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FRENCH SINGER AZNAVOUR CRITICIZED BY TURKEY, ARMENIAN DIASPORA UPON REMARKS
Turkish Press
April 1 2013
French-Armenian musician Charles Aznavour has been criticized by both
Turkey and the Armenian diaspora in Switzerland following his remarks
on the death of Armenian people in 1915 at the hands of the Ottomans
and his proposals for normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations.
Aznavour, who is Armenia's ambassador to Switzerland and permanent
delegate to the United Nations office in Geneva, criticized Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week in a televised interview in
Switzerland, without naming him.
He claimed that the Turkish prime minister once said he hates Greeks
and Armenians, saying that a prime minister cannot say such things.
In a written statement released on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry
said: "We cannot understand what his stated claims are based on. We
strongly reject this groundless and meaningless accusation. The Turks
have long coexisted peacefully with the Armenians and Greeks." The
Turkish statement, however, welcomed Aznavour's offering proposals
on the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations as a world-famous
"man of art and intellectual."
Meanwhile, Aznavour's remarks have also drawn a reaction from the
Armenian diaspora in Switzerland, though from a different viewpoint.
Secretary-General of the Swiss parliament's Switzerland-Armenia
parliamentary friendship group Sarkis Shahinian issued a press
release criticizing Aznavour's remarks for their "banalization" on the
so-called Armenian genocide. "Turks are using the word 'mass killing'
-- let them use it," said Aznavour, maintaining that he would not
ask for anything other than the opening of the border between the
two countries and recognition of historical events between the two
nations. He, however, also stated that he does not care about using
the word "genocide" when defining the 1915 events, claiming that a
simple recognition of the killings is necessary and sufficient.
Aznavour mentioned that he found it "ridiculous" and "pitiful" that
young Armenians are writing more books by the day and vast libraries
could be filled with all of their efforts spent on the question. He
said that the issue is also a burden on young Turks. But Aznavour's
constructive remarks on the normalization of Turkey-Armenia ties,
recalling that Turkey and Armenia share a border and there are economic
-- even if informal -- and tourism relations between the two countries,
have angered the Armenian diaspora. Shahinian's statement, released
after Aznavour's interview, asked the Armenian government "what
they aim for with having themselves represented in the international
arena by a person [Aznavour] who fails to grasp the struggle in its
totality for the recognition of a crime related to the destruction
of his own people."
The statement also accused Aznavour of "throwing to the wind a long
struggle in Switzerland which provided for a unique judicial opinion
making it illegal to deny [the so-called Armenian genocide]."
Published: 4/1/2013
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=383735
From: Baghdasarian
Turkish Press
April 1 2013
French-Armenian musician Charles Aznavour has been criticized by both
Turkey and the Armenian diaspora in Switzerland following his remarks
on the death of Armenian people in 1915 at the hands of the Ottomans
and his proposals for normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations.
Aznavour, who is Armenia's ambassador to Switzerland and permanent
delegate to the United Nations office in Geneva, criticized Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week in a televised interview in
Switzerland, without naming him.
He claimed that the Turkish prime minister once said he hates Greeks
and Armenians, saying that a prime minister cannot say such things.
In a written statement released on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry
said: "We cannot understand what his stated claims are based on. We
strongly reject this groundless and meaningless accusation. The Turks
have long coexisted peacefully with the Armenians and Greeks." The
Turkish statement, however, welcomed Aznavour's offering proposals
on the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations as a world-famous
"man of art and intellectual."
Meanwhile, Aznavour's remarks have also drawn a reaction from the
Armenian diaspora in Switzerland, though from a different viewpoint.
Secretary-General of the Swiss parliament's Switzerland-Armenia
parliamentary friendship group Sarkis Shahinian issued a press
release criticizing Aznavour's remarks for their "banalization" on the
so-called Armenian genocide. "Turks are using the word 'mass killing'
-- let them use it," said Aznavour, maintaining that he would not
ask for anything other than the opening of the border between the
two countries and recognition of historical events between the two
nations. He, however, also stated that he does not care about using
the word "genocide" when defining the 1915 events, claiming that a
simple recognition of the killings is necessary and sufficient.
Aznavour mentioned that he found it "ridiculous" and "pitiful" that
young Armenians are writing more books by the day and vast libraries
could be filled with all of their efforts spent on the question. He
said that the issue is also a burden on young Turks. But Aznavour's
constructive remarks on the normalization of Turkey-Armenia ties,
recalling that Turkey and Armenia share a border and there are economic
-- even if informal -- and tourism relations between the two countries,
have angered the Armenian diaspora. Shahinian's statement, released
after Aznavour's interview, asked the Armenian government "what
they aim for with having themselves represented in the international
arena by a person [Aznavour] who fails to grasp the struggle in its
totality for the recognition of a crime related to the destruction
of his own people."
The statement also accused Aznavour of "throwing to the wind a long
struggle in Switzerland which provided for a unique judicial opinion
making it illegal to deny [the so-called Armenian genocide]."
Published: 4/1/2013
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=383735
From: Baghdasarian