Mevlut Cavusoglu wearing two hats: Odette Bazil
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE ) President-in-Office Mevlut Cavusoglu broke the diplomatic protocol by refusing to visit Tsitsernakaberd, the Memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Such kind of behaviour received condemnations from hither and thither. Particularly, the article of the the founder of British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary group, Chair of the Chiltern Armenia Society Odette Bazil has been widely spread on the internet. It says: “It is unadmissible and is a serious breach of diplomatic protocol that Mr Mevlut Casuvoglu , chairman of the PACE, while representing PACE on an official visit to Armenia , has taken the liberty to act as a Turkish parliamentarian driven by his hatred towards the Host Country , rather than a responsible chairman lucky to have the rare opportunity to represent such influential and important organization. If a Turkish national has been chosen to represent a European Organisation ( despite the fact that Turkey is NOT a member of the European Union and might never be ) then that person should understand his obligation to serve ONLY the organisation he represents and not his own personal denialistic feelings.”
“Has Mr Casuvoglu been given the choice to wear his Turkish fez and outfit -which comes complete with the yataghan and the bayonet – , has he been made aware of the nature of his mission and has he been briefed on the necessity to wear his chairman’s hat at such occasion?” Odette Bazil asks.
“The European Parliament has – REPEATEDLY and FORMALLY – recognised the veracity of the Armenian genocide and Statements have been issued to that effect in 1987, 2000, 2002 and 2005,” O. Bazil writes highlighting: “By refusing to visit the Memorial Monument erected in Armenia to the memory of the one and half million victims of the Armenian genocide – a genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman government of 1915 and formally recognised by the organisation he represents - Mr Casuvoglu has acted FOR Turkey’s interest and AGAINST the interests and decisions of PACE.”
“Mr Casuvoglu must be recalled and replaced the soonest possible – before October when he intends to re-visit and re-insult Armenia - and maybe PACE must think now of electing a dozen of chairmans to accommodate its every representative’s likes and dislikes towards the people of the countries where they are being sent,” Odette Bazil sums up.