TURKEY WILL RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN CASE THE COMMITTEE OF HISTORIANS DECIDES SO

ArmRadio.am
11.09.2006 14:33

Turkish Minister of Economy and Special Envoy in the negotiations with
the European Union Ali Babacan considers that the acknowledgement
of the fact of the Armenian Genocide by his will become possible in
case such conclusion is drawn by the joint Armenian-Turkish committee
of historians.

Ali Babacan made the statement in an interview to the Dutch NRC
Handelsblad newspaper titled "The Recognition of the Armenian Genocide
by Turkey not ruled out," MEDIAMAX agency reports.

In response to the question whether Turkey will accept the decision
of the committee to characterize the 1915 events as genocide, Ali
Babacan declared, " We’ll agree to any decision."

At the same time, the Economy Minister criticized the position of the
European parliament on the issue, noting that "parliamentarians are
not historians" and "the European Parliament is not the institution
that can assert what has happened in reality.

Ali Babacan declared that all Turkish archives are open for scientists,
and the suggestion to form a joint Armenian-Turkish committee of
historians remains in force.