PERES AGREES "HISTORY IS FOR HISTORIANS"

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Sept 7 2007

TOBB boss warns, Peres agrees "history is for historians"

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Wednesday commenting on allegations
that Turks committed genocide against Armenians at the turn of the
last century said it is wrong to legislate laws on the issue and that
history should be left to historians.

Peres made the comments as he received a group of Turkish businessmen,
who are currently in Jerusalem to attend the sixth meeting of
"Ankara Forum."

The Turkish delegation led by the Union of Chambers and Commodity
Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and Ankara Forum Chairman Rifat
Hisarciklioglu, voiced their complaints about the American Jewish
organization Anti-Defamation League (ADL) regarding its approach
towards the Armenian genocide claims.

Abraham Foxman, the National Director of ADL, said earlier in a
statement that his organization had come to share the view that the
incidents of 1915 "were indeed tantamount to genocide," but added
that the organization maintained its opposition against bringing the
issue to U.S. Congressional floor for a resolution.

Hisarciklioglu told Peres that domestic politics in the U.S. grows in
a way that would harm relations between Turkey and the United States.

He said if the Armenian bill is adopted by the U.S. Congress, relations
with other countries, namely Israel, would also come to harm.

"None of the laws can change history. History is for the record.

History can only be examined by historians," Peres replied.

Peres said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
proposal is appropriate and that he supports this offer. Erdogan
earlier proposed to conduct a research by independent historians in
Ottoman archives on the incidents of 1915.