Journal of Turkish Weekly
April 14 2005
Military weigh in on Armenian, Greek issues
The New Anatolian/ Ankara
April 14 2005
Armenian issue: The General Staff has collected documents from
military archives in four books. Those who read them will learn who
imposed a genocide on whom
Response to Arinc: Casus Belli is a state policy that is in effect.
It aims at preventing possible conflicts
Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug yesterday called for
common sense in the wake of tensions following an attempted flag
burning in Mersin and recent clashes in various cities, including a
lynching attempt in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.
At a press briefing yesterday, Basbug and Gen. Erdogan Karakus urged
Turkish citizens not to involve themselves in violent confrontations,
and to leave the ordering of society to the proper state
institutions.
Basbug also strongly rejected a recent suggestion by Parliament
Speaker Bulent Arinc to lift the `Casus Belli’ (reason for the
declaration of war) decision, saying that it is a state policy.
The debate refers to a declaration by Parliament dated in 1995 made
in response to a Greek attempt to extend its territorial waters to 12
miles.
`This decision is in effect officially. The main goal of the
declaration is too prevent all possible conflict, rather than
creating any tension,’ said the deputy chief of General Staff.
Basbug met with a group of journalists yesterday where he made
important statements.
Call for common sense
`The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) will not tolerate or accept any
attack on the Turkish flag. This country belongs to all of us. Any
tension or event that confuses this truth that takes place in Turkey
harms the entire country. The TSK does not want to witness such a
thing,’ said Basbug.
He also called on people not to get involved in provocations and to
stay calm.
`We believe that people should act according to common sense within
the boundaries of law, no matter who does an illegal act, and
regardless of its purpose,’ stressed Basbug.
Armenian Issue
Basbug and Karakus also made comments on the so-called Armenian
genocide.
According to the statements made by Karakus, head of the Military
History and Strategy Institute, the General Staff has collected
documents from the military archives in four books. The first two
books will be in bookstores today.
The books include translations of documents from Turkish Army
archives in the Ottoman language, Turkish and English.
`Those who read them will learn who imposed a genocide on whom,’ said
Karakus