TURKEY RECALLS ITS VATICAN ENVOY AMID ROW OVER POPE’S REFERENCE TO ‘GENOCIDE’ OF ARMENIANS

The Japan Times
April 12 2015

ANKARA – Turkey on Sunday said it was recalling its ambassador to
the Vatican for consultations in an escalating diplomatic row over
Pope Francis’ use of the word “genocide” to describe the massacres
of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I.

“Our ambassador to the Vatican Mr Mehmet Pacaci is being recalled back
to Turkey for consultations,” the foreign ministry said in a statement
after earlier summoning the Vatican’s envoy to Ankara to the ministry.

Reaffirming similar comments earlier by Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu, the foreign ministry said that the pope’s comments were
“incompatible with the legal and historical facts.”

It accused the pope of a “selective overview” of World War I and
“ignoring the atrocities suffered by the Turkish and Muslim peoples
who lost their lives” in favor of concentrating on Christians and
above all Armenians.

The ministry said the pope’s comments were a “serious deviation”
from the message of peace and reconciliation he brought during his
landmark visit to Turkey last November.

“Our views were made clear on this matter when the Vatican envoy was
invited to our ministry today,” it said, referring to the summoning
earlier of the papal nuncio to Turkey.

From: A. Papazian