Turkey ready to face past
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News 14/03/2005 19:49
Ankara is now well placed to tell the West to encourage scholarly investigation into genocide allegations instead of just listening to the Armenians and passing resolutions recognizing what they say as fact.
A three-step strategy of initiating a joint investigation of Turkish and Armenian historians; opening of national archives to scholars, not only in Turkey and Armenia but also in other countries concerned; and the establishment by an international organization, such as UNESCO, of a notary mechanism to make sure the investigation will be conducted in a strictly scientific manner. A former diplomat who worked extensively on the Armenian issue, Elekdað {of the Republican People's Party (CHP) the main opposition} is the architect of the strategy that was adopted on Tuesday by both the ruling and opposition parties.
The issue is becoming more important in connection with Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Some conservative politicians in EU countries have already argued that Turkey's recognition of the alleged genocide must be a condition for further progress in its bid to join the EU. Observers warn a much bigger wave of pressure to recognize the alleged genocide may descend upon Turkey in the months to come as Armenians across the world are preparing for large-scale commemoration activities to mark the 90th anniversary of the alleged genocide.
Getting ‘Blue Book' right:
The Turkish initiative also includes attempts to invalidate charges made in a World War I-era book written by British diplomat James Bryce and historian Arnold Toynbee called “The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915–1916,” or the “Blue Book,” as it is more commonly known.
Turkish parliamentarians are now planning to send a letter to the British House of Lords and House of Commons, asking the British Parliament to declare the book a “propaganda tool” and thus deny its arguments that Ottoman Turks had perpetrated a grave crime against humanity on Armenians in the era concerned.
Elekdað called the book a “masterpiece of British wartime propaganda” designed to win over the wavering pro-Entente neutrals, in particular the United States.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Ankara is now well placed to tell the West to encourage scholarly investigation into genocide allegations instead of just listening to the Armenians and passing resolutions recognizing what they say as fact.
A three-step strategy of initiating a joint investigation of Turkish and Armenian historians; opening of national archives to scholars, not only in Turkey and Armenia but also in other countries concerned; and the establishment by an international organization, such as UNESCO, of a notary mechanism to make sure the investigation will be conducted in a strictly scientific manner. A former diplomat who worked extensively on the Armenian issue, Elekdað {of the Republican People's Party (CHP) the main opposition} is the architect of the strategy that was adopted on Tuesday by both the ruling and opposition parties.
The issue is becoming more important in connection with Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Some conservative politicians in EU countries have already argued that Turkey's recognition of the alleged genocide must be a condition for further progress in its bid to join the EU. Observers warn a much bigger wave of pressure to recognize the alleged genocide may descend upon Turkey in the months to come as Armenians across the world are preparing for large-scale commemoration activities to mark the 90th anniversary of the alleged genocide.
Getting ‘Blue Book' right:
The Turkish initiative also includes attempts to invalidate charges made in a World War I-era book written by British diplomat James Bryce and historian Arnold Toynbee called “The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915–1916,” or the “Blue Book,” as it is more commonly known.
Turkish parliamentarians are now planning to send a letter to the British House of Lords and House of Commons, asking the British Parliament to declare the book a “propaganda tool” and thus deny its arguments that Ottoman Turks had perpetrated a grave crime against humanity on Armenians in the era concerned.
Elekdað called the book a “masterpiece of British wartime propaganda” designed to win over the wavering pro-Entente neutrals, in particular the United States.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 2:22 PM
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