ISRAEL DEBATES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CLAIMS
B92
Serbia
Dec 26 2011
JERUSALEM — The Knesset is debating whether to recognise Armenian
claims of genocide in a move likely to further strain Israel’s tense
ties with Turkey, euronews reports
A parliamentary committee is discussing proposals to create a memorial
day to mark the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915.
Ankara rejects the “genocide” tag.
Its once warm relations with Israel worsened severely after last
year’s bloodshed on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Israeli commandos
boarded to prevent the flotilla challenging the naval blockade of
the Palestinian territory. Nine Turks were killed in clashes.
Last week France outraged Turkey when its lower house of parliament
backed a bill making it illegal to deny Armenians were the victims of
genocide. In the diplomatic row that followed, Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused France of having committed genocide
in Algeria.
From: A. Papazian