Armenian Cause should not be 'politicized', says Turkish FM

Turkey is in favor of the Armenian Cause to be discussed on a "legal, scientific and comprehensive" basis, but it is, however, against the "politicization" of the issue, the Turkish prime minister has said.

According to the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the statement at a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk in Ankara, asked by a Polish reporter whether they discussed the massacres of Armenians during the meeting and whether Turkey might become an EU member with that issue still unresolved.

"There is great benefit for that issue to be discussed on a legal, scientific and comprehensive basis. We consider political approaches to the issue as wrong," Erdogan was quoted as saying.

Further, he said that the Armenian Cause is being voted on in various parliaments across the world with the voters "having no idea about the issue".

"That refers also to the United States," said he. "We would like Poland to adopt a scientific and legal approach to the issue in the future."

Speaking about the prospect of Turkey's EU accession without solving the Armenian Cause, he said that there is no separate section for it in the documents over which Turkey is negotiating with the EU.

"As what concerns the EU accession, there is no separate section for that issue in the chapters of the negotiation process," said Erdogan.