ARMENIAN APOLOGY DENOUNCED BY GOV’T

Hurriyet
Dec 18 2008
Turkey

ANKARA – As reactions continue to the initiative of some prominent
authors and academicians to apologize for the 1915 incidents Ankara got
involved to the debate. The prime minister argues that the initiative
makes no sense

An online apology for the "great catastrophe of 1915" that befell
Armenians, written by prominent authors and academics, has received
the cold shoulder from the top cadre of the government.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the initiative made no sense
and President Abdullah Gul did not make a direct comment. The Foreign
Ministry, similar to dozens of retired diplomats, said terrorists had
targeted its diplomats in the past and recalled murders carried out
by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia, or ASALA,
a terrorist group.

As to the need for an apology, Erdogan said, "They must have committed
genocide because they are apologizing. The Turkish Republic has no
such problem."

"We cannot join a campaign such as this just because writers started
it. Personally I do not accept their campaign, nor take part in
it. We did not commit any crime, why should we apologize? This is a
debate discussed by historians," Erdogan said in response to claims
by some Armenians that forced migration and 1915 incidents amounted
to "genocide". "It is one thing to have a good will, but apologizing
only matters to people. I have difficulty understanding these writers."

Gul said the initiative was proof everything could be openly discussed
in Turkey. "Various groups can come together and declare their
opinions," Gul said. He described the state policy as he saw it:
"This is how to accomplish Turkey’s goal to increase relations with
its neighbors to the highest level, establish trust with them and
help bring peace to the region."

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Burak Ozugergin denied the ministry
had urged retired diplomats to issue a counterstatement. "It is
not right for us to react against it," he said. "Both initiatives
are private. Our stance on the 1915 incidents is known," Ozugergin
said. Retired diplomats said the apology was "unfair, wrong and
unfavorable to national interests."

Turkey on the right path The prime minister, president and Ozugergin
said Turkey was already on a path to forge greater stability with its
eastern neighbor. "Turkey has shown a clear path in its relations
in the international arena. Our government has opened the airways
to Armenia and restored the Armenian church on Van’s Akdamar Island
for visitors. These were not responses to any move, but a sign. The
president’s flight to Armenia was also a sign," Erdogan said.

More than 11,000 people have signed the online petition that has
been rebuffed by the prime minister. "This would only serve to muddy
waters and disrupt our peace. It would reverse steps taken thus far,"
Erdogan said.

Ozugergin said foreign policy was not shaped by daily events. "We
must take the positive and negative reactions of the public into
consideration while making foreign policy."

Columnists join debate

Hurriyet Daily News The debate over the campaign launched by a
range of intellectuals to apologize for the 1915 incidents has
spread to the columns of the country’s dailies. Also a counter
online signature campaign on the Web site "özurdilemiyoruz.com
(we do not apologize) has emerged, by a group calling themselves
"The Real Turkish Intellectuals."

Turkish columnists widely criticized the apology campaign. Erdal
Å~^afak from daily Sabah argued the campaign would do more
harm than good because it "would be evaluated as a confession of
genocide." Ertugrul Ozkök from daily Hurriyet said he considered the
campaign a joke, asking who would apologize for the Turkish diplomats
murdered by the ASALA terror organization.

Nuray Mert from daily Radikal argued the campaign aimed at "scraping
the Turkish ‘intellectuals’ from their ‘historical shame’ and to make
them feel good and civilized." She also questioned the apology part of
the statement asking, "On whose behalf and to whom should I apologize?"

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