I didn’t know there are people in the world whose values permit to commit genocide.  At least, we now know of one people whose values don’t permit such an act.  

The quote of the week comes from U.S. visiting Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan who again denied the Armenian Genocide by saying Turkish “values do not permit our people to commit genocide.”

Oh, and by the way, Turkey is ready to examine whether there was genocide or not. 

From Agence France Press:

Turkish PM welcomes shelving of US ‘genocide’ bill

43 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday welcomed a decision by US lawmakers to shelve debate on a bill labeling Ottoman Empire massacres of Armenians during World War I as “genocide.”

Speaking after talks here with President George W. Bush, Erdogan said the House of Representatives resolution on “the so-called Armenia genocide … has the potential to deeply damage our strategic cooperation.”

Fierce pressure from Turkey and the White House appears to have paid off for now, with the resolution’s Democratic authors agreeing late last month to delay a full House of Representatives vote after the bill was upheld by the foreign affairs committee.

“We view this with cautious optimism,” Erdogan said at the National Press Club, thanking the Bush administration and House members who had spoken out against the resolution for fear of its damage to ties with Turkey.

“We are ready to settle accounts with our history, but our documents indicate that no such genocide took place. In fact our values do not permit our people to commit genocide,” the Turkish leader said.

“Those who claim it, must prove it,” he said, renewing his offer to the Armenian government to set up a joint historical commission to examine the claims of genocide dating from the dying years of the Ottoman Empire.