The news articles below are to inform the reader of the issues surrounding Turkey's ascension to the European Union. They do not reflect the position of the ArmeniaDiaspora.Com.

It started a month ago with a letter to CDA (Christian Democrat Party) and a press release. The Federation of Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON) and its 24 April Committee asked if candidate Member of Parliament Ayhan Tonca distances himself from his earlier denial of the Armenian Genocide.

Strasbourg, September 5 - The European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) voted late last evening on the Eurlings report on "Turkey's progress towards accession" and its 343 amendments. This mostly critical report of Turkey was adopted by 53 votes, with 6 against and 8 abstentions.

With regard to the question of the Armenian Genocide which was constantly discussed during the debates, a majority of MEPs from the main political groups (EPP, PSE, ALDE, GUE) adopted two similar amendments which reiterates its call on Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide as a precondition for its accession.

Lyon, April 18 - Seven days before the commemorations of the Genocide of 1915, the steles of the Armenian Memorial set up in the town of Lyon, which must be inaugurated by President Jacques Chirac, were profaned with inscriptions of insults and negationnists:

"There never was genocide of the Armenians".

This act of vandalism followed upon the consecutive racist drifts with the ultra nationalist Turkish demonstration of last 18 March.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ March 15 demonstrations were held in French cities of Paris, Marseilles and Valence against Talaat Pasha commemoration in Berlin. The participants of the meeting emphasized inadmissibility of Turkey's denialist policy, noting "This Turkey does not have a place in a democratic world".

The court of Land Berlin had prevented the police from prohibiting the so-called Talaat Pasha Action scheduled for March 18-19. However human rights organizations and political figures supported the police and censured the court's decision, which will be appealed in the supreme legal instances.

Yerevan, November 10. /Yerkir/ - The Euroepan Commission issued on November 9 its report on Turkey's development, Noyan Tapan reported.

The Armenian European Federation has relaesed a statement regarding the report, pointing out that the 150-page report, while containing a paragraph about Armenian issues, it continously avoids using the word "genocide".

During a recent speech at Harvard University (United States), Mr. Barroso stressed that, "We should bear in mind that Turkey is an important state and has great potential from the viewpoint of the social and economic future of Europe.

TIME's apology was printed alongside an extensive letter to editors of TIME-Europe by leading Armenian, Jewish and human rights organizations. This response was published under France's "right to reply" laws, which require a publication to provide editorial space to those unfairly attacked in its pages.

During the meeting, delegation members called on Ankara to recognize the Armenian genocide claims and consider the issue of education in Kurdish. Polish members of the delegation noted that Poland had to acknowledge its part in the Jewish holocaust and asked when Turkey would face up to its own history.

Yerevan, October 03, 20005, Yerkir - European Union foreign ministers failed to agree on a strategy for membership talks with Turkey hours before the scheduled start of negotiations.

At an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg, Austria clung to a demand that the 25-nation EU offer Turkey a "privileged partnership" as an alternative to full membership in talks due to start today.

Brussels (Belgium) 25th of September - A consultative meeting of European Armenians occurred on the 23rd in Brussels, close to the heart of European institutions. The meeting was held in the Maison des Associations Internationales. It was managed by the European Armenian Federation next to the Conference on Turkey it organized in the European Parliament one day before.

The consultative meeting aimed to raise awareness of the current challenges among the European Diaspora and possibly to achieve a better cooperation on matter of concerns such as the EU New Neighborhood Policy toward Armenia, Turkey application to membership or the role and the development of Diaspora. This meeting gave also the European Armenians the opportunity to have some exchanges with officials of Armenia.

8 Februrary, BERLIN - Defusing a row after alleged Turkish pressure forced removal of the Armenian genocide from German public school curriculums, a state premier said on Tuesday the 1915 killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians would be again be taught in history classes.

Brandenburg's Prime Minister Matthias Platzeck admitted it had been a mistake to remove all mention of the genocide from his state's education ministry website curriculum planner.

8 Februrary, Turkey:Turkish Ambassador to Berlin Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik has stated that the removal of the alleged Armenian genocide from history syllabus in the German city of Brandenburg was not realized due to a lack of pressure by the Turkish diplomats.

Irtemcelik in a statement to Berliner Zeitung newspaper said yesterday, "What is to be included the in syllabus in Brandenburg is decided in Brandenburg."

