TURKS STEP UP EFFORTS AGAINST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CLAIMS

New Anatolian, Turkey
March 14 2006

The Turkish diaspora is stepping up efforts to rescind recognition of
Armenian genocide claims and to win support against its proponents
ahead of April 24, the date Armenians say is the anniversary of the
so-called genocide.

While Turkish associations in France joined forces under an umbrella
committee to overturn the 2001 French law recognizing the Armenian
genocide claims, the Workers’ Party (IP) gathered over the weekend
in Istanbul to outline plans for the Talat Pasha Movement, which
will include a mass rally in Berlin on Saturday to denounce the
Armenian claims.

The Turkish groups’ decision to put forward a unified response to
French recognition of Armenian genocide claims came during a meeting on
Sunday with the participation of representatives from 10 associations
under the leadership of the Anatolian Culture Center and the Kemalist
Thought Association.

Besides starting an initiative to bring about the repeal of a the
French law that recognizes the Armenian genocide, the umbrella
committee decided to launch an initiative to give concrete answers
“based on historic realities to foreign claims that aim at damaging
Turkish independence.” They also decided to conduct programs to
inform and inspire Turkish society against Armenian claims and to
inform French society about the realities of the issue.

Representatives of Turkish associations in France stressed at the
meeting that they are not against the existence of Armenians but aim
at making the historic realities supported by documents an issue of
discussion for French citizens.

Turkish associations also stated they will give priority to the
publishing of a book in French. They also announced that they will
gather again next month to view strategies and activities that will
be followed during the campaigns.

At a press conference last week, the groups organizing the committee
meeting demanded that the French Parliament’s recognition of the
alleged genocide in 2001 be reversed, saying that judging history
was up to historians not lawmakers, making reference to an earlier
statement by French President Jacques Chirac.

As part of the activities to overturn Armenian claims, the organizers
of the Talat Pasha Movement met over the weekend in Istanbul to
finalize preparations to launch the movement in Berlin beginning
on Saturday.

A mass demonstration aimed at denouncing Armenian genocide claims, to
be held in Berlin under the slogan “Take your flag and come to Berlin,”
has caused tension between Turkey and Germany. Flyers announcing the
movement read, “If Western capitals don’t want to be burned like Paris,
unjust treatment towards Turkey must end.”

IP leader Dogu Perincek and former Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC) President Rauf Denktas will lead the planned demonstration
with the participation of many representatives from Turkish political
parties and European non-governmental organizations (NGOs) within the
framework of the Talat Pasha Movement. The main aim of the group is to
put pressure on the German Parliament to remove official recognition
of the Armenian genocide claims. The movement also aims to attract
some 5 million supporters, including some 1,000 from Turkey.

Denktas is expected to lay flowers at the place in Berlin where
Talat Pasha was assassinated on March 15, 1921 by an Armenian, and
an assembly will gather in a memorial for Talat Pasha on Sunday.

In an effort to hamper these efforts, the German Embassy in Ankara
turned down yesterday visa applications for some who might be intending
to participate in the demonstration.

The same group last year also held a demonstration to mark the
82nd anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne. At that demonstration
Perincek lashed out at a decision by Switzerland to punish those who
deny the Armenian genocide claims, saying, “The Armenian genocide is
an international lie,” after which the prosecutor from Winterthur
opened an investigation into Perincek and the incident turned into
a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Switzerland.

Czech president: Who will benefit from Turkish recognition of Armenian
‘genocide’?

Czech President Vaclav Klaus stressed on Sunday that stirring up and
bring the past events back to the agenda of the international community
is useless, saying, “Who will benefit from Turkish recognition of
the Armenian ‘genocide’?”

Speaking to German daily Der Spiegel, Klaus questioned the necessity of
facing the past, saying, “The past is the past. Nowadays the European
Parliament is urging Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide
claims. Who will benefit from this recognition? Russian President
Vladimir Putin apologized for the suppression of the Prague spring
reform process by harsh methods in 1968, saying that his country takes
moral responsibility for the events of 1968. This was a gesture for the
Czech Republic but I don’t think that we have to discuss with Putin
the things a former Soviet leader did to us. In other words Putin is
not the inheritor of Leonid Brezhnev and I am not the inheritor of
the communist regime that took power in 1948 in my country.”