LEADING OPPOSITION PARTY BRINGS MOTION FOR ARMENIA PROTOCOLS

Hurriyet
March 22 2010
Turkey

Turkey’s leading opposition party requested on Monday a session of
Parliament as part of the country’s strategy to counter Armenian
claims of genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks in 1915.

The motion carried the signature of key members of the Republican
People’s Party, or CHP, Kemal Anadol, Kemal Kılıcdaroglu and Hakkı
Suha Okay.

The motion said the protocols signed on Oct. 10 between Turkey and
Armenia created serious pitfalls for Turkey’s national interest.

It recalled the Armenian "genocide" resolutions that were passed in
the U.S. Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Swedish parliament
and said the current situation would inevitably have destructive
consequences on relations between Turkey and European Union countries.

"There is no advantage to keeping the protocols in Parliament but
rather serious disadvantages," the motion read.

The motion also said the fact that the protocols are being held in
Parliament after the passage of the resolution in the U.S. House
Committee on Foreign Affairs creates the wrong impression and invites
pressure on Turkey.

Making it appear that the protocols will pass through Parliament will
also not help prevent President Obama from using the word genocide
on April 24, the motion said.