NORWEGIAN PM SOLBERG NOT ATTENDING ARMENIAN COMMEMORATIONS, CITING IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONS WITH TURKEY

Daily Sabah, Turkey
March 16 2015

NURBANU KIZIL
ISTANBUL

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The Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg has announced that she will
not be attending the commemorations in Armenia organized for the
100th anniversary of the so-called Armenian Genocide, highlighting
that Norway puts value on relations with Turkey.

Solber stated that Norwegian executives, including herself and members
of the Foreign Ministry, will not be represented at the commemoration
ceremonies and only the ambassador will be able to participate.

According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry, it was highlighted
that the “Genocide allegations which were supposedly committed by
the Ottoman Empire in 1915 are internationally disputed” and that
the ministry would state their opinion on the matter later on.

Baard Glad Pedersen, the Undersecretary of the Norwegian Prime
Minister’s Office, said that conclusions regarding historical incidents
should be left for the discretion of historians, while noting that UN
resolutions outline what can be considered as genocide or not. “This
issue has been hotly debated in the recent years” Pedersen said.

Mertefe Bertinlioglu, a deputy from the Høyre – Norway’s Conservative
Party – in Oslo’s Provincial Legislature, stated that Prime Minister
Solberg’s decision must be respected, adding that Turkey has called
for the opening of archives numerous times to enable historians study
and analyze the issue, but noted that Armenia never accepted this. “I
also agree that this issue should only be handled by historians and
should not be exploited for political interests,” Bertinlioglu added.

The 1915 events took place during World War I when a group of
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire supported a Russian invasion and
revolted against the empire, resulting in their relocation to eastern
Anatolia. Turkey refuses to use the term “genocide” to refer to the
incident, as many Turks also lost their lives due to attacks carried
out by Armenians in Anatolia. Meanwhile, Armenia and the Armenian
diaspora continue to campaign for the incidents to be recognized
as genocide.

In 2014, President Erdogan issued a letter expressing condolences
for the 1915 events, in an unprecedented move. Turkish officials
consistently urge for the establishment of a joint historical
commission to investigate the events and call on Armenia to open
their archives as Turkey has done.