DM Monitoring
ANKARA: The statement by US President Joseph Biden about the events of 1915, which has no legal and scientific basis, is meaningless for Turkey, Chairman of the Grand National Assembly (Parliament) of Turkey Mustafa Sentop said, Turkish media reported on Monday.
Sentop noted that this statement will not be useful to anyone.
“In 1981, another US president made a similar statement. Today, Turkey is even stronger, more influential both in the world and in the region. It is clear that this statement will not be useful either for the region, or for the whole world, or especially for Armenia. This will seriously affect the relations between Turkey and the US,” said the speaker of the Turkish Parliament.
Armenia and the Armenian lobby declare that the predecessor of Turkey – the Ottoman Empire – allegedly committed “genocide” against the Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915.
In response to this, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that there was no Armenian genocide in the history of Turkey.
Turkey called on Armenia to open the archives of 1915 and create a joint commission to investigate the events. However, Armenia has not yet responded to Turkey’s proposal.
Earlier on Saturday, Turkey had denounced statements of the U.S. President Joe Biden regarding the 1915 events in the “strongest terms”.
“It is clear that the said statement does not have a scholarly and legal basis, nor is it supported by any evidence. With regards to the events of 1915, none of the conditions required for the use of the term ‘genocide’ that is strictly defined in international law are met,” Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It noted that the nature of 1915 events doesn’t change according to the current political motives of the politicians or domestic political considerations.
The statement added that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) confirmed the controversial nature of the 1915 events, adding that Turkey proposed in 2005 to Armenian side to establish a joint history commission in order to reach a just conclusion in light of historical facts of that period.
“Although Armenia has never responded to this proposal, it is still on the table. In this respect, the statement made by the President of the US, who is neither legally nor morally authorized to judge historical matters, has no value,” it said.
The Foreign Ministry also said that the U.S. statement will open a “deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship.”
