Numan Kurtulmus, Speaker of the Turkish Parliament, sent a letter to Yael Braun-Pivet, President of the French National Assembly, condemning the decision to acknowledge the Assyrian and Chaldean Genocide by the Ottoman Empire adopted by the French National Assembly on April 29.
In the letter, Kurtulmus said, “We deeply condemn the adoption of an Assyrian-Chaldean bill containing baseless allegations against Ottoman history in the French National Assembly on April 29, 2024, at a time when we are trying to develop parliamentary relations with your country. This is a severe accusation that we do not deserve and does not align with historical facts. The repetition of unsubstantiated claims regarding the events of 1915 in the decision is also regrettable.”
Kurtulmus stressed that national parliaments should focus on building bridges of peace and friendship between nations instead of fostering hostility.
“Such decisions that distort historical facts or make arbitrary genocide allegations, despite the clear definition in international law, cast a shadow on the credibility of parliaments. Moreover, parliaments have neither a scientific nor a judicial role in writing history.”
The letter went on to say, “The years of World War I are remembered in history as a period when all peoples of the Ottoman Empire were victims, regardless of religion or ethnic origin. The political exploitation of history and the selective, biased, and distorted interpretation of past grievances will only fuel extremist and populist politics with discrimination, religious hatred, and xenophobia. Encouraging reason and common sense in the face of hatred and enmity should be the primary duty of the political institution. I hope for the positive advancement of relations between our countries and wish you success in your efforts in this direction.”
– turkiyenewspaper.com
