MEPS TO CALL FOR EU-WIDE RECOGNITION OF ARMENIA GENOCIDE

11:48, 15 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The European Parliament is to urge Turkey to “come to terms with
its past” on the “Armenian Genocide” 100 years after it took place,
according to EUObserver.

The joint text – agreed by parliament groups on Tuesday (14 April)
ahead of a vote in Brussels on Wednesday – also calls on “those
EU member states that have not yet done so and EU institutions to
recognise it”.

It says Turkey should “start a genuinely transparent public debate
with a view to recognising the genocide”.

It also urges Turkey to “normalise relations … with Armenia”.

It’s likely to draw fire from Ankara, which vigorously polices its
reputation and which is concerned that recognition could lead to
reparation claims.

Turkey this week recalled its Vatican ambassador after the Pope called
the killings, by the then Ottoman Empire, “the first genocide of the
20th century”.

For his part, Selim Yenel, its EU envoy, told EUobserver on Tuesday
that: “The EP is acting as prosecutor, judge, and jury without a
dialogue on this issue with the parties concerned. During the events
of 1915 everybody suffered, but Turkey does not play the blame game”.

“We’ve always looked toward the future in a positive manner and still
extend our hand for reconciliation. However, this hand has been turned
down at every opportunity”.

His reference to “reconciliation” relates to the Armenian-Turkish
“protocols” of 2008.

The EU Observer reminds that Armenia will, in Yerevan on 24 April,
welcome a handful of world leaders for the obsequies.

The list includes French president Francois Hollande, Polish president
Bronislaw Komorowski and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. The office of EP
chief Martin Schulz said he is unlikely to go for “logistical” reasons.

The Armenian Catholic Church is to mark the anniversary by canonising
genocide martyrs. People also plan to hold a torch-lit march through
Yerevan to the Genocide Memorial, on a hill overlooking the capital.

Ten EU countries – Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania,
the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden – have recognised
the genocide.

From: A. Papazian