Turkish Press
March 28 2005
Swiss F.M. Due In Turkey
ANKARA – Micheline Calmy-Rey, chief of the Federal Department of
Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, will visit Turkey between March 29th
and 31st upon the invitation of Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul, sources said on Monday.
Calmy-Rey is expected to visit capital Ankara, commercial hub of
Istanbul and southeastern city of Diyarbakir.
Micheline Calmy-Rey is scheduled to meet Gul and be received by
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
Turkey’s European Union (EU) membership bid, so-called Armenian
genocide allegations, ways of attracting Swiss investors to Turkey
and increasing trade volume and enhancement of relations between the
two countries will be taken up during Calmy-Rey’s talks with Turkish
officials.
During her stay in Turkey, Calmy-Rey will try to eliminate the
negative impact of the resolution adopted by Switzerland two years
ago regarding the so-called Armenian genocide on bilateral relations.
As two countries plan to increase their trade volume of 4 billion
USD, Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen is expected to visit
Switzerland this June. One of the other steps aiming to improve
economic relations will be the visit of Joseph Deiss, former state
minister of Switzerland who is appointed to the ministry for economy.
Deiss is expected to visit Turkey in September. Switzerland is the
sixth country having investments in Turkey.
One of the targets of not only Calmy-Rey’s but also other visits is
to help the two nations and officials to understand each other and
different political systems. In this context, reciprocal visits are
expected to be made between the two parliaments and press organs.
During these meetings, Turkish officials are expected to once more
demand that the PKK be considered as a terrorist network in
Switzerland.
EFFECTS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ALLEGATIONS
The main development which had a negative impact on Turkish-Swiss
relations is the resolutions adopted by this country regarding the
so-called Armenian genocide.
Bilateral relations between Turkey and Switzerland had become tense
after Vaud canton in Switzerland adopted a resolution acknowledging
the so-called Armenian genocide, and after Calmy-Rey delayed her
visit to Ankara scheduled for October 2003.
Ankara had told Swiss authorities that it would be better if
Calmy-Rey delayed her visit, and paid this visit in a future date.
But, Calmy-Rey, who considered Turkey’s sensitivity as
”exaggerated”, said that they had conveyed their uneasiness about
this incident to Turkish authorities, and added, ”this incident is
not facilitating our bilateral relations which we have established
with patience in recent years.”
After this resolution of Vaud canton, the Swiss Federal Assembly’s
National Council wing also adopted a resolution on the so-called
Armenian genocide. This resolution was strongly condemned by Turkish
Foreign Ministry.
In the meantime, Tages-Anzeiger newspaper published in Zurich wrote a
story in which it claimed that Calmy-Rey’s visit to Ankara was
delayed because a Turkish intelligence officer saw Calmy-Rey talking
with a supporter of the terrorist organization in a reception more
than a minute.
The newspaper also wrote that Turkish intelligence officer informed
the Swiss police about this meeting of the foreign minister, and the
note sent to the Swiss police was later conveyed to then Swiss
President Pascal Couchepin.
Swiss chief prosecutor’s office considered the claim that Turkish
intelligence officer saw that Calmy-Rey talked to a supporter of the
terrorist organization and therefore, Calmy-Rey’s visit to Turkey was
cancelled, as ”bewildering”.
SWITZERLAND’S VIEW
On the other hand, views of Swiss diplomats about the so-called
Armenian genocide are different than the resolutions adopted.
Diplomats working at the department of the Swiss Foreign Ministry
responsible for Turkey stated that ”tragic incidents that occurred
those days could not be classified as genocide”, and said that this
matter should be taken up by the historians.
Stressing that the resolutions adopted by Vaud canton and the
national council ”were not a part of the State policy of
Switzerland”, the same diplomats said that the government was not
influential over the parliament and administration of the cantons
within the framework of the federal system in Switzerland.