ANKARA HAS NO REASON TO BE ASHAMED OF ITS HISTORY, TURKISH FM ASSURES
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.10.2006 14:20 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish government "uses all the possibilities
of international law up to bringing in suits" to prevent final
ratification of the French bill calling for imprisonment for the
Armenian Genocide denial, Turkish FM Abdullah Gul told parliament
today. He remarked that "France insists that historians should deal
with the disputable moments of its history on one hand and tries
to legalize Armenians’ claims lacking historical basis on the other
hand. "Turkey will lose nothing but France’s image will be damaged,"
Gul said.
The Turkish FM also assured that "Turkey has no reason to be ashamed
of her history." "We are a nation sure of its past. The government has
opened the archives, including military and secret ones for everyone
wishing to investigate the events of 1915. Moreover, the parliament
has decided to form a commission that will examine the archives of
third states of that period," Gul said.
Turkish parliamentarians voiced opinion that by adopting the bill
the French parliament "limits one of the fundamental freedoms of any
European state – freedom of speech," "We hope that the ratification
process will be stopped and the French will regain consciousness,"
Gul underscored, reports ITAR-TASS.