PanARMENIAN.Net
Armenians of Turkey speak against adoption of Armenian Genocide
Resolution by U.S. Congress
02.06.2007 14:46 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recently a U.S. Congress delegation had official
meeting with Turkish leadership in Ankara. At the end of the meeting
congressmen departed for Istanbul, where they visited the Armenian
Patriarchy of Constantinople. `Lraber’, the bulletin of the Patriarchy
reports in its May 31 issue that during their meeting with Archbishop
Mesrop Moutafian U.S. Congress delegation members discussed issues
concerning the Armenian Genocide Resolution, assassination of Hrant
Dink, as well as murders of catholic priest Santoro in Trabzon and
three evangelic missioners in Malatia. They also touched upon the bill
on grounds of the community, which President Ahmed Necdet Sezer
interposed his veto on, Turkish-Armenian relations, as well as Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s initiative aimed at establishing a
joint commission of Turkish and Armenian historians.
According to `Lraber’ answering congressmen’s questions the Patriarch
said, `Proceeding from intergovernmental relations between Armenia and
Turkey, as well as relations between local Armenians and the Turkish
nation, we do not treat positively the Armenian Genocide Resolution
introduced in the U.S. Congress. We cannot deny the tragic events of
the historical past.
The history will never forgive actions of Ýttihat ve Teraki party,
aimed at punishing not only armed Armenians who rebelled against the
state, but also all Armenians residing on the Territory of Turkey. One
and a half million Turkish citizens with Armenian descent were
annihilated in Syrian deserts. Today 70 000 Armenians live in our
country. We should not forget and those Armenians who adopted Islam in
order to escape deportation. Since they continue to speak in Armenian,
they remain faithful to the Armenian culture, and irrespective of
religious difference we consider them as our compatriots. And just the
opposite, we do not appreciate actions of the Armenian Diaspora, which
pushes forward the historical events as subject of disputes. We
-Armenians of Turkey, together with our Muslim neighbors support
social and trade relations. We do not want our relations to be spoiled
with neighbor -Muslim Turks because of such resolutions. It is the
time to develop a policy aimed at future. The Republic of Armenia
borders upon Turkey. Since change of borders is out of the question,
consequently Armenians of Turkey are interested in approaching the two
neighbor-states. We are connected politically with the Turkish State
and we have religions and cultural ties with Armenia. We -Armenians of
Turkey, do not want anything except peace. While the unbridled
approach of Diasporan representatives is a disturber of that peace,’
`Azg’ reports.