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TURKEY SOFTENS TONE IN ARMENIAN ROW, GERMANY TO DEFY ANKARA
Deutsche Well, Germany
April 21 2015
Turkey's prime minister has said the government "shares the pain" of
descendants of Ottoman Armenians killed in 1915. Germany, meanwhile,
looks set to follow the pope and others in calling the killings
"genocide."
Ahmet Davutoglu sought to reach out to Armenians on Monday, saying
Turkey wanted to heal the wounds of the past 100 years after the
mass killings of their ancestors under the Ottoman Empire. However,
the Turkish prime minister's statement stopped well short of recent
comments by Pope Francis and the European Parliament, never referring
to the events as "genocide."
"We once again respectfully remember and share the pain of
grandchildren and children of Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives
during deportation in 1915," Davutoglu said in a statement released by
his office to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the killings,
observed on Friday, April 24.
The pope angered Ankara this month by calling the deaths the 'first
genocide of the 20th century'
Armenians consider the mass killings to be genocide, a term Turkey
has consistently rejected; the prime minister again criticized the
debate on Monday.
"To reduce everything to a single word, to put responsibility through
generalizations on the Turkish nation alone ... is legally and morally
problematic," Davutoglu said. The prime minister also said that the
"Ottoman Armenians" would be remembered at a service to be held in
Istanbul on Friday, saying Turks and Armenians should "heal their
wounds from that century and reestablish their human relations."
In apparent reference to recent debate over the term genocide, he
also warned "third parties" to refrain from reopening "historical
wounds," saying efforts should be made for a peaceful future based on
"fair memory."
Germany to use G-word, but softly
Germany's grand coalition government on Monday supported a statement
with stronger-than-expected language on the killings of up to 1.5
million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces during World War I.
German Green politicians Cem Ozdemir and Ekin Deligoz, both with
Turkish roots, visited an Armenian monument to the dead in Eriwal
last month
"The government backs the draft resolution in which the fate of the
Armenians during World War I serves as an example of the history of
mass murders, ethnic cleansings, expulsions, and, yes, the genocides
during the 20th century," Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman,
Steffen Seibert, told reporters in Berlin, citing the document agreed
to by Merkel's Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats.
The federal Bundestag parliament will hold a ceremony in memory of
the victims on Friday, while German President Joachim Gauck is also
expected to use the term "genocide" at a religious service scheduled
for Thursday in the capital.
Previous official comments from government officials had avoided
the word, prompting speculation that Germany would not join France,
Pope Francis and the European Parliament in using the designation.
In 2011, when France first used the term, Turkey responded by
suspending diplomatic ties with Paris. In recent weeks, both President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Davutoglu have been highly
critical of Pope Francis and the European Parliament's use of the word.
"We now have to wait," a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said when
asked how Ankara might react to Berlin's move.
msh/cmk (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
http://www.dw.de/turkey-softens-tone-in-