TURKISH PM WELCOMES SHELVING OF US ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL
AFP
5 Nov 07
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday
welcomed a decision by US lawmakers to shelve debate on a bill labeling
Ottoman Empire massacres of Armenians during World War I as "genocide."
Speaking after talks here with President George W. Bush, Erdogan said
the House of Representatives resolution on "the so-called Armenia
genocide …
has the potential to deeply damage our strategic cooperation."
Fierce pressure from Turkey and the White House appears to have paid
off for now, with the resolution’s Democratic authors agreeing late
last month to delay a full House of Representatives vote after the
bill was upheld by the foreign affairs committee.
"We view this with cautious optimism," Erdogan said at the National
Press Club, thanking the Bush administration and House members who
had spoken out against the resolution for fear of its damage to ties
with Turkey.
"We are ready to settle accounts with our history, but our documents
indicate that no such genocide took place. In fact our values do not
permit our people to commit genocide," the Turkish leader said.
"Those who claim it, must prove it," he said, renewing his offer to
the Armenian government to set up a joint historical commission to
examine the claims of genocide dating from the dying years of the
Ottoman Empire.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
