EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION MOBILIZES COMMUNITY TO OPPOSE RETREAT ON EU STANDARDS FOR TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP
ArmInfo
2007-09-12 13:05:00
The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD)
is mobilizing Armenians from throughout Europe to seek to reverse a
series of serious shortcomings in a draft resolution on Turkey. As
ArmInfo was informed from the headquarters of the European Armenian
Federation, the draft resolution was prepared by Mrs. Oomen-Ruijten
(Conservative, Netherlands), for the consideration of the European
Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. The Committee is set to
examine the Oomen-Ruijten resolution on Thursday 13 September. Her
measure congratulates Turkey for its past progress and outlines a
number of areas in which it has not met European standards. "The
European Armenian Federation, having reviewed the resolution, has
found that it represents a retreat from the 2006 Eurlings report and,
in light of it unbalanced presentation of the facts, a clear step
back from the more principled positions adopted in reports adopted
by the Parliament since 2000", press-release says.
As Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation Hilda Tchoboian
said, the Federation is working with all the democratic forces in the
European Parliament to ensure that this resolution will accurately
identify Turkey’s failure to meet its own commitments to the European
family of nations. "It is, quite simply, unacceptable for the European
Parliament to allow the authors of this flawed measure to seek to
minimize, cover-up, or even entirely exclude from their report such
vital and pressing issues as the Armenian Genocide, Kurdish rights,
and the occupation of Cyprus," added Tchoboian.