Yerevan, February 7. Arminfo. For the first time the UK government has de facto acknowledged the Armenian Genocide.

According to the official site of the UK Government, political leaders in Wales and religious representatives will mark Holocaust Memorial Day in an event also reflecting on the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. This is for the first time ever, an UK government web-site has referred to the "Armenian Genocide" and "Armenian Holocaust" .

February 03. The Turkish Grand National Parliament’s committee for harmonisation with the European Union (EU) has announced that it will investigate allegations by Armenians that the Ottoman Empire committed acts of 'genocide' against its Armenian citizens during World War One.

Ali Riza Alaboyun, the deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Committee, said that some Armenian groups have agreed to the discuss the issues and settle the Armenian genocide claims that have been levelled at Turkey by many groups and organisations.

January 29. A brief reference to the Armenian genocide will be deleted from a school book in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, following Turkish diplomatic protests.

A chapter entitled War, Technology and Civilian Populations included text that cited "for example, the genocide of the Armenians population of Anatolia" - a passage that would now be removed from school textbooks, Die Welt reported on 26 January. Turkish diplomats complained to state Prime Minister Matthias Platzeck, who complied, telling the paper that genocide was too important an issue to be dealt with in just half a sentence. Most historians agree that between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians were killed in 1915 and 1916 under the Ottoman Turks during World War I. The Turkish government, which denies that a genocide took place, speaks of 200,000 dead.

For the first time ever, an UK government web-site has referred to the "Armenian Genocide" and "Armenian Holocaust"

This was in the official Holocaust Memorial Day web-site, with reference to the Commemmoration in Cardiff, Wales of the Commemmoration of the Armenian and Jewish Holocausts at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff on 26th January. Taking part was the First Minister if the National Assembly of Wales, Rhodri Morgan.

/PanArmenian.Net/ On December 15, 2004 the European Parliament introduced an amendment in the report "On Turkey's progress for EU membership", in which the parliamentarians urge Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

France has said it will ask Turkey to acknowledge the mass killing of Armenians from 1915 as a "tragedy" when it begins EU accession talks.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Turkey had "a duty to remember".

Armenians say 1.5 million of their people died or were deported from their homelands under Turkish Ottoman rule.

Mr Barnier did not say it was genocide, although the French parliament has done so in the past. Turkey says the victims died during civil unrest.

Cyprus Mail, Sofia Kannas, December 9, 2004: Visiting EU president says must be some movement on Cyprus if Turkey’s EU bid is to be a success. Cyprus indicated yesterday it was not satisfied with the latest draft of the final statement for next week’s EU summit, which is due to decide on starting accession negotiations with Turkey. “Since the draft has been leaked, I would like to express our disappointment with its contents,” Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said. “There is no substantive change.”

Yerevan, Yerkir, December 8, 2004: Turkey has conveyed its disappointment to the European Union over a new draft of conclusions of a crunch EU summit next week which is expected to give the go-ahead for accession talks with Ankara but under tough conditions, according to an AFP report.

Antelias, Lebanon, Noyan Tapan, December 7, 2004. The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently inaugurated the first museum in Turkey to be dedicated to the Armenian people. On this occasion he said that the museum would refute the accusation that Turkey perpetrated genocide against the Armenians. "Instead of looking at facts, people have distorted history through suppositions and misinformation", said Erdogan. He promised to protect the rights of the Armenians living in Turkey. He said: "As the Prime Minister of this country, it is my duty to protect the rights of these citizens".

Marseilles, Noyan Tapan, December 7, 2004: About 500 Armenians from the French city of Marseilles held an action of protest before the building of the Prosecutor's Office on November 28 in connection with the attack of the Turks on the five Armenians collecting signatures before the building of the Mayor's Office in Valance. The "Azg" ("Nation") newspaper reported about it quoting the Parisian "Armennews" as a source.

Azg Daily, Hakob Tsulikian, December 7, 2004: Vatican hasn’t made an official statement about Turkey’s membership to EU but, according to Archbishop Giovanni Lacholo, some leaders of the Catholic Church state that Europe should include "the whole territory stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Urals, The Armenian Mirror Spectator, weekly informed, referring to the news received from Vatican through Internet.

