European Commission Refuted Information on Statements by José Manuel Barroso on Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net - President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso did not state that Turkey should acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, Deputy Spokesperson for the European Commission Leonor Ribeiro da Silva said in a conversation with PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In her words, the information on the statements by the European Commission President does not correspond to reality.



To note, earlier PanARMENIAN.Net published some information picked up from Hurriyet Turkish newspaper. Hurriyet wrote that when delivering a speech at Harvard University José Manuel Barroso stated, "We should bear in mind that Turkey is an important state and has big potential from the viewpoint of the social and economic future of Europe. However the problem of Kurds and national minorities still remains a very delicate matter for Turkey. National minorities in that state constantly face infringement of human rights." According to the Turkish newspaper, when touching upon the Armenia-Turkey relations Jose Manuel Barroso said that Ankara is developing relations with Greece and should set the same line towards Armenia. "Turks should acknowledge the reality of the Armenian Genocide. Orhan Pamuk's case is an inadmissible step from the standpoint of freedom of speech. Turkey should refrain from simplified attitude towards the Armenian issue. Europeans dislike the words "there was no Genocide". Ankara's best move would be the acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide and opening the borders with Armenia," the European Commission President allegedly stated.