BERKTAY: THERE ARE FORCES IN TURKEY WHICH ARE AGAINST EU MEMBERSHIP

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 11 2005

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. There are retired
generals, extreme nationalist parties and mass media in Turkey which
are against the country’s membership to the European Union. Halil
Berktay, Professor of the History Department of the Sabanci University,
who was a participant of the NATO “Rose Roth” seminar which took
place in Yerevan, stated about this during an interview to journalists.

According to the Turk Professor, such people are too glad when
European officials speak against Turkey’s membership to the EU. “They
hope that the European Union may make a great political mistake and
demand that Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide becomes a
direct precondition for negotiations,” Berktay mentioned. According
to him, this will give an opportunity to reaction forces to say that
Europe changes rulls of the game and present such demandes to Turkey
which weren’t presented to any other country placed an order with
membership to the Union. As a result, according to Halil Berktay,
Turkey will be isolated, and an opportunity will be created for a
revenge of natioanlist forces.

“I don’t know what the final diplomatic solution of the Armenian cause
will be but it’s an important index for development of democracy for
Turkey,” the Turk historian stated. According to him, the Armenian
cause in reality is a radically Turkish cause. “The main issue is that
the Turkish society examins this issue without any outer pressure or
inner censorship,” Berktay mentioned. According to him, the Armenian
cause will just disappear in conditions of a complete democracy and
freedom in discussion of the issue in Turkey.

According to Berktay, there are very powerful inner forces in Turkey
which strike for democracy for the country really change into an
open society. Those forces particularly demand a complete freedom in
studying the Armenian cause. Mentioning that many steps have already
been taken in his country on the way to democracy, Berktay expressed
a hope that this process will be irreversible.

In his speech at the NATO seminar on the theme “Security in South
Caucasus,” Halil Berktay stated that events taken place in Ottaman
Turkey in 1915 may be qualified only as a genocide. The Turk
Profeesor, which is famous for his veiwpoint on the Armenian cause
which differs from the Government’s position, was the main organizer
of the conference on the Armenian cause held in Istanbul in September.