Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 29 2015

Hollande urges Turkey to step up efforts to acknowledge 1915 killings

January 29, 2015, Thursday/ 11:45:28/ TODAY’S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL

French President François Hollande has reiterated France’s calls for
Turkey to take new steps to break what he calls `taboos’ while
acknowledging the Armenian victims who died in Ottoman lands at the
end of World War I in 1915, on the upcoming 100th anniversary of the
incident.

`The effort towards the truth must continue and I am convinced that
this centenary year will see new gestures, new steps on the road to
recognition,’ Hollande said at a dinner with Armenian groups in Paris.

In his speech at the meeting, held this year on the same day of the
hearing of the DoÄ?u Perinçek vs Switzerland case at the European Court
of Human Rights (ECtHR), Hollande has called on Turkey to `break down
the taboos,’ urging the country to make new efforts towards the
recognition of the realities of `the Armenian genocide.’

`The efforts to find the realities have to continue,’ Hollande said,
adding that it is time for both Armenia and Turkey to make a new
start. Recalling President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s condolences last
year to Armenians on the 99th anniversary of the mass killings of
Armenians under the Ottoman Empire Hollande said the Turkish
president’s attempt at remembering the Armenian victims of 1915 was
worth praising, adding that these steps, however, need to be
continued.

Last year then-Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an extended condolences to the
grandchildren of Armenians one day before April 24, which is an
important date for Armenians. The statement, which did not include the
word `genocide,’ was welcomed by the West and Armenians living in
Turkey, but fell short of satisfying Yerevan.

Each year on April 24, Armenians all over the world commemorate the
mass killings of Armenians and often use the anniversary as an
opportunity to lobby Western countries to label the killings genocide.
Ankara denies claims that the events of 1915 amounted to genocide,
arguing that both Turks and Armenians were killed when Armenians
revolted against the Ottoman Empire during World War I in
collaboration with the Russian army, which was then attempting to
invade the eastern Anatolian region.

This year the issue is to be even more complicated as both ErdoÄ?an and
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan have invited each other to their
countries to remember the victims of the World War I killings. ErdoÄ?an
has invited more than 100 leaders around the world, including
President Sarksyan, for the centennial commemorations of the Gallipoli
Campaign of World War I, to be held on the same day as the Armenians’
centennial commemoration of what they call the `Armenian genocide.’
Sarksyan, in his letter in reply to ErdoÄ?an, said Turkey should first
accept Armenia’s invitation and attend the ceremonies to commemorate
the Armenian `genocide’ in Yerevan.

President Hollande has also said he will be in Yerevan on April 24 to
join in the commemoration ceremonies of the 1915 killings.