Xinhua General News Service, China
November 18, 2011 Friday 1:15 AM EST
Turkish, French FMs discuss Turkey’s EU bid, to host Turkish- Armenian
joint history commission
ANKARA Nov. 18
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday that the
European Union (EU) members, especially France, should consider
Turkey’s EU bid with a new vision.
Davutoglu made the remarks at a joint press conference with visiting
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in the Turkish capital of Ankara,
saying that the recent economic crisis showed once again the
importance of Turkey’s contribution to the EU.
As one of the founding countries of the EU, France’s assessment of
Turkey would bring a momentum to EU-Turkish relations, Davutoglu said.
On his part, Juppe said that France was not against Turkey’s EU
membership, but a solution was needed in regard to Cyprus issue.
There were sound relations between Turkey and France, Juppe said,
adding that Turkey is set to take over the rotating presidency of the
Group of Twenty in 2015 and this would confirm Turkey’s importance in
the international platform.
France supported Turkey in its fight against terrorism, the French
foreign minister said, noting that France would do its best in
combating the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and nearly 100
suspects were arrested in France since 2010.
Meanwhile, Davutoglu said that Turkey had accepted Juppe’s call for
establishment of a joint history commission to investigate the deaths
of Armenians in 1915.
Armenians claim that more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a
systematic genocide during World War I, but the Turkish government
insists that the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and
governmental breakdown as the Ottoman empire collapsed before modern
Turkey was created in 1923.
“We are ready to discuss our own history and other countries’ history
in an atmosphere of mutual respect and freedom,” he said.
However, Turkey was against laws and resolutions that would make its
self-defense impossible, Davutoglu said, adding that there was such a
resolution at the French Senate today.
“Implementation of this resolution is against French intellectual
tradition and freedom of thought,” Davutoglu said.
Davutoglu noted that Turkey would welcome any initiative from France
regarding the establishment of a joint history commission between
Turkey and Armenia, hoping that it would contribute to
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement and normalization of relations.
In 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to
the then Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and proposed to establish
a joint commission of historians to study the deaths of Armenians in
1915.
Turkey and Armenia have neither diplomatic nor economic ties since
Armenia declared independence in 1991. The two sides signed protocols
to normalize relations and open borders last year, but the pacts need
to be approved by both countries’ parliaments before taking effect.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress