Same Trick Different Day

[Yervant1]

Now that the Democrats have the control of the house of commons and the senate, Turks are at it again.

 

ANKARA SIGNALS POLICY CHANGE ON GENOCIDE CLAIMS

 

Turkish Daily News, Turkey

Nov 16 2006

 

The government yesterday signaled a policy change regarding the

alleged genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, with

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul saying that Turkey was contemplating

international arbitration on the issue.

 

Speaking to reporters in Ankara before departing for the Turkish

Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), Gul said retired diplomats and

Turkish and reliable foreign law experts were carrying out meticulous

studies on the issue. "But these efforts should not be perceived as

a single response aimed at finding a solution to problems that emerge

at a certain time," Gul said, hinting that the government was seeking

to find a long-term solution to the problem.

 

Gul was responding to news report yesterday published in one of the

Turkish dailies.

 

"Historic step from Turkey," headlined daily Milliyet, saying that the

government was preparing for a new policy on the genocide allegations,

which came after Ankara proposed to establish a joint commission of

academics to study genocide claims. "Gul said the government could take

the genocide claims to international arbitration," it reported. Gul was

speaking at the Parliament's Planning and Budget Commission on Tuesday.

 

Foreign Ministry officials avoided giving details about any policy

change on the Armenian issue.

 

Turkey's move comes as a long-term policy against influential Armenian

diaspora's efforts to get international recognition as the time for

the 100th anniversary of the alleged genocide approaches.

 

The powerful diaspora efforts reached their peak in 2005 all across

Europe and other continents of the world, particularly in the United

States, on the 90th anniversary of the so-called genocide.

 

The Armenian diaspora is expected to try to get the highest ever

international publicity, as they did on the 90th anniversary of the

alleged genocide, blaming Turks for what Armenians called the "first

genocide of the 20th century."

 

In 2005, Armenians held conferences, commemoration ceremonies across

the globe and pushed more strongly for parliamentary resolutions in

different national and regional assemblies acknowledging that the

"genocide" did take place.