Turkish foreign minister critical of Swedish genocide resolution

armradio.am
13.03.2010 13:49

Turkey’s foreign minister said, "it is impossible to accept approval
of the resolution on Armenian allegations by the Swedish parliament."

Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu, who is currently in Lapland city of Finland to attend
the informal meeting of foreign ministers, met with his Swedish
counterpart Carl Bildt.

DavutoÄ?lu told reporters following the meeting, "We regret that the
Swedish parliament decided to approve the resolution. First of all, we
think that parliaments should not evaluate such historical events
since most of parliamentarians do not have adequate information about
those events. Politicization of the history leads to serious problems
for our societies. We consider this decision of the Swedish parliament
as a big mistake. It is impossible to accept it."

"Secondly, there were perfect relations between Turkey and Sweden.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an was scheduled to pay a visit to
Sweden next week to further improve our bilateral relations which we
described as a kind of strategic partnership. Under the light of
recent developments, we had to cancel Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an’s visit.
Also, we recalled our ambassador in Stockholm for consultations. We
did not expect such a decision from the parliament of a friendly
country," he said.

DavutoÄ?lu said, "I conveyed our views to Bildt. We hope that such
decisions which provoke developments in the region would not be made
in the future. Turkey will not allow anyone else to evaluate its
history. Others may consider the year of 1915 as part of an Armenian
issue, but for us, 1915 was the year when a nation defended its
country against big armies."

Carl Bildt, on his part, said that it was not rightful to politicize
historical issues with decisions made by parliaments. He said that
such decisions seriously damage rapprochement processes, and expressed
his sorrow, the Hurriyet Daily News reported.