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SARKISIAN URGES TURKEY TO 'REPENT'
Armenialiberty.org
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24415943.html
Dec 8 2011
President Serzh Sarkisian has urged Turkey to "repent" for the World
War One-era massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and expressed
confidence that Ankara will eventually recognize them as genocide.
"We believe that Turkey must repent," he said during a visit to
France's second largest city of Marseille late on Wednesday. "That
is neither a precondition nor a desire to exact revenge. Turkey must
come face to face with its history."
"One day Turkey's leadership will find the strength to reassess its
approaches to the Armenian Genocide," Sarkisian said, speaking at
an official reception organized in his honor by Marseille's Mayor
Jean-Claude Gaudin and attended by prominent members of the local
Armenian community.
"Sooner or later Turkey, which considers itself a European country,
will have a truly European leadership that will bow its head at the
Tsitsernakabert [genocide memorial in Yerevan,]" claimed the Armenian
leader. "The sooner the better, but that is up to the Turkish people."
There was no immediate reaction to the remarks from Ankara which
vehemently denies that some 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by
the Ottoman Turks in 1915-1918.
France - President Serzh Sarkisian speaks at an official reception
in Marseille, 7Dec2011.xFrance - President Serzh Sarkisian speaks at
an official reception in Marseille, 7Dec2011.
Successive Turkish governments have said that Armenians died in
much smaller numbers and as a result of civil strife, rather than a
premeditated government effort to exterminate a key Christian minority
in the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
Turkish leaders reacted angrily after French President Nicolas Sarkozy
urged them to stop denying the genocide during an October visit to
Armenia. "Collective denial is even worse than individual denial,"
Sarkozy said after laying flowers at the Tsitsernakabert memorial. He
also implicitly threatened to enact a law that would make Armenian
genocide denial a crime in France.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip accused Sarkozy of playing the
anti-Turkish card to secure reelection next year and warned of serious
damage to relations between France and Turkey.
By contrast, Sarkisian was full of praise for the French leader. "We
must simply be grateful to the wise president of this beautiful
country," he told the mostly French-Armenian audience.
In his speech, Sarkisian did not mention the future of the
Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements signed two years ago.
Earlier this year, he threatened to withdraw Yerevan's signature
from the agreements if Ankara continues to make their parliamentary
ratification contingent on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.
Armenialiberty.org
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24415943.html
Dec 8 2011
President Serzh Sarkisian has urged Turkey to "repent" for the World
War One-era massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and expressed
confidence that Ankara will eventually recognize them as genocide.
"We believe that Turkey must repent," he said during a visit to
France's second largest city of Marseille late on Wednesday. "That
is neither a precondition nor a desire to exact revenge. Turkey must
come face to face with its history."
"One day Turkey's leadership will find the strength to reassess its
approaches to the Armenian Genocide," Sarkisian said, speaking at
an official reception organized in his honor by Marseille's Mayor
Jean-Claude Gaudin and attended by prominent members of the local
Armenian community.
"Sooner or later Turkey, which considers itself a European country,
will have a truly European leadership that will bow its head at the
Tsitsernakabert [genocide memorial in Yerevan,]" claimed the Armenian
leader. "The sooner the better, but that is up to the Turkish people."
There was no immediate reaction to the remarks from Ankara which
vehemently denies that some 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by
the Ottoman Turks in 1915-1918.
France - President Serzh Sarkisian speaks at an official reception
in Marseille, 7Dec2011.xFrance - President Serzh Sarkisian speaks at
an official reception in Marseille, 7Dec2011.
Successive Turkish governments have said that Armenians died in
much smaller numbers and as a result of civil strife, rather than a
premeditated government effort to exterminate a key Christian minority
in the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
Turkish leaders reacted angrily after French President Nicolas Sarkozy
urged them to stop denying the genocide during an October visit to
Armenia. "Collective denial is even worse than individual denial,"
Sarkozy said after laying flowers at the Tsitsernakabert memorial. He
also implicitly threatened to enact a law that would make Armenian
genocide denial a crime in France.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip accused Sarkozy of playing the
anti-Turkish card to secure reelection next year and warned of serious
damage to relations between France and Turkey.
By contrast, Sarkisian was full of praise for the French leader. "We
must simply be grateful to the wise president of this beautiful
country," he told the mostly French-Armenian audience.
In his speech, Sarkisian did not mention the future of the
Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements signed two years ago.
Earlier this year, he threatened to withdraw Yerevan's signature
from the agreements if Ankara continues to make their parliamentary
ratification contingent on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.