EU PARLIAMENT ADOPTS RESOLUTION CALLING ON TURKEY TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Russia Today
April 15 2015
The EU Parliament urges Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide and
pave the way for “a genuine reconciliation” between the two nations.
Prior to the vote on a resolution, the Turkish President said Ankara
would disregard any of Brussels’s decisions.
In the resolution put to the vote on Wednesday, MEPs called on Armenia
and Turkey to “use the centenary of the Armenian genocide” to
normalize diplomatic relations, open the border and pave the way for
economic integration.
Using “examples of successful reconciliation between European
nations,” the EU parliamentarians voted that Armenia and Turkey
“without preconditions” should ratify and implement, “the protocols on
the establishment of diplomatic relations, opening the border” as well
as improve their relations, “with particular reference to cross-border
cooperation and economic integration.”
The EU parliament has encouraged Ankara to “use the commemoration of
the centenary of the Armenian genocide as an important opportunity” to
open its archives, “come to terms with its past” as well as recognize
the genocide. By doing so, Turkey would pave the way for a “genuine
reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian peoples,” the MEPs
said.
The European Parliament has welcomed the statements of President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in their offering of
condolences and recognizing the atrocities as a step in a right
direction.
It has also been proposed to establish an “International Remembrance
Day for Genocides” to “recall again the right of all peoples and all
nations throughout the world to peace and dignity.”
Turkey was outraged by Pope Francis’ statement in which the pontiff
honored the 100th anniversary of the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks and called it “the first genocide of the 20th century.”
Prior to the vote, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said
that Ankara would disregard “whatever decision” Brussles passes.
“I cannot say what the European Parliament will decide today, but
whatever decision it passes, for us it will go in one ear and out the
other,” Erdogan said in Ankara. “It is impossible for Turkey to accept
this accusation…the stain of genocide on our nation is out of the
question.”
Scholars and historians estimate that as many as 1.5 million Armenians
were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of the First World War.
Turkey, which does not admit the killing were genocide and insists
that Christians Armenians were slayed in war, accused Pope Francis of
spreading hatred and recalled its ambassador to the Vatican for
consultation.
In its Wednesday resolution, Brussels commended the Pope’s statement
“honoring the centenary of the Armenian genocide in a spirit of peace
and reconciliation”.