ANKARA (Turkish Daily News)–The Turkish capital has condemned the approval of a bill by the House of Representatives of Argentina marking April 24 as "The Action Day for Tolerance and Respect between Peoples for the Memory of Armenian Genocide." Ankara labeled the Argentinean move as being incompatible not only with historical fact but with international law. The Foreign Ministry in a statement expressed regret over the fact that such bills were being approved by accepting groundless Armenian allegations as historical truths while ignoring–rather than lending support to–the Turkish government’s offer to set up a joint commission of Turkish and Armenian historians to examine the killings of Anatolian Armenia’s during World War I. "The expulsion decision made in May 1915 by the Ottoman Empire was a legitimate precaution taken purely on security motives against certain Armenian groups who were in collaboration with invading forces. However, it was not a decision made by the Ottoman Empire for the destruction of Armenia’s, as is alleged by Armenian circles and their supporters," the ministry said. Ankara has also warned that this attempt fails to comply with the spirit of improving bilateral relations between Argentina and Turkey. Turkey urged the Argentinean Senate not to approve the bill, thus preventing it from coming into effect.
