United Press International
March 12 2010

Turkish-Swedish row over genocide label

ANKARA, Turkey, March 12 (UPI) — Turkey recalled its ambassador to
Sweden and canceled bilateral meetings after lawmakers in Stockholm
called the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman-era Turks genocide, a
few days after rowing with Washington over the same issue.

Ankara also canceled a March 17 summit between the nations and Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s corresponding visit to Sweden.
The diplomatic crisis comes a week after Ankara recalled its
ambassador to the United States because a congressional committee
approved a similar resolution.

Erdogan’s office strongly condemned the Swedish resolution, which
labels the 1915-23 killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians genocide,
saying in a statement it was "unsubstantiated," and "replete with
immense errors." It added the resolution was adopted to please
domestic voters ahead of the September national elections in Sweden.

"This resolution adopted with domestic political motives does not
befit Turkey-Sweden relations and the close cooperation and friendship
between our peoples," the statement reads. "Those who believe that
historical facts and Turkey’s opinion regarding its own history will
be changed by decisions adopted by foreign Parliaments for political
gains are gravely mistaken."

The Swedish government also criticized the resolution, which passed by
one vote.

"Historical events should not be judged at a political level but
should be left to the parties concerned to discuss on the basis of
current research," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said in a
statement posted on a Swedish government Web site. "The decision will
not help the debate in Turkey, which has become increasingly open and
tolerant as Turkey has developed closer relations with the European
Union and made the democratic reforms these entail."

Observers say Turkey’s recent conflicts with Washington and Stockholm
over the genocide label threatens an already stalled peace process
that hit its high last October when Turkey and Armenia, after decades
of conflict, signed documents to re-establish ties and reopen the
countries’ mutual border.

Armenia says Turks killed up to 1.5 million Armenians when the Ottoman
Empire collapsed during World War I. Many historians say the killings
amount to genocide, a charge Turkey strongly denies by pointing to the
chaotic circumstances during the breakup of the empire.

Ankara is also critical of Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh,
an enclave in neighboring Azerbaijan. Turkey in 1993 severed ties with
Armenia when it fought a war with Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally.

The "genocide" label is important to Armenians scattered around the
world. An estimated 5.7 million Armenians live abroad, including 1.4
million in the United States, significantly outnumbering the 3.2
million living in the small, landlocked country itself.