EGEMEN BAGIS: TURKEY WANTS GOOD NEIGHBOURLY RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2010 16:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s Minister for European Affairs Egemen Bagis
commented on the decision of US Congressional committee to pass a
resolution recognizing the death of more than a million Armenians
in 1915-16 as Genocide and similar resolution passed by Sweden’s
parliament.

"With this decision, Sweden has become slave to a thesis that,
unfortunately, is based on falsehoods. The voting in the US was a
success for Turkey. The Congressman from California, who got support
from the Armenian lobby, made a fool out of himself. He tried to
scratch the back of every Representative in the corridors of Congress
in order to get their vote. But then he only won by a single vote.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later declared that the resolution
will not be passed by the entire House of Representatives. As you
know, the French parliament passed a similar law in 2006. Afterwards
there was a ban on French airforce flights over Turkey. We are very
sensitive about this issue," he told Der Spiegel.

Asked about Turkey’s actions in case the US recognizes the Genocide
officially, Bagis said, "I will leave that up to your readers’
imagination. But allow me to remind you of one thing: Seventy
percent of the logistical support for the Iraq deployment comes
through Incirlik."

"It is up to the historians, not politicians, to judge what happened
in the past. Politicians look into the future. We have offered to
create a joint commission of historians together with the Republic
of Armenia – so far without success. Besides, the Ottoman Empire was
an ally of the German Reich. Nothing that happened back then happened
without consultations with the Germans," he added.

Asked if Turkey is worried that Armenians will demand reparations, Mr.

Bagis replied: "You know, there are an estimated 100,000 illegal
Armenian immigrants in our country, who work here providing care for
the elderly and children. For me, this shows that there is no hate
between our people. On the contrary: We are attempting to achieve
rapprochement, there is a peace process between our countries. We have
attempted to bridge our differences; we want to open all archives. But
when you see that the other side is blocking all your attempts, it
makes you sceptical. My government focuses on solving problems. We
want good neighbourly relations, also with Armenia."