SPANISH GOVERNMENT DOES ITS UTMOST NOT TO APPROVE GENOCIDE BILL
news.am
March 23 2010
Armenia
Spain’s government does its utmost for the parliament not to approve
the bill on Armenian Genocide in 1915 by Ottoman Empire, Spanish ABC
newspaper reports.
According to the daily, "government fully acknowledges that Genocide
recognition will provoke negative response of Turkey that is one of
Spain’s key allies in NATO."
ABC also notes that "Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos
contacted Jose Bono, the President of the Congress of Deputies to
torpedo the initiative."
Catalonian Parliament already passed the bill recognizing Armenian
Genocide, thus Spanish government worries that it might happen in
Madrid as well. Spanish government fears that Spain might also face
aggravation of relations with Turkey, as it happened with U.S.-Turkish
and Swedish-Turkish relations following approval of Genocide resolution
in countries’ parliaments, the daily reads.
The source recalls that Turkey had never recognized massacres of 1.5
million Armenians, speaking about 300.000 people and referring the
events to World War I events.