March 1, 2002 - 23:25 AMT
ANKARA ALARMED WITH EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION RECOMMENDING RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY TURKEY
Official Ankara has expressed uneasiness regarding European Parliament passing a resolution yesterday prepared by European parliamentary Pierre Garton, according to which recognition of the Armenian Genocide in 1915 is declared one of the compulsory conditions for Turkey's admission to EU. A number of factions of the Turkish Parliament came out with the corresponding statement, calling the European Parliament decision "an unskillful attack on Turkey." "The European Parliament cannot give up its enthusiasm for the question of the Armenian Genocide," - Turkish Vice Premier Mesut Yilmaz in his turn told "Milliet" Turkish newspaper. At the same time Yilmaz hinted that the European Parliament does not have the right to evaluate history.