REPUBLIC OF TURKEY MUNICIPALITY OF ÇANAKKALE DECISION OF CITY COUNCIL DECISION NO : 2013/91 DECISION DATE : 05.06.2013 DOCUMENT NO : DATE OF ARRIVAL: 05.06.2013 DEPARTMENT : CITY CLERK’S OFFICE SUBJECT : MOTION TIME : PRESIDENT OF THE CITY COUNCIL : ÜLGÜR GÖKHAN SECRETARY MEMBERS: COUNCIL MEMBERS : Motion by Mehmet Emin Şevik, Member of the City Council of Çanakkale, dated June 05 2013: While the founder of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK stated: “You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well”, The decisions taken by the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council of the state of New South Wales in Australia on 1 May and 8 May 2013, which are not based on information, are one-sided and make concessions to those desiring to derive hostility from history for reasons of domestic politics, are not compatible with the spirit of Çanakkale. The decisions in question, which we will never accept, damaged the ongoing spirit of brotherhood between Turkey and Australia and resulted in great disappointment. For this reason, we believe that raising our voices from Çanakkale, from this land where the hardest clashes of the National Struggle took place and where thousands of our soldiers fell, is very important and meaningful. The Turks have never carried out genocide in any way, against any community or society in any period of their history. The entire world knows is well acquainted with genocide and knows what an inhuman crime it is through the experience of Jews, Bosniaks, Algerians, Tutsis in Rwanda and Aboriginals in Australia. Even the Government of the United Kingdom, which has instigated the genocide allegations for years, decided in the end that the so-called Armenian genocide they used to claim to have taken place in 1915 does not correspond to the definition of “genocide” determined by the United Nations. We, as the Çanakkale City Council who has adopted the “Peace at home, peace in the world” motto of Atatürk, who foresaw today’s events many years ago, believing that this unscrupulous and insubstantial decision will affect world peace negatively, we once again clamour that genocide has never been carried out on Anatolian soil. While we are embracing the Australians who have lost their lives in our beautiful country that they came to occupy, without separating them from our own sons and remembering their glorious memories in commemorations hosted by the people of Çanakkale every year, we are deeply saddened by the ill-minded decisions in question which aim at defaming Turkish history. We announce to the public that we will not forgive those who are behind these decisions and that we do not want to see them in Çanakkale anymore. Undoubtedly, the people of Çanakkale will have the pleasure of hosting the friendly and brotherly Australians who have comprehended the spirit of Çanakkale under the best conditions, and of sustaining the friendship and cooperation between the two countries and the two nations as they have done until today. In the meeting conducted by the Council; it was decided unanimously by open ballot that the attached text including your thoughts and actions regarding the unfair and groundless decisions on the so-called genocide, which were adopted unanimously by the members present in the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council of New South Wales Parliament of Australia and which are preparations for the steps to be taken later in the historical process, will be sent to the following institutions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey The Hon Don Harwin, President of the Legislative Council of NSW (To be transmitted to all members of the Legislative Council) The Hon Shelley Hancock MP, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly (To be transmitted to all the members of the Legislative Assembly) The Hon Warren Snowdon, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs (The Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Centenary of Anzac) The Hon Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia 66 Ocean Street, Woollahra, NSW 2025 Australia Telefon:+ 61 2 9302 4600, Faks:+ 61 2 9362 4533
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 19:42:52 +0000