Turkey 'acquitted' of 1915 incidents in Malta

Turkey was acquitted of committing the "Armenian genocide" by a court in Malta in 1919, Turkish EU Minister Egemen Bagis said April 14 in his latest denial of the claims centering on the incidents of 1915. In 1919, Ottoman officials were exiled to Malta to face charges stemming from the 1915 incidents, Bagis said during a weekend visit to the northwestern province of Canakkale. "The then-ministers, commanders and high-level officials were among those who were exiled to Malta. They were tried under British control for two years there. Some 120 people were all acquitted of [charges]. The ruling was made by a British judge. In other words, Turkey was acquitted of the 1915 incidents in Malta," Bagis said. The minister recently paid a visit to the island nation and attended a conference on "Creating a Common Future: Need for a Visionary Europe" at the University of Malta. Bagis said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had sent a letter to Armenia in 2005 that said Turkey would "face its history if [Armenia is] also ready to do so." Bagis also recalled Erdogan's calls for the establishment of an international commission made of historians to discuss the 1915 incidents with all the documents on the table. The minister also reiterated Erdogan's remarks that it was not right for deputies to discuss historical issues.