Reuters, UK
Oct 19 2007

Turkish PM calls for reconciliation with Armenia
Fri Oct 19, 2007 5:06am EDT

powered by SphereANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s prime minister called
for dialogue and reconciliation with Armenia on Friday as the U.S.
Congress weighs whether to approve a resolution calling the 1915
massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide.

"While we search for ways to address this painful issue and develop
our relations with Armenia, we cannot live in the past. Our sincere
offer for dialogue and reconciliation is on the table," Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan wrote in an opinion piece published in
Friday’s Wall Street Journal, European edition.

"It is incumbent on Armenia to take the next step," he added.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee backed
the resolution last week proposed by a California Democrat with many
Armenian-Americans in his district. It must now decide whether to
hold a House vote on the resolution.

Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the United States for
consultations in response to the vote and has warned that if the
non-binding but symbolic resolution is approved by Congress it will
inflict great damage on relations between the NATO allies.

The Bush administration has lobbied against the resolution.

Turkey rejects the Armenian view, backed by many Western historians
and some foreign parliaments, that up to 1.5 million Armenians
suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

Many Muslim Turks died as well as Christian Armenians in inter-ethnic
conflict as the Ottoman Empire crumbled, it says.

"The truth is that the Armenian allegations of genocide pertaining to
the events of 1915 have not been historically or legally
substantiated," Erdogan wrote.

Erdogan asked in his opinion piece why Armenia was evading Turkey’s
offer to establish a joint history commission to examine together the
events of 1915 through bilateral dialogue.

Armenia says it would consider taking part in such a history
commission if its border with Turkey were opened and normal
diplomatic ties established between the two countries.

Turkey shut its border with the tiny ex-Soviet republic in 1993 to
protest against Armenia’s occupation of territory inside Azerbaijan,
Ankara’s close Turkic ally.