ARMENIAN DOCUMENTS ALSO DENY GENOCIDE CLAIMS
By Fatih Atik

Zaman, Turkey
Nov 19 2006

Armenians themselves have disagreed with genocide claims currently
made by the international Armenian Diaspora.

Grateful letters written to Ottoman sultans by Armenians living
in Anatolia in those times will be important trump cards in favor
of Turkey.

A letter of thanks sent to the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamit II by
Armenians has drawn attraction. This letter refutes genocide claims
and has been displayed in an exhibition since Nov. 14 in the Turkish
Parliament.

The works in the exhibition drew attention to the freedoms Ottoman
sultans provided for different religious groups.

The letter, written on behalf of the Armenian community sent to
Abdulhamit II, stated that Ottoman sultans respected Armenians as
well as other groups, adding they would never stop working for the
Ottoman Empire despite some insurgents and their lies.

Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Bulent Arinc felt that the exhibition
proved Ottoman tolerance with concrete examples and was crucial
material for the Alliance of Civilizations project.

Dossiers to be Forwarded Abroad

The Turkish parliament commission in charge of European Union
adaptation is determined to forward the dossiers in the exhibition
to EU politicians.

Meanwhile, at the request of the EU Adaptation Commission, the
Turkish State Archives head office has gathered a collection of
peace agreements that the Ottoman Empire made with Western countries,
as well as edicts announced for non-Muslims.