DUTCH LABOR PARTY REGRETS EXCLUDING TURKS FROM LIST
By Basri Dogan, Ali Cimen, The Hague

Zaman Online, Turkey
Nov 8 2006

Wouter Bos, leader of the Dutch Labor Party, issued a statement
shortly before the early parliamentary vote on Nov. 22 in a bid to
ease the Turkish reaction against his past decision to exclude some
Turks from party lists because they had refused to acknowledge an
Armenian genocide.

Bos said he was sorry for his offhand use of ‘genocide’ as a word.

"There is too much confusion about our views. We’re solely responsible
for this. I’m so sorry for lackadaisical use of genocide as a word,"
Bos told a news conference.

Dutch Labor Party Chairman Michiel van Hulten, Nebahat Albayrak and
other Turkish members of parliament who managed to remain on the list
were also by Bos’ side when he apologized.

"So many people, both Turkish and Armenian, lost their lives in a
war in the early 20th century," said Bos in an attempt to clarify
his party’s view on the Armenian question.

The question calls for historical and legal examination, said Bos,
adding his hopes that Armenians will match Turks in their attempts
to reach a settlement over the question.

Bos admitted to his lack of knowledge in this area of history.

Bos expressed his feelings of disappointment for excluding Erdinc
Sacan from the party list as a candidate for a place at the parliament,
but he defended that Sacan was not totally excluded from politics.

Turkish-origin members of Dutch society will take a cautious approach
to such statements from Bos, as they were made prior to the upcoming
elections.