Turkey again offers Armenia to form commission of historianSeptember 13, 2008 - 14:48 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Foreign Minister Ali Babacan pressed Armenia "to accept a Turkish proposal to establish a joint commission of historians to study events of World War I in eastern Anatolia, which Armenians claim amounted to systematic genocide of the Armenian population by the late Ottoman Empire.""We are ready to face our past. We have nothing to be afraid in our history, and we are ready to face whatever this proposed commission will come up with at the end of its studies. We are that confident," Babacan said, the Anatolia news agency reports. Babacan was speaking after a visit to Switzerland, one of the countries whose parliament recognized the Armenian Genocide. At a press conference after talks with his Swiss counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey, late on Thursday, Babacan said history must be written by historians, not by "yes" or "no" votes by deputies. Turkey proposed the commission of scholars in 2005, but Armenia rejected it, since the fact of Genocide is universally recognized and doesn't need to be studied. Turkey denies that 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a systematic genocide. The two neighbors have had no formal ties since 1993, when Turkey closed the border to demonstrate support to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. . Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “Great success”: Pashinyan pleased with new border protocol Pashinyan has described the signing by Armenia and Azerbaijan of a protocol on delimitation in Tavush as “a great success”. |