Hurriyet, Turkey
March 12 2010

Recognition of Armenian ‘genocide’ puts chill in Sweden-Turkey relations

Friday, March 12, 2010
ANKARA ‘ Hürriyet Daily News

Friendly ties between Turkey and Sweden turned into chilly diplomatic
relations after the Swedish parliament recognized the Armenian
`genocide’ with a 131-130 vote on Thursday.

"Regrettably, the decision of the Riksdag will not make a positive
contribution to the ongoing process of normalization between Turkey
and Armenia, in particular the establishment of a commission to
investigate the events in 1915,’ Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt
admitted in a written statement on Friday.

In spite of the government’s advice, the parliament voted to recognize
`the genocide of Armenians and other ethic groups during the fall of
the Ottoman Empire.’

`The vote delivered a major blow to excellent ties,’ said Turkish
Ambassador to Stockholm Zergun Korutürk who was immediately recalled
to Ankara for consultations.

"The resolution claims as if whole Christian communities were
massacred by the Ottoman Empire. So it is obviously baseless,"
Korutürk told reporters at Ankara’s EsenboÄ?a Airport on Friday.

It will not be easy to repair the damage, she said and urged the
Swedish government to solve the problem. "Being sorry is not enough.
If they are aware of how serious the problem is, then they need to
look for new ways to find a solution."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an cancelled his visit to Stockholm.
"Our people and our government reject this decision based upon major
errors and without foundation," said a statement from his office.

Swedish Ambassador to Ankara Christer Asp said his government believed
that `history should be left to historians’ on Friday after he was
summoned to the foreign ministry in protest.

Bildt said, `Historical events should not be judged at the political
level, but should be left to the parties concerned to discuss on the
basis of current research."

The vote went against the report of the parliamentary committee on
foreign affairs and the Riksdag was not unanimous as is evident from
the fact that the outcome was based on a majority of a single vote,
Bildt said.

President Abdullah Gül speaking to reporters in Isparta province said,
`We know very well how such decisions are taken.’

Noting that Swedish decision makers are not historians, `I think they
don’t have the knowledge about what happened. Actually, they are
easily provoked and flouted history. Don’t exaggerate an issue that
has no credit with us,’ Gül said.

Egemen BaÄ?ıÅ?, Turkey’s chief negotiator for EU Affairs, expressed his
disappointment. `Unfortunately, Sweden has been influenced by an
unrealistic historical thesis. It is wrong that parliaments attempt to
write history or distort the historical realities,’ he said.

`It is quite an irresponsible act for the next generations. History
cannot be written with `yes’ or `no’ votes. Politicians should focus
on the future rather than the past,’ BaÄ?ıÅ? said.

The vote came a week after the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
approved a similar resolution. Mehmet Kaplan, a Turkish-origin Swedish
parliamentarian, asserted that his colleagues were inspired by the
recent U.S. vote. `They also wanted to invest in minority votes for
upcoming general elections,’ Kaplan said.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed during
World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart. Turkey, however, rejects
the genocide label and asserts that Turks were also killed by
Armenians amid civil strife during wartime and that the Armenian death
toll is inflated