Turkish Speaker protests to Dutch counterpart on draft Armenian genocide bill

Anatolia news agency
25 Jul 06

Ankara: 25 July: Turkish Speaker of parliament Bulent Arinc has
sent a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives Speaker Frans
Weisglas expressing his dismay on a draft law that, if accepted,
would make any rejection of the so-called Armenian genocide a crime
in the Netherlands.

Arinc’s letter pointed out that, if the Dutch House of Representatives
vote in favour of the draft, this would put barriers in front of those
willing to conduct historical research on and/or debate historical
events.

Bulent Arinc stressed that allegations of a so-called Armenian genocide
are sensitive issues for the Turkish people and government.

"All documents we possess prove that there has not been a genocide,"
noted Arinc. "What took place was a re-location and deportation of
a portion of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 during
a time of war," remarked Arinc.

According to Arinc, the draft law will also hurt Turkish-Dutch
relations.

"Turkey’s call to Armenia to jointly study historical documents has
not received a positive response. Although the Netherlands should
support Turkey’s call to Armenia, it is acting in a way that will
have a negative impact on bilateral relations," expressed Arinc.