Davutoglu Meets with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt in Lapland

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with his Swedish counterpart, Carl Bildt, at an informal gathering in Lapland, Finland, yesterday, reports News.az.

Following the meeting, Davutoglu told reporters, "We regret that the Swedish parliament decided to approve the [Armenian Genocide] resolution. First of all, we think that parliaments should not evaluate such historical events since most of parliamentarians do not have adequate information about those events. Politicization of the history leads to serious problems for our societies. We consider this decision of the Swedish parliament as a big mistake. It is impossible to accept it."

"Secondly, there were perfect relations between Turkey and Sweden. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to pay a visit to Sweden next week to further improve our bilateral relations which we described as a kind of strategic partnership. Under the light of recent developments, we had to cancel Prime Minister Erdogan's visit. Also, we recalled our ambassador in Stockholm for consultations. We did not expect such a decision from the parliament of a friendly country," he said.

Davutoglu said, "I conveyed our views to Bildt. We hope that such decisions which provoke developments in the region would not be made in the future. Turkey will not allow anyone else to evaluate its history."