'Only historians must deal with historical matters'

It is dishonesty to call what happened during World War I as “genocide”, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Bulent Arinc told a news conference he held in the framework of PACE winter session.

Arinc commented on the Upper House of France parliament`s approving a bill that will make it illegal to deny the so-called Armenian genocide. He said relationship between Turkey and France had always been good, adding French Senate`s decision could damage it. The Deputy Prime Minister noted adoption of this bill strikes a blow to freedom of speech and contradicts provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Arinc said only historians must deal with historical matters. “We do not understand why the French parliament interferes such issues.” The Deputy Prime Minister said five years ago Turkey put forward a proposal to establish a commission of historians to investigate Armenian genocide claims, but official Yerevan rejected it.


/AzerTAc/