TURKEY’S MASSACRE OF ARMENIANS IN 1915 WILL NEVER BE AN ISSUE FOR THE
SWISS SENATE
YEREVAN, AUGUST 8. ARMINFO. Turkey’s massacre of Armenians in 1915
will never be an issue for the Swiss Senate, according to the
president of the Senate foreign-affairs committee Peter Briner.
According to Swissinfo, Peter Briner said other countries had no
business pointing the finger at Turkey 90 years after the disputed
events.Briner said the committee had decided that the death or
deportation of 800,000-1.8 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919
would not be the subject of a plenary session.
He said the committee agreed with the government that it was not
parliament’s job to decide whether the killings constituted genocide.
They have been recognised as such by the parliaments of several
countries, including the United States, France, Russia and Italy.
The Swiss House of Representatives recognised the genocide in 2003.
The Swiss government, however, does not officially speak of “genocide”
but of “mass deportation” and “massacre”.
Briner said the committee believed that it was up to the parties
involved, namely Turkey and Armenia, to reach an agreement.
Sabre-rattling A week is a long time in Swiss-Turkish politics, but
diplomatic relations need some serious resuscitation after a miserable
ten days for the two countries.
At the end of July the Swiss ambassador to Ankara had to deflect a
barrage of diplomatic flak concerning the Swiss investigation of a
Turkish politician who had proffered revisionist views about the
Armenian genocide in 1915.
Then on August 5 the Turkish authorities postponed indefinitely a
visit to Turkey in September by Swiss Economics Minister Joseph Deiss,
citing agenda problems of his Turkish counterpart.
Few in Switzerland believe an inability to use a diary was the reason
for the cancellation.
“That’s a typical diplomatic excuse if you can’t think of a better
one,” said Briner.
“The important thing is that we now show some guts,” he said. “I get
the impression that the Turkish government wants to placate its people
with this sabre-rattling.”