Schroeder pressures Turkey on EU reform, stresses non-Muslim freedoms
04/05/2005
[...]Schroeder also backed a Turkish proposal to Armenia for the creation of a joint commission of historians to study allegations that the Ottoman Turks committed genocide against their Armenian subjects during World War I.
"We want Turkish-Armenian relations to improve," Schroeder said. "Germany is ready to do its best to help in this issue and open its archives."Germany and the Ottoman Empire, from which the present-day Turkish Republic was born, were allies during World War I, when the Armenian massacres occured.
Turkey has come under mounting international pressure to recognize the 1915-1917 killings as genocide; some EU politicians, including the German opposition, argue that Ankara should address the genocide claims if it wants to join the European bloc.
Erdogan denounced an appeal issued by the German parliament last month calling on Ankara to face up to its history.He said he "conveyed our serious concerns and expectations" on the issue to Schroeder.
[...]
Germany is Turkey's largest trading partner and home to the largest Turkish immigrant community in Europe, some 2.5 million people.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears on:
http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/050504073142.a8544n16
Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...].The bold emphasis is mine.
[...]Schroeder also backed a Turkish proposal to Armenia for the creation of a joint commission of historians to study allegations that the Ottoman Turks committed genocide against their Armenian subjects during World War I.
"We want Turkish-Armenian relations to improve," Schroeder said. "Germany is ready to do its best to help in this issue and open its archives."Germany and the Ottoman Empire, from which the present-day Turkish Republic was born, were allies during World War I, when the Armenian massacres occured.
Turkey has come under mounting international pressure to recognize the 1915-1917 killings as genocide; some EU politicians, including the German opposition, argue that Ankara should address the genocide claims if it wants to join the European bloc.
Erdogan denounced an appeal issued by the German parliament last month calling on Ankara to face up to its history.He said he "conveyed our serious concerns and expectations" on the issue to Schroeder.
[...]
Germany is Turkey's largest trading partner and home to the largest Turkish immigrant community in Europe, some 2.5 million people.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears on:
http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/050504073142.a8544n16
Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...].The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 3:40 PM
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