Tel-Chai Nation

In a surprising move, the Swedish parliament has done something positive, while at the same time angering callous old Turkey even more:

ANKARA — Turkey warned Sweden Friday of "serious" damage to ties after the Swedish parliament recognized the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, only days after a similar vote by a US Congressional panel.

The foreign ministry summoned the Swedish ambassador to convey Ankara's protests, while the Turkish envoy to Stockholm, recalled immediately after Thursday's vote, arrived home for consultations.

"It is up to the government to decide, but I think (the vote) will have serious consequences" on bilateral relations, Ambassador Zergun Koruturk told reporters after landing in Istanbul.

She lamented that the vote came at a time when "we had excellent ties with Sweden and it was at the forefront of countries supporting our European Union membership process."

Turkey expects Sweden to "take serious steps to compensate" for the decision, a Turkish diplomat told AFP after the Swedish ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry.

I hope this doesn't mean Sweden will try to "compensate" by discriminating against Israel. Why, by that logic, it means they'd do the same in their relations with Armenia and even some black African countries.

The envoy, Christer Asp, said after the meeting that Thursday's decision was not binding for the government and vowed to maintain the "strong, friendly" ties with Turkey.

Going against the government's advice, the Swedish parliament voted by a narrow margin to recognize the "genocide of Armenians" during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, further infuriating Ankara by mentioning also other Christian communities as victims of "genocide" in Ottoman hands.

Ankara quickly recalled its ambassador and cancelled next week's visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Sweden.

The vote came a week after the US House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly approved a non-binding resolution branding the massacres of Armenians a genocide, prompting Ankara to recall its ambassador.

"Those decisions... will have a negative impact on Turkish-Armenian ties which we have been trying to normalise," Erdogan said in a televised speech in northwestern Turkey.

Ankara "will not be deterred by and will not bow to those fait accomplis, to those ill-willed actions and irresponsible attitudes," he added.

A government statement late Thursday accused Swedish lawmakers of backing the move out of "domestic political calculations" ahead of elections in September.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said it was a "mistake to politicise history" and vowed that the government's position remains unchanged.

This government does not recognize historical truth, nor the vote of its own parliament. This is the same government that refused to criticize a Swedish newspaper's blood libel against Jews, claiming Israeli soldiers took Arab body parts without providing any proof. However, when it came to the Mohammed cartoons or some other issue where Muslims felt insulted, the foreign ministry criticized Swedish media.

Sweden is among the few countries which openly support Turkey's troubled EU accession bid.

And now I can see why Bildt is so bothered, because it undermines his own political agenda. His agenda is to be pro-Muslim. He deserves this. I wonder if the Obama White House and the State Dept. share with the Swedish government the same urge to protect Muslim lies about history and cover up for Muslim historical crimes.

Labels: anti-semitism, Armenia, islam, Israel, racism, Scandanavia, State Dept, turkey, United States