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Turkey has reacted angrily to the Vatican following a statement from
Pope Francis describing the mass killings of Armenians during World War I
as “the first genocide of the twentieth century” during a meeting with a
delegation led by Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics on June 3.“The Turkish Foreign Ministry delivered Turkey’s views on the issue and expressed disappointment to the embassy in Ankara and Vatican in Rome yesterday,” a Turkish diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News on June 7.
Pope Francis described the mass killings of Armenians during World War I as “the first genocide of the 20th century” during a meeting with a delegation led by Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics on June 3.
The pope met with members of the delegation and when one of them said that she was a descendant of genocide victims, he replied, “The first genocide of the 20th Century was that of the Armenians,” reiterating his earlier recognition of the mass killings as “Armenian Genocide” while he was the head of the Catholic Church in Buenos Aires as a cardinal.
In 2006, during events marking the 91st anniversary of the killings in Buenos Aires, he had urged Turkey to recognize “the genocide” as the “gravest crime of Ottoman Turkey against the Armenian people and the entire humanity.”
Commenting on the issue, Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese of Gougark Bishop Sebouh Chuljyan Primate said, “The pope is speaking out a historical truth. Turkey needs to see the pains and should face the genocide,” he told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the archives of the Vatican may be opened to investigate the issue further.
The director of the Armenian National Committee of South America, Alfonso Tabakian, explained that this was the first such statement from the pontiff since being elevated to pope and leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Tabakian called the statement “very important since his words transcend any state or religion,” according to the Armenian weekly website.
Vercihan Ziflioğlu contributed this story
June/07/2013
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Official: Pope’s approval of Armenian genocide claims shows only personal view....
ReplyDeletePope Francis’ latest remarks labeling acts committed in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire a “genocide” and affirming the Armenian claims do not point to a change in the Vatican’s neutral position on the issue just before the 100th anniversary of the events, but merely reflect his personal position, say diplomats and analysts.
Kenan Gürsoy, the Turkish ambassador to the Vatican, said in remarks to Sunday’s Zaman that Vatican officials did not give any sign that it will formally recognize Armenian claims of genocide, though the Armenian diaspora throughout the world is actively lobbying for the recognition of their claims for the 2015 commemoration of the events.
Earlier this month, Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the world’s Roman Catholics recently stated, “The first genocide of the 20th century was that of the Armenians,” during an official meeting with Armenian religious officials in the Vatican. The pope’s statement elicited an immediate reaction from Turkey, and the Foreign Ministry released a statement calling the pope’s remarks “one-sided” and in contradiction with the appropriate fulfillment of the responsibilities of the papacy post, such as contributing to world peace.
The pope’s position on the events of 1915 was already well known. In 2006 when he was a cardinal in Argentina he defined the deaths of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as the “gravest crime of Ottoman Turkey.” Argentina, the homeland of Pope Francis, is also home to a significant number of Armenians, Greeks and Jews whose ancestors migrated from the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
Also, on March 7, Armenia appointed an ambassador to the Vatican by presidential decree. Mikael Minasyan, son-in-law of Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan and deputy chief of the President’s Office, is the first ambassador of Armenia to be posted to the Vatican. Armenia and the Vatican established diplomatic relations in 1992, but Armenia has not previously had an embassy in the sovereign city-state.
The March election of Pope Francis pleased the Armenian diaspora, as he is expected to have a decisive influence on the course of Armenian lobbying activities for the recognition of their claims of genocide. Associate Professor Ali Murat Yel, who teaches in the communications department of the İstanbul-based Marmara University, also confirmed that the pope’s recent remarks are related to his background as an Argentinean Jesuit and being so close Armenians early in his career as a man of religion.......http://www.todayszaman.com//news-318975-official-popes-approval-of-armenian-genocide-claims-shows-only-personal-view.html
23/6/13
Turkish FM: 1915 Armenian deportation inhumane....
ReplyDeleteStaging a landmark visit to Yerevan, FM Davutoğlu declares the Ottoman deportation of Armenians in 1915 to have been ‘wrong’ and ‘inhumane’
The “deportation” of Armenians in 1915 was inhumane, and Turkey has never supported the move, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said yesterday as he made a landmark visit to the country’s long-time foe, Armenia.
Accompanied by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu, Davutoğlu visited Yerevan for the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) group meeting. The top diplomat met with his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, on the sidelines of the summit.
