EUROPE–On Thursday–October 18–2001 an amendment 31 bis was deposited to the European Parliament on the Lamassoure regular 2000 report of the Commission on ‘Turkey’s progress toward accession’–signed by 44 Parti Des Socialistes Europens (PSE)–Parti Populaire Europens (PPE) and Confederal Group of the European United Left (GUE)–members of the European Parliament from France–Greece–Italy and Belgium.
Political personalities such as Pervenche Beres–president of the PSE–French delegation–Guido Podesta–the president of the PPE Italian delegation–Franois Bayrou–the UDF French president and Michel Rocard–the former French Prime Minister–are among the signers.
The amendment stipulates that the European Parliament "consider that the deepening of the dialogue on the question of the recognition of the Genocide of which the Armenian community was a victim at the beginning of the 20th Century constitutes an important stage of this normalization".
"CDCA Europe (Armenian National Committee) maintains its reservations on the objectives of this Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission as well as on the idea of it reaching a common appreciation of the past–which may represent an open door to revisionism of the Armenian Genocide.
However–due to attempts to remove any mention of the genocide in the Lamassoure report–we will support this amendment because it reaffirms that there was a genocide and underlines the importance of its recognition.
"We call all the European political forces to support this amendment–as its adoption on October 24 of this year will help Turkey in its process towards democratization"–declared Hilda Tchoboian–president of CDCA Europe. Final Decision On Turkey’s Membership In EU Belongs To EU Not European Parliament
"The European Parliament is a structure–whose decisions are recommendations and not mandatory and the European Union does not necessarily have to execute them all," said a source of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs–commenting on reports about the adoption of a resolution on Turkey by the Political Committee of the European Parliament on October 10. The report said that the resolution avoids giving a clear definition to the Armenian Genocide and that the issue about relieving Turkey of its obligation to admit the Armenian Genocide would be discussed at the session of the European Parliament on October 23-25. According to the same source–"there are quite a few decisions of the European Parliament that were absolutely disregarded by the European Union."
According to the source–which wanted to remain anonymous–in the above-mentioned report–which in fact presented the consequences of the EU annual monitoring on Turkey regarding the compliance of this country to the EU requiremen’s–it’s also said that the European Parliament insists on Turkey’s taking all the necessary measures on establishing a favorable climate in the entire Caucasian region and lifting the blockade from Armenia could be the first concrete step in this direction. The document also mentions that the European Parliament supports the civil initiative of the group of former diplomats and academicians from Turkey and Armenia–whose purpose is "achievement of the general mutual understanding about the past and believes that this initiative together with other initiatives will lead to the normalization of relations among communities and states."