EUROPEAN ELECTIONS – THE EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION RELEASE THEIR

The reports enlightens the position of political groups from 2004 to 2009 The European Armenian Federation published today its five-year report on the European Parliament’s last legislature. The report enlightens the positions adopted by the various political groups on the issues relating
to foreign affairs, such as Turkey’s accession, the European Neighbourhood Policy, the relations between the European Union and Armenia or the destruction by Azerbaijan of the Armenian cultural heritage. Since two legislatures (10 years), the Federation has been the interpreter of the European citizens’ expectations on these crucial issues which engage the future of the Union. Since then, it constitutes for the Union’s institutions the main interlocutor that comes from the European civil society with regard to these questions. The report is based on an analysis of the voting record, and “presents the positions of the main political groups or some of their most active members so that, before the European elections, the European citizen could make his choice on factual and objective information.” It becomes evident at first reading that the outgoing MEPs from the main political groups were fragmented on the positions to hold with regard to these questions, where the need for affirming the Union’s values generally was confronted to the concern of not offending Turkey. In particular, the question of recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a prerequisite for accession. Thus, the conservatives of the European People’s party (EPP) who are the majority against Turkey’s accession used this ethical question in 2004, 2005 and 2006 when Turkish fast accession appeared probable. They gave this issue up the following years when it was out of date, while some MEPs continued to support it. Among the socialist group, the French who committed themselves to turn this claim into the claim of the Party of the European Socialist (PSE) remained alone without being able to succeed in rallying the PSE’s otherdelegations around this demand. Although the French Socialists remained remarkably faithful to this commitment, the PSE’s global policy was gradually aligned with Ankara’s desires. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) is in the same situation as the Socialist group: the hard core of some democratic members of Parliament continue to support the European values while the majority of the liberals give priority to the Turkish accession without really worrying about the violations of the Union’s principles by this country.
The European United Left Group (GUE) has the most coherent position which is in favour of Turkish accession by principle and at the same time it firmly expresses the preliminary demand of respect for European values, among which the recognition of the Genocide. As for the Greens, the report stresses that it “started defending the Turkish immigrants from discriminations and progressively moved to the unconditional support of the Turkish accession by the dissimulation of
the
justified obstacles which impedes the accession process.
Consequently, it constitutes today a real lobby of Turkey within the European Parliament. The report is available on the European Armenian Federation website
(http://eafjd.eu/spip.php?article544)

With the approach of the European elections, the Federation intends to continue to play its role of interlocutor between the Europeans’expectations and the Union’s institutions.

EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION