“genocide” comments
The reason for the growing international tendency to recognize the
mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915
as genocide is the Sunni Islamist policy pursued by the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AKP), a senior main opposition party leader has
claimed.
“This has turned into a Turkey-bashing campaign. And this is because
of the AKP and its policies drifting Turkey towards being a Sunni
Islamist country,” Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Head Murat
Ozcelik told the Hurriyet Daily News on April 14.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians were killed in a
genocide starting in 1915. Turkey denies that the deaths amounted to
genocide, saying the death toll of Armenians killed during mass
deportations has been inflated and that those killed in 1915 and 1916
were victims of general unrest during World War I.
Recalling that Pope Francis described the 1915 incidents as “genocide”
and that the European Parliament will likely vote in favour of
recognizing the genocide, calling on EU member countries to do the
same, Ozcelik criticized the government for underestimating the impact
of the 100th anniversary of 1915.
“In the past, Turkey had certain arguments against genocide claims
that worked until now. But it was well-known that there would be
dynamism [in efforts to let it be recognized as genocide] in the
centennial of the incident. Turkey should have carried out its work
based on this fact,” Ozcelik said.
By using the word genocide, the Pope issued an indirect call on
Christian countries to recognize the Armenian genocide, said Ozcelik,
who is also retired ambassador.
“It’s a very important development. The European Parliament will also
call on EU countries to do so [recognize the events as genocide].
Another question is whether the United States will now also use the
same word,” he said.
The reason why Western countries are no longer hesitant to recognize
the Armenian genocide at the expense of angering Turkey and putting
their interests in danger is the fact that the government is speedily
drifting east and becoming an Islamist country, Ozcelik claimed.
“EU countries and the West in general have recently realized how
radical Islam can be threatening. They also observe that Turkey, once
a secular and democratic country aligned with the West and often
introduced as a model country is parting ways,” he added.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambition to become a super-president
and his “efforts to turn Turkey into an Islamist country” through the
upcoming elections were also being watched by the West, Ozcelik said.
Criticism of the Pope
Although very critical of the government for the “defeat against
Armenian claims,” Ozcelik also slammed Pope Francis for his words.
“Seven million Jews were slaughtered during the Holocaust in an
unprecedented systematic way with the aim of demolishing an entire
race. Therefore it’s very wrong to compare this by describing [the
1915 incidents] as the first genocide of the 20th century. A primary
pleasure of the Christians is to shift responsibility over its
genocide crime by highlighting another suffering. They cannot evade
responsibility this way,” he said.
Every historical incident should be assessed within its own context,
Ozcelik said.
“These things are not comparable. The deportation of Armenians had a
historical background. What Turks did cannot be put in the same
equation with what Stalin or the Nazis did,” he said.