French-Turkish friendship group members visit Turkish parliament

Speaking while meeting Blanc at the Turkish Parliament, Yakut said that the adoption of an Armenian resolution on the incidents of 1915 was a sad development in the relations between Turkey and France.

We watch with concern the penalties to be given to those who reject Armenian assertions related to the incidents of 1915 in France. Related legislation in France could be a serious blow on Turkish-French relations, Yakut underlined.

Touching on Turkey's EU process, Yakut said that it was impossible for Turkey to accept any other alternative other than full membership in the EU.

Blanc, in his part, said that he was aware of Turkey's sensitivity on the Armenian assertions vis-a-vis the incidents of 1915 and a draft law that penalizes individuals who reject such assertions but that it was impossible to withdraw such a draft law.

I hope that such a draft law does not get accepted and the issue is left to historians, Blanc underlined.

In regard to Turkey's EU bid, Blanc said that the EU needed new projects and momentum, and they wanted to see Turkey participating in such projects.

We need to understand each other better. There is a need to better promote Turkey in France, Blanc said.

Blanc presented a Medal of the French Senate to Yakut.

TURKEY'S POSITION ON ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS

Turkey has long been facing a systematic campaign of defamation carried out by Armenian lobbying groups. The Armenian diaspora has lately increased its organized activities throughout the world for the recognition of their unfounded allegations in regard to the events of 1915 as "genocide" by national and local parliaments.

Armenian groups living in various countries try to get the publication of many books on their allegations concerning the events of 1915 and articles written by authors close to Armenian views in well-known magazines and newspapers. Armenian organizations also orchestrate many meetings, conferences and symposia in order to garner support and to give them as much publicity as possible. Armenian groups make sure that researchers and authors close to the Armenian views take part in these meetings so that the issue always remains on the agenda. Armenian circles, similarly, sponsor the making of documentary films that advocate Armenian claims. They also encourage the broadcasting of these films in many television channels. Public opinion especially in Western countries is affected by these films, books and articles published every year and their Parliaments are left under constant pressure to recognize the Armenian allegations as "undeniable historical truth". The activities of diaspora organizations are also supported by the Armenian state. It is known that Armenian diplomatic missions abroad carry out certain activities so that their allegations are recognized in national legislatures.

Until today the parliaments of Argentina, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Lebanon, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Uruguay, Greece, the Greek Cypriot Administration, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Chile, Venezuela and the European Parliament passed either resolutions or issued statements. In addition, some local parliaments in the USA, Canada, Britain, Australia, Argentina and Switzerland passed similar resolutions.

Turkey is of the view that parliaments and other political institutions are not the appropriate fora to debate and pass judgments on disputed periods of history. Past events and controversial periods of history should be left to the historians for their dispassionate study and evaluation. In order to shed light on such a disputed historical issue, the Turkish Government has opened all its archives, including military records to all researchers. Furthermore, Turkey encourages historians, scholars and researchers to freely examine and discuss this historical issue in every platform. In order to have an objective and complete analysis of the Turkish-Armenian relations, the Armenian archives should also be opened and made available to the public and researchers. For reaching the truth, historians must have access to all related archives.

In this respect, in 2005, Turkey has officially proposed to the Government of Armenia the establishment of a joint commission of history composed of historians and other experts from both sides to study together the events of 1915 not only in the archives of Turkey and Armenia but also in the archives of all relevant third countries and to share their findings with the public. Unfortunately, Armenia has not responded positively to this initiative, yet. Turkey's proposal is still on the table.

If accepted by Armenia, Turkey's proposal for setting up a Joint Commission of History would also serve as a confidence-building measure paving the way for a dialogue towards normalization of relations between the two countries.

Turkey and Armenia signed protocols in 2009 to normalize relations.

Dozens of Turkish diplomats and family members as well as Turkish citizens have either been assassinated or wounded in attacks perpetrated by Armenian terrorists during the 1970s and 1980s.