Slovak FM backs Turkey over genocide bill

Jan Kubis said the Slovakian parliament's decision in 2004 does not represent the line of the government. Speaking at a joint news conference in the Slovak capital with his counterpart, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Kubis said he would take up the matter with Justice Minister Stefan Harabin, adding history should be treated by historians, not politicians.

 

"I will discuss this matter with the Slovakian justice minister and members of the government. I believe history must be left to historians. We know the sensitivity of the Turkish public opinion on this matter and will not permit this topic to place a shadow on good relations between Turkey and Slovakia," he was quoted as saying by news agencies.

 

Some 300,000 Armenians and at least an equal number of Turks were killed in civil strife when Armenians, backed by Russia, rose up against the Ottomans in 1915. However Armenians claim in a systematic campaign of defamation some 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in orchestrated killings during the 1915 incidents.

 

Babacan reiterated Turkey had proposed to Armenia the establishment a joint historical committee to study the incidents of 1915 and open all archives; however, Yerevan has yet to give a positive response to the offer.

 

"Without any evidence, Turkey cannot accept any allegations," he added. Â

 

Photo: AFP