TURKEY FM SLAMS POPE’S ‘GENOCIDE’ REMARKS
Turkish Government News
April 13, 2015 Monday
Ankara
The Turkish Government has issued the following press release:
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu dismissed Pope’s “genocide”
remarks as “baseless claims,” after Ankara reacted to the pontiff
referring to the 1915 incidents as “genocide.”
Cavusoglu said: “Pope’s statement is devoid of any historical or
legal facts. Religious posts are not for fueling grudge and hatred
with baseless claims.”
Ankara has summoned the Vatican envoy to Turkey and conveyed the
message that the incident has caused “loss of trust” and would be
met with a response.
Cavusoglu’s remarks came after Pope Francis called the 1915 incidents
involving Armenians “genocide” on Sunday at the St. Peter Basilica.
“In the past century, our human family has lived through three massive
and unprecedented tragedies,” Pope said.
“The first, which is widely considered the first genocide of the
twentieth century, struck your own Armenian people, the first Christian
nation, as well as Catholic and Orthodox Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans
and Greeks and, more recently, there have been other mass killings,
like those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia,” the pontiff said.
In 2014, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences
for the first time to all Ottoman citizens who lost their lives in
the events of 1915.
“May Armenians who lost their lives in the events in the early
twentieth century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to
their grandchildren,” Erdogan said.
The 1915 events 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.
Pope’s remarks contradict historical facts: Turkish FM
Pope Francis’ description about the 1915 incidents as “genocide”
contradicts historical and legal facts, Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday.
Addressing a joint press conference with his Mongolian counterpart
Lundeg Purevsuren in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, Cavusoglu
said: “The pope called the 1915 incidents a ‘genocide,’ which lacks
any competent court judgment, while describing the events that took
place in Bosnia and Rwanda as ‘mass killings,’ which are recognized as
genocides by competent international courts. There is a contradiction
and discrimination there.”
During Sunday’s Mass at the St. Peter’s Basilica, which Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan also attended, the pontiff said: “In the
past century, our human family has lived through three massive and
unprecedented tragedies.
“The first, which is widely considered the first genocide of the 20th
century, struck your own Armenian people, the first Christian nation,
as well as Catholic and Orthodox Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans and
Greeks and, more recently, there have been other mass killings,
like those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia.”
Responding to the pope’s remarks, the Turkish foreign minister said:
“Before anything else, Pope Francis’ statements contradict historical
and legal facts. With a selective point of view, he ignored the
tragedies that befell on the Turkish and Muslim people who had lost
their lives in World War I.”
He added, “History was instrumentalized for political aims.”
Cavusoglu said that as a reverend, the pope should be giving
brotherly, peaceful messages against racism, discrimination and
xenophobia. “Statements which are controversial in every aspect, based
on prejudices, distorting the history and confining the sufferings
in Anatolia to a single religious community are declared null and
void by the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish nation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s ambassador to the Holy See, Prof. Mehmet Pacaci,
who was summoned by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Sunday for
consultations, arrived in Ankara early Monday.
‘Great tragedy’
The Ottoman Empire relocated Armenians in eastern Anatolia following
the revolts and there were Armenian casualties during the relocation
process.
Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey has
officially refuted Armenian allegations over the incidents saying that,
although Armenians died during the relocations, many Turks also lost
their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.
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 allegations of “genocide” is that
it acknowledges the past experiences were a great tragedy and that both
parties suffered heavy casualties, including hundreds of Muslim Turks.
Ankara agrees that there were certainly Armenian casualties during
World War I, but says that it is impossible to define these incidents
as “genocide.”