SR International – Radio Sweden
March 14 2010

Turkey Protests against Swedish Vote

People have been protesting outside Swedish consulates in Turkey,
following the Swedish parliament’s decision on Thursday to recognise
as genocide the deaths of Armenians and other ethnic groups in the
Ottoman Empire.

The reactions in Turkey "have been strong on every level" Christer
Asp, Sweden’s ambassador in Ankara told Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

Visit Cancelled, Ambassador Recalled (2010-03-12)
And news agency TT reports that the mailbox of the Swedish Embassy in
Ankara is overflowing with protest letters from private persons as
well as organisations.

"Some of them are formulated in a way that I would not want to express
in public. There are no threats, but no nice words about Sweden, if
you see what I mean," Ambassador Christer Asp told TT.

The embassy has also received e-mails from Turkish businessmen who say
they have cancelled contracts with Swedish companies, in protest of
the standpoint in the Swedish parliament.

The Turkish Ambassador in Stockholm has been recalled, and Prime
Minister Erdogan has cancelled his planned visit to Sweden next week.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt calls the parliaments decision
"deeply regrettable" and says that it will make the reconciliation in
the region more difficult.

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