ANKARA (Today’s Zaman)–Turkey on Wednesday hinted it may resort to using international law to fight attempts by foreign legislative bodies to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Burak Ozugergin on Wednesday reiterated Ankara’s opposition to the recognition of the crime by the parliaments of other countries. He said legislative bodies are not places for debating historical facts and stressed that this view is “a matter of principle no matter what the outcome of votes on such resolutions are.”
“Resorting to international law is also one of the options we have been considering,” Ozugergin said when responding to a question on how Turkey would react to the issue. The Foreign Ministry spokesman did not dismiss the possibility of appealing to the European Court of Human Rights but said “a legal discussion is not appropriate.”
“Talking in detail to that extent on an issue which may be one of the steps which we foresee taking in the period ahead is not right,” Ozugergin said.
Earlier this month the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved a nonbinding resolution recognizing the Genocide. It was followed by the Swedish parliament passing a similar resolution.
In both cases Turkey responded angrily, withdrawing its ambassadors from Washington and Stockholm while also warning that these votes would have a damaging impact on the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey.
In the past, Turkey has retaliated to countries on the verge of Genocide recognition by temporarily recalling its envoys and threatening to cut trade links. It has, however, never sought a legal remedy.
Good, let them do this…. it will bring more attention to the Armenian Genocide