Zaman, Turkey
March 11 2006

UK: No Armenian Genocide Took Place

By Foreign News Desk, Istanbul
Published: Saturday, March 11, 2006
zaman.com

Apparently, the British government does not regard the 1915-16
incidents during the Ottoman era as “Armenian genocide.”

In a letter sent by the British Foreign Ministry upon the initiatives
of a UK-based Turkish institution, it is stated the incidents do not
fit the category of genocide. British diplomats speaking to Zaman
also confirmed this. London refutes the claims in the Blue Book (Mavi
Kitap) that caused a crisis between Turkey and UK. The book, said to
be “the biggest support” for the so-called Armenian genocide, claimed
more than 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered during the
incidents.

The Committee for the Protection of Turkish Rights (CPTR) fighting
against the claims of Armenian genocide with the participation of
various non-governmental organizations has reached a new point in
their works. The committee has been trying to annul the unilateral
“so-called genocide” decisions of the municipalities of Gwynedd and
Edinburgh and has obtained a letter from the Foreign Ministry about
the result of a meeting it held with top level ministry officials.

According to the letter, the evidences on the incidents “are clearly
far from convincing the British government.” Therefore, “the 1915-16
incidents do not fit the definition of genocide in the UN Convention
on Genocide in 1948.” The letter also points out “it is very hard to
fully understand the incidents that took place more than 90 years ago
and developed under the circumstances of the First World War,” and
reasserts that the official view on this issue is quite “clear”.

British diplomats Zaman met in London said the 1915-16 incidents are
a massacre and tragedy, but confirmed they do not have sufficient
evidence to describe the incidents as genocide, according to the UN
Convention on Genocide in 1948.

British sources added both the present and former governments
followed the same line for the 1915-16 incidents. The fact that the
British Foreign Ministry clarified its attitude about the Armenian
incidents has been appreciated by the Turks.