Bulgaria's Turkish Party Won't Recognize Genocide in Armenia

25 April 2007, Wednesday
Novinite.com
Sofia News Agency

This article reports "MRF deputy-head Lyutvi Mestan tried to move the subject with a suggestion for a declaration showing "compassion with the tragedy of all nations and groups of people that had been victims of violence." Mestan said that Bulgaria's Parliament had no right to assume the powers of an institution that "gives away historical evaluations of events that haven't received consensus and categorical evaluation from historians." He added that Turkey and Armenia are now in a dialogue to find out the historical truth of the events."

Obviously this is not true. Genocide is everyone's business. It is not a question of bilateral dialogue, besides no such dialogue exists between Armenia and Turkey. Historians have already spoken long time ago and declared the massacres as genocide based on overwhelming documented historical evidence.

Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) sparked controversy in Parliament, when they refused to accept the term "genocide" when it comes to the slaughtering of over a million Armenians in 1915.

MP Rupen Kirkoryan, who is on the ticket of Simeon II National Movement (SIINM), suggested that the memory of the killed Armenian citizens be honoured with a minute of silence.

When the Parliament fell silent, all MRF representatives demonstratively left the room. Their act enraged the opposition and Boyko Vatev from the Bulgarian National Union said that it was about time the Bulgarian Parliament adopted a declaration reproaching the genocide. He added that the genocide over the Bulgarian citizens during the April and Ilinden Uprising should also be recognized.

Vatev believes that the adoption of such a declaration and Turkey's possible decision to reread the events of the 19th and 20th century would introduce a European climate in the bilateral relationships between Bulgaria and Turkey. It would also help Turkey advance in its EU accession plans.

The leader of nationalists Ataka (Attack) urged the parliament to officially recognize the events in Armenia as Genocide just as 9 European countries have already done. "This genocide has to be accepted by the Bulgarian Parliament, but I doubt that the majority would do so," Siderov said. "There is a party in the ruling majority that protects the interests of Turkey and this party is MRF," he added. "The representatives of this party are not here and did not honour the memory of a million and a half Armenians."

MRF deputy-head Lyutvi Mestan tried to move the subject with a suggestion for a declaration showing "compassion with the tragedy of all nations and groups of people that had been victims of violence." Mestan said that Bulgaria's Parliament had no right to assume the powers of an institution that "gives away historical evaluations of events that haven't received consensus and categorical evaluation from historians." He added that Turkey and Armenia are now in a dialogue to find out the historical truth of the events. His words and his tone drove all representatives of the opposition out of the plenary hall.


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.