Israel opposes ‘genocide’ talks
ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News
The events of 1915 should not be a political topic in Knesset, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said, reiterating the country’s previous position over Armenian allegations, an Israeli official told Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.“While the state of Israel believes the incidents related to the 1915 Turkish-Armenian tragic incidents should be debated, it is also the viewpoint of Israel that such a debate should be done in an open forum, an academic atmosphere, based on facts and research,” a statement from the Israeli Embassy to Turkey said yesterday.
“It is not the position of the State of Israel that any such research be assisted by political discourse,” the statement said.
The Foreign Ministry had presented its position that “this was indeed a topic for historic discussion and not a political one,” Nizar Amer, spokesperson of the Israeli Embassy to Turkey, told Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.
Elaborating on the Knesset session held yesterday, Amer said, “As was in previous years, the Knesset’s Educational Committee held a discussion regarding the educational representation of the 1915 Turkish-Armenian events. The committee had adjourned with no vote taken, and the decision [was made] to reconvene at a future date for further study of the issue.”
The Israeli government and the Knesset agreed the discussion would be held not in the plenum but in a Knesset committee. For many years, Israel’s government has opposed recognition of 1915 events as genocide. So far, Armenian allegations have been debated many times by closed sessions of the Knesset committees.
