Swedish PM Apologizes To Erdogan After Armenian Resolution

Monday, 15 March 2010 11:39

Swedish Prime Minister Frederick Reinfeldt called his Turkish counterpart late Saturday to apologize for a vote in the Swedish parliament saying the Ottoman Empire committed “genocide” against Armenians and other minorities in 1915.
“The government is absolutely against the resolution, which was ratified as a result of domestic policy, and it will have no sanction or exercise power,” Reinfeldt said, according to a statement issued by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s office.

The controversial 131-130 vote came as a blow to the “excellent diplomatic relations” between the countries, Turkish diplomats said.

“We will not allow this [resolution] to affect bilateral relations in a negative way,” Reinfeldt said. “Sweden will continue supporting Turkey, especially in its EU accession process, as always. We are ready to do our best to protect the existing relations from such a baseless decision made by only one extra vote.”

In reply, Erdoğan said politicians cannot re-shape history.

“Turkey presented its archives to historians, scientists and researchers from all sides,” he said. “The political attempts, results of ignorance and prejudice, disrupt both scientific research and Turkey’s peace efforts in the region.”
Expressing his disappointment with the resolution, Erdoğan urged the Swedish government “to take steps to remedy this mistake.”

The resolution says that Armenians and other Christian minorities were subjected to genocide during World War I while the Ottoman Empire fell apart. Turkey denies any systematic massacre or genocide and asserts that people from both Turkish and Armenian communities were killed in civil strife during wartime.

In protest of the Swedish parliament’s move, Erdoğan has canceled a planned visit to Stockholm, and Turkish Ambassador Zergün Korutürk has been recalled to Ankara.