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ERDOGAN 'CONDEMNS' POPE OVER GENOCIDE COMMENT, WARNS HIM NOT TO REPEAT 'MISTAKE'
Buenos Aires Herald, Argentina
April 14 2015
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said he "condemned"
Pope Francis for describing the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "the first genocide of the 20th century"
and for urging the international community to recognize it as such.
Muslim Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians died in clashes
with Ottoman soldiers beginning in 1915, when Armenia was part of
the empire ruled from Istanbul, but denies hundreds of thousands were
killed and that this amounted to genocide.
Erdogan responded to the Pope's comments accusing Francis of spreading
hatred and "unfounded claims."
"I condemn the Pope and want to warn him. I hope he won't repeat a
mistake of this kind," he said.
Pope Francis on Sunday described the massacre as "the first genocide
of the 20th century" at a 100th anniversary Mass, prompting Turkey
to summon the Holy See's ambassador in Ankara in protest.
It was the first time a pope has publicly pronounced the word
"genocide" for the massacre, repeating a term used by some European
and South American countries but avoided by the United States and
some others to maintain good relations with an important ally.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/186740/erdogan-condemns-pope-over-genocide-comment-warns-him-not-to-repeat-mistake
Buenos Aires Herald, Argentina
April 14 2015
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said he "condemned"
Pope Francis for describing the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "the first genocide of the 20th century"
and for urging the international community to recognize it as such.
Muslim Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians died in clashes
with Ottoman soldiers beginning in 1915, when Armenia was part of
the empire ruled from Istanbul, but denies hundreds of thousands were
killed and that this amounted to genocide.
Erdogan responded to the Pope's comments accusing Francis of spreading
hatred and "unfounded claims."
"I condemn the Pope and want to warn him. I hope he won't repeat a
mistake of this kind," he said.
Pope Francis on Sunday described the massacre as "the first genocide
of the 20th century" at a 100th anniversary Mass, prompting Turkey
to summon the Holy See's ambassador in Ankara in protest.
It was the first time a pope has publicly pronounced the word
"genocide" for the massacre, repeating a term used by some European
and South American countries but avoided by the United States and
some others to maintain good relations with an important ally.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/186740/erdogan-condemns-pope-over-genocide-comment-warns-him-not-to-repeat-mistake