TURKISH MILITARY OPPOSES ARMENIAN APOLOGY CAMPAIGN

International Herald Tribune
Dec 19 2008
France

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey’s military says it opposes a campaign by
Turkish intellectuals who issued an online apology for the World War
I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Metin Gurak said Friday the campaign
could "bring about harmful results."

He did not elaborate. But there are fears it may harm diplomatic
efforts toward improving ties with Armenia and lead to compensation
claims.

Turkey’s prime minister says the apology is not binding and he is
against it. Nearly 14,000 people have signed the apology.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an
event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the
20th century. Turkey denies the deaths were genocide, saying those
killed were victims of civil war.