Halil Berktay on recognising the Armenian genocide

The French parliament is set to vote on Thursday, May 18 on a bill that makes it a crime to deny the 1915 Armenian genocide. In an interview with Sophie Shihab, Halil Berktay, the first Turkish historian living in Turkey to have recognised this atrocity, believes adopting such a law would be counter-productive. "Any long-term resolution of this question is contingent on Turkey's democratisation. The denial of reality is a problem that is part of the tragedy of Turkish society. It must be overcome in Turkey. ... It is not the job of politics to dictate knowledge. The experience of the 20th century should suffice to convince us as much. What we need are open, free and unrushed debates. ... There are grounds to fear that the Turkish parliament could end up adopting a counter-law making it a crime to acknowledge genocide. There is at present a virulent nationalist, anti-European wave in Turkey. These forces would be delighted to see Europe reject Turkey's membership bid."

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Science / Research, » France, » Turkey