Today, Azerbaijan
March 10 2007

Erdogan challenges Armenian diaspora at joint forum in Baku

10 March 2007 [10:40] – Today.Az

Truth cannot be built on lies, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said Friday in Baku, as he called on the Armenian diaspora to
prove their allegations of genocide by the Ottoman Empire with
documents.

Erdogan’s remarks came as he was delivering a keynote speech at the
First Forum of the World Azerbaijani and Turkish Diasporas
Organizations, in order to counter the intensifying attacks from the
Armenian diaspora, which has been striving for international
recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide. The congress also
intended to prompt Turks and Azeris abroad to take action.

Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat also participated in the
forum, which was hosted by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev — a
clear sign of Baku’s support for easing international isolation of
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC).

In his speech, Erdogan called the Nagorno Karabakh dispute "a
bleeding wound for the Turkish people," and referred to a December
2006 referendum in the region by Armenia. Ankara has already
announced that it will not recognize the outcome of the referendum
backing independence in the Nagorno Karabakh region, saying the
referendum was held while "ignoring international law."

"Did the world recognize [the outcome of the referendum]?" asked
Erdogan.

"It didn’t, because what was exercised there was fake, wrong, a lie
and fabricated. Sooner or later, justice will prevail. We believe
this," Erdogan said.

The border gate between Turkey and Armenia has been closed for more
than a decade. Turkey shut the gate and severed diplomatic relations
with Armenia after Armenian troops occupied the Azeri territory of
Nagorno Karabakh.

"This is a common characteristic of Armenia, — unfortunately — a
large portion of Armenians and the diaspora. Now there are Armenian
genocide campaigns all around the world … alleged Armenian genocide
… nobody will fall for this trick. Turkey and the Turks will never
fall for this trick," Erdogan said.

Turkey vehemently denies that Armenian allegations of a genocide
under its predecessor the Ottoman Empire. Facing a mounting Armenian
campaign to get international recognition for the alleged genocide,
Turkey called for a joint committee of Turkish and Armenian experts
in 2005 to study the allegations.

At the time, Erdogan sent a letter to Armenian President Robert
Kocharian proposing the establishment of such a committee.
Nevertheless, Yerevan hasn’t given a positive answer to Ankara’s
proposal up to date, instead arguing that such a committee should be
inter-governmental.

Armenian fear of facing Hojaly

In Baku, Erdogan brought to mind his call to Yerevan and reiterated
that conducting historical research was not an issue for politicians.
"Let historians, political scientists, archeologists, lawyers and
historians of art study this issue. If it is eventually understood
that there is a grievance, then we will do what we’re supposed to
do," he said.

"There is still no answer, because then they will have to face the
Hojaly massacre," he added.

The city of Hojaly in Nagorno Karabakh, which is still under Armenian
occupation, was seized by Armenian armed forces and Russian troops
based in the region on Feb. 25, 1992. About 2,500 civilians, the
majority of whom were women, children and the elderly, were bombarded
before military forces seized the city. People in the city, which was
largely burnt down, had fled for Agdam, the only open direction
allowed by the occupying powers, but after a short while it was
reported that this way was blocked, too, and those who had started to
flee were ambushed.

A total of 613 Azerbaijanis, including 106 women and 63 children,
were massacred by Armenian and Russian forces, in addition to earlier
attacks in Hojaly. Armenian forces occupying the city captured 1,275
people and 150 were reported missing.

Meanwhile, Erdogan thanked Aliyev for inviting Talat to a meeting,
saying this "meant a lot" for Turkey. State ministers Besir Atalay
and Mehmet Aydin accompanied Erdosan at the Baku meeting, which was
also attended by representatives from Australia, Iraq, the KKTC and
the US as well as from European and Central Asian countries. Today’s
Zaman

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