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Hürriyet, Turkey
Dec 20 2008
Army opposes apology petition
ANKARA - The military became involved Friday in a deepening
controversy over an apology campaign launched by Turkish intellectuals
for the World War I-era killings of Armenians at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire.
"We definitely think what has been done is not right. Apologizing is
wrong and can yield harmful consequences," Brig. Gen. Metin
Gürak, spokesperson for the General Staff, told a weekly news
conference.
The Internet initiative coincides with a diplomatic rapprochement
between Turkey and Armenia to end hostility. In Brussels, Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan, speaking to reporters, said the intellectuals'
initiative could harm the recent process aimed at normalizing ties
with Armenia.
The apology, which was also countered by a declaration from a group of
retired ambassadors, avoids using the word "genocide" and instead uses
the term "great catastrophe."
Dec 20 2008
Army opposes apology petition
ANKARA - The military became involved Friday in a deepening
controversy over an apology campaign launched by Turkish intellectuals
for the World War I-era killings of Armenians at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire.
"We definitely think what has been done is not right. Apologizing is
wrong and can yield harmful consequences," Brig. Gen. Metin
Gürak, spokesperson for the General Staff, told a weekly news
conference.
The Internet initiative coincides with a diplomatic rapprochement
between Turkey and Armenia to end hostility. In Brussels, Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan, speaking to reporters, said the intellectuals'
initiative could harm the recent process aimed at normalizing ties
with Armenia.
The apology, which was also countered by a declaration from a group of
retired ambassadors, avoids using the word "genocide" and instead uses
the term "great catastrophe."