Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

EU Parliament Accuses Turks of Genocide
by Reuters - 15 November, 2000
Posted: Thursday, November 16, 2000 06:52 pm CST

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The European Parliament formally accused Turks of conducting genocide against Armenians 85 years ago, prompting an angry reaction from Ankara which said the decision would shake relations with the EU.

The Strasbourg assembly resolution came just a week after the European Union outlined to Turkey political and economic changes it must make for membership talks to begin.

Awaited with some trepidation by diplomats in Ankara, it seems likely to complicate at the outset what may in any case be a long and fraught journey toward the goal of membership for Turkey.

``The European Parliament has no right to call on our government or parliament on this issue,'' Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said in a written statement.

``This kind of irresponsible behavior is of the sort that will shake relations between Turkey and the European Union.''

The motion, passed by 234 to 213, does not oblige European Union member states to take any action. But that is unlikely to ease Turkish anger over a highly emotive issue.

``(The Turkish government should) give fresh support to the Armenian minority, as an important part of Turkish society, in particular by public recognition of the genocide that minority suffered before establishment of the modern state of Turkey,'' the resolution said.

Turkey denies genocide accusations. It argues that where killings occurred in the chaos of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, they were part of general partisan fighting and that all sides suffered.

The resolution, part of a series of European Parliament assessments of Turkish progress toward EU membership, also called for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Cyprus.

A similar ``genocide resolution'' backed by the Armenian lobby in the U.S. congress last month badly strained relations between Ankara and Washington. It was dropped only when President Clinton said its passage would damage U.S. security interests.

The French parliament is also considering such a measure.

Turkey had threatened commercial boycotts and alluded to measures that could have disrupted U.S. air operations over northern Iraq which use bases in Turkey.

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