ISRAELI PARLIAMENT REJECTS DISCUSSING ARMENIAN "GENOCIDE" BILL
Hurriyet
.asp?gid=244
May 7 2009
Turkey
ISTANBUL – The Israeli parliament has dropped a motion proposing that
the Jewish state officially recognize the Armenian claims regarding the
1915 incidents as "genocide," according to reports earlier this week.
Israel has a moral duty to remember the "killing of Armenians,"
Environment Minister Gilad Erdan said before reading aloud the
government’s response, which rejects the motion put forward by
leftist-Meretz leader Haim Oron.
"Israel has never denied the terrible acts carried out against the
Armenians, and I am well aware of the intensity of the emotions given
the number of victims and the suffering of the Armenian people,"
Erdan was quoted by Ynetnews.com as saying.
Erdan, however, said the 1915 incidents should be assessed on the basis
of historical data instead of a political discussion in parliament.
"The study of the events must be done through open discussion,
and backed by the historical data, not a political debate in the
Knesset. Because of our understanding of the pain and suffering,
and so that Israel does not become a side that deals with this from a
purely political place, I ask that we take this issue off the Knesset’s
agenda," he said.
The issue of the 1915 incidents is highly sensitive for Turkey as
well as Armenia. In the incidents around 300,000 Armenians and at
least as many Turks, died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians
took up arms, backed by Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.
However Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5
million of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in
1915. The issue remains unsolved as Armenia drags its feet in accepting
Turkey’s proposal of forming a commission to investigate the claims.