EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY REPORT NOT BINDING ON TURKEY: ERDOGAN
NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Aug 5 2006
Turkey’s position on the so-called Armenian genocide is clear, the
Prime Minister said.
Guncelleme: 21:36 TSÝ 05 Eylul 2006 SalýANKARA – Turkey’s Prime
Minister has dismissed elements of a report adopted by the European
Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on his country’s progress
towards meeting the criteria of European Union membership.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the European Parliament
was dreaming if it felt that Turkey would change its position on issues
such as accepting claims that the Ottoman Empire had carried out an
act of genocide against its Armenian population during World War One.
"The resolutions adopted by the European Parliament are not binding,"
Erdogan said during a press conference in the Turkish capital. "We
have not accepted anything about the so-called Armenian genocide. Our
stance on that issue is obvious."
The report, tabled Monday evening and approved by the EP’s
Foreign Affairs Committee, chided Turkey for not doing enough to
strengthen human rights, freedom of expression and religious rights of
minorities. It also had articles added to it saying that recognition
by Turkey of the so-called Armenian genocide should be a condition
of Ankara’s accession process.
–Boundary_(ID_MklfSi9TzQOSDxIgFEjfqg)–