Erdogan Sent a Letter to U.S. President Barack Obama

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday that they will not let resolutions on the so-called Armenian genocide hang like the sword of Damocles in Turkish-U.S. relations.

Speaking on the 2011 budget of his ministry at the Turkish Parliamentary Assembly, Davutoglu said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday on attempts to bring an Armenian resolution to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

We pay high attention to our relations with the United States. We want to carry our relations further than merely a geopolitical and strategic cooperation, Davutoglu stressed.

When President Obama talked about a ‘model partnership’ with Turkey in a speech delivered at the Turkish Parliament, we talked about the need to promote Turkish-U.S. relations not only in the military field but economic as well, Davutoglu said.

Turkish State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and State Minister for foreign trade Zafer Caglayan established a joint committee with their U.S. counterparts to promote economic relations between the two countries, Davutoglu underlined.

In the past several days, there have been efforts to bring an Armenian resolution to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives before the House recesses for holidays. As soon as we have heard the news about the so-called Armenian resolution, we made the necessary warnings to U.S. officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. We can no longer permit such resolutions to hang like the sword of Damocles in Turkish-U.S. relations. Within this frame, Prime Minister Erdogan sent a letter to President Obama on Monday. Turkey is determined to protect its national pride against all slanders and baseless allegations. I am confident that our Turkish Parliament will display the necessary sensitivity that it did display in the past (on the Armenian resolution), Davutoglu also said.

-TURKEY’S POSITION ON ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS-

Turkey has long been facing a systematic campaign of defamation carried out by Armenian lobbying groups. The Armenian diaspora has lately increased its organized activities throughout the world for the recognition of their unfounded allegations in regard to the events of 1915 as genocide by national and local parliaments.

Armenian groups living in various countries try to get the publication of many books on their allegations concerning the events of 1915 and articles written by authors close to Armenian views in well-known magazines and newspapers. Armenian organizations also orchestrate many meetings, conferences and symposia in order to garner support and to give them as much publicity as possible. Armenian groups make sure that researchers and authors close to the Armenian views take part in these meetings so that the issue always remains on the agenda. Armenian circles, similarly, sponsors the making of documentary films that advocate Armenian claims. They also encourage the broadcasting of these films in many television channels. Public opinion especially in Western countries is affected by these films, books and articles published every year and their Parliaments are left under constant pressure to recognize the Armenian allegations as ?undeniable historical truth?. The activities of diaspora organizations are also supported by the Armenian state. It is known that Armenian diplomatic missions abroad carry out certain activities so that their allegations are recognized in national legislatures.

Until today the parliaments of Argentina, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Lebanon, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Uruguay, Greece, the Greek Cypriot Administration, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Chile, Venezuela and the European Parliament passed either resolutions or issued statements. In addition, some local parliaments in the USA, Canada, Britain, Australia, Argentina and Switzerland passed similar resolutions.

Turkey is of the view that parliaments and other political institutions are not the appropriate fora to debate and pass judgments on disputed periods of history. Past events and controversial periods of history should be left to the historians for their dispassionate study and evaluation. In order to shed light on such a disputed historical issue, the Turkish Government has opened all its archives, including military records to all researchers. Furthermore, Turkey encourages historians, scholars and researchers to freely examine and discuss this historical issue in every platform. In order to have an objective and complete analysis of the Turkish-Armenian relations, the Armenian archives should also be opened and made available to the public and researchers. For reaching the truth, historians must have access to all related archives.

In this respect, in 2005, Turkey has officially proposed to the Government of Armenia the establishment of a joint commission of history composed of historians and other experts from both sides to study together the events of 1915 not only in the archives of Turkey and Armenia but also in the archives of all relevant third countries and to share their findings with the public. Unfortunately, Armenia has not responded positively to this initiative, yet. Turkey’s proposal is still on the table.

If accepted by Armenia, Turkey’s proposal for setting up a Joint Commission of History would also serve as a confidence-building measure paving the way for a dialogue towards normalization of relations between the two countries.

AA