Turkish MP says US president’s speech on Armenians meant to please lobbyists

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
April 27 2007

Ankara, 27 April: "We would have hoped that the Armenians remember
24 April as a date to reflect on their ancestors’ armed revolts and
the ugly strategic errors they made, rather than remember it with
pre-conceived notions and fanatical allegations," said Egemen Bagis,
Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy from Istanbul and chairman
of the Turkish-US Interparliamentary Friendship Group, on Friday
[27 April].

Referring to US President George Bush’s statements made on 24 April
2007, Bagis told that Bush’s speech was written to appeal to voters.

"Bush’s speech was written to please lobbies and pressure groups."

Fortunately, Bush did not use the term "genocide" in his speech that
could have been a major mistake, noted Bagis.

Bush talked about "survivors who fled their homelands as a result of
force being applied on them", stated Bagis.

"We believe that the USA would not start discussions on whose homeland
Anatolia is. If a discussion on the homelands starts, then the Turks
living in Anatolia would have the right to have a say on their place
of origin. It is our sincere hope that the borders in the region will
remain as borders of peace and friendship," underlined Bagis.