Acknowledge Genocide Before Joining Euromart, Turks Told

The European Parliament said Thursday that Turkish recognition of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in 1915 as genocide should be a precondition of Turkey’s entry into the European Communities.

The Parliament, the elected assembly of the 12-nation Common Market, passed a resolution by a 68-to-60 vote with 42 abstentions condemning the deaths in the last days of the Ottoman Empire as deliberate and organized genocide.

Several hundred demonstrators demanding “justice for the Armenian people” gathered outside the Parliament as the voting was taking place.

The Parliament said that although Turkey should not be held responsible for the killings, its application to join the communities should be made contingent on its acknowledging genocide.

Turkey formally submitted its application for membership in April in the face of stiff resistance from Greece and from other member states who viewed Ankara’s bid as premature.

The sizable group of members who refused to take part in the vote argued that the Parliament was not the right place to judge events which took place long before the European Communities came into existence.

“We cannot sit in judgment on historical events,” British Conservative lawmaker Michael Welsh said. “The European Parliament must learn to discipline itself and contain its pretensions.”

The Armenian issue has dominated this week’s session in Strasbourg. Members have engaged in lengthy debate over the role of the assembly, whose powers are limited to budget matters and supervision of the European Communities Commission.

Demonstrators outside insisted that Turkey should never be allowed to join the Community, many pressing against the heavily guarded barrier to tell of relatives who died or were tortured in 1915.

In a written statement, former Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Turkey should not be held responsible for the deeds of a defunct state. He added that the responsibility of the Ottoman administration for the massacres had never been proven.