PRESS RELEASE
The British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group
9 Cliveden Place,
London SW1W 8LA
Tel: 020 7730 5579
Fax: 020 7730 6654
Email: [email protected]
The Members of the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group,
having been briefed about the latest resolution of the Armenian
Government to invite the Turkish President to a football match in
Armenia and to set-up an International Scholars Organisation
commissioned to study and provide documents related to the Armenian
Genocide , expressed their appreciation for the peaceful settlement of
all Turkish-Armenian differences and welcomed any step that could bring
peace and stability to the countries of the Caucasus and asked some
questions :
. Will the current Armenian Diplomatic Protocol regarding visits by
Guests of Honour apply and will the Turkish President be invited to
visit the Matenadaran , the Armenian Genocide Memorial Museum and the
Holy See of Eshmiadzine ? ( Sites visited by every British
Parliamentarian invited to Armenia , since 1992)
. Will the Turkish President agree to visit a memorial erected to
commemorate an event which , according to the Turkish Government ,
never happened?
. In which country will the conference analysing the documents
referring to the Armenian Genocide be held?
. Will the historians and scholars participating to that conference
be subjected to prosecution , according to Turkish Penal Code 301?
. Although Article 301 refers to internal Turkish judicial issues but
is there an agreement between the two Presidents to abolish Penal Code
301 or will that Code be lifted and kept pending only for the duration
of the conference?
. Have the two steps taken by the Armenian President been
conditioned by a secret agreement between the two Leaders to open the
borders between the two countries?
. Is the Group to pursue its efforts and lobbying in the British
Parliament for the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide or wait for that
conference and its Scholars Report?
. Is the previous Report issued by the 126 Scholars who had studied
the documentation of the Armenian Genocide and presented their findings
to be disgarded?
The British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group would welcome the
opening of borders and the establishment of friendly diplomatic and
commercial relations between Armenia and Turkey and would appreciate
some clarification regarding the issues aforementioned.
Odette Bazil
Co-Founder and Executive Secretary
The British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group