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Turkish prime minister attends opening of Armenian museum in Istanbu

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  • Turkish prime minister attends opening of Armenian museum in Istanbu

    Turkish prime minister attends opening of Armenian museum in Istanbul

    The Associated Press
    December 6, 2004, Monday

    DATELINE: ISTANBUL, Turkey

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially opened an
    Armenian museum in Istanbul on Sunday and said he was committed to
    protecting the rights of minority Armenians.

    Erdogan joined Mesrob II, the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul, and
    other leaders of Turkey's Armenian Christian minority of 65,000 for the
    opening of the museum at the Yedikule Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital.

    "Armenian citizens are an indispensable part of (Turkey). Every
    artifact in this museum shows a past that was lived together,"
    Erdogan said. "We are now protecting each other's rights, aware of
    our citizenship, and it will be like this forever."

    Most Armenians in this predominantly Muslim but secular country live
    in Istanbul.

    Turkey, which recognizes Armenians as an official minority, is under
    pressure to improve rights for minorities as part of efforts to join
    the European Union. Turkey hopes that EU leaders will agree to open
    membership talks with it at a Dec. 17 summit.

    Ties between Armenians and Turks have often been strained over the
    mass killing of Armenians during and after World War I.

    Armenians say that a 1915-1923 campaign to force Armenians out of
    eastern Turkey left 1.5 million people dead and amounted to genocide.

    Turkey objects to the use of the word "genocide." Turkey says the
    figures are inflated and that deaths were the result of civil unrest
    and not a planned campaign.

    The museum includes religious artifacts, antique medical equipment
    and an Ottoman decree that established the hospital in 1832.
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