TURKISH PM DAVUTOGLU: POPE JOINED PLOTS AGAINST AK PARTY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 15 2015

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his wife, Sare Davutoglu, offer
carnations to supporters during an AK Party election campaign meeting
on Wednesday. (Photo: DHA)

April 15, 2015, Wednesday/ 14:11:02/ TODAY’S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL

The Turkish government stepped up its criticism of Pope Francis on
Wednesday over his remarks characterizing the killings of Armenians
during the final years of the Ottoman Empire as “genocide,” with
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accusing the pontiff of joining “plots”
against his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Turkey.

“An axis of evil is being created against us. An axis whose entire
motivation is to hinder the AK Party is being formed,” Davutoglu told
a party meeting whose purpose was to introduce AK Party candidates for
the June 7 parliamentary election and the party’s election manifesto.

He then targeted the AK Party’s rivals, the Republican People’s Party
(CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), criticizing
the CHP’s election campaign for being helped by a US-based strategic
research consultancy and calling the HDP a “project” to hamper the
AK Party’s progress.

“The pope has joined these plots against the AK Party and Turkey,”
he said.

Pope Francis angered Turkey when he publicly called the killing of
Armenians “genocide.” Turkey summoned the Vatican’s ambassador to
its Foreign Ministry and recalled its own back to Turkey after the
pontiff’s remarks on Sunday.

Davutoglu said there were attempts to “convict” Turkey on the basis of
“extremely unjust accusations” just ahead of the June 7 election.

“I am addressing the pope: Those who escaped the genocide carried
out by the Catholic world in Spain via the Inquisition found peace
and safety in our just system,” Davutoglu said.

“We are ready to look into everything but we will not let our nation
be insulted over history. We will not allow Turkey to be blackmailed
through historical debates,” the Turkish prime minister declared.

First official statement from Vatican

In the meantime, the Vatican made its first official statement on
Wednesday following the pope’s genocide remarks that angered Turkish
officials. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the Holy See
notes the Turks’ reaction to the pope’s remarks but has no intention
of getting into a polemic.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Lombardi also stated that the
pope’s remarks made President Recep Tayyip Erdogan bring up the idea
of establishing a joint commission to debate the issue, adding that
it’s an interesting offer. After reporters pointed out that Erdogan’s
idea of a joint commission is not new, Lombardi said he knew that,
adding that Turkey’s denial of “genocide” is not new, either.

Lombardi stressed that the pope always speaks directly and his remarks
referring to “the first genocide of the 20th century” were in fact
quoting a 2001 joint declaration by Pope John Paul ll and Catholicos
Karekin ll, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Karekin ll was also
present at Sunday’s Mass, along with Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan.

The Vatican spokesman said the pope’s way of describing the 1915
events is “clever” and asks for the issue to continue to be debated.

The spokesman also stressed that the pope’s intention was to prevent
such tragic events reoccurring in the future, as well as writing a
more accurate story.

Lombardi said that for those who acknowledge what happened in 1915,
the pope’s remarks were to the point. He stressed that the pope also
asked for reconciliation between Turkish and Armenian people.

He said the Vatican will note Turkey’s concerns and objections but
will not get into a polemic.

Meanwhile, a leading minority figure living in Ä°stanbul told
Vatican Radio that the Christian community in Turkey is worried about
bureaucratic reprisals against priests through such obstacles as not
renewing residence permits.

Speaking to Vatican Radio on Wednesday, Claudio Monge, head of the
Dominican Study Institute of Ä°stanbul for Intercultural and Interfaith
Dialogue, said after Pope Francis called the 1915 mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks a genocide, Turkey’s Christian community
may face bureaucratic obstacles. Monge said he found Turkey’s reaction
too harsh over the issue.

The contentious issue of the 1915 killings of Ottoman Armenians has
come under international spotlight once again as the centenary of the
events approaches on April 24, injecting a new element of tension
between Turkey and countries seeking recognition of the events as
genocide.

The Armenian diaspora claims that 1.5 million Armenians were
systematically massacred by the Ottoman administration during World
War I, and that this amounts to genocide. It demands an apology from
Ankara. The Turkish government denies the charges.

While accepting the killings of Armenians, Ankara says the number
put forward by Armenian historians is inflated and the events took
place amid civil unrest and inter-communal clashes and could not be
characterized as genocide.

Turkey also laments that hundreds of thousands of Muslim civilians
were also killed during the unrest between the various communities
in Anatolia, but that the international community only pays attention
to the sufferings of one particular group.