Turkey to Sweden: Politicization of history is "big mistake"

Ahmet Davutoglu, who is currently in Lapland city of Finland to attend the informal meeting of foreign ministers, met with his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt.

Davutoglu told reporters following the meeting, "we regret that Swedish parliament decided to approve the resolution. First of all, we think that parliaments should not evaluate such historical events since most of parliamentarians do not have adequate information about those events. Politicization of the history leads to serious problems for our societies. We consider this decision of the Swedish parliament as a big mistake. It is impossible to accept it."

"Secondly, there were perfect relations between Turkey and Sweden. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to pay a visit to Sweden next week to further improve our bilateral relations which we described as a kind of strategic partnership. Under the light of recent developments, we had to cancel Prime Minister Erdogan's visit. Also, we recalled our ambassador in Stockholm for consultations. We did not expect such a decision from the parliament of a friendly country," he said.

Davutoglu said, "I conveyed our views to Bildt. We hope that such decisions which provoke developments in the region would not be made in the future. Turkey will not allow anyone else to evaluate its history. Others may consider the year of 1915 as part of an Armenian issue, but for us, 1915 was the year when a nation defended its country against big armies."

Carl Bildt, on his part, said that it was not rightful to politicize historical issues with decisions made by parliaments. He said that such decisions seriously damage rapprochement processes, and expressed his sorrow.

Bildt said that Sweden, despite the decision of the parliament, would continue extending full support to Turkey's EU membership process.

We consider Turkey as an important part of the future Europe, he said.

Bildt added they tried hard to persuade parliamentarians that such a decision would be a serious mistake.

Davutoglu said, "I warned Bildt that this is an attempt to provoke Turkey-Sweden relations. He admitted it. He told me that they, as the government, did everything in their power, but could not prevent it. He also told me that they would take all kinds of steps to improve relations with Turkey, and added that they understood Turkey's reaction."


/World Bulletin/