TURKISH MFA ON CATALAN PARLIAMENT’S DECISION ON ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS

Journal of Turkish Weekly
March 11 2010

ANKARA (A.A) – A spokesperson for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said on Thursday that the head of the autonomous administration
of Catalonia had apologized to Turkey for the Catalan parliament’s
recent decision supporting the Armenian allegations on the incidents
of 1915.

Spokesperson Burak Ozugergin said that a parliamentary committee
of Spain’s autonomous Catalonia region had discussed a resolution
on the Armenian allegations on February 26, and later approved such
resolution on behalf of the regional parliament as a result of the
support from the committee’s local deputies.

Ozugergin said, upon such development, Turkey immediately expressed
its concerns to the Spanish government and Catalan officials, and
demanded a remedy to such a wrong decision.

"The Spanish government said that such a decision did not reflect
Spain’s view on the matter," Ozugergin said, adding that Jose Montilla,
President of the Government of Catalonia, also sent a letter to
the Turkish foreign minister to apologize on behalf of the Catalan
administration.

"Montilla expressed the irrelevance of the decision and confirmed
the importance he attached to the friendly relations with the Turkish
nation and government," Ozugergin said.