Sweden labels mass killing of Armenians 'genocide' !

Friday, March 12,2010

ISTANBUL - Daily News with wires

Turkey's Ambassador to Stockholm, Zergün Korutürk. AFP photo

Sweden's parliament narrowly approved a resolution Thursday recognizing the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in Turkey as “genocide,” prompting the Turkish government to recall its ambassador in protest.

The measure passed with a one-vote margin in a surprise decision that came a week after a U.S. congressional committee approved a similar resolution.

Sweden's governing center-right coalition opposed the measure but it passed in a 131-130 vote because a handful of center-right lawmakers broke party lines. The absent count in the 349-seat assembly was 88.

"After 95 years it is time for people who have suffered so long to obtain redress," said Gulan Avci, a Liberal Party lawmaker who broke her party's line and backed the measure, which had been proposed by the left-leaning opposition. Avci is a Kurdish immigrant from Turkey.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottomans around the time of World War I. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

The resolution also labeled as “genocide” the killings of Assyrians and Pontian Greeks, ethnic groups that also suffered under the Ottomans.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said he regretted the parliament's decision, saying it "will unfortunately not have a positive effect on the ongoing normalization process between Turkey and Armenia."

Turkey protests resolution

Turkey recalled its ambassador to Sweden immediately after the vote and the Anatolia news agency reported that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan canceled a visit to Sweden on March 17.

"We condemn the decision. Our government, and our people strongly reject the resolution crippled by big mistakes and devoid of basis," the Turkish government said in a statement.

Turkish President Abdullah Gül said on Thursday that the resolution approved by the Swedish parliament did not have any credibility, reported Anatolia news agency.

Those who made this decision and who voted in favor of the resolution were not historians, he said.

Turkey also summoned the Swedish ambassador to Ankara on Friday to protest the decision.

"We conveyed our unease to the Swedish side," a diplomat told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity after Swedish Ambassador Christer Asp met with the ministry's deputy undersecretary.

Ankara expects Sweden to "take serious steps to compensate" for the decision which will "not benefit and may even harm" bilateral ties, the diplomat said.

Asp said in televised remarks after the meeting that Thursday's decision was not binding for the government and vowed to maintain the "strong, friendly" ties with Turkey.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com / Portal Turkey