Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
March 14 2010

No partnership deal with Sweden after ‘genocide’ vote

Sunday, March 14, 2010
FULYA Ã-ZERKAN
ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

Following the passage of a `genocide’ resolution by a US House
committee, the Swedish legislature adopts a similar measure, drawing a
strong response from Turkey and the canceling of PM ErdoÄ?an’s visit to
Stockholm. Another casualty of the vote is Turkey’s refusal to sign a
strategic-partnership deal with Sweden

The passing of a resolution in the Swedish parliament labeling the
1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as `genocide’ has
prevented Sweden from signing a strategic-partnership deal with
Turkey.

The vote, following the adoption of a similar measure by a U.S. House
committee, drew a sharp response from Ankara, which swiftly recalled
its ambassador to Stockholm in a show of protest.

The Swedish envoy to Ankara was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in
response to the vote, which the Turkish government considers a setback
in Turkish-Swedish relations. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an meanwhile declared that he has canceled a scheduled trip to
Sweden.

ErdoÄ?an and the prime minister of Sweden were scheduled to sign an
agreement in Stockholm this week under which the two countries planned
to hold annual meetings on every level in the fields of politics,
business and culture.

`We did hope to welcome Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an to Sweden in order to
set up a strategic partnership similar to what Turkey has with Italy
and Spain,’ Swedish Ambassador to Turkey Christer Asp told the
Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview.

The top diplomat originally planned to go to Stockholm over the
weekend in preparation for the Turkish prime minister’s visit but had
to cancel the trip after the vote.

`We attach great importance to our relations with Turkey. But, of
course, now see what happened, and Mr. ErdoÄ?an canceled his trip. That
is another negative fallout,’ Asp said, adding that they would
continue to work on establishing relations.

The Swedish parliament was not unanimous in its vote, Asp said.

`The opposition side, with the support of parliamentarians from the
governing side, managed to carry the resolution. Every year it has
been rejected,’ he said. `This year, when the issue first came up in
the parliament’s foreign-relations committee, it was also rejected,
but the opposition side obviously managed to convince some
parliamentarians to jump ship at the last moment. That’s why it
happened.’

Swedish gov’t policy `unchanged’

Sweden’s center-right coalition government has distanced itself from
the resolution, which passed by a 131-130 vote. Foreign Minister Carl
Bildt said Friday that he deplored the vote and assured it would not
have an immediate consequence on the government’s policy toward
Turkey.

Asp, who explained his government’s position to Turkish Foreign
Ministry officials, said: `I underlined that this is the decision by
the Swedish parliament. It is not a legally binding decision on the
government.’

`According to Swedish constitutional rules, it is up to the government
whether to transform the decision into government policy or not,’ he
added.

According to the top diplomat, the Swedish government believes history
should not be politicized and backs the historical commission that has
been suggested and agreed upon in the Turkish-Armenian protocols. This
position, he said, remains unchanged.

Threat is still there

The resolution is in the form of a recommendation to the government
and cannot become a law, Asp explained.

`It cannot be a law because it is in the form of a non-binding,
non-legal proposal. It does not have any legal implications,’ he said.
`According to our constitution, in a case like this, it is entirely up
to the government to decide whether it wants to take this proposal up
or not. It stays there as far as Sweden is concerned.’

However, the possibility of the resolution turning into a law in fact
remains because a different government may legally adopt the measure
after the September elections in Sweden. The three opposition parties
have already announced they would make it government policy if they
came to power.

Swedish gov’t, parliament `back EU bid’

Saying he regarded the resolution as a `clear setback to bilateral
relations,’ Asp made it clear the development would not change Swedish
support for Turkey’s European Union process. Sweden is one of the
strongest advocates of the country’s EU bid and even challenged France
when it was holding the bloc’s term presidency.

`On the EU process, this will change nothing. Even representatives of
parties voting for the resolution have said this has nothing to do
with the continuous support in the parliament for Turkey’s EU
accession,’ said the ambassador.

`The vote should be separated from the EU question. There will still
be a very strong support from the Swedish government and the majority
in the parliament,’ he added. `There is strong support from among all
the political parties for Turkish membership in the EU. That will not
be affected.’

Impact on Turkey-Armenia normalization

The resolution passed in the Swedish legislature follows similar ones
in France, Russia, Greece, Germany, Belgium and Canada. But the votes
in the U.S. and Sweden come at a time when Turkey and Armenia are
making efforts to normalize their ties.

`I certainly think this is not helpful for the normalization process
between Turkey and Armenia,’ said Asp. `I believe that we should
concentrate our efforts on supporting this process.’

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress