To say
‘the EU is not a Christian club’ will not save it from becoming a
Christian club,” he said.

“What will the EU achieve by admitting Turkey? It will become a bridge
between the 1.5-billion strong Muslim world and the EU. It will start
an alliance of civilisations,” he added.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress