November 22, 2005 - 14:57 AMT
Gul: European Countries Acknowledgement of Armenian Genocide Hampers Armenian-Turkish Relations
Turkish FM Abdullah Gul stated that besides French Government no executive of the EU has recognized the Armenian Genocide. «Parliaments of a few EU countries have adopted corresponding resolutions. These are Greek Cyprus, Greece, Belgium, France, Italy, Sweden, Slovakia, Holland, Poland, Germany, Europarliament and the PACE,» he remarked. In his words, the passing of such resolutions promotes anti-Turkish sentiments in European countries, while Turkey works for «presenting the true notion of the events in 1915 to the world.» «We try to convince our colleagues from countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide that moves like that will impede integration of millions of Turks living in Europe into the European community, as well as progress in the Armenian-Turkish relations,» Gul stated, reported the Hurriyet. It should be noted that the Turkish FM repeated official Ankara stance over the acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide, «we should leave that issue to historians.»