PanARMENIAN.Net, December 6, 2004: On Tuesday the National Assembly of Slovakia passed a resolution adopting Armenian genocide. According to Ashot Grigoryan – the leader of Armenian community in Slovakia, the chairman of Slovakian parliament Pavel Rushovski is going to make an official statement urging not to allow Turkey's acceptance to European Union.

Zaman Foreign News Services, Istanbul, December 6, 2004: While in Ankara two weeks before the European Union (EU)'s December 17th summit, when the EU will decide whether to invite Turkey to begin full membership negotiations, president of the European Parliament (EP), Josep Borrell, told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the spokesperson for the Turkish Parliament, Bulent Arinc, that Turkey should recognize the Greek Cypriot Administration if it wishes to start full membership negotiations with the European Union (EU).

Brussels, Belgium, December 4, 2004 – The Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) of the European Parliament adopted on November the 30th a proposal for a resolution “on the 2004 regular report and the recommendation of the European Commission on Turkey’s progress towards accession”, that was prepared by Christian-Democrat Dutchman Camiel Eurlings, by 50 to 18 (6 abstentions).

The text issued after being voted by the Commission’s vote calls for the immediate repeal of article 305 of the new Turkish penal code. This article criminalizes opinions supposed to jeopardize the “fundamental interests” of Turkey, among which are the affirmation of the Armenian genocide and the denunciation of the military occupation of Cyprus.

Assyrian International News Agency, December 4, 2004: A sub-headline in Wednesday's edition of Ortadogu [Middle East], the newspaper of Turkey's hardline Nationalist Action party (MHP), read: "Another outrageous demand from the EU". It was above a report claiming that some members of the European Union were demanding that Turkey open talks with Kurdish separatists. In the tidal wave of pro-EU sentiment in Turkey's media, politics and business, Ortadogu stands out by being opposed to membership. Opinion polls show that 70 per cent of Turks favour joining the EU. Yet the paper, which appeals to extreme Turkish nationalists, is not alone.

Agence France Presse, Ankara, December 3, 2004: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul Thursday denounced as "unacceptable" a resolution by the Slovak parliament recognising the 1915 massacre under the Ottoman empire of hundreds of thousands of Armenians as genocide. On Tuesday, the Slovak parliament adopted a resolution saying: "The Slovak parliament recognises the genocide of Armenians in 1915 during which hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were killed and considers this act a crime against humanity."

Panarmenian.Net, December 2, 2004: On the initiative of the Christian-Democratic faction the Slovakian parliamentarians unanimously voted for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. The country's position on Turkey's membership in EU and the issue of the Armenian Genocide recognition became the urgent items of the Slovakian parliament session agenda.

Mediamax News Agency, Yerevan, December 2, 2004: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has sent a letter to the leaders of all the EU member countries calling for the discussion of Turkey's blockade of Armenia at the forthcoming EU summit on 17 December, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in the evening of 1 December in an interview with Armenian Public TV.

Cyprus News Agency, Nicosia In Brussels, December 1, 2004: The Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament approved the draft report of Dutch Member of the European Parliament Camiel Eurlings on Turkey's accession course, inviting the council to open negotiations with Turkey without undue delay, stressing that the withdrawal of the Turkish forces in Cyprus "is a necessary step forward on the way to further ease tension" on the island. The draft report, which was approved by 50 votes to 18 with six abstentions, lists all the conditions that have yet to be met. On Cyprus, the MEPs want to see greater efforts from the Turkish authorities on the Cyprus issue.

Newropeans Magazine, France, November 25, 2004: However, experiencing the layered myths of Berlin at an exhibition would remain incomplete if does not also include a long look in the mirror. The Germans have accepted the responsibility for untangling their past. But there is such terrible history elsewhere - the Gulag, the 'disappeared', Cambodia, Rwanda - that needs to be stripped of congealed myth and denial. This congealed myth and denial also applies to Turkey and the massacres perpetrated by the Ottoman regime against Armenians in Turkey between 1896 and 1923 - including the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Yerevan, Armenia, Arminfo, November 22, 2004: One of the obstacles to EU cooperation with the South Caucasus countries is Turkey's blockade of Armenia, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said at the Berlin Economic Forum on 19 November. "It seems to us abnormal when a country starting negotiations for EU accession is blockading a member-country of the European New Neighborhood program," the Armenian president noted, adding that today there is a chance to settle the problem and it is in the EU's hands.

