Turkish party leader: Withdrawal of Armenian bill from Swiss Senate “success”
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
8 Aug 05
ISTANBUL
“Withdrawal of a draft resolution on the so-called Armenian massacre
from the Swiss Senate is a success. We have been carrying out a
struggle in international fora against the so-called Armenian
genocide,” Labour Party (IP) Chairman Dogu Perincek said on Monday [8
August].
Perincek, who held a press conference at the party HQ in Istanbul,
recalled that Peter Briner, president of the Senate foreign affairs
committee, stated that Swiss Senate gave up to include a draft
resolution on the so-called Armenian massacre on its agenda. Briner,
in his statement, emphasized that the 1915 events will never be an
issue for the Swiss Senate.
Perincek said Briner’s statement acknowledged that “the problem should
be discussed between the related countries – i.e. Turkey and Armenia –
and that the issue should be left to historians”.
Perincek said the draft about the so-called Armenian massacre was
removed from the agenda 14 days after he was interrogated by a Swiss
prosecutor. “The withdrawal of the draft is a great success,” Perincek
stated.
Stressing that this is an opportunity for Turkey, Perincek said: “Let
us act altogether and defeat the Armenian genocide lie in all European
capitals.”
Perincek had been detained in Winterthur city of Switzerland as he
said “Armenian genocide is nothing but an international lie” at a news
conference, but he was released after being interrogated.
A legal procedure was also opened in Switzerland against
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Halacoglu, the chairman of the Turkish Historical
Society, because of his statement refuting the so-called Armenian
genocide allegations.