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Today's Zaman, Turkey
June 23 2013
Official: Pope's approval of Armenian genocide claims shows only personal view
23 June 2013 /GÖZDE NUR DONAT, ANKARA
Pope Francis' latest remarks labeling acts committed in 1915 by the
Ottoman Empire a "genocide" and affirming the Armenian claims do not
point to a change in the Vatican's neutral position on the issue just
before the 100th anniversary of the events, but merely reflect his
personal position, say diplomats and analysts.
Kenan Gürsoy, the Turkish ambassador to the Vatican, said in remarks
to Sunday's Zaman that Vatican officials did not give any sign that it
will formally recognize Armenian claims of genocide, though the
Armenian diaspora throughout the world is actively lobbying for the
recognition of their claims for the 2015 commemoration of the events.
Earlier this month, Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the world's
Roman Catholics recently stated, "The first genocide of the 20th
century was that of the Armenians," during an official meeting with
Armenian religious officials in the Vatican. The pope's statement
elicited an immediate reaction from Turkey, and the Foreign Ministry
released a statement calling the pope's remarks "one-sided" and in
contradiction with the appropriate fulfillment of the responsibilities
of the papacy post, such as contributing to world peace.
The pope's position on the events of 1915 was already well known. In
2006 when he was a cardinal in Argentina he defined the deaths of
Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as the "gravest crime of
Ottoman Turkey." Argentina, the homeland of Pope Francis, is also home
to a significant number of Armenians, Greeks and Jews whose ancestors
migrated from the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
Also, on March 7, Armenia appointed an ambassador to the Vatican by
presidential decree. Mikael Minasyan, son-in-law of Armenian President
Serzh Sarksyan and deputy chief of the President's Office, is the
first ambassador of Armenia to be posted to the Vatican. Armenia and
the Vatican established diplomatic relations in 1992, but Armenia has
not previously had an embassy in the sovereign city-state.
The March election of Pope Francis pleased the Armenian diaspora, as
he is expected to have a decisive influence on the course of Armenian
lobbying activities for the recognition of their claims of genocide.
Associate Professor Ali Murat Yel, who teaches in the communications
department of the İstanbul-based Marmara University, also confirmed
that the pope's recent remarks are related to his background as an
Argentinean Jesuit and being so close Armenians early in his career as
a man of religion.
Barış Özdal, an expert on the Armenian question and a lecturer in the
international relations department of Bursa's Uludağ University,
stated that the neutral move the Vatican could make at this sensitive
time would be to allow public access to the Vatican's historical
archives to provide better understanding of the facts.
"In that case [if Vatican opens the archives], Turkey could turn the
crisis into an opportunity in order to promote a better understanding
of the facts," said Özdal, in comments to Sunday's Zaman.
Observers say that while the Armenians are preparing for 2015 with
lobbying efforts throughout the world -- including the Vatican -- with
the aim of obliging Turkey to also accept their claim as fact, it is
totally incomprehensible that Turkey is not conducting any
counter-lobbying efforts to offer the historical documents that affirm
its contentions. Turkey supports the establishment of an independent
committee to be made up of historians and experts from both the
Armenian and Turkish sides to investigate the disparate claims. Turkey
deems the decades of Armenians' one-sided efforts on the issue and not
responding to their requests for the committee as merely a campaign to
stalemate Turkey politically.
Turkey rejects the claims made by the Armenian side that the
deportation of the Armenian population living in the eastern villages
of Turkey in 1915 to areas further east, which led to mass deaths in
that population, amounted to genocide.
Historical archives say that the Armenian deportation was conducted by
the Ottoman administration as a territorial security measure that
would help the empire subdue Armenian insurgencies during World War I,
rather than with racist motives targeting the Armenian population.
Armenian-populated provinces in the early 20th century, including
Erzurum, Elazığ, Şanlıurfa, Van and Diyarbakır, were located in
sensitive areas that were vital to the Ottoman armies fighting the
Russians on the Caucasian frontier of the empire and the British in
Mesopotamia and Palestine. Ottoman armies on these three fronts were
dependent on the roads leading to western Turkey for their supply of
food, ammunition and medical supplies. Armed Armenian revolutionary
groups, Dashnaks and Hunchaks, established in the late 19th century
that were in control of these cities began to attack and cut these
lines of communication and supplies in 1915, taking financial help and
weapons from Russia, France and the United Kingdom -- all invaders of
Ottoman territories during World War I. The Ottoman decision to
relocate the Armenians who lived in those cities was a
counterinsurgency policy developed in response to attacks by Armenian
groups that were committed to violent action in order to establish an
independent Armenian state, carving out eastern Anatolia from the
Ottoman Empire.
