EUROPEAN ARMENIAN SAID NO TO TURKEY NOT RECOGNIZING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.12.2007 13:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ December 14, the European Armenian Federation
organized a rally in Brussels calling on the European Union to urge
Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide before joining the Union,
independent French journalist Jean Eckian told PanARMENIAN.Net.

Over 800 Armenians gathered to say NO to Turkey that doesn’t recognize
the Armenian Genocide. The demonstrators claimed observation of the
Copenhagen criteria which integrate the Armenian Genocide recognition,
preliminary to Turkish adhesion in the EU.

"We are not against Turkey’s accession but we do stand Turkey which
refuses to leave Cyprus, to recognize Cyprus, to recognize the Armenian
Genocide and the rights of the Kurds" said Mourad Papazian, president
of the ARF Dashnaksutyun Europe.

In an icy cold, the speakers coming from all Europe, followed one
another the rostrum drawn up on Esplanade du Cinquantenaire of
Brussels facing the European Union, where the 27 heads of state and
governments finally deferred to next Monday the Turkish question,
for lack of agreement.

The European Armenian Federation is of the view that by altering
the essence of these negotiations from one of automatic accession to
"accession or privileged partnership" is a positive move. It reopens
the political debate on the key issue of whether Turkeys uniting
with the Democracies of Europe is indeed a natural progression for
the European Union itself.

"Even if today, the Europeans have not yet defined the clear content
of what would be the "privileged partnership," we know, however,
that Turkey will try to obtain a maximum of privileges from the
EU and that it will confer it exorbitant leverages and that it will
reinforce its economic and military power," commented Hilda Tchoboian,
the chairperson of the European Armenian Federation.