Turkey's president hopes inaccuracy on Armenia bill to be seen

Turkish President Abdullah Gul replied to questions of reporters during his visit to the office of the mayor of southwestern Isparta province.

Upon a question on a recent resolution adopted by a U.S. congressional panel and a similar decision to be discussed by the Swedish parliament regarding the Armenian allegations on incidents of 1915, Gul said such decisions had no respectability for Turkish nation.

"All these decisions are wrong and they constitute a great injustice to the science of history," he said.

Gul said that politicians and people who did not have any historical knowledge should not decide on matters related to history.

"I attach importance to peace, stability and cooperation. Therefore, solution of the problems in the Caucasus region is important for me," Gul said.

"I hope everybody will see the inaccuracy of such political decisions, which will harm peace and stability in the long term," the Turkish president added.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted a resolution on Armenian allegations related to the incidents of 1915 in a voting of 23-22 last week.

Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols on October 10, 2009 to normalize relations between the two countries. The protocols envisage the two countries to establish diplomatic ties and open the border that has been close since 1993. Turkey and Armenia also agreed to take steps to operate a sub-commission on impartial scientific examination of the historical records and archive to define existing problems and formulate recommendations, in which Armenian, Turkish as well as Swiss and other international experts would take part. However, on January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Armenia declared a decision of constitutional conformity on the protocols. Turkey thought the fifth article of Armenian Constitutional Court's verdict regarding the protocols was against the target and basis of the protocols.

Also, in 2005, Turkey officially proposed to Armenian government the establishment of a joint commission of history composed of historians and other experts from both sides to study together the events of 1915 not only in the archives of Turkey and Armenia but also in the archives of all relevant third countries and to share their findings with the public.


/World Bulletin/