Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, in Ankara yesterday for an official visit, made a significant proposal to Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul regarding the Armenian genocide issue. Reminding Gul of how Switzerland was pressured to create an international committtee to look into the events surrounding the Holocaust and the gold belonging to Jewish people in Swiss banks, Calmy-Rey noted that "Turkey ought to accept an international commission on the subject of the Armenian genocide."

According to sources, Ankara's official response to the Calmy-Rey proposal was not warm. Gul asserted that contrary to Calmy-Rey's claims, the Swiss canton of Waatland was wrong to accept the formation of the international commission. Noting that "Turkey is sure of itself," Gul stated that the Armenian pressure behind the genocide question derived from the Armenian people's desire to draw attention to themselves, and that Turkey could never accept accusations of guilt on the matter.