ERDOGAN’S COUNTER OFFENSIVE AGAINST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CLAIMS
Turkish Daily News
Feb 27 2008
As the 16th year of the Hocali massacres are commemorated in
Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Armenia of
committing genocide and of unlawfully occupying Azerbaijani territory.
"We condemn those who perpetuated such an atrocity as a nation,"
said Erdogan in a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) meeting
yesterday. Armenian armed forces are accused of killing over 1,000
Azerbaijani civilians on Feb. 25, 1992 in Hocali, during the armed
conflict between people of the largely Armenian-populated region
of Nagorno-Karabakh, which unilaterally declared independence from
Azerbaijan in 1992, and Azerbaijani forces. The battle ended, after
Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and invaded a portion of Azerbaijani
territory, when a Russian brokered ceasefire went into effect in 1994.
Erdogan called on Armenia to end its occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
region, recognized internationally as Azerbaijani territory. "When
they come up with various claims against Turkey they should bear
these in mind. Massacres will not lead you anywhere," Erdogan said.
Erdogan refuted Armenian claims of genocide by the Young Turks
against their kin in 1915, and said Armenia committed genocide in
Hocali. "Against the nonsense they fabricate and disseminate in
the world public opinion, we tell them the following: Talk after
looking right into the mirror. If there was a genocide, it was you
who perpetuated its most violent form," Erdogan said. He argued that
genocide is uncharacteristic of Turks. "The character of this nation
does not let it commit such crimes. We call Armenians to end their
unjustified occupation," Erdogan said. The Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe oversees negotiations between two South
Caucasian states, but the ceasefire is breached occasionally, like
the incident in mid-February when an Azerbaijani soldier was killed
due to Armenian fire.