Namik Tan: Knesset's recognition of Armenian Genocide to damage Turkey-Israel relationsOctober 10, 2008 - 17:55 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Knesset will badly damage the Turkish-Israeli partnership, said Namik Tan, Turkey's ambassador to Israel. He reminded that Ankara recalled its envoys from U.S. and France when parliaments of these states voted for recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Ambassador Tan criticized the Israeli parliamentary initiative to discuss the Armenian Genocide issue. "I support President Shimon Peres who said that the "Armenian tragedy is an issue for historians bit not politicians." Just fancy a Turkish political figure accusing Israel of genocide of Palestinians," he said, adding that he hopes Israel will never spoil relations with Turkey. Earlier, Kadima's Zeev Elkin said that discussion of the Armenian Genocide will not "cause trouble" with Turkey and Azerbaijan. "These countries should understand that Israel can't neglect discussion of an issue that has already been considered by all western parliaments," he told IzRus portal. Meanwhile, Tan remarked that "the parliamentarians fell under the influence of the Armenian minority." He stressed the importance of developing Ankara-Baku-Jerusalem strategic alliance to neutralize "the Armenian threat." "We want the Azeri oil and gas go to Israel and then to China and Japan through Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline," he said. ![]() ![]() Azerbaijani authorities report that they have already resettled 3,000 people in the Nagorno-Karabakh town of Stepanakert. On June 10, Azerbaijani President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will leave for Turkey on a working visit. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. ![]() ![]() Partner news | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |