Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 30 2015
Erdoðan accuses Armenian diaspora of exploiting 1915 events
President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan. (Photo: DHA)
January 30, 2015, Friday/ 17:41:14/ TODAY’S ZAMAN / ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan has criticized the Armenian diaspora
for exploiting the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 and said Turkey
will not acknowledge the 1915 events as “genocide” just because others
push Turkey to recognize them as such.
In an interview with the state-run Turkish Radio and Television
Corporation (TRT), Erdoðan said on Thursday that the Armenian diaspora
is pushing for the acknowledgement of the 1915 events at the end of
the World War l to be recognized as “genocide” in other countries and
is trying to create pressure for Turkey, but this issue needs to be
handled by the historians.
He said Turkey has opened its archives and is ready to do what is
necessary. “We don’t have to acknowledge the so-called Armenian
genocide by the order of others. What we say is, if you are sincere
about this discussion, leave this issue to the historians and let them
work on it,” said Erdoðan.
Yerevan commemorates the incident of the mass killings of Armenians
every April 24 and often uses the anniversary as an opportunity to
lobby Western countries to brand the killings a 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 l in collaboration with
the Russian army, which was at the time invading Eastern Anatolia.
President Erdoðan said the Armenian diaspora is trying to exploit the
issue and drag Turkey into a fight.
In a historic first for the Turkish Republic last year, Erdoðan, who
was prime minister at the time, extended Turkey’s condolences to the
grandchildren of Armenians who had lost their lives 1915. 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.
When speaking to TRT, Erdoðan also said after the evaluation of the
1915 events by the historians, if Turkey needs to pay a price, Turkey
is ready to take the necessary steps.
Erdoðan also said Armenians have a strong lobby around the world and
it is a fact that Turkey’s exerting efforts against them is somewhat
weak on this issue.
President Erdoðan continued by saying that Turkey is ready to sit down
and talk about these issues but the Armenian side is the one avoiding
doing that.
When asked about the latest “Freedom in the World 2015” report of
US-based watchdog Freedom House and its heavy criticism of Turkey with
regards to increasing interference in the media and judiciary, Erdoðan
claimed that no one really takes Freedom House seriously.
The Freedom House report, which was released on Wednesday, said
Erdoðan has a “shadow Cabinet” in his presidential palace and he is
governing the country via this cabinet.
Erdoðan refuted this claim and said: “Freedom House doesn’t have any
dignity. Zero dignity. They think they are so valuable. There may be
others behind organizations like Freedom House. We need to know these
facts.” He also said no one actually him any question about a so
called “shadow cabinet” in the palace, saying that their sources are
not good.
In other remarks, Erdoðan once again criticized Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu attending a march in Paris after the attack against
French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo earlier this month. Leaders
around the world, including Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu, marched
arm-in-arm for the victims of the Paris attack in a show of
solidarity. Erdoðan had said he did not understand how Netanyahu dared
to attended the march, considering Israel’s increasingly aggressive
behavior, especially with regards to the violation of holy sites in
Jerusalem.
Speaking on TRT, Erdoðan said Netanyahu’s acts against Palestinians
are “state terror.” Erdoðan also claimed that Israelis like to shed
blood and find peace in “sucking blood.”
President Erdoðan also talked about Greece’s left-wing party Syriza’s
election victory last Sunday, and said he expects the good
relationship between Turkey and Greece to continue under the new Greek
administration.
“I wish him [head of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras] all the best and I
believe together we’ll bring Turkish-Greek relations to a much better,
ideal point,” said Erdoðan.