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Levy Clarifies Israeli Policy on Alleged Armenian Genocide
Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy has delivered a letter to his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem in an effort to make clear Israeli position on the alleged Armenian genocide and put bilateral relations back on track.
Levy reiterated in the letter that the Israeli government is clinging to its policy that the alleged Armenian Genocide should be discussed by historians, not by politicians or diplomats, Turkish Daily News reported on Thursday.
The ties between the two countries became strained after two Israeli ministers said Turkey should admit the fact that Armenians were massacred ethnically by Turks during the first World War. Armenia is pushing for a bill condemning Turkey and trying to win sympathy from the world.
Turkey was outraged by the remarks of the two Israeli ministers because it has claimed that the killings were the unfortunate outgrowth of deportations intended to prevent Armenians from assisting the invading Russian armies at that time.
Turkey and Israel, which have had close ties since early 1990s, distanced each other after Ankara reacted by not allowing its high ranking officials to attend the Israeli national day reception held at the Israeli embassy to Turkey.
Levy stressed that the two ministers' statements on the issue in no way reflected the Israeli government's position, expressing his wish to maintain the already excellent relations with Turkey on every level.
While Israeli sources argued that the issue is now over once and for all, Turkish diplomatic sources stated that the crisis is over for the time being.
Turkish officials said that Ankara views the Armenian genocide allegations seriously, adding that they expected not to hear further statements from Israeli ministers over the issue, which could damage close bilateral relations.
The two countries have enjoyed very good relations in recent years following the signing of agreements to boost cooperations in political, economic, cultural and even military fields.
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