WE’RE NOT INDIFFERENT TO THE ‘GREAT CALAMITY’ OF 1915: TURKISH READERS RESPOND

Tert.am
16:56 23.03.10

In a letter to the editor published in Turkish daily Taraf today,
a group of readers criticized Turkish state policy to refute the
fact of the Armenian Genocide and Turkish PM Recept Tayyip Erdogan’s
threats last week to deport Armenians living illegally in Turkey .

The letter signed by Taraf readers C. Murat Ozgunay, Omer Faruk,
Hurriyet Karadeniz, Yeter Ozdemir Å~^ahin, Adnan Genc, Erdal
Karayazgan, Serap Kaya, Nesrin Aslan, Ayla Å~^eÅ~_an, Ali Å~^enalp,
Erdal Karayazgan, MuhteÅ~_em Ozdamar, Necmi Demirci, and Nedim
Arul reads:

"We cannot remain indifferent to the 1915 ‘Medz Yeghern’ [Great
Calamity] under the Ottoman Empire; our conscience doesn’t allow its
denial. We dismiss that injustice, [we] sympathize with our Armenian
brothers. We condemn Prime Minister Erdogan’s statement on ‘keeping
needy Armenians hostage,’ deeming it to be heartless."

A number of Turkish media have republished the Taraf letter, labelling
it "shocking."