Erdogan visiting Sweden to prevent discussion of Armenian Genocide bill?

PanARMENIAN.Net - It was a surprise to hear that the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was coming for a visit to Stockholm, Sweden on April 1-3 to meet his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt for negotiation, the Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden told PanARMENIAN.Net



It was said bilateral questions and negotiation for an agreement about EU membership is on the agenda. But the Armenian Union in Sweden cannot help wondering if this really is the reason for the meeting.



Mr Fredrik Reinfeldt wrote a letter to the Armenian Union earlier to inform of the demands Turkey has to face before the membership talks. But Vahagn Avedian, the chairman for the Armenian Union wonders if those demands have a more profound meaning or not.



"Turkey breaks the law when it comes to human rights, freedom of religion and freedom of speech and oppresses the minorities by governmentally financed hate-campaigns," he said.



"The fact that the Turkish Prime Minister is visiting Sweden just two weeks before the discussion of the Armenian Genocide bill in the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs due on April 17, 2008, makes it difficult to ignore what the real purpose of his visit actually is."



Avedian reminded that Erdogan's press conference in Sofia was postponed to prevent Bulgarian members of the parliament to ask questions about the Armenian Genocide.



"Is the reason for the visit to Sweden to somehow prevent the parliamentary bill about the Armenian Genocide in the Swedish Parliament? It is well known that Turkey is spending a great amount of money on propaganda to hamper international recognition of the Armenian Genocide in 1915," he said. "It would be unfortunate if Erdogan's visit affected the Swedish foreign policy."