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GERMAN NOBEL PRIZE-WINNER GUENTER GRASS URGING TURKEY RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Tert.am
15.04.10
German Nobel Prize-winning author Guenter Grass urged Turkey on
Wednesday to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide perpetrated in the
waning days of the Ottoman Empire.
Speaking while on a visit to Istanbul, Grass said such recognition
would be the most important step which Turkey could take in the
direction of joining European Union.
He also recalled German Chancellor Willy Brand who had apologized
Polish people in 1970 for the Holocaust, urging Turkey that it is
high time that Turkish authorities follow suit and apologize the
Armenians living in Armenia and in Turkey.
"Acknowledgment is not easy. But Germany did it. When will the
moment arrive that the crime of the genocide of the Armenians in
1915-1916 will be recognized as fact?" he asked, adding: "I hope it
will be soon."
Grass's remarks come as the latest in the ongoing controversy over
Turkey's official stance regarding the Armenian Genocide when upwards
of 1.5 million Armenians were killed and more than 500 were deported.
Turkey, while acknowledging the deaths of Armenians under the then
Ottoman empire, vehemently rejects claims of genocide.
Tert.am
15.04.10
German Nobel Prize-winning author Guenter Grass urged Turkey on
Wednesday to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide perpetrated in the
waning days of the Ottoman Empire.
Speaking while on a visit to Istanbul, Grass said such recognition
would be the most important step which Turkey could take in the
direction of joining European Union.
He also recalled German Chancellor Willy Brand who had apologized
Polish people in 1970 for the Holocaust, urging Turkey that it is
high time that Turkish authorities follow suit and apologize the
Armenians living in Armenia and in Turkey.
"Acknowledgment is not easy. But Germany did it. When will the
moment arrive that the crime of the genocide of the Armenians in
1915-1916 will be recognized as fact?" he asked, adding: "I hope it
will be soon."
Grass's remarks come as the latest in the ongoing controversy over
Turkey's official stance regarding the Armenian Genocide when upwards
of 1.5 million Armenians were killed and more than 500 were deported.
Turkey, while acknowledging the deaths of Armenians under the then
Ottoman empire, vehemently rejects claims of genocide.