TURKEY TARGETS SWEDISH DEPUTIES WHO VOTED FOR GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

Tert.am
15:17 â~@¢ 23.03.10

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has launched a
slanderous campaign against those Swedish deputies of Turkish and
Kurdish origin who voted for a recent resolution recognizing the
genocide of Armenians, Assyrians and Chaldeans, according to a release
issued by the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa), which represents
Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs.

"Historical realities cannot be endlessly smothered. For a century,
unsuccessful attempts have been made to constantly distort, deny and
ignore the fact of massacres committed towards the Armenians, Assyrians
and Chaldeans. Efforts made by nations subjected to massacres and also
by conscientious historians, intellectuals and outstanding political
figures spread light on those dark historical events, and Turkey was
condemned as a slaughterer. But Turkish authorities, considering it an
unfair step against Turkey, have launched a campaign in the Swedish
riksdag against Assyrian national deputies — Yilmaz Kerimo, Ibrahim
Baylan and Kurdish national deputy Gulan Avcı — who voted for the
resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide," reads the release.

These developments, as well as the recent threat by Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to deport Armenians working illegally in
Turkey if necessary, show that there is no difference between today’s
Turkish authorities and opposition and that which perpetrated the
massacres of Armenians in 1915.

"We strongly condemn the slanderous campaign launched against
Yilmaz Kerimo, Ibrahim Baylan and Gulan Avcı … Turkey will not be
democratized unless it acknowledges its own history and past crimes."