Turkish PM says Turkey has "nothing in past to be ashamed of"

Turkish premier on Wednesday scorned the adoption of two separate bills by the Swedish parliament and a U.S. House panel that affirmed Armenian allegations on the incidents of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, expressing firm belief that Turkey had nothing in its past to be ashamed of.

"Neither Sweden nor the United States had nothing to do with the incidents that occurred nearly a century ago. And once you make history a mere tool for politics, you might never be able to find the truth again," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a televised address to the nation.

Erdogan said there were no competent scientific studies that shed a light on what really happened in 1915, and he accused politicians to take advantage of the allegations in favor of their domestic or foreign interests.

"Turkey has always defended that history should be left up to historians and it should be allowed to make the decision," Erdogan said.

The Turkish premier also said the adoption of such bills did not comply with diplomatic courtesy or justice.


/World Bulletin/