Accept guilt Turkey told
Accept your guilt, Greek-ex-minister tells Turkey
Path to Europe p*****
through Greece and Cyprus
AS LONG as Turkey fails to have the courage to accept its
responsibilities for the genocide of the Armenians as well as the
Pontians,
a constant shadow will be cast over the efforts to build a common peaceful
future in the region, former Greek Defence Minister Akis Tzochatzopoulos
has
stressed.
Tzochatzopoulos, who was the key speaker at the main event
commemorating the Armenian genocide by Turkey in 1915 in Nicosia this
week,
noted that impunity had led Turkey to invade Cyprus and maintain there the
last diving wall in Europe.
"Turkey is called upon today to realise that its European
prospects pass through its relations with Greece and Cyprus," the former
Minister said, adding that for this reason Turkey's EU accession should be
put to a referendum by the Greek people.
Speaking at the event organized by the Committee for the
Memory
of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian Representative in the House of
Representatives Vartkes Mahdessian also called on Turkey to recognize the
crimes perpetrated by previous Turkish governments against various
peoples.
Embargo
"Turkey obstinately refuses to have any diplomatic relations
with Armenia and continues to impose an embargo against it," he noted.
Vahdessian emphasized the fact that the Cyprus parliament was
the first to recognize the crime of the Armenian genocide, strongly
condemning Turkey.
House Speaker Marios Garoyan, in a message to the event read
by
the Director of his Office, reiterated the sup****t of the Cyprus
Parliament
to the demand of the Armenian people to have the genocide recognized by
the
international community.
"We do not beg, we do not implore; we demand of the modern
democratic humanity, of all the decision makers of the international
community, of all the nations and states to render justice; nothing more,
nothing less," Garoyan stressed.
Cyprus political parties Turkey to admit the genocide against
the Armenian people in 1915 and to offer an apology to the victims and the
world.
Disy said in a resolution that recognising the genocide was
one
of Turkey's obligations in its accession course to the EU and a sign of
conformity with European practices.
"The Greek people of Cyprus, who continue to painfully
experience the brutality of the ruthless Turkish expansionism, have on
this
sad anniversary their minds turned to the Armenian people and share in the
suffering of other peoples as well who are victims of aggression by the
powerful," the resolution said.
Diko, while calling on Turkey to admit its crime and
apologise,
also called on the international community to recognise the genocide as a
crime against humanity.
The party paid tribute to the victims of the genocide and
expressed solidarity with and sup****t for the Armenian people.
The socialist party Edek noted in a resolution that the
genocide
of the Armenians by the Turks, like that of the Greeks, the Syrians and
Kurds, was not an isolated crime but an instrument of expansionism and a
planned ethnic cleansing of Turkish territory.
"The aim was the violent disappearance of anything
non-Turkish,
the Turkification of women and children and the annihilation of all those
whose integration was not feasible," Edek noted.
Earlier in a special ceremony in the House of Representatives
to
commemorate the anniversary, House Speaker Marios Garoyan described the
genocide as one of the most atrocious crimes in modern history.
Condemn
"We condemn once again this atrocious crime and the
perpetrators; at the same time we repeat our call for a world condemnation
and recognition of the Armenian Genocide and ask Turkey to recognise at
long
last and admit its crime," Garoyan said.
He reiterated the firm sup****t of the Cyprus Parliament to the
demand of the Armenian people and of all democratic humanity for the
Armenian genocide to be recognized as an atrocious crime, and added:
"Cyprus, which has also experienced Turkish barbarism and continues to
suffer the consequences of the Turkish invasion, sends a message of honour
and appreciation to the Armenian people and our Armenian compatriots."
Speaking on a personal note as a person of Armenian origin,
the
House Speaker expressed on behalf of all the Armenians gratitude to the
Greeks of Cyprus and the Greek world in general for the sincere sup****t
they
demonstrates in relation to the genocide and also on the basis of
long-lasting bonds of friend****p.
Silence
The House observed one minute's silence in the memory of the
genocide victims.
Taking advantage of the 1st World War in which it remained
neutral, Turkey took an official decision on 23 April 1915 to get rid of
the
Armenians in its territory, through mass inland de****tations, hard labour
and outright slaughter. More than 1,5 m Armenians perished, while others
fled abroad to save themselves. In the process, other minorities, such as
Greeks, were relentlessly persecuted.
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