FrontPageMagazine.com, Gamaliel Isaac, November 22, 2004: Does Turkey have an Islamic Heritage Free of anti-Westernism and anti-Semitism? The statement of Mr Akyol that Turkey has an Islamic Heritage free of anti-westernism and anti-semitism is inaccurate. We need only look at Turkey’s long history of conquest of Western countries and persecution of conquered westerners. In the 14th century Turkey conquered Hungary, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Romania. Turkey was stopped only as it lay seige to Vienna. For hundreds of years thereafter Turks oppressed and engaged in periodic slaughters of their Christian subjects. In his history of Islam, The Sword and The Prophet, Serge Trifkovic wrote about the history of the Turkish oppression of the Armenian Christians as follows:

The Washington Times, Andrew Borowiec, November 22, 2004: Nicosia, Cyprus — Diplomatic skirmishes have intensified between Greece and Turkey as the European Union prepares to decide at a Dec. 17 summit whether to set a date for talks on Turkey's membership application. The pre-summit climate also was marred by what Greece says are increasing violations of its Aegean Sea airspace by Turkish warplanes and a hardening of Turkey's views on its EU membership credentials.

Istanbul, Turkey, November 21, 2004, Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC - In the Panayia church, one of the few Greek Orthodox churches active in Turkey, ceiling panels dangle precariously and flying glass has pitted the frescos. The building, which celebrates its 200th anniversary today, has been scarred for a year, since terrorists bombed the nearby British Consulate and the explosion shattered dozens of stained glass windows.

Zaman Daily, Reuters Cihan Berlin, November 20, 2004: Armenian President Robert Kocharian wants Turkey to end it's isolation of Armenia and open the border gates, which have been closed for 11 years. He did not see the Armenian genocide claims as a provision to start bilateral negotiations. In an interview with Die Welt, Kocharian said, "Turkey's application of blockade towards Armenia; this is called harassment."

Postimees web site, Tallinn, Estonia - November 18, 2004 - President Arnold Ruutel has said that the 1915 Turkish genocide of Armenians should be recognized and condemned. Asked why he or other Estonian leaders had not said so before, he said the situation ahead of accession to the EU had been tense, but now the country would have the strength to issue clear statements on foreign policy.

Mevlut Katik, Eurasia Insight, November 17, 2004 - An omission from Armenia’s draft 2005 budget has touched off speculation that a rapprochement with Turkey may be in the offing. The missing line item concerns Yerevan’s long-standing effort to win international recognition for what Armenian officials portray as the genocide of 1915-16. Some observers interpret the dropped genocide reference as an effort to extend an olive branch to Turkey.

Brussels, Belgium, November 17, 2004- The Palace of Fine Arts of Brussels (Belgium) hosts the exhibition on Turkey `Mothers, Goddesses and Sultans' which will last from October 06 2004 to January 16 2005. The exhibition accounts pieces from the collection of the Topkapi Palace (Turkey), Louvre, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the museums of Berlin and the most important museums in Turkey.

Hakob Chakrian, Azg, November 16, 2004 : Will the EU Press On Turkey To Open The Border-Gate? Discussions over Armenian-Turkish relations gathered new momentum recently. Armenia’s pushy policy in achieving international acknowledgement of Armenian Genocide and footless conclusions about removing the issue from Armenia’s foreign agenda were in the center of discussions.

EU Observer, Honor Mahony, November 16, 2004: French President Jacques Chirac has pointed to a third way for Turkey, which would see it have a strong link to the EU but not actual membership. Speaking on Sunday in Marseilles, Mr Chirac said, "Either it works and Turkey joins with all our values. This will take 10 to 15 years" or on the other hand, he said "... Turkey cannot or will not make the necessary effort, then we will stop".

Ottawa Citizen, November 15, 2004: It is depressing enough that human beings are capable of mass murder, but the tendency of perpetrators to then deny their crimes is doubly sickening. So the Bosnian Serb government's decision last week to acknowledge the Srebrenica massacre is an important victory for historical truth. Genocide scholars have long been troubled by the phenomenon of denial. Turkey continues to deny the Armenian genocide during the First World War, even though Turkish soldiers shot tens of thousand of Armenian Christians and displaced tens of thousands more, the latter dying of privation in the desert.

