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ANKARA, (AFP) - Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline
Calmy-Rey on Tuesday urged Turkey to carry out a
detailed study of claims that millions of Armenians
were the victims of genocide under Ottoman rule
during World War I.
"We think that it is essential that every country
conduct an in-depth historical research of its own
past, especially when the question is so painful,"
Calmy-Rey told reporters after talks with her
Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.
The Swiss minister was speaking on the first day of
an official visit which was originally supposed to
take place in 2003 but was cancelled after the Swiss
canton of Vaud qualified as genocide the 1915
massacres of Armenians.
Shortly afterwards, the lower house of the Swiss
parliament also followed suit -- against the Bern
government's advice -- and adopted a similar
resolution, unleashing an angry response from
Ankara.
The allegations of genocide "are unacceptable claims
by the (Armenian diaspora) to continue its
existence. Unfortunately, the diaspora sometimes
poisons our ties with other countries for its own
benefit," Gul said.
"Other countries must not allow this," he added.
Turkey categorically denies the Armenian
allegations, but has recently faced increasing calls
for it to accept the killings of Armenians as
genocide.
In a counter-move, Turkey recently called for an
unbiased study by historians, urging Armenia to also
open up its own archives.
Calmy-Rey hailed the offer as a "good idea" and said
she had proposed to Gul the inclusion of
international experts in such a commission for the
credibility of the work.
The massacres of Armenians during World War I is one
of the most controversial episodes in Turkish
history.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen
were massacred in orchestrated killings nine decades
ago during the last years of the Ottoman Empire, the
predecessor of modern Turkey.
Turkey, on the other hand, argues that 300,000
Armenians and thousands of Turks were killed in what
was civil strife during World War I when the
Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers.
The Swiss minister said that she had come to Turkey
in a bid to deepen existing ties and that she would
discuss prospects of increased cooperation,
especially in the economic field, during her visit.
Calmy-Rey was scheduled to visit Turkey's commercial
capital Istanbul and the medieval-walled city of
Diyarbakir in the mainly Kurdish southeast before
leaving on Wednesday.
AFP
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