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Armenia accuses Turkey of 'utter denial' on genocide

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  • Armenia accuses Turkey of 'utter denial' on genocide

    The Nation, Pakistan
    April 24 2014

    Armenia accuses Turkey of 'utter denial' on genocide

    April 25, 2014
    AFP


    For news details visit :
    http://www.nation.com.pk/international/25-Apr-2014/armenia-accuses-turkey-of-utter-denial-on-genocide

    For news details Read on : Armenia accuses Turkey of 'utter denial' on genocide

    YEREVAN : Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian on Thursday accused
    Turkey of an "utter denial" in failing to recognise World War I mass
    killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, apparently
    brushing off Ankara's first ever offer of condelences for the tragedy.
    In an unprecedented move described by the United States as a historic
    gesture, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday
    offered condolences over the massacres, calling them "our shared
    pain."
    But in a statement marking the 99th anniversary of the start of the
    killings and mass deportations, Sarkisian made no acknowledgement of
    Erdogan's move and instead accused Turkey of continuing to ignore the
    facts.
    "The Armenian genocide... is alive as far as the successor of the
    Ottoman Turkey continues its policy of utter denial," he said.
    "The denial of a crime constitutes the direct continuation of that
    very crime," he added. "Only recognition and condemnation can prevent
    the repetition of such crimes in the future."
    He said the looming 100th anniversary offered "Turkey a good chance to
    repent and to set aside the historical stigma in case if they make
    efforts to set free their state's future from this heavy burden."
    He also stressed that the events of 1915 "should not prevent Turks and
    Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes
    towards one another."
    US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington welcomed
    Erdogan's "historic public acknowledgement of the suffering that
    Armenians experienced in 1915."
    Thursday was a day of national mourning in Armenia and requiem masses
    were held in churches across the country marking the 99th anniversary
    of the massacres.
    All national television channels ran live broadcast of the annual
    ceremony which saw thousands of Armenians flocking to a hilltop
    memorial above Yerevan to lay flowers at the eternal flame.
    "I came here for the first time with my father when I was
    five-year-old, today I came here with my grandson and he knows what we
    expect from the world and from Turkey," 58-year-old resident of
    Yerevan Narine Balayan told AFP.
    "I do hope that when he comes here with his grandchildren all problems
    with Turkey will be resolved," she said.
    In Istanbul, a commemorations also took place but on a far smaller
    scale, gathering a few hundred people.
    A group calling itself "The Platform for the Commemoration of 24
    April's Armenian Genocide" organised the rally on the steps of the
    Haydarpasa train station, from where the first convoy of Armenians
    were deported on April 24, 1915 after being rounded up by the
    authorities.
    The group carried black and white photos of deportees and a banner
    that read: "We commemorate the victims of Armenian genocide: some
    wounds do not heal with time".
    "Yes, it is true. This is our shared pain. We are here to share the
    pain of Armenians," activist Levent Sensever said.
    Another demonstration was to be held later in Taksim Square, a
    traditional rallying point which was the scene of mass anti-government
    protests in June.
    Traditionally, thousands of members of the Armenian diaspora arrive
    from around the world arrive in Yerevan to take part in the ceremony.
    This year saw many Armenians from conflict-ridden Syria - descendants
    of those who fled Ottoman persecution in 1915 - return to the
    ancestral homeland.
    In his Thursday statement Sarkisian said the fate of Armenians in
    Syria "is our open wound and the issue of our primary concern."
    On Wednesday, young activists of the nationalist Dashnaktsutyun party
    burned Turkish flags and led a 15,000-strong torch-lit procession in
    Yerevan.
    They held placards that read "Recognition-Condemnation-Compensation"
    and "Turkey still hides behind lies."
    One of Dashnaktsutyun leaders, Kiro Manoyan, denounced Erdogan's
    statement as an "attempt to deceive us and the world."
    Erdogan acknowledged that the events of 1915 had "inhumane
    consequences" but also said it was "inadmissable" for them to be used
    as an excuse today for hostility against Turkey.
    Using both diplomatic levers and its influential diaspora abroad,
    Armenia has long sought to win the massacre's international
    recognition as genocide.
    Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during World War I
    as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim supported by several
    other countries.
    Turkey argues 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks
    died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman
    rulers siding with invading Russian troops.
    Over 20 countries have so far recognised the massacres as genocide.

    http://www.nation.com.pk/international/25-Apr-2014/armenia-accuses-turkey-of-utter-denial-on-genocide


    From: Baghdasarian
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