Daily Sabah, Turkey
April 19 2015

Erdoðan: Politicizing 1915 incidents will hurt Armenian Diaspora the most

MEHMET ÇELIK@celikmehmet0
ISTANBUL

President Erdoðan lambasted the EP for ‘politicizing’ the 1915
incidents by labeling the loss of Armenian lives as ‘genocide.’ He
added that the Armenians will suffer most from the move and that
Turkey is ready to reconcile with Armenia

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan attended an inauguration
ceremony for various educational, medical, and sports facilities in
Turkey’s western province of Kocaeli, where he harshly criticized the
European Parliament’s (EP) adoption of a resolution urging all member
states to recognize the 1915 incidents as “genocide.”

The president refuted the EP’s decision, accusing them of using
Armenia against Turkey, saying “We know that their intention is not to
protect the rights of Armenians.”

Erdoðan said that Turkey is ready to open its archives to investigate
the matter and that the incidents should be investigated by
historians, not politicians. He also called on Armenia and other
countries to open their archives, if they had any. Erdoðan further
added that Turkey has no problems with Armenians, and the fact that
80,000 Armenians live in Turkey is a proof of that.

“I call on the world, especially Armenians, politicizing the matter
will harm Armenians the most,” Erdoðan said.

President Erdoðan also spoke on the issue of Nagorny Karabakh between
Armenia and Azerbaijan saying, “Our doors are still open to Armenia.
We are ready to establish all kinds of co-operation with them, as long
as they take positive steps towards the claims of so-called ‘genocide’
and the issue of Karabakh.”

The dispute over Nagorny Karabakh is rooted in the 1990s war, which
left at least 30,000 people dead as a result of attacks by Armenian
separatists, who seized the territory from Azerbaijan and drove out
the Azeri population.

The dispute between the two countries has not yet been resolved,
although a cease-fire has been established since 1994. The Karabakh
regions have been internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

The 1915 incidents have been a source of dispute, disagreement and the
reason for decades of strained relations between Turkey and Armenia.
Armenia claims that 1.5 million people were deliberately killed.
However, Turkey denies these claims, saying that the historical facts
do not reflect such an intention and that the deaths were a result of
deportations and civil strife.

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 against the empire.

The Ottoman Empire relocated Armenians in eastern Anatolia following
the revolts, and there were Armenian casualties during the relocation
process.

Armenia demands a formal 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.
Furthermore, the Turkish General Directorate of State Archives last
week began to open the state archives over the 1915 incidents between
Turkey and Armenia to the public via Twitter, following scores of
unanswered calls by the Turkish side to open the archives.

Posted by the @devletarsiv Twitter account with the #Ermenimeselesi
(Armenian issue) hashtag, the documents aim to reveal the facts over
the decades-long dispute on the 100th anniversary of the incidents.

In a telegram sent by the governor of the eastern province of Bitlis
to the interior ministry dated Sept. 18, 1914 regarding the stance to
be taken by Ottoman Armenian citizens during the war, it reads: “The
recent decision and suggestion by Armenian thinkers is to stay calm
and bow to the state [Ottoman Empire] until the declaration of war, to
change the enemy party if war is declared, to stay calm and bow to the
state if our army gains ground and to arm themselves and hamper the
army’s route if it withdraws. This information is declared by the Muþ
Governorate to be from trustworthy intelligence. The Third Army
Command is [also] informed.”

Another published document also revealed that attacks by Armenian
rebels increased in February, 1920 and 28 Islamic villages were
destroyed with more than 2,000 Muslim villagers killed by Armenian
rebels. A subsequent letter to the Interior Ministry on March 7, 1915
stated that 30,000 Muslim men in the eastern provinces of Kars and
Ardahan were killed by Armenian rebels, and the letter also warned
against some Armenian soldiers in the Ottoman army refusing to fight
against the enemy, making themselves captives to the enemy side
deliberately in order to leak information.

Savaþ Eðilmez, who is the head of ASIMED, a Turkish foundation aimed
at fighting the “genocide” allegations, said yesterday that they are
going to organize conferences in some countries with photos and
documents.

“Our actions are aimed at telling the truth, not designed to defend
ourselves [i.e. Turkey]. We will attend a conference in the U.S. and
inform NGOs about the Armenian issue [the 1915 incidents]. We will
defend no one, including the Turkish side. We only aim to tell the
truth based on the sources,” said Eðilmez.