MINISTERS AGREE TO CLOSER SWISS-TURKISH TIES

Swissinfo
Sept 11 2008
Switzerland

Switzerland and Turkey have agreed to strengthen ties in energy,
migration, counter-terrorism and fighting organised crime.

The two countries signed an extension to their 2001 memorandum of
understanding in Bern on Thursday stating they would hold future
talks on the issues.

Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey noted that the partnership
had great potential. She also praised renewed dialogue efforts
between Turkey and Armenia, damaged as a result of the mass killing
of Armenians in 1915.

The Armenians say Ottoman Turks slaughtered up to 1.8 million Armenians
in a planned genocide, a charge Turkey disputes.

The Council of Europe, the French parliament and the Swiss House of
Representatives have all since recognised the events as genocide. The
question has long affected relations between Switzerland and Turkey,
including the postponing of official visits.

In 2007, the Lausanne district court fined Turkish politician Dogu
Perincek for denying the killings were genocide during a public speech
in the city in 2005.

Speaking in Bern on Thursday, Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan
said politicians needed to be forward-looking and "history needed to
be written by historians".