Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said “Turkey would reject the immaterial (Armenian) allegations noting that the analysis of the shared history of Turkey and Armenia could only be made with unbiased and impartial scientific evidence,” Today’s Zaman reports.
Babacan who addressed the General Assembly of the Turkish Parliament Wednesday said, “regardless of origin of these allegations, we will continue to stand by the historic truth.”
Babacan said “U.S. President Barrack Obama’s statement on the occasion of the Armenian Remembrance Day on April 24 was a result of domestic political concerns noting that certain expressions and comments regarding the events of 1915 was unacceptable for Turkey.”
“One of the shortcomings of Obama’s statement was that it ignored the fact that hundreds of thousands Turks lost their lives during the events of 1915,” said Babacan.
“If the motive behind Obama’s statement was to state a prejudgment on the joint history committee foreseen to be formed by Turkey and Armenia, Turkish Foreign Ministry have announced on April 25 that Turkey would not accept this, and explained it in detail to the U.S. Ambassador who was invited to our Ministry,” said Babacan.
Babacan said he also expressed Turkey’s discomfort to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the phone and made it clear that the joint commission foreseen to be formed between the two countries could only depend on undisputed evidence and documents.