From: Baghdasarian
June 23 2013
Official: Pope's approval of Armenian genocide claims shows only personal view
23 June 2013 /GÖZDE NUR DONAT, ANKARA
Pope Francis' latest remarks labeling acts committed in 1915 by the
Ottoman Empire a "genocide" and affirming the Armenian claims do not
point to a change in the Vatican's neutral position on the issue just
before the 100th anniversary of the events, but merely reflect his
personal position, say diplomats and analysts.
Kenan Gürsoy, the Turkish ambassador to the Vatican, said in remarks
to Sunday's Zaman that Vatican officials did not give any sign that it
will formally recognize Armenian claims of genocide, though the
Armenian diaspora throughout the world is actively lobbying for the
recognition of their claims for the 2015 commemoration of the events.
Earlier this month, Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the world's
Roman Catholics recently stated, "The first genocide of the 20th
century was that of the Armenians," during an official meeting with
Armenian religious officials in the Vatican. The pope's statement
elicited an immediate reaction from Turkey, and the Foreign Ministry
released a statement calling the pope's remarks "one-sided" and in
contradiction with the appropriate fulfillment of the responsibilities
of the papacy post, such as contributing to world peace.
The pope's position on the events of 1915 was already well known. In
2006 when he was a cardinal in Argentina he defined the deaths of
Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as the "gravest crime of
Ottoman Turkey." Argentina, the homeland of Pope Francis, is also home
to a significant number of Armenians, Greeks and Jews whose ancestors
migrated from the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
Also, on March 7, Armenia appointed an ambassador to the Vatican by
presidential decree. Mikael Minasyan, son-in-law of Armenian President
Serzh Sarksyan and deputy chief of the President's Office, is the
first ambassador of Armenia to be posted to the Vatican. Armenia and
the Vatican established diplomatic relations in 1992, but Armenia has
not previously had an embassy in the sovereign city-state.
The March election of Pope Francis pleased the Armenian diaspora, as
he is expected to have a decisive influence on the course of Armenian
lobbying activities for the recognition of their claims of genocide.
Associate Professor Ali Murat Yel, who teaches in the communications
department of the İstanbul-based Marmara University, also confirmed
that the pope's recent remarks are related to his background as an
Argentinean Jesuit and being so close Armenians early in his career as
a man of religion.
Barış Özdal, an expert on the Armenian question and a lecturer in the
international relations department of Bursa's Uludağ University,
stated that the neutral move the Vatican could make at this sensitive
time would be to allow public access to the Vatican's historical
archives to provide better understanding of the facts.
"In that case [if Vatican opens the archives], Turkey could turn the
crisis into an opportunity in order to promote a better understanding
of the facts," said Özdal, in comments to Sunday's Zaman.
Observers say that while the Armenians are preparing for 2015 with
lobbying efforts throughout the world -- including the Vatican -- with
the aim of obliging Turkey to also accept their claim as fact, it is
totally incomprehensible that Turkey is not conducting any
counter-lobbying efforts to offer the historical documents that affirm
its contentions. Turkey supports the establishment of an independent
committee to be made up of historians and experts from both the
Armenian and Turkish sides to investigate the disparate claims. Turkey
deems the decades of Armenians' one-sided efforts on the issue and not
responding to their requests for the committee as merely a campaign to
stalemate Turkey politically.
Turkey rejects the claims made by the Armenian side that the
deportation of the Armenian population living in the eastern villages
of Turkey in 1915 to areas further east, which led to mass deaths in
that population, amounted to genocide.
Historical archives say that the Armenian deportation was conducted by
the Ottoman administration as a territorial security measure that
would help the empire subdue Armenian insurgencies during World War I,
rather than with racist motives targeting the Armenian population.
Armenian-populated provinces in the early 20th century, including
Erzurum, Elazığ, Şanlıurfa, Van and Diyarbakır, were located in
sensitive areas that were vital to the Ottoman armies fighting the
Russians on the Caucasian frontier of the empire and the British in
Mesopotamia and Palestine. Ottoman armies on these three fronts were
dependent on the roads leading to western Turkey for their supply of
food, ammunition and medical supplies. Armed Armenian revolutionary
groups, Dashnaks and Hunchaks, established in the late 19th century
that were in control of these cities began to attack and cut these
lines of communication and supplies in 1915, taking financial help and
weapons from Russia, France and the United Kingdom -- all invaders of
Ottoman territories during World War I. The Ottoman decision to
relocate the Armenians who lived in those cities was a
counterinsurgency policy developed in response to attacks by Armenian
groups that were committed to violent action in order to establish an
independent Armenian state, carving out eastern Anatolia from the
Ottoman Empire.
From: Baghdasarian