Daily Sabah, Turkey
April 4 2015
Ankara: Greek Cypriots banning denial of genocide not worthy of comment
DAILY SABAH WITH ANADOLU AGENCY
ISTANBUL
Ankara has rejected the Greek Cypriot law banning denial of Armenian
claims over the 1915 incidents. Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju
Bilgiç said in a statement late on Thursday: “Greek Cyprus’s decision
is null and void for Turkey and not worthy of comment.”
“It is without doubt that those who try to exploit the 1915 incidents
at every opportunity by using simple political ambitions cannot get
any result,” Bilgiç added.
Earlier on Thursday, Greek Cypriot parliament passed into law a bill
that criminalizes disavowal of Armenian allegations over the incidents
of 1915, what they term as genocide, involving the Ottoman Empire
during World War I.
Thursday’s move by Greek Cyprus, which remains at odds with the
Turkish Cyprus over the future of the divided island, came in the very
month when Armenia will hold a mass commemoration ceremony in the
capital Yerevan to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents on
April 24.
The draft bill, which was jointly submitted by all political parties
to Greek Cypriot parliament, can impose a penalty five years in prison
and fine of ?10,000 on those who deny the Armenian genocide. Vartkes
Mahdessian, a lawmaker of Armenian origin in the Greek Cypriot
assembly, also announced that a series of events would be organized in
Greek Cyprus to mark the 1915 events.
President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an recently said Armenia would not gain
anything from propaganda against Turkey. Armenians will commemorate
the 100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents, which they term as
genocide, on April 24. Armenia also accelerated its efforts in the
international arena to convince countries recognize the incidents as
genocide. It has, however, received little support thus far. Yet
countries like Norway and Australia have said they will not attend the
ceremonies in Yerevan and avoided Armenian pressure to officially
define the incidents as genocide. “The purpose of this campaign
against Turkey is to treat our country as an enemy instead of keeping
Armenians’ sorrow alive,” ErdoÄ?an said as he called on Armenians to
study archives pertaining to the era in order to uncover what actually
happened between the Ottoman government and its Armenian subjects.
The 1915 incidents took place during World War I when a portion of the
Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the
invading Russians and revolted against the empire. A decision by the
Ottoman Empire to forcibly relocate Armenians to eastern Anatolia
followed the revolts and there were some Armenian casualties during
the relocation process.