Israel, Jerusalem, 27 March / corr. Trend R. Abdullayev, E, Huseynov/ The chances of Israeli Knesset's recognizing the so-called Armenian genocide committed in Ottoman Empire in 1915-17 are small and it is possible that the very issue will not be approved once again, the experts in Jerusalem said.
Haim Oron, the chairman of Left- radical MERES party raised the issue of recognizing Armenian genocide in the Israeli parliament a day before as he did it last year. Zeev Elkin, the MP of Israeli parliament, and the chairman of the Armenia-Israel inter-parliament group, Arabian MPs and the members of the Hadash party (Communists) supported the Oron's proposal. There is not a final decision in this regard yet and the Commission on Knesset Affairs is expected to decide in which body of the parliament the initiative will be discussed.
From the viewpoint of national interests of Israel, the discussion in any parliament commission will not go further, Josef Shagal, the Israeli MP said. "I proposed international affairs and security commission to discuss the issue. There are experts in the field of international affairs and security who will not discuss it and will put the issue aside," Shagal, the chairman of Israel-Azerbaijan inter-parliament group said to Trend on a telephone on 27 March.
According to Shagal, the parliament commission on education and culture is a body specialized in humanitarian issues and if the very issue will be introduced to them for discussions, the discussions can assume a humanitarian and historical colouring and can be delay. "We are doing our best so that this issue will not be discussed in the Commission. If our efforts will be fruitless, then we will make every effort to pass the issue to the international affairs and security commission where there are serious experts," Shagal said. "Personally, it is difficult for me say that the parliament of Israel, who is in such geopolitical situation for already 60 years, will be prepared not only to recognize, but also to seriously discuss the issue," Shagal said.
"Not any tragedy in the world can be compared with the holocaust of the European Jews. Maybe there was a tragedy, but no one has a right to compare the tragedy of my nation who lost 6.000.000 people," Mikhail Klyaner, the member of the right-wing parties of Israel, the former MP of the Israeli parliament and the leader of Herut party said to Trend . Those who raise the issue of recognizing Armenian genocide desecrate the feelings of those surviving during the holocaust and the memory of the victims of the most terrible tragedy of the Jewish people," Klyaner said on 27 March.
Israeli expert on international relations Arye Gut said that the Oron's initiative will not be discussed because of the strategic interests of Israel. "In the past Ottoman Empire and Turkey at present, became the arena of different intrigues due to its geopolitical and geo-strategic location. At present, as it was during the history, there are countries who try to make dividends on the so-called Armenian genocide. Some countries erect monuments which condemn Turks and Turkey for committing of the so-called Armenian genocide, and some countries discuss it in their parliaments," Gut said to Trend on 27 March.
Israeli parliament and its commission which will discuss the so-called Armenian genocide must understand that the issues which should be discussed by the historians can not be used by the politicians for their interests," the Israeli political scientist said.
The possibility of discussing the so-called Armenian genocide in Israeli parliament arouses pity, the source in the Turkish Embassy in Tel-Aviv who wished to keep his-her name anonymous. According to the Embassy representative, it is a blow to the strategic cooperation between Israel and Turkey. "There is large-scale strategic partnership between Israel and Turkey. There is strong military, political, and cultural cooperation between the two countries. These good relations should not be harmed by the ambitions of some politicians using the so-called Armenian genocide in their political games," the source said. The people here say that the discussion of Oron's initiative in the parliament can cause the delay the visit of the high-rank Turkish delegation to Jerusalem, the source said.
The Congress of Azerbaijanis in Israel strongly opposes the initiative by Oron, which is not based on historical facts," Shapiro Suliman, the president of the Congress said to Trend on 27 March. "In this regard, we fully support and share the opinion of Josef Shagal reflecting the interests of true Israel-Turkey and Israel-Azerbaijan relations," he said.
According to Shapira Suliman, if we have a close look at the historical facts, we can see that not Armenians, but Turks and Azerbaijanis were subjected to the genocide by Armenians during the World War I. Armenian bandits repeatedly committed acts of genocide against Azerbaijanis which claimed the lives of tens of thousand peaceful people. Besides Azerbaijanis, the Jews living in Guba were also subjected to the genocide, he said. According to Shapira Suliman, Armenians who occupied 20% of Azerbaijani territories, committed genocide against Azerbaijanis in February 1992 and Armenian lobby tries to hide this crime.
The Congress of Azerbaijanis in Israel is sorry that the discussions of the so-called Armenian genocide in Israeli parliament will deal a strong blow to the authority of Israel in the international arena," Shapira said. The Congress of Azerbaijanis has appealed Shimon Peres, the Israeli president and Dali Isik, the chairman of Israeli parliament to take a reasonable and fair position toward the so-called Armenian genocide," Suliman said.
The MP Zeev Elkin said that the Israeli Knesset, as a parliament belonging to West, should recognize Armenian genocide. "Many European countries not only condemned, but also recognized it," Elkin, the chairman of the Israeli-Armenian Friendship Association said to Trend on 27 March.
Ran Koen, the MP of Knesset from MERES party said that supports the proposal to hold a round table with the participation of Turkish, Armenian and Israeli members and the MPs of Israeli parliament. "I think that this issue should be discussed by the historian," Koen said.
In March 2007, Israeli Knesset delayed the discussion of the issue on the recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide. The Armenian genocide has been recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium, Wales, Switzerland and Polish parliament.