UN EXHIBIT DELAYED UPON OBJECTION FROM TURKEY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 11 2007

A UN exhibit on the 13th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide has been
delayed after Turkey’s objections to a reference to the killings of
Anatolian Armenians during World War I as genocide.

A UN exhibit on the 13th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide has been
delayed after Turkey’s objections to a reference to the killings of
Anatolian Armenians during World War I as genocide, organizers said on
Monday, while Ambassador Baki Ýlkin, Turkey’s permanent representative
to the UN, made it clear that Turkey’s objection was also supported
by other UN countries, thus delaying the opening of the exhibit.

The exhibit, organized in part by the British-based Aegis Trust, was
scheduled to be opened on Monday by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

But Turkey objected to a sentence in the text that said, "How the
Armenian killings contributed to the creation of the term ‘genocide’,"
according to James Smith, chief executive of Aegis, whose mission is
to prevent genocide.

It said: "Following World War I, during which 1 million Armenians were
murdered in Turkey, Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin urged the League of
Nations to recognize crimes of barbarity as international crimes,"
Smith said.

"It is wrong to draw a parallel between the genocide in Rwanda and
the Armenian allegations," Ambassador Ýlkin said, as he emphasized
that other countries had also objected to the exhibit, not only
Turkey. Organizers said they were informed of the delay by the UN
Department of Public Information, which had initially approved the
exhibit in the visitors’ lobby. The secretary-general’s office
then consented to the postponement. UN officials confirmed that
objections by Turkey and other countries, which they did not name,
were responsible for the delay. One staff member said an official in
the Department of Public Information had not sent the text to other
divisions for fact-checking.

Turkey notified the UN secretariat of its objection last week, Ýlkin
explained. The ambassador stressed that there has been no hesitation
in describing what happened in Rwanda as genocide: "The UN secretariat
called us [on Monday] and said they have come to the conclusion that
the exhibition should be reviewed not only due to Turkey’s concerns,
but also in general terms and that the exhibition has been delayed
until this review is finished."

UN Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq also said that the exhibit has been
postponed until the regular review process is completed.

Turkey strongly denies claims by Armenia and its supporters that the
Ottoman Empire committed a systematic genocide against Armenians during
World War I. Ankara claims figures of deaths in the low millions are
greatly exaggerated.

–Boundary_(ID_Zstbmy+Oj5MRqn/zeEzGL A)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress