ANKARA (AA) - As brainstorming continued on the joint commission thought to be formed by Turkey and Armenia to examine so-called Armenian genocide allegations, Ankara is not against participation of officials in this commission, sources said on Wednesday.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has proposed Armenian President Robert Kocharian to set up a joint commission comprised of Turkish and Armenian historians and experts to examine Turkish, Armenian and third countries` archives regarding the so-called Armenian genocide claims.
Kocharian responded to this proposal saying that this commission should be intergovernmental.
Diplomatic sources in Ankara are not against the statement made by Laura Kennedy, the U.S. State Department Assistant Secretary for European & Eurasian Affairs, that these two proposals could be realized together.
Sources told A.A correspondent that Turkey did not think that the commission must be comprised of historians alone when laying this proposal down.
The same sources said that Turkey thought that historians, academicians and scientists from France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the United States could also participate in this commission as well as those from Turkey and Armenia.
Also, the same sources noted, the commission should also include officials from Turkey and Armenia, and stated that two commissions, one comprised of historians and one from officials, could be set up.
The same sources said that the commission to be comprised of officials could be in the level of technocrats.
2005-05-04