IN NEW YORK PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN TOUCHED UPON TURKISH ANTI-THEORY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
20/12/2006

On December 18, in the course of "The Alliance of Civilizations"
project within the framework of the UN discussions, Turkish PM
Erdogan, who is currently in New York, harshly criticized the
so-called theory of the conflict of civilizations. He emphasized
that the theory is groundless. At the press conference he condemned
those international sources that spare no efforts to deprive Hamas
of its power, ignoring the will of the Palestine people expressed as
a result of the elections.

He said that such an approach totally contradicts with the democratic
principles and emphasized the importance of preserving the territorial
integrity of Iraq. He also reminded that in the issue of Iraq, Iran
and Syria also join the positions of Turkey. As for the Cyprus issue,
Erdogan said that the settlement may be achieved by direct initiative
of the UN.

On December 19, Erdogan met with Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, and
with his successor Spanish PM Rodriguez Zapateo, former US President
Bill Clinton, with other officials and the representatives of the
Jewish community.

According to the December 19 issue of Hurriyet, at the meeting with
Bill Clinton, Erdogan also touched upon the Turkish anti-theory to
the issue of the Armenian Genocide.

He stated that Turkey opened its archives and turned to Armenia with
the suggestion to shape a joint commission.

Besides, Erdogan said that the historians are to directly deal with
the issue of the genocide, and not the political figures. He added
that the activities of the Armenian diaspora both in USA and Europe
have only negative impact.

The newspaper didn’t inform about the respond of Clinton. It only
mentioned that at the meeting with Senator Edward Kennedy Erdogan is
sure to touch upon the issue of the Armenian genocide again.