Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 26 2008

Minister cancels visit to Argentina in protest of genocide bill

State Minister Mehmet Aydın has cancelled a planned visit to
Argentina to protest a fresh move in the Argentinean Parliament to
support Armenian claims of a genocide at the hands of the Ottoman
Empire in eastern Anatolia, the Foreign Ministry announced yesterday.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Argentinean
Parliament has endorsed a new document upholding Armenian allegations,
without elaborating. In November 2006 the lower house of Argentina’s
parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the killings of Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide. The resolution,
which was overwhelmingly adopted by the assembly, declared April 24 as
an official "day of mutual tolerance and respect" among peoples around
the world. Armenians mark April 24 as the beginning of a systematic
genocide campaign against Ottoman Armenians. That resolution was
awaiting approval in parliament.

Turkey categorically rejects the genocide claims and says Turks and
Armenians were killed in internal strife when Armenians revolted
against Ottoman rule in eastern Anatolia in hopes of carving out an
independent state in collaboration with the invading Russian military.

Aydın had been scheduled to visit Argentina April 28-29 to attend an
Alliance of Civilizations meeting in Buenos Aires. "The decision of
the Argentinean Senate is in contradiction with historical facts and
violates norms of international law," the statement said. It also
condemned the decision in strong terms and added that necessary steps
were being taken in response to it, without further elaboration.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress