Turkey rejects EU pressure on killings
Aljazeera.Net

Thursday 29 September 2005, 0:17 Makka Time, 21:17 GMT

Armenians every year mark mass killings by Ottoman Turks

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.