Swedish Ambassador In Ankara Summoned To Turkish Foreign Ministry

SWEDISH AMBASSADOR IN ANKARA SUMMONED TO TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY

People’s Daily Online
March 12 2010
China

The Swedish ambassador in Ankara was summoned to the Turkish Foreign
Ministry on Friday after the Swedish parliament passed an Armenian
genocide resolution, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

When leaving the foreign ministry, Swedish Ambassador Christer Asp
told reporters that he explained the Swedish government’s stance on
the issue to Turkish officials during his talks at the ministry.

Sweden’s parliament on Thursday passed a resolution recognizing the
killing of Armenians and many other ethnic groups in 1915 as genocide.

The 349-seat parliament passed the resolution with a narrow majority,
with 131 yes, 130 no and 88 abstention, according to the Swedish news
agency TT.

Asp said democratic institutions took decisions on their own, however,
Swedish parliament’s policy on the matter had not changed.

Noting the parliament’s decision was not binding for the government,
Asp said the Swedish parliament supported the examination of incidents
of 1915 by independent commissions formed by historians.