The ruling Justice and Development Party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (AKP) and its coalition partner the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) yesterday rejected the parliamentary proposal of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to characterize the 1995 Srebrenica genocide as genocide.
The refusal caused a heated debate in the Turkish parliament, and human rights activists believe that one of the possible reasons for this decision is the preservation of relations with Serbia.
The CHP party also proposed that July 11 be declared a day of remembrance, but the proposal was rejected by the ruling coalition, which has a majority in the parliament.
“I cannot understand how and why they rejected this bill,” said Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a senior Turkish human rights activist and lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Green Left Party, calling it scandalous.
Gergerlioglu said he believed there were three reasons why Erdogan’s ruling alliance rejected the bill.
“Firstly, they don’t want to enter into the discussion about the genocide because they don’t want to worsen relations with Serbia. Second, they rejected this bill because the main opposition CHP party brought it to the parliament. Thirdly, they are afraid of its effects due to the discussion about the Armenian genocide.” Gergerlioglu said.
At the same time, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey published a joint declaration yesterday condemning the genocide in Srebrenica.
The joint declaration condemning the genocide in Srebrenica was published with the signature of the political parties of the state parliament.
“We sincerely share the indescribable pain of those killed in persecution, the likes of which have not been recorded in Europe since World War II,” the declaration states, adding:
“We express our sincere condolences to the bereaved families of the victims and our Bosniak brothers on the occasion of the commemoration of the 28th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, one of the darkest pages in human history. The greatest crime in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was committed in July 1995 in the city of Srebrenica, which by the decision of the Security Council United Nations 819/1993 declared a safe zone. This crime was qualified as genocide by the decision of the International Court of Justice of February 26, 2007. In addition, the decisions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia stated that what happened in Srebrenica was genocide “, the declaration states, Klix.ba reports.
