Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

Turkey Considers Talks With Armenia On Armenian Genocide
by Armenia Assembly of America
Posted: Monday, January 15, 2001 07:37 pm CST

ARMENIA THIS WEEK
Friday, January 12, 2001

TURKEY CONSIDERS TALKS WITH ARMENIA ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Faced with increased momentum in Europe for legislative reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide, Turkish officials said this week that Ankara will open a direct diplomatic channel with Yerevan to discuss the issue. Turkish and Western media quoted an unnamed senior diplomat from the Turkish Foreign Ministry as saying that his country's leaders "gave consent to win over Armenia." It was not immediately clear what practical steps Turkey is planning to take.

Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia since it achieved independence in 1991. The late Turkish President Turgut Ozal introduced an economic blockade against Armenia in 1993 to help Azerbaijan's war effort in Karabagh. Ankara has since refused to normalize relations with Armenia.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian welcomed the Turkish offer to hold talks. Oskanian reportedly views the move as an indication that the Turkish government now realizes that the issue of the Armenian Genocide cannot be dealt with by a policy of denial and without improving relations with Armenia. The minister again noted that normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations would greatly improve the overall political climate in the region.

However, Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu said this week that creating diplomatic relations with Armenia is not on Turkey's agenda. The proposed diplomatic contact may therefore be a part of the overall Turkish policy to soft-pedal the Armenian Genocide issue. As a Turkish diplomat put it graphically to the Reuters correspondent, this "step to drain the swamp instead of killing the mosquito is the right thing to do."

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly voted this week to send the Senate bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide to the floor of the National Assembly. The full Parliament will vote on it next week. The French Senate passed the resolution two months ago. (Sources: Reuters 1-10; Turkish Daily News 1-11; Noyan Tapan 1-12; Snark 1-12)

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