Tweet
GREEK CYPRUS CRIMINALIZES DENIAL OF GENOCIDE, IS CRITICIZED BY TURKEY
Daily Sabah, Turkey
April 3 2015
MEHMET SOLMAZ
ISTANBUL
Greek Cyprus on Thursday made it a crime to deny that the Ottomans
committed genocide against Armenians a century ago, a move that has
been criticized by Turkey for limiting freedom of expression on the
divided island where reunification talks were suspended in October.
The Greek Cypriot parliament passed a resolution penalizing the denial
of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, modifying existing
legislation that required prior conviction by an international court
to make denial a crime.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently said Armenia would not gain
anything from "propaganda against Turkey."
Armenians will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents,
which they term as genocide, on April 24. It also accelerated its
efforts in the international arena to make countries accept the
incidents as genocide. It has, however, received little support
thus far. Yet countries like Norway and Australia openly said they
will not attend the ceremonies in the Armenian capital of Yerevan
and avoided Armenian pressure to officially define the incidents as
genocide. "The purpose of this campaign against Turkey is to treat
our country as an enemy instead of keeping Armenians' sorrow alive,"
Erdogan said as he called on Armenians to study archives pertaining
to the era in order to uncover what actually happened between the
Ottoman government and its Armenian subjects.
The president said Armenia never answered Turkey's call to study the
archives, adding, "You cannot gain anything from the propaganda against
Turkey with bribing countries, immoral ways and lobbying." He claimed
that the purpose was not to find the truth, but to damage and attack
Turkey, adding: "We do not have to account to anyone on this issue. If
we pursue our nation's 100, 150 years of sorrow we can find more than
Armenian allegations." Not just Armenians were affected by the war,
but hundreds of Muslims also, he added.
The debate on genocide and the differing opinions between the
present-day Turkish government and the Armenian diaspora, along with
the current administration in Yerevan, still generates political
tension between Turks and Armenians.
Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an act of
genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 during World War I. Turkey
accepts that mass deaths of Armenians occurred during their forced
deportation during the war, but claims the death toll was much lower
and attributes mass deaths to disease and isolated cases of attacks.
Ankara has also urged Armenia to let historians handle the matter,
though Armenia demands recognition of the genocide in order to advance
relations between the two neighboring countries.
During World War I, the Ottoman Empire approved a deportation law for
Armenians amid an uprising with the help of the invading Russian army.
As a result, an unknown number of people died in civil strife.
Turkey's official position on the genocide allegations is that they
acknowledge that the past experiences were a great tragedy and that
both parties suffered heavy casualties, including many Muslim Turks.
Turkey agrees that there were Armenian casualties during World War I,
but that it is impossible to define these incidents as genocide.
http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2015/04/03/greek-cyprus-criminalizes-denial-of-genocide-is-criticized-by-turkey
Daily Sabah, Turkey
April 3 2015
MEHMET SOLMAZ
ISTANBUL
Greek Cyprus on Thursday made it a crime to deny that the Ottomans
committed genocide against Armenians a century ago, a move that has
been criticized by Turkey for limiting freedom of expression on the
divided island where reunification talks were suspended in October.
The Greek Cypriot parliament passed a resolution penalizing the denial
of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, modifying existing
legislation that required prior conviction by an international court
to make denial a crime.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently said Armenia would not gain
anything from "propaganda against Turkey."
Armenians will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents,
which they term as genocide, on April 24. It also accelerated its
efforts in the international arena to make countries accept the
incidents as genocide. It has, however, received little support
thus far. Yet countries like Norway and Australia openly said they
will not attend the ceremonies in the Armenian capital of Yerevan
and avoided Armenian pressure to officially define the incidents as
genocide. "The purpose of this campaign against Turkey is to treat
our country as an enemy instead of keeping Armenians' sorrow alive,"
Erdogan said as he called on Armenians to study archives pertaining
to the era in order to uncover what actually happened between the
Ottoman government and its Armenian subjects.
The president said Armenia never answered Turkey's call to study the
archives, adding, "You cannot gain anything from the propaganda against
Turkey with bribing countries, immoral ways and lobbying." He claimed
that the purpose was not to find the truth, but to damage and attack
Turkey, adding: "We do not have to account to anyone on this issue. If
we pursue our nation's 100, 150 years of sorrow we can find more than
Armenian allegations." Not just Armenians were affected by the war,
but hundreds of Muslims also, he added.
The debate on genocide and the differing opinions between the
present-day Turkish government and the Armenian diaspora, along with
the current administration in Yerevan, still generates political
tension between Turks and Armenians.
Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an act of
genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 during World War I. Turkey
accepts that mass deaths of Armenians occurred during their forced
deportation during the war, but claims the death toll was much lower
and attributes mass deaths to disease and isolated cases of attacks.
Ankara has also urged Armenia to let historians handle the matter,
though Armenia demands recognition of the genocide in order to advance
relations between the two neighboring countries.
During World War I, the Ottoman Empire approved a deportation law for
Armenians amid an uprising with the help of the invading Russian army.
As a result, an unknown number of people died in civil strife.
Turkey's official position on the genocide allegations is that they
acknowledge that the past experiences were a great tragedy and that
both parties suffered heavy casualties, including many Muslim Turks.
Turkey agrees that there were Armenian casualties during World War I,
but that it is impossible to define these incidents as genocide.
http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2015/04/03/greek-cyprus-criminalizes-denial-of-genocide-is-criticized-by-turkey