TURKISH PM CANCELS ARGENTINA TRIP OVER ARMENIAN MOVE
May 30 2010
Turkey
Autonomous Buenos Aires city cancelled a permission to inaugurate
the bust of Ataturk following efforts by Armenians, Turkish foreign
ministry said.
Sunday, 30 May 2010 09:38
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is on a tour to Latin
America, skipped one of the stops, Argentina, after autonomous Buenos
Aires city cancelled a permission to inaugurate the bust of Ataturk
following efforts by Armenians, Turkish foreign ministry said on
Sunday, Anadolu agency said.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement the two-day
visit scheduled for later on Sunday had been cancelled, and it
hoped Argentina would take steps to remove the shadow cast on
Turkish-Argentine relations.
“The trip was cancelled because written permission for the monument
given to Turkey beforehand by the… Buenos Aires district was reversed
as a result of initiatives by the Armenian lobby, which is opposed
to Turkey,” it said.
Erdogan was scheduled to pay a two-day visit to Argentina on May 30
and 31. A bust of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of Turkey, would be
inaugurated at Jorge Newbury park during Erdogan’s visit.
However, the permission granted earlier by the Environment Ministry
of the autonomous Buenos Aires federal district has been cancelled
after efforts by Armenians who are hostile to Turkey, the ministry
said in a statement.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with his Argentine
counterpart and asked Argentine government to fulfill its commitment
to inaugurate the bust.
Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner phoned Erdogan
and said Turkey was right to react, however she added that she could
not overrule autonomous Buenos Aires administration due to constitution
of Argentina.
Erdogan, nevertheless, decided to cancel his trip to Argentina,
saying such an attitude was unacceptable.
“Argentine authorities are expected to take necessary steps to remove
the shadow cast on relations between Turkey and Argentina after
the wrong decision made by autonomous Buenos Aires administration,”
the ministry said.
“Mr. Prime Minister headed for Chile from Brazil,” it added.
Agencies
From: A. Papazian