IS ABSENCE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE IN EP RESOLUTION ON TURKEY EXPLAINED BY AUTHOR’S UNWILLINGNESS TO "OPEN THE OLD DEBATE"?

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.09.2007 19:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I did not want to open the old debate. The most
important thing is that Turkey has good relations with its neighbors,
also with Armenia.

Studies show us that the closed borders have huge negative impacts on
the economy. In a global world you should have good relations with
your neighbors, and while doing that you should also reconcile with
the past," European Parliament member Ria Oomen-Ruijten (Conservative,
Netherlands), said explaining the absence of the Armenian Genocide
issue in her draft resolution on Turkey, reports Turkish Daily News.

Meanwhile, the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy
(EAFJD) is mobilizing Armenians from throughout Europe to seek to
reverse a series of serious shortcomings in a draft resolution on
Turkey, prepared by Mrs. Oomen-Ruijten (Conservative, Netherlands),
for the consideration of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs
Committee.

The Committee is set to examine the Oomen-Ruijten resolution on
Thursday 13 September. Her measure congratulates Turkey for its
past progress and outlines a number of areas in which it has not met
European standards. The European Armenian Federation, having reviewed
the resolution, has found that it represents a retreat from the 2006
Eurlings report and, in light of it unbalanced presentation of the
facts, a clear step back from the more principled positions adopted
in reports adopted by the Parliament since 2000.