509) Denmark Socialist Party’s Council member and its Economy Speaker Ole Riigaard

We frequently come across a cliché “Turkey should face up its history.” It is thought provoking that the cliché is not used for other countries that are currently EU members. After Turkey displayed its determination about the EU membership, the claims regarding the Armenian genocide settled into the agenda and it does not leave. It is worth reminding the history of Europe that in the cliché that is heard among the EU public. A reader’s letter written by the Denmark Socialist Party’s Council member and its Economy Speaker, Ole Riigaard, was published by the Denmark based Information Daily on January 18, 2006. It is as follows:
“In the process of discussing the genocide that Turkey implemented against Armenians during the Word War I, it is repeatedly demanded of Turkey to recognize the genocide and to offer an apology as a condition for its membership.

I just wonder and ask: Has Austria, in a proper sense, accepted its common responsibility in the Jewish genocide? Has France gotten on knee to apologize after the genocide in North Africa in 1950’s? Did Britain apologize for its adventures in the colonies?

Well, what about Word War I? Word War I was a meaningless crook’s war in which the great powers sent millions of soldiers to kill each other. An ordinary European citizen has no connection with that war. As a result, shouldn’t the governments of Germany, Austria, England and France apologize to their people for what they made them live through?

I almost agree on all other demands regarding Turkey. However, why do EU members ask historic confessions from themselves? It would be proper to issue a series of confessions and apologizes. Thereby it would help to make international relation depend only upon international laws. But no, instead of this, the demand for recognition of the past problems is just a means used to keep Turkey in the cold. That is hypocrisy. Nevertheless hypocrisy is always being a means for international policy


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