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Pope Sparks Furious Row With Turks Over Armenian Genocide

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  • Pope Sparks Furious Row With Turks Over Armenian Genocide

    POPE SPARKS FURIOUS ROW WITH TURKS OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    The Times (London), UK
    April 13, 2015 Monday

    by Tom Kington

    The Pope has described the murder of Armenians by Ottoman Turks 100
    years ago as genocide, sparking a diplomatic crisis with Turkey,
    which denies that it took place.

    Speaking yesterday before a Mass at St Peter's Basilica to mark the
    centenary of the killings, the Pope defined the slaughter of as many
    as 1.5 million Armenians as "the first genocide of the 20th century",
    quoting a statement by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

    "The remaining two were perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism," he said.

    "And more recently there have been other mass killings, like those
    in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia." Though he is not the first
    pope to use "genocide" to describe the Armenian massacre, his speech
    carried extra weight since it was given on the anniversary of the
    slaughter, in St Peter's, and in the presence of President Sargsyan
    of Armenia and Armenian church leaders, who attended the service.

    In response, Turkey summoned the Vatican's ambassador to complain
    about the remarks, citing "great disappointment and sadness",
    and recalled its ambassador from the Holy See. The Turkish foreign
    ministry accused the Pope of "ignoring the atrocities suffered by
    the Turkish and Muslim peoples who lost their lives".

    Turkey claims that half a million Armenians died in the fighting when
    they rose up against their Ottoman rulers during the First World War.

    The Pope now risks losing Turkey's support as he seeks to defend
    Christian communities that are being persecuted by Isis in Syria
    and Iraq.

    Describing those communities yesterday, the Pope spoke of the "muffled
    and forgotten cry of so many of our defenceless brothers and sisters
    who, on account of their faith in Christ or their ethnic origin,
    are publicly and ruthlessly put to death - decapitated, crucified,
    burnt alive - or forced to leave their homeland".

    The Pope has criticised governments for turning their backs on
    Christians in the Middle East, and suggested that playing down the
    Armenian slaughter 100 years ago had in part led to the present
    killing.

    "It is necessary, and indeed a duty, to honour their memory," he
    said of the Armenians killed, "for whenever memory fades, it means
    that evil allows wounds to fester. Concealing or denying evil is like
    allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it."

    In a speech at St Peter's before the mass, Karekin II, the patriarch
    of the Armenian Church, used the word "genocide" 13 times.

    "With a deliberate plan, with horrific atrocities, one and a half
    million Armenians were slaughtered," he said.

    "Our ancient people were uprooted from their cherished cradle of life -
    their historic homeland - and scattered over different countries.

    Our centuries-old Christian heritage was ruined, obliterated and
    seized."

    While 3.2 million Armenians live in Armenia today, another eight
    million live outside the country.

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