Gul: We Will Accept Armenian Genocide Commission's Conclusions

Concerning the Euro-integration of Turkey, the president of Turkey says that they intend to bring to life the achievements of the European countries and spread the European values not only in Turkey but also throughout the region. “Turkey will not get satisfied with only accepting EU criteria, but will also undertake the role of spreading its values in the region and in the neighbor countries”, - Turkish President said.

Gul also touched upon the Armenian – Turkish rapprochement saying “If we allow the issues of the past to exist today, so we’ll poison the future.”

The Turkish President mentioned that during the years of the World War I both the Armenians and the Turks passed through hard times and millions of Armenians and Turkish were urged to migrate from Balkans, Near East and Caucasus to Anatolia. "To show that we are sincere, we even said that if a third country is interested in this matter, if French historians, for example, want to take part in this commission, they are welcome," he added on the eve of a visit to France.

The Armenian side for many times has officially stated that the historic sub-commission will not discuss the fact of Armenian Genocide. The subject of discussion can serve only the consequences of the Genocide and the ways of overcoming those consequences. Millions of Armenians now are spread around the world and have been deprived from their land. Nearly 1.5 million Armenians were massacred during the systematic deportations and killings. The rest of them that were able to survive now live in the Middle East, Europe, North and South Americas and in Australia. There are more Armenians living outside of Armenia than in Turkey.

Turkey shows sings of "sincerity," in changing its attitude toward the Armenian issue. However, how are we to explain the fact when Turkey makes a huge international Buzz saying it restores the Armenian Monastery in Akhtamar, but never allows services to be carried there and keeps it as a museum.

The president of Turkey is right in one point, that the matters of the past hinder the development of the entire region to move forward. Therefore, if Turkey has enough will to accept the consequences of the terrible Genocide that they did to Armenians and make steps to deal with the consequences of the Genocide, that would be a very good and much welcomed sign, showing a real change in 21st century Turkey.

Written by Mxitar NAzaryan
Translated from Panorama by Yeva Shahverdyan