OSCE REPRESENTATIVE: ‘1915 EVENTS CANNOT BE CALLED GENOCIDE’
Daily Sabah, Turkey
March 12 2015
ANADOLU AGENCY
Describing the events of 1915 as “genocide” does not agree with
international law or logic, said Ambassador Tacan Ä°ldem, Turkey’s
Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, on Wednesday.
“Turkey is ready for academic research into the 1915 events, and has
called for a joint history commission,” Ä°ldem said.
His remarks came after Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan
addressed a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.
Ä°ldem pointed to the fact that “the tragic outcomes of the WWI”
is still a matter of debate today between Turks and Armenians, who
he said have lived in peace for hundreds of years.
“The reason is the difference between individual narratives and
national narratives,” he said.
The Turkish government has repeatedly called on historians to study
Ottoman archives pertaining to the era in order to uncover what
actually happened between the Ottoman government and its Armenian
citizens.
The debate on “genocide” and the differing opinions between the
present day Turkish government and the Armenian diaspora, along with
the current administration in Yerevan, still generates political
tension between Turks and Armenians.
Turkey’s official position against the “genocide” allegations is
that they acknowledge that the past experiences were a great tragedy
and that both parties suffered heavy casualties, including hundreds
of Muslim Turks. Turkey agrees that there were certainly Armenian
casualties during World War I, but that it is impossible to define
these incidents as “genocide.”