ISRAEL DOES NOT EXACTLY DENY ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Lragir, Armenia
Aug 28 2007

The new political elite of Turkey which emerged after the victory of
Prime Minister Erdoghan’s Justice and Development Party may upset
the relations between Turkey and Israel which have always been on
good terms. Ruben Safrastyan, expert on Turkey, said on August 28 in
Yerevan it is likely to happen. According to him, the reason might
be not only Israel’s somewhat uncertain statements on the Armenian
Genocide against their denial earlier, or the statements by the Jewish
lobby in the United States on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide
but also Israel’s policy in the Near East which was criticized heavily
by some Turkish officials.

"It should also be taken into account that Turkey’s and Israel’s
interests both match and oppose. Hence, the state of things has
changed over the past ten years. I think this new state of things
favors pronouncements of the new approaches toward the Genocide in
Israel, which seems to be softer and does not deny categorically the
Armenian Genocide," Ruben Safrastyan said. According to him, this is
a complicated process, and we need to wait and see how the process
will develop. Nevertheless, it is already a fact for Ruben Safrastyan.