Menu
Latest
Menu
Latest
President of European Parliament urges Turkish state minister to refer to history

President of European Parliament urges Turkish state minister to refer to history

8 February 2012

President of the European Parliament Martin Schultz and State Minister of Turkey and EU Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis gave a joint press conference, Tuesday, wherein M. Shultz urged Ankara to refer to its own history.

It is noteworthy that the Prosecutor's Office of Switzerland's Canton of Zurich launched an inquiry against Egemen Bagis to reveal if Bagis denied Armenian Genocide in public in Davos.

Martin Schultz urged Ankara to refer to its history and allow independent inquiries into the history. If the inquiries reveal that it was genocide, he said, you should recognize it. In response,
Egemen Bagis said that yet in 2005 the Turkish prime minister sent a letter to the Armenian president, but the Armenian party has not replied to that yet.

Bagis said that Turkey is ready to set up an international commission of scientists and historian and to accept their resolutions if they are based not only on the archives of Armenia and Turkey, but also of
Germany, which was Turkey's key ally in 1915, as well as Great Britain, Russia, France and the USA. "We are politicians and we are responsible for the future and not the past. Politicians should not deprive historians of their living," the state minister said.

In response, Martin Schultz said that as a German and German president of the multinational parliament he should live with the past every day, which is very difficult. "But my country has been referring to its history for over six decades and I am proud of that. Our generation is not responsible for the crimes of the past. But we should prevent such crimes in future," he said.

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged
Trending

Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged

9 June 2021
Borrell underlined that the European Union will make every effort to support the peace process and to remain a committed partner to the Afghan people. "Of course, we will have to take into account the evolving situation, but disengagement is not an option.  We are clear on that: there is no alternative to a negotiated political settlement, through inclusive peace talks.
Editor's choice
News
Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement
Trending

Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

6 July 2025
The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have recently agreed the text of a historic peace agreement that ends years of animosity and warfare. The agreement is expected to be signed soon. LINKS Europe, which has a long history of engagement with the process of peace in the region, recently launched a new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue format in the framework of the European Union's EU4Peace initiative. In the last two weeks dozens of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, including academics, students, civil society activists, journalists and other professionals, many of them young, were involved. The work is organised in five thematic groups focusing on peace and security, connectivity, environment, governance and gender and equality and in phase 2 of the project, which has just ended, around fifty participants took part in in-person and online meetings, and more than twenty others were involved indirectly. The Chairpersons of the five thematic groups met in Vilnius, 3-6 July to launch the third phase of the program. The five thematic groups are now working on separate reports, which are expected to be finished in November and presented to the two governments and other stakeholders. The reports will outline a vision, up to 2040.

Popular

Editor's choice
News
Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement
Trending

Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

6 July 2025
The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have recently agreed the text of a historic peace agreement that ends years of animosity and warfare. The agreement is expected to be signed soon. LINKS Europe, which has a long history of engagement with the process of peace in the region, recently launched a new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue format in the framework of the European Union's EU4Peace initiative. In the last two weeks dozens of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, including academics, students, civil society activists, journalists and other professionals, many of them young, were involved. The work is organised in five thematic groups focusing on peace and security, connectivity, environment, governance and gender and equality and in phase 2 of the project, which has just ended, around fifty participants took part in in-person and online meetings, and more than twenty others were involved indirectly. The Chairpersons of the five thematic groups met in Vilnius, 3-6 July to launch the third phase of the program. The five thematic groups are now working on separate reports, which are expected to be finished in November and presented to the two governments and other stakeholders. The reports will outline a vision, up to 2040.