UPDATES WITH QUOTES OF TURKISH PARLIAMENT SPEAKER
By Sena Guler and Emin Avundukluoglu
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey does not accept and strongly condemns the U.S. Senate resolution on Armenian events that "poisons the climate of Turkish-American relations," the ruling party spokesman said Friday.
“We do not accept by any means and strongly condemn the U.S. Senate resolution which is based on false claims on the events that took place in 1915 in the Ottoman state, and which poisons the climate of Turkish-American relations,” Omer Celik, the Justice and Development (AK) Party spokesman, said in a tweet.
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed Thursday a resolution recognizing Armenian claims of 1915 events.
Celik said the baseless resolution may please “the lobby of genocide industry” but it uses history as a means of the policy based on lies.
“It is of a nature that will prevent the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations,” he said, adding that it was an irresponsible move in terms of policy.
Celik noted that the resolution showed how “genocide economy” managed by fanatic Armenian interest groups is affecting the “American lobbying system” despite their national interests.
He also reminded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s offer to open archives and let historians work together, and said the Armenian side is avoiding it.
Celik stressed that the U.S. move did not comply with the solidarity spirit of NATO alliance.
The U.S. Senate resolution on Armenian events is not a decision that could be taken seriously, Mustafa Sentop, Turkish parliament speaker also said on Friday.
"The U.S. issue is neither Armenians nor 1915 events. They are playing all their cards for taking up a position on the recent themes negotiated with Turkey," Sentop told the journalists in the parliament.
He called on the U.S. to consider its own history, and said: "Every single year of their history is full of shame."
Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.
Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.
Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to examine the issue.