“We are very pleased with the meeting with Nalbandian; it was candid. The primary aim is to build an environment of dialogue on a strong basis,” Davutoğlu said after the meeting, while dismissing claims that he suggested to Armenia that it withdraw from two regions in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Davutoğlu expressed his hope that a collective consciousness between the two countries could be created with a “just memory.”
“We say ‘just memory.’ What I mean with that is we should know the facts. Then we see that Turkish-Armenian relations do not date back like German-Jewish ties. In every street, there is a common sign.
After you discover this, then you see the deportation, which I see as a totally wrong practice done by [the Ottoman-era rulers under the Committee of Union and Progress]. It was inhumane,” Davutoğlu told a group of reporters en route to Yerevan.
Yerevan wants Ankara to recognize the mass killings of Armenians during the forced deportation in World War I as genocide, but Turkey has steadfastly refused to do so.
“But when you write a history taking the deportation into account, then a collective conscious was created from this side [Turkey] that Armenians betrayed their nation and deserved the deportation.
We should destroy these two collective consciousnesses. We abolished this wrong consciousness in 2005, but Armenians still have it,” he told reporters.
Primary aim not to open border
“Our primary aim is not open only the Turkish-Armenian border but to form a foundation that will pave the way for a comprehensive peace,” Davutoğlu said. “It has three pillars. The first one is relations between Turkey and Armenia. The second one is Azerbaijani-Armenian relations. This also includes Georgian-Abkhaz ties. The third one is relations between Turks and Armenians,” he said..............http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-fm-1915-armenian-deportation-inhumane.aspx?pageID=238&nID=59487&NewsCatID=355
13/12/13
Déportations d'Arméniens en Turquie ottomane: "un acte inhumain" (Davutoglu)....
ReplyDeleteLes déportations d'Arméniens en 1915 étaient un acte inhumain, a déclaré vendredi le chef de la diplomatie turque Ahmet Davutoglu devant les journalistes qui l'accompagnaient pendant sa visite à Erevan, rapporte le journal turc Hurriyet Daily news.
"Je considère que la vague de déportations déclenchée par les Jeunes Turcs dans l'Empire ottoman était absolument une erreur. Ce qu'ils ont fait était une erreur et un acte inhumain", a indiqué le ministre, exhortant les deux parties à établir une "juste mémoire" de ces faits que son pays refusait toujours de reconnaître comme génocide.
M.Davutoglu a participé jeudi à la 29e rencontre des ministres des Affaires étrangères de l'Organisation de coopération économique de la Mer Noire (OCEMN) dans la capitale arménienne. L'organisation associe 12 pays de la région de la mer Noire et des Balkans du Sud.
La communauté arménienne de la Turquie ottomane a été victime de massacres et de déportations de masses entre 1915 et 1917. L'Arménie et nombre d'historiens ou de parlements étrangers évaluent à 1,5 million le nombre de victimes et qualifient ces événements de génocide.
Erevan et Ankara n'entretiennent pas de relations diplomatiques depuis l'accession de l'Arménie à l'indépendance en 1991, et la frontière commune entre les deux pays est fermée depuis 1993 à l'initiative de la Turquie. Les relations complexes entre les deux pays s'expliquent par une série de facteurs, notamment par le soutien d'Ankara à la position azerbaïdjanaise sur le conflit du Haut-Karabakh et par la réaction violente de la Turquie à la reconnaissance internationale du génocide arménien de 1915 dans l'Empire ottoman.
Le conflit du Haut-Karabakh remonte à février 1988, lorsque cette région autonome principalement peuplée d'Arméniens a annoncé son intention de se séparer de la république soviétique d'Azerbaïdjan. En septembre 1991, Stepanakert a annoncé la création de la République du Haut-Karabakh. Cette démarche a provoqué des hostilités entre les troupes arméniennes et azerbaïdjanaises à la suite desquelles Bakou a perdu le contrôle du Haut-Karabakh et de sept régions voisines. Le cessez-le-feu a été décrété le 12 mai 1994. Afin de trouver un règlement pacifique du conflit, un Groupe de Minsk coprésidé par la Russie, la France et les Etats-Unis a été créé en 1992 dans le cadre de l'OSCE.
http://fr.ria.ru/world/20131213/200012962.html
13/12/13