Anadolu Agency, Turkey
March 12 2010
Turkish PM cancels visit, recalls ambassador over Armenia vote
Ankara, 11 March: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
scheduled visit to Sweden was cancelled following approval of the
resolution on Armenian allegations in Swedish Parliament.
Prime Ministry Press Centre issued a "government statement" and said
Erdogan was to attend Turkey-Sweden Summit on March 17, 2010.
The Centre also said Turkish Ambassador to Stockholm Zergun Koruturk
was recalled to Ankara for consultations.
The government statement said, "Turkish government expresses regret
and strongly condemns approval of a resolution in the Swedish
Parliament which alleged that some peoples were committed to genocide
during the last period of the Ottoman Empire."
"Turkish government rejects this decision lacking basis. It is obvious
that the decision was made taking into consideration some political
interests for the elections that would take place in Sweden in
September 2010," the statement said.
The statement noted, "the resolution does not correspond to the close
friendship of our two nations," Erdogan said in a statement on his
website.
"Indeed it is Turkey making a call to face with the history honestly.
Those refraining from facing with history are actually afraid of
discussing their claims reciprocally and revealing the facts working
with scientific methods. Those who live with this fear exploit the
foreign parliamentarians who are after small political interests, and
exploited by them. Inclusion of the allegations regarding the last
period of the Ottoman Empire to the agenda of the Swedish Parliament
is a consequence of such an exploitation," it said.
The statement said the duty of the parliaments and politicians are not
to make judgements on history but to construct the future by drawing
lessons from the past, "those who think that historical facts and
views of Turkey for its own past will change with the decisions that
were made on the basis of political interests of foreign parliaments,
are in a serious delusion."
Swedish Parliament on Thursday approved a resolution on Armenian
allegations regarding 1915 incidents.
The resolution including recognition of Armenian allegations was
approved with 131 votes against 130.
Turkey strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the
events as civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks
and Armenians.
Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols on October 10, 2009 to
normalize relations between the two countries. The protocols envisage
the two countries to establish diplomatic ties and open the border
that has been close since 1993. Turkey and Armenia also agreed to take
steps to operate a sub-commission on impartial scientific examination
of the historical records and archive to define existing problems and
formulate recommendations, in which Armenian, Turkish as well as Swiss
and other international experts would take part. However, on January
12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Armenia declared a decision of
constitutional conformity on the protocols. Turkey thought the fifth
article of Armenian Constitutional Court’s verdict regarding the
protocols was against the target and basis of the protocols.