MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 06th April, 2023) Ankara hopes that the Turkish and the Armenian peoples can establish relations of friendship and cooperation, Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar said on Thursday.
Armenia and Turkey, lacking diplomatic relations since 1993, launched the process of normalizing relations in 2022. The root cause of their estrangement has been Turkey's opposition to the process of international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
"Turkey continues to believe that the Turkish and the Armenian peoples, which have lived together in tolerance and peace for centuries, can establish relations of friendship and cooperation," Akar said, as quoted by Turkish newspaper Aydinlik.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "has said at every opportunity and every platform" that Ankara is open to an objective inquiry into the events of 1915 by historians, Akar added.
"We repeat our call on this issue. Armenia, like Turkey, should open its archives to historians of international acclaim, come to terms with their findings and not worry about it. However, so far we have received no response to our call," he said.
The 1915 Armenian Genocide has been recognized by 34 countries to date, including Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, and the United States, as well as by the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches. According to estimates, 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s.
Turkey has repeatedly denied the accusations of genocide, claiming that the killings were part of hostilities during World War 1.
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/ankara-hopes-turkish-armenian-peoples-can-me-1672227.html
