Turkish minister denies Armenian genocide with ‘Malta jibe’

Turkey's European affairs minister and chief negotiator with Brussels Egemen Bagis has triggered fresh controversy over comments he made before leaving Malta last Friday, in an apparent bid to reply to Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando who questioned Ankara's democratic credentials in joining the EU.

Bagis - who was speaking to Turkish media - had just officially bagged Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's government's full backing for Turkey's EU accession bid, when he unexpectedly hailed the island for being "historic" - not for crushing the Ottoman Empire siege in 1565, but for "acquitting" Turkish exiles from the 1915 "allegations" of genocide on Armenians.

Egemen Bagis, who promised Gonzi that he was to bring Turkish Premier Tayyip Recep Erdogan to Malta for an official visit, also declared his country's "readiness" to attend a Malta conference on the Cyprus issue.

"If you can convince the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece, I can promise you to bring  the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkey and Britain to the meeting," Bagis told reporters.

But what he said next, actually ignited a nation - Armenia - which spared no words in condemning Bagis for his remarks which may be interpreted an official denial of the Armenian genocide: it is illegal in many EU nations, but not Malta, which only prosecutes for denial of the Nazi holocaust.

Bagis told Anatolia's news agency correspondent that "in 1919, Ottoman officials were exiled to Malta, facing charges in regard to events that happened in 1915," he said. "The then ministers, commanders and high-level officials were among them who had faced trial here. The court in Malta acquitted all of them. The ruling was made by a British judge. In other words, Turkey was acquitted of 1915 incidents in Malta," he stressed.

Just two months ago, similar comments by Bagis at the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland caused a diplomatic row between Berne and Ankara.

Bagis was close to being arrested for his comments which lawmakers interpreted as a "denial" of the Armenian genocide.

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, claims some 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War One, in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government.

The Ottoman empire was dissolved at the end of the war, but successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks believe the charge of genocide is an insult to their nation. Ankara argues there was heavy loss of life on both sides during fighting in the region.

At the end of the World War I, when the armies of Allied States occupied the Ottoman Empire, British officials arrested 143 Ottoman political and military leaders and intellectuals for "having committed war crimes toward Armenians" and exiled them to Malta where a trial was launched. However, lack of evidence led to detainees release without trial and even any indictment in 1919.

The United States archives contain an interesting document sent to Lord Curzon on 13 July 1921 by R.C. Craigie, the British Ambassador in Washington. The message was as follows: "I regret to state that there is nothing that may be used as evidence against the Turkish detainees in Malta. There are no events that may constitute adequate proofs. The said reports do not appear to contain even circumstantial evidence that could be useful to reinforce the information held by His Majesty's Government against the Turks."

On 29 July 1921, the legal advisers in London decided that the intended indictments drawn up against the persons on the British Foreign Ministry's list were semi-political in nature and therefore these individuals should be treated separately from the Turks detained as criminals of war.

They also stated the following: "no statements were hitherto received from the witnesses to the effect that the indictments intended against the detainees are correct. Likewise it does not need to be restated that finding witnesses after so long a time is highly doubtful in a remote country like Armenia which is accessible only with great difficulties."

A 100 years have gone by since the genocide, but the issue remains one of the most topical in modern history, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy - who opposes Turkey's membership in the EU - recently insisting that Turkey must apologise for its role in the genocide, also ordered his government to draft a new law punishing denial of the Armenian genocide, after France's top court struck it down as unconstitutional.

Recently speaking as a guest on "Talk to Al Jazeera," Bagis replied to questions regarding whether the Turkish government would recognise the 1915 incidents as "genocide."

Bagış said: "if it is recognised as a reality approved both historically and scientifically, moreover, unanimously, then why not?" He noted that every nation has dark moments in its history, asking, "Would you be able to name a nation without any dark chapters or pains in its past?"

He also noted that to prove if the incident amounted to "genocide" or not, first the disputed issue needs to be examined objectively. However, he said the Armenian government was not brave enough to confront its own history, as it refuses to disclose its historical archives.