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ERDOGAN: EU'S ARMENIA 'GENOCIDE' VOTE WILL GO 'IN ONE EAR AND OUT OTHER'
Al-Jazeera, Qatar
April 15 2015
Vote comes amid tension over 1915 tragedy's characterization, including
label of "genocide' by Pope Francis
April 15, 2015 11:23AM ET
Turkey will disregard any vote by the European Parliament calling on
Ankara to recognize the "Armenian genocide," President Tayyip Erdogan
said Wednesday, in comments that follow a spat with the Vatican over
the century-old massacre.
The European Parliament is due to debate Wednesday on a resolution to
mark the 100th anniversary of the killing of as many as 1.5 million
Armenians under Turkish Ottoman rule.
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.
The vote in Brussels takes place against a backdrop of growing
tensions between Ankara and the international community over the
characterization of the tragedy ahead of commemorations of the killings
this month.
"Whatever decision the European Parliament takes on Armenian genocide
claims, it would go in one ear and out the other," Erdogan told a
news conference at Ankara airport before departing on an official
visit to Kazakhstan.
"It is out of the question for there to be a stain, a shadow called
'genocide' on Turkey," he said.
The resolution in parliament calls on Turkey to "recognize the Armenian
Genocide and thus to pave the way for a genuine reconciliation between
the Turkish and Armenian people."
The EU parliament had itself recognized the killings as genocide
in 1987.
The vote comes just days after Pope Francis became the first head of
the Roman Catholic church to publicly call the killing of Armenians
"genocide" on Sunday, prompting Turkey to summon the Vatican's
ambassador and recall its own.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday that the pontiff
has joined "an evil front" plotting against Turkey.
"An evil front is being formed before us...Now the pope has joined
it and these plots,"Davutoglu said.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
as genocide.
Turkey says hundreds of thousands of both Turks and Armenians lost
their lives as Ottoman forces battled the Russian Empire for control
of eastern Anatolia during World War I.
Davutoglu said Turkey was willing to confront its history, but added:
"We won't allow our nation to be insulted through history, we won't
allow Turkey to be blackmailed through historic disputes."
Around 100,000 Armenians still reside in Turkey, including those
who are Turkish citizens and those who are not, and they are never
mistreated, Erdogan said Wednesday.
"Both citizens and non-citizen Armenians are enjoying the opportunities
of our country. We could have deported them, but we didn't," the
president added.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/15/erdogan-dismisses-european-armenia-genocide-vote.html
Al-Jazeera, Qatar
April 15 2015
Vote comes amid tension over 1915 tragedy's characterization, including
label of "genocide' by Pope Francis
April 15, 2015 11:23AM ET
Turkey will disregard any vote by the European Parliament calling on
Ankara to recognize the "Armenian genocide," President Tayyip Erdogan
said Wednesday, in comments that follow a spat with the Vatican over
the century-old massacre.
The European Parliament is due to debate Wednesday on a resolution to
mark the 100th anniversary of the killing of as many as 1.5 million
Armenians under Turkish Ottoman rule.
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.
The vote in Brussels takes place against a backdrop of growing
tensions between Ankara and the international community over the
characterization of the tragedy ahead of commemorations of the killings
this month.
"Whatever decision the European Parliament takes on Armenian genocide
claims, it would go in one ear and out the other," Erdogan told a
news conference at Ankara airport before departing on an official
visit to Kazakhstan.
"It is out of the question for there to be a stain, a shadow called
'genocide' on Turkey," he said.
The resolution in parliament calls on Turkey to "recognize the Armenian
Genocide and thus to pave the way for a genuine reconciliation between
the Turkish and Armenian people."
The EU parliament had itself recognized the killings as genocide
in 1987.
The vote comes just days after Pope Francis became the first head of
the Roman Catholic church to publicly call the killing of Armenians
"genocide" on Sunday, prompting Turkey to summon the Vatican's
ambassador and recall its own.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday that the pontiff
has joined "an evil front" plotting against Turkey.
"An evil front is being formed before us...Now the pope has joined
it and these plots,"Davutoglu said.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
as genocide.
Turkey says hundreds of thousands of both Turks and Armenians lost
their lives as Ottoman forces battled the Russian Empire for control
of eastern Anatolia during World War I.
Davutoglu said Turkey was willing to confront its history, but added:
"We won't allow our nation to be insulted through history, we won't
allow Turkey to be blackmailed through historic disputes."
Around 100,000 Armenians still reside in Turkey, including those
who are Turkish citizens and those who are not, and they are never
mistreated, Erdogan said Wednesday.
"Both citizens and non-citizen Armenians are enjoying the opportunities
of our country. We could have deported them, but we didn't," the
president added.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/15/erdogan-dismisses-european-armenia-genocide-vote.html