Turkish Press
May 29 2008
History Must Be Left To Historians, Kubis
Published: 5/29/2008
BRATISLAVA – Turkey`s Foreign Minister and Chief Negotiator for EU
talks Ali Babacan held a press conference with his Slovakian
counterpart Jan Kubis following a tete-a-tete meeting and meeting
between Turkish and Slovakian delegations on Wednesday.
Answering a question of the Anadolu Agency correspondent on a draft
law submitted at the Slovakian parliament on recognizing the incidents
of 1915, Kubis said "the Slovakian parliament`s decision in 2004 does
not represent the line of the government. I will discuss this matter
with the Slovakian justice minister and members of the government. I
believe history must be left to historians. We know the sensitivity of
the Turkish public opinion on this matter and will not permit this
topic to place a shadow on good relations between Turkey and
Slovakia".
In reference to the Armenian matter, Babacan said "Turkey proposed
Armenia to establish a joint historical committee to study the
incidents of 1915 and open all related archives. However, Turkey has
not received a positive response from Armenia yet".
Speaking at the press conference, Babacan described Turkish-Slovakian
relations as "excellent".
"Turkey gives full support to Slovakia`s membership in NATO. Today,
Slovakia is a member of the EU and Turkey continues its negotiations
process with the EU. We have witnessed Slovakia`s support in every
stage of entry negotiations with the EU. We are pleased to see that
our two countries share the same views on many international topics",
Babacan said.
Answering a question on visa procedures, Kubis said "we have to ease
visa procedures for Turks based on our excellent relations. I will
hold talks with EU authorities to provide visas more easily to Turkish
businessmen, scientists, students and truck drivers".
Babacan attended a dinner hosted by Kubis in his honor on Wednesday
following the press conference.
Babacan is expected to travel to Stockholm, Sweden later on Wednesday.