| |
|
 |
|
|
Bay Area
Armenian National Committee |
|
The
Bay Area
Armenian National
Committee (ANC-SF) is a grassroots public affairs organization serving to
inform, educate, and act on a wide range of issues concerning Armenian Americans
throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
More |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
European
Parliament
Doc. A2-33/87
July 18, 1987
The European Parliament,
having regard to the motion for a resolution
tabled by Mr. Saby and others on behalf of
the Socialist Group on a political solution
to the Armenian question (Doc. 2-737/84),
having regard to the motion for a resolution
tabled by Mr. Kolokotronis on the Armenian
question and the declaration of 24 April as
Armenian Genocide Day (Doc, V 2-360/85).
having regard to the report of the Political
Affairs Committee (Doc. 2-33/87),
A. having regard to:
the motion for a resolution by Mr. Jaquet
and others on the situation of the Armenian
people (Doc. 1-782/81),
the motion for a resolution by Mrs. Duport
and Mr. Glinne on behalf of the Socialist
Group on a political solution to the
Armenian question (Doc. 1-735/83), and
the written question by Mrs. Duport on the
Armenian question,
the resolution of the Ministers with
responsibility for Cultural Affairs, meeting
within the Council of 13 November 1986 on
the protection of Europe's architectural
heritage, including that outside the
territory of the Community.
B. convinced that recognition of the
identity of the Armenian people in Turkey as
an ethnic, cultural, linguistic and
religious minority follows on from
recognition of its own history,
C. whereas the Armenian side regards these
events as planned genocide within the
meaning of the 1948 UN Convention.
D. whereas the Turkish State rejects the
charge of genocide as unfounded,
E. whereas, to date, the Turkish Government,
by refusing to recognize the Genocide of
1915, continues to deprive the Armenian
people of the right to their own history,
F. whereas the historically proven Armenian
Genocide has so far neither been the object
of political condemnation nor received due
compensation,
G. whereas the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide by Turkey must therefore be viewed
as a profoundly humane act of moral
rehabilitation towards the Armenians, which
can only bring honor to the Turkish
Government;
H. profoundly regretting and condemning the
mindless terrorism by groups of Armenians
who were responsible between 1973 and 1986
of several attacks causing death or injury
to innocent victims and deplored by an
overwhelming majority of the Armenian
people,
I. whereas the obdurate stance of every
Turkish Government towards the Armenian
question has in no way helped to reduce the
tension,
1.
Believes that the Armenian
question and the question of
minorities in Turkey must be
resituated within the framework
of relations between Turkey and
the Community; points out that
democracy cannot be solidly
implanted in a country unless
the latter recognizes and
enriches its history with its
ethnic and cultural diversity;
2. Believes that the tragic
events in 1915-1917 involving
the Armenians living in the
territory of the Ottoman Empire
constitute genocide within the
meaning of the convention on the
prevention and the punishment of
the crime of genocide adopted by
the UN General Assembly on 9
December 1948; Recognizes,
however, that the present Turkey
cannot be held responsible for
the tragedy experienced by the
Armenians of the Ottoman Empire
and stresses that neither
political nor legal or material
claims against present-day
Turkey can be derived from the
recognition of this historical
event as an act of genocide;
3. Calls on the Council to
obtain from the present Turkish
Government as acknowledgment of
the genocide perpetrated against
the Armenians in 1915-1917 and
promote the establishment of a
political dialogue between
Turkey and the representatives
of the Armenians;
4. Believes that the refusal by
the present Turkish Government
to acknowledge the genocide
against the Armenian people
committed by the Young Turk
government, its reluctance to
apply the principles of
international law to its
differences of opinion with
Greece, the maintenance of
Turkish occupation forces in
Cyprus and the denial of
existence of the Kurdish
question, together with the lack
of true parliamentary democracy
and the failure to respect
individual and collective
freedoms, in particular freedom
of religion, in that country are
insurmountable obstacles to
consideration of the possibility
of Turkey's accession to the
Community;
5. Conscious of those past
misfortunes, supports its desire
for the development of a
specific identity, the securing
of its minority rights and the
unrestricted exercise of its
people's human and civil rights
as defined in the European
Convention of Human Rights and
its five protocols;
6. Calls for fair treatment of
the Armenian minority in Turkey
as regards their identity,
language, religion, culture and
school system, and makes an
emphatic plea for improvements
in the care of monuments and for
the maintenance and conservation
of the Armenian religious
architectural heritage in Turkey
and invites the Community to
examine how it could make an
appropriate contribution;
7. Calls on Turkey in this
connection to abide faithfully
by the provisions for the
protection of the non-Muslim
minorities as stipulated in
Articles 37 to 45 of the 1923
Treaty of Lausanne which,
moreover, was signed by most
Member States of the Community;
8. Considers that the protection
of monuments and the maintenance
and conservation of the Armenian
religious architectural heritage
in Turkey must be regarded as
part of a wider policy designed
to preserve the cultural
heritage of all civilizations
which have developed over the
centuries on present-day Turkish
territory and, in particular,
that of the Christian minorities
that formed part of the Ottoman
Empire;
9. Calls therefore on the
Community to extend the
Association Agreement with
Turkey to the cultural field so
that the remains of Christian or
other civilizations such as the
ancient classical, Hittite,
Ottoman, etc., in that country
are preserved and made generally
accessible;
10. Expresses its concern at the
difficulties currently being
experienced by the Armenian
community in Iran with respect
to the Armenian language and
their own education in
accordance with the rules of
their own religion;
11. Condemns the violations of
individual freedoms committed in
the Soviet Union against the
Armenian population;
12. Condemns strongly any
violence and any form of
terrorism carried out by
isolated groupings
unrepresentative of the Armenian
people, and calls for
reconciliation between Armenians
and Turks;
13. Calls on the Community
Member States to dedicate a day
to the memory of the genocide
and crimes against humanity
perpetrated in the 20th century,
specifically against the
Armenians and Jews;
14. Commits itself to making a
substantial contribution to
initiatives to encourage
negotiations between the
Armenian and Turkish peoples;
15. Instructs its President to
forward this resolution to the
Commission, the European
Council, the Foreign Ministers
meeting in political
cooperation, the EEC/Turkey
Association Council and the
Turkish, Iranian and Soviet
Governments and the UN Secretary
General. |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|