TURKISH DEPUTIES OBJECT TO ALGERIAN GENOCIDE PROPOSAL

Turkish Press
Oct 24 2006

ANKARA – Chairman of Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission
Mehmet Dulger and Chairman of EU Adjustment Commission Yasar Yakis
objected to the submission of a draft law to the parliament’s Justice
Commission regarding Algerian genocide, to be debated tomorrow.

"In case of the adoption of a draft on Algerian genocide, we will
reduce ourselves into a position like France," said Mehmet Dulger,
a deputy of ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP). However, Dulger
noted that French products could be boycotted. "We should hurt them.

Maybe this way we can let them see the realities," he added.

Responding to a question about 70,000 Armenians working illegally
in Turkey, Dulger said "we see this fact as a generosity of Turkish
Republic. Moreover 90 percent of MPs in French parliament do not know
about Turkish-Armenian relations and its historical dimension".

Yasar Yakis, another deputy of AKP, also objected to the proposal
about Algerian genocide.

"If there had been a genocide in Algeria, Algerians themselves should
deal with it and pass a legislation. While Algerians have not made
such a law, it won’t be logic for us to make one," he noted.