Israel to revise recognizing Armenia genocide claims

An Israeli parliamentary committee is to hold a debate on Monday on recognising the Armenian genocide claims, a move likely to further strain already tense relations with Turkey.

The education committee is to convene to discuss a proposal to mark April 24, the day when killings allegedly started in 1915, as a memorial day for "the massacre of the Armenian people." A similar proposal was rejected by parliament in 2007, when ties between Israel and Turkey were warm.

But relations plunged into deep crisis last year when Israeli forces killed nine Turks in a raid on a Turkish ferry, part of an activist flotilla seeking to breach Israel's naval blockade of Gaza.

"We've been working on this for many years," Georgette Avakian of the Armenian National Committee in Jerusalem told Israeli public radio. "Hope the time has come." In October, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and axed military ties and defence trade. Last week, Israel cancelled completion of a 2008 contract to sell Turkey aerial surveillance equipment.

A parliamentary supporter of an Israeli memorial day for Armenian genocide claims -- Zahava Gal-On of the left-wing Meretz party -- said the changed diplomatic climate might mean that the measure gains support this time. "For many years, Israel's government has refused to recognise the genocide for cynical, strategic and economic reasons, connected to its ties with Turkey," she told the Haaretz daily.

 "Now, given the state of relations between the countries, I can't rule out the possibility that the foreign ministry is exploiting affairs."


/Hurriyet Daily News/