Turks step up efforts against Armenian genocide claims

March 14, 2006
The New Anatolian

The Turkish diaspora is stepping up efforts to rescind recognition of Armenian genocide claims and to win support against its proponents ahead of April 24, the date Armenians say is the anniversary of the so-called genocide.

While Turkish associations in France joined forces under an umbrella committee to overturn the 2001 French law recognizing the Armenian genocide claims, the Workers' Party (IP) gathered over the weekend in Istanbul to outline plans for the Talat Pasha Movement, which will include a mass rally in Berlin on Saturday to denounce the Armenian claims.

The Turkish groups' decision to put forward a unified response to French recognition of Armenian genocide claims came during a meeting on Sunday with the participation of representatives from 10 associations under the leadership of the Anatolian Culture Center and the Kemalist Thought Association.
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At a press conference last week, the groups organizing the committee meeting demanded that the French Parliament's recognition of the alleged genocide in 2001 be reversed, saying that judging history was up to historians not lawmakers, making reference to an earlier statement by French President Jacques Chirac.

As part of the activities to overturn Armenian claims, the organizers of the Talat Pasha Movement met over the weekend in Istanbul to finalize preparations to launch the movement in Berlin beginning on Saturday.

A mass demonstration aimed at denouncing Armenian genocide claims, to be held in Berlin under the slogan "Take your flag and come to Berlin," has caused tension between Turkey and Germany. Flyers announcing the movement read, "If Western capitals don't want to be burned like Paris, unjust treatment towards Turkey must end."
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In an effort to hamper these efforts, the German Embassy in Ankara turned down yesterday visa applications for some who might be intending to participate in the demonstration.

The denial by some Turks has now turned into defiance instead of understanding and enlightenment. Will this bring honour to Turkey? I guess not.

The same group last year also held a demonstration to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne. At that demonstration Perincek lashed out at a decision by Switzerland to punish those who deny the Armenian genocide claims, [...] the incident turned into a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Switzerland.
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Czech President Vaclav Klaus stressed on Sunday that stirring up and bring the past events back to the agenda of the international community is useless, saying, "Who will benefit from Turkish recognition of the Armenian 'genocide'?"

Speaking to German daily Der Spiegel, Klaus questioned the necessity of facing the past, saying, "The past is the past. Nowadays the European Parliament is urging Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide claims. Who will benefit from this recognition? Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the suppression of the Prague spring reform process by harsh methods in 1968, saying that his country takes moral responsibility for the events of 1968. This was a gesture for the Czech Republic but I don't think that we have to discuss with Putin the things a former Soviet leader did to us. In other words Putin is not the inheritor of Leonid Brezhnev and I am not the inheritor of the communist regime that took power in 1948 in my country."

President Vaclav Klaus remarks are appropriate for the Czech republic but they can hardly apply to the case of Armenians. In fact Mr. Vaclav Klaus is showing a great lack of understanding of what Armenians went through in Eastern Anatolia at the turn of last century.

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.