Ekhatimerini, November 11, 2004: As Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis clashed with the opposition in Parliament over Greek policy toward Ankara, his Turkish counterpart indicated that he had no intention of recognizing the Republic of Cyprus ahead of Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

EU Observer, Honor Mahony, November 11, 2004: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has said that his country should not pursue membership of the EU at "any cost". According to agency reports, Mr Gul, who was speaking before parliament on Tuesday, said "we do not believe that Turkey should do anything at any cost to join the EU".

Assembly Of Armenians Of Europe, November 11, 2004: The correspondent of the Milliyet newspaper (Turkey) alerts from Van (Eastern Turkey) that the marvelous carvings of the 10th century church of Akhtamar (Lake Van, Eastern Turkey) are regularly being used as targets for shooting practice by visitors. The newspaper published also a photo where one can see the state of carvings after such visits. The correspondent reports that the church is protected by a guard in the summer time only during the working hours.

The Economist, November 11, 2004 - “HAPPY is he who calls himself a Turk!” That breezy slogan, emblazoned on mountainsides and offices from the Aegean to the Euphrates, was devised by Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, as he set about forging a fresh identity for his people. The idea was that former subjects of the Ottoman empire — whose native language might be Arabic, Albanian or Kurdish—would find a new togetherness as citizens of a unitary republic. And in case people hesitated to embrace the joys of Turkishness, there were harsh penalties for those who asserted any other sort of identity.

The Hague, November 10, 2004: In response to written questions of Member of Parliament Van Baalen (VVD) Minister Bot of foreign affairs of the Netherlands stated today that the explanation on Article 305 of the new Turkish Penal Code has been adapted. The title of Article 305 is "Crimes against fundamental national interests". A document accompanying the Article as an explanatory memorandum or 'reasoning' is established by the parliament during the approval of the law. The 'reasoning' accompanying Article 305 provided as illustration of such offences the acceptance of compensations for propaganda for withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus, and for claiming that in the aftermath of the World War I the Armenians were subjected to Genocide.

Paradise Post, Lowell Blankfort, November 8, 2004 : The Middle East's largest country and straddling both Europe and Asia, crucial U.S. ally Turkey is undergoing big changes. Lowell Blankfort, a prize-winning writer and former Post co-owner, and his wife April have just returned from a three-week reporting trip there. This is the first of a series of articles.

Monday Morning, Lebanon, November 8, 2004: Debate over a report criticizing breaches of minority rights in aspiring European Union member Turkey turned ugly last week when members of a government-sponsored human rights group that issued the document clashed in public. The incident was the latest episode in a row within the Human Rights Advisory Board, a body attached to the office of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which highlighted widespread hostility in Turkey to advanced cultural freedoms for the country's Kurdish and non-Muslim communities.

Athens Daily News, Alex Penman, November 5, 2004 : For three weeks, Turkey has been witnessing an unprecedented debate, triggered by a minorities report issued by the prime minister's Human Rights Advisory Committee. The first of its kind to originate from an official body, the report examined state policy on minority rights, but it didn't stop there. With its proposal to replace the Kemalist model of a nation-state with a pluralistic, multicultural society, it challenged the very foundations of the Turkish state.

Christianity Today, Collin Hansen, October 28, 2004: A church worn down by Christian rivalry and Islamic jihad hangs on in the land of Nicea and Ephesus. Only those who are mindful of history can fully appreciate the significance of Turkey's expected admission to the European Union. The bitterness spawned by centuries of warfare and political rivalry has now given way to a new era of diplomatic and economic engagement. Yet, Turkey's troublesome record of human-rights abuses remains a considerable stumbling block for a few wary EU nations.

Marseille, France, Agence France Presse, October 29, 2004: France's Armenian community said Friday it would appeal to President Jacques Chirac to prevent negotiations on Turkish membership of the European Union until Turkey acknowledged responsibility for a World War One massacre of Armenians. The group's attorney Philippe Krikorian said it would lodge an appeal before the nation's highest administrative tribunal, the Council of State, requesting Chirac to oppose the start of such talks.

Cardiff, October 27, Hakob Tsulikian, Azg (www.azg.am): Municipal council of Cardiff, capital of Wales, officially recognized the Armenian genocide. The municipal council decided to commemorate