Halonen in Armenia {was} asked for recognition of Turkish massacre
28.9.2005
HELSINGIN SANOMAT
During her visit to Armenia on Tuesday, President Tarja Halonen found herself in the middle of a discussion on the sensitive issue of the Turkish massacre of more than a million Armenians during the First World War and shortly thereafter.
[...]
Armenian journalists asked the Finnish President if she would publicly recognise the events as a genocide. [...].
[...]
President Halonen avoided a direct response to the questions, saying instead "We are building a common future with Armenia".
[...] the President {said}, Finland is not in the habit of giving recognition to historical events. She said that every generation has the right to re-examine history, and every country has a right to its own history. She added that countries should not become prisoners of history.
[...]
The Finnish President defended Turkish EU membership, which Armenia opposes, because of Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. She said that Turkish EU membership would benefit the whole region, including Armenia.
On the question of Nagorno-Karabakh - an ethnically Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan - Halonen offered the autonomous status of Finland’s Åland Islands as a model. A fiery-eyed student responded: "Azerbaijan is not Sweden".
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.
HELSINGIN SANOMAT
During her visit to Armenia on Tuesday, President Tarja Halonen found herself in the middle of a discussion on the sensitive issue of the Turkish massacre of more than a million Armenians during the First World War and shortly thereafter.
[...]
Armenian journalists asked the Finnish President if she would publicly recognise the events as a genocide. [...].
[...]
President Halonen avoided a direct response to the questions, saying instead "We are building a common future with Armenia".
[...] the President {said}, Finland is not in the habit of giving recognition to historical events. She said that every generation has the right to re-examine history, and every country has a right to its own history. She added that countries should not become prisoners of history.
[...]
The Finnish President defended Turkish EU membership, which Armenia opposes, because of Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. She said that Turkish EU membership would benefit the whole region, including Armenia.
On the question of Nagorno-Karabakh - an ethnically Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan - Halonen offered the autonomous status of Finland’s Åland Islands as a model. A fiery-eyed student responded: "Azerbaijan is not Sweden".
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 7:34 AM
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