Daily Sabah, Turkey
April 12 2015
Pope’s Armenia comments one-sided and incoherent: PM DavutoÄ?lu
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu on Sunday blamed Pope Francis
for using a ‘inappropriate’ and ‘one-sided’ language after the pontiff
described the killings of Armenians during World War I as “the first
genocide of the 20th century.”
Speaking at a closing ceremony in Istanbul, DavutoÄ?lu said “only
highlighting one side’s suffering during war time and discriminating
the others’ pain is not appropriate for the pope and the authority
that he holds.”
DavutoÄ?lu also said that the pope’s one-sided and incoherent statement
gives credence to rising racism and anti-Turkish approach in Europe.
On Sunday, Pope Francis called the 1915 incidents involving Armenians
“genocide” on Sunday during a Mass in the Armenian Catholic rite at
the St. Peter’s Basilica, which Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan also
attended.
Following the pope’s remarks, The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned
Vatican’s envoy to Ankara and re called its ambassador to Vatican to
Ankara for consultation and related the message that the incident has
caused “loss of trust” and would be met with a response.
The foreign ministry also released a statement regarding the incident,
saying “Pope Francis, who has defended the opinion of building peace
and friendship between different groups around the world since the day
he was assigned as Pope, has discriminated about people’s suffering,
overlooked atrocities that Turks and Muslims suffered in the First
World War and only highlighted the Christian suffering, especially
that of the Armenian people.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt ÇavuÃ…?oÄ?lu also slammed Pope’s
statement earlier in the day via social media, saying: The Pope’s
statement, which is out of touch with both historical facts and legal
basis, is simply unacceptable.
“Religious offices are not places through which hatred and animosity
are fueled by unfounded allegations,” ÇavuÃ…?oÄ?lu shared through
Twitter.
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.”
In 2014, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an 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,” ErdoÄ?an said.