Turkey: EU’s Armenia genocide resolution is null and void

Three political parties namely the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have signed a joint declaration stating that the resolution voted by the European parliament for Turkey to recognize that it committed genocide on the Armenians as an “inappropriate and unacceptable” decision that is “null and void.” The vote which took place on Wednesday could be an obstacle to Turkey’s effort to join the European Union.

Armenians were killed during the last years of the Ottoman Empire and the EU wants Ankara to admit that it was “genocide.”

The statement lamented that European Union disregarded Turkey’s point of view for “dialogue” over the matter rather than a “biased approach.” It added that Armenians refrain from discussing the issue impartially and scientifically. The signatories to the statement alleged that the European Union is an institution with its main objective “contrary to the idea of creating peace and tolerance and a common future instead of war and clash.”

European Parliament President Martin Schulz told Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday that he “understands” Ankara’s reaction to a vote calling the 1915 mass killing of Armenians a genocide, sources in the prime minister’s office said.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters after a meeting with European Union member countries’ ambassadors that all the political parties “share the same views” and a joint declaration will be released. During the meeting, Kılıçdaroğlu said the European countries were reminded that they “have great knowledge of the universal law and acknowledge the description of ‘genocide’” and “how severe the repercussions of the EU’s description of [the 1915 events as] ‘genocide’ would be.”