Yerevan/Mediamax/. The President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz advises Turkey to "face his own history”.
Martin Schulz said this at a joint press conference with Turkish Minister for the EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, Mediamax reports. The Zurich public prosecutor’s office has launched an initial investigation into Egemen Bagis over the public denial of the Armenian Genocide.
“You should face your own history and you should allow independent inquiries about your history. If the independent inquires come to the conclusion that it was Genocide, you should recognize it,” said Martin Schultz.
Egemen Bagis said that “in 2005, the Turkish Prime Minister wrote in a letter to the Armenian President to which the Armenian side so far has not responded positively.
He also said that “Turkey is ready to establish international committee of historians and scholars and to accept their findings, as long as those findings are based on archives not only of Turkey and
Armenia, but also other countries involved, including Germany who was one of the Turkish best allies in 1915. Also UK, Russia, France, USA.”
Mediamax notes that it was not accidental that Bagis mentioned Germany in a special context, as the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz is German.
“We are politicians; we have responsibilities in shaping the future, not the past. Politicians should not steal the role of the historians who should study history and make judgments,” Bagis added.
However, Martin Schultz gave a different recommendation:
“As German and especially as German president of multinational parliament, I have to live every day with our past, which is not easy past. It is a very difficult one. Demons of the past are lasting until today, every day I am confronted with the past of my country. But my country, and I am proud of this, during six decades is facing its own history; is recognizing not to be guilty – because our generation is not guilty for the crimes committed in the past. But we are responsible to avoid that it could happen once more. To be as open as possible to the past is the best way to the future.”
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