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Hurriyet, Turkey
April 29 2014
Turkish opposition party sees condolences to Armenians as "apology for genocide"
ANKARA
April/29/2014
(HurriyetDailyNews) - - > Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent
extension of condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians killed in
World War I by Ottoman forces has been criticized by opposition
parties, with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) describing it as
"an apology for genocide." However, Erdogan himself sounded
self-confident over the condolence message, saying it was a symbol of
Turkey's "walls of fear being destroyed."
Addressed a parliamentary group meeting of his party on April 29, MHP
head Devlet Bahceli described Erdogan's words as "non-national." "In
his message, which was written in its entirety with a non-national
look, Prime Minister Erdogan spoke of a 'just and conscientious
stance' and understanding that era's grievances regardless of
religious and ethnic roots," Bahceli said.
"But the prime minister's condolence is sort of an apology for
genocide," he added.
On the other hand, People's Democracy Party (HDP) co-chair Sebahat
Tuncel said opening state archives concerning the events of 1915, as
pledged by Erdogan earlier in the day, would be a "significant but
insufficient step."
"A Truth and Justice Commission should be founded and the past should
be faced," Tuncel said, delivering a speech at the first-ever
parliamentary group meeting of the HDP, which now has the required
number of seats to form a group after 19 Peace and Democracy Party
(BDP) deputies joined the party on April 28.
In a statement issued on April 23, the eve of the 99th anniversary of
the Armenian killings, Erdogan unexpectedly described the events of
1915 as "inhumane," using more conciliatory language than has been the
case for Turkish leaders in the past.
The exact nature and scale of what happened in 1915 continues to sour
relations between Turkey and Armenia. Turkey accepts that many
Armenians died in clashes, but denies that up to 1.5 million were
killed and that this constituted an act of genocide -a term used by
most historians and foreign parliaments.
In his April 29 speech, Erdogan stressed that Turkey had "nothing to
be ashamed of" in its past. "We are getting rid of the past's weights,
its balls and chains, with courage. We are rooting out fears of the
past one by one and destroying the walls of fear in front of Turkey.
We have faced every incident and we will continue to do so," he said.
Erdogan's April 23 statement was unusually released in nine different
languages, including Armenian, and repeated previous calls for
dialogue between the two countries and the setting up of a historical
commission to study events surrounding the killings.
"It is with this hope and belief that we wish that the Armenians who
lost their lives in the context of the early 20th century rest in
peace, and we convey our condolences to their grandchildren," the
statement said.
"Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences -such as
relocation -during the First World War, should not prevent Turks and
Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes
towards one another," it added.
From: A. Papazian
April 29 2014
Turkish opposition party sees condolences to Armenians as "apology for genocide"
ANKARA
April/29/2014
(HurriyetDailyNews) - - > Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent
extension of condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians killed in
World War I by Ottoman forces has been criticized by opposition
parties, with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) describing it as
"an apology for genocide." However, Erdogan himself sounded
self-confident over the condolence message, saying it was a symbol of
Turkey's "walls of fear being destroyed."
Addressed a parliamentary group meeting of his party on April 29, MHP
head Devlet Bahceli described Erdogan's words as "non-national." "In
his message, which was written in its entirety with a non-national
look, Prime Minister Erdogan spoke of a 'just and conscientious
stance' and understanding that era's grievances regardless of
religious and ethnic roots," Bahceli said.
"But the prime minister's condolence is sort of an apology for
genocide," he added.
On the other hand, People's Democracy Party (HDP) co-chair Sebahat
Tuncel said opening state archives concerning the events of 1915, as
pledged by Erdogan earlier in the day, would be a "significant but
insufficient step."
"A Truth and Justice Commission should be founded and the past should
be faced," Tuncel said, delivering a speech at the first-ever
parliamentary group meeting of the HDP, which now has the required
number of seats to form a group after 19 Peace and Democracy Party
(BDP) deputies joined the party on April 28.
In a statement issued on April 23, the eve of the 99th anniversary of
the Armenian killings, Erdogan unexpectedly described the events of
1915 as "inhumane," using more conciliatory language than has been the
case for Turkish leaders in the past.
The exact nature and scale of what happened in 1915 continues to sour
relations between Turkey and Armenia. Turkey accepts that many
Armenians died in clashes, but denies that up to 1.5 million were
killed and that this constituted an act of genocide -a term used by
most historians and foreign parliaments.
In his April 29 speech, Erdogan stressed that Turkey had "nothing to
be ashamed of" in its past. "We are getting rid of the past's weights,
its balls and chains, with courage. We are rooting out fears of the
past one by one and destroying the walls of fear in front of Turkey.
We have faced every incident and we will continue to do so," he said.
Erdogan's April 23 statement was unusually released in nine different
languages, including Armenian, and repeated previous calls for
dialogue between the two countries and the setting up of a historical
commission to study events surrounding the killings.
"It is with this hope and belief that we wish that the Armenians who
lost their lives in the context of the early 20th century rest in
peace, and we convey our condolences to their grandchildren," the
statement said.
"Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences -such as
relocation -during the First World War, should not prevent Turks and
Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes
towards one another," it added.
From: A. Papazian