"Turkey challenges genocide 'fraud'
By Vincent Boland in Ankara
Published: April 22 2005 03:00 | Last updated: April 22 2005 03:00
The Turkish parliament was yesterday preparing to ask the UK to repudiate a historical document that is considered to form the basis of the claim that Armenians were victims of genocide by Ottoman Turks during the first world war.
The initiative comes on the eve of Sunday's 90th anniversary commemorations among Armenians of what they regard as the start of the massacre of up to 1.5m people.
The move is likely to exacerbate the bitter dispute between Turks and Armenians. Supporters of the Armenian cause, particularly in France, are lobbying for the European Union to delay the start of Turkey's accession talks for EU membership until Turkey acknowledges a 'systematic extermination' in 1915."
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