United Press International
Dec 13 2008
Turkish politician: Keep quiet about 1915
ANKARA, Turkey, Dec. 12 (UPI) — A top Turkish official warns that
other countries could harm relations between Turkey and Armenia by
focusing on the 1915 killing of Armenians in Turkey.
Koksal Toptan, the speaker of the Turkish parliament, told Hurriyet in
an interview, that parliamentary resolutions calling the 1915 killings
"genocide" are problematic for the two nations.
"Politicians and parliaments cannot judge history," Toptan said.
Armenia and Turkey have not had diplomatic relations since Armenia
became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991. But President Abdullah
Gul visited Yerevan in September.
Toptan said he was concerned about President-elect Barack Obama’s
victory and his nomination of Hillary Clinton as U.S. secretary of
state, since both have supported Armenian groups in the United States.
The Turkish government denies that large numbers of Armenians were
deliberately killed in 1915. The word genocide was coined by Raphael
Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, who cited the killings as one of his
inspirations.