Xinhua News Agency
September 28, 2006 Thursday 11:00 AM EST

Turkey expresses concerns over Netherlands’ approach on Armenian
genocide

A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday expressed concerns
over Netherlands’ approach on a "so-called Armenian genocide" in
early 20th century, Turkey’s semi-official Anatolia news agency
reported.

"We are deeply worried about the one-sided approach of our ally
Netherlands’ political parties on so-called Armenian genocide as this
puts a limit on the freedom of expression," Namik Tan was quoted as
saying.

Tan’s comment came after three Turkish-origin candidates were removed
from their party lists in the Netherlands for the Nov. 22 early
parliamentary elections because they refused to acknowledge the
Armenian genocide.

Ruling out the possibility that his country would accept allegations
on Armenian genocide as historical reality, Tan stressed that Turkey
had opened all its archives, including military ones, so that the
incidents of 1915 can be studied from a scientific perspective.

Tan also recalled that the Turkish government had proposed the
Armenian side to establish a joint history commission over the issue.

Turkey, a country seeking European Union (EU) membership, has always
refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia on the basis
that Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians died as a result of
systematic genocide during the Turkish Ottoman period between 1915
and 1923.

Some European Parliament (EP) members characterized the removal of
the three Turkish candidates as a violation of the freedom of
expression, Turkish Zaman daily newspaper reported.

On Wednesday, the EP approved a report on Turkey’s progress towards
accession to the EU, in which the lawmakers dropped their demand that
Turkey must acknowledge the Armenian genocide before it can join the
bloc and called on Turkey to speed up its reform process.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress