Helsingin Sanomat, Finland
Sept 28 2005
Halonen in Armenia asked for recognition of Turkish massacre
President avoids question by focusing on future
During her visit to Armenia on Tuesday, President Tarja Halonen found
herself in the middle of a discussion on the sensitive issue of the
Turkish massacre of more than a million Armenians during the First
World War and shortly thereafter.
The discussion took place soon after the Finnish President had
laid a wreath at a monument to the victims of the genocide in the
Armenian capital Yerevan.
Armenian journalists asked the Finnish President if she would
publicly recognise the events as a genocide. A number of countries,
including France, have already done so.
Turkey has refused to andmit that a genocide had taken
place,and this refusal is one factor which has helped inflame
relations between Armenia and Turkey; their border is closed off, and
there are no diplomatic ties between the two countries.
President Halonen avoided a direct response to the questions, saying
instead “We are building a common future with Armenia”.
According to the President, Finland is not in the habit of
giving recognition to historical events. She said that every
generation has the right to re-examine history, and every country has
a right to its own history. She added that countries should not
become prisoners of history.
The laying of the wreath at the monument could be seen as a
recognition of sorts. However, many other state visitors to Armenia
do the same.
The protocol also calls for the planting of a tree at the
memorial. Halonen’s silver fir went up near trees planted by Vladimir
Putin and Lech Walesa.
“Where’s the minister?” Halonen asked in the middle of the
tree-planting, calling on the Minister of Trade and Industry Mauri
Pekkarinen to grab the shovel and start digging.
Earlier during the trip Pekkarinen had complained that he had
little to do in the President’s entourage. On Tuesday there was no
such problem, because Halonen kept him busy all day.
For instance, in the middle of a press conference of the
Finnish and Armenian leaders, Halonen unexpectedly asked Pekkarinen
to brief the journalists on prospects for economic cooperation
between the two countries.
Two sectors seen by Pekkarinen as worthy of development were
mining and tourism.
Finnish package tours to Armenia have already begun this year.
Currently, a fifth fairly small group of Finnish tourists are in
Yerevan.
On Tuesday President Halonen held talks with Armenian President
Robert Kochharian and other politicians on trade, Armenian-Turkish
relations, the dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well
as Turkey’s possible membership in the European Union.
The same issues came up when Halonen, who received an honorary
doctorate, spoke to students at Yerevan State University.
The Finnish President defended Turkish EU membership, which
Armenia opposes, because of Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan in the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. She said that Turkish EU membership would
benefit the whole region, including Armenia.
On the question of Nagorno-Karabakh – an ethnically Armenian
enclave inside Azerbaijan – Halonen offered the autonomous status of
Finland’s Åland Islands as a model. A fiery-eyed student responded:
“Azerbaijan is not Sweden”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress