051117 - U.K. FOREIGN OFFICE REJECTS TURKISH PARLIAMENT'S BID TO UNDERMINE HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

-- The U.K Ambassador to Ankara Dismisses Turkish Appeal to Reconsider the "Blue Book" on the Armenian Genocide --

The British Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Ambassador to Turkey Sir Peter Westmacott, refused to consider the request made by the Turkish Parliament last April to reconsider the "Blue Book" a 1916 parliamentary report, formally titled, "Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 1915-16," that documents the systematic, deliberate and politically motivated nature of the Armenian Genocide.

In a letter dated from July 8th, Sir Westmacott officially explained that the Blue Book was drafted by the Parliament, not the government. He emphasized however, that - contrarily to the insinuations of the Turkish parliamentarians - "none of the individual reports [presented in the document] has been refuted" and that the moral and intellectual probity of the authors, Lord Bryce and the prominent historian Arnold J. Toynbee - may not be questioned.

This reply, revealed by the Gomidas Institute, is coming to light at the same time as the judicial finding, in a Brussels court, that Emir Kir is a certifiable denier of the Armenian Genocide. Taken together, these two actions represent a setback to the Turkish campaign in Europe to spread its doctrine of denial. They also stand in stark contrast to the misguided and historically inaccurate declaration made in 2004 by Mrs. Abott-Watt, the British Ambassador in Armenia, in which she questioned the Armenian Genocide.

The European Armenian Federation considers this letter by a senior representative of the United Kingdom a confirmation that its government
acknowledges the Armenian Armenia Genocide as an incontestable and thoroughly documented historical fact.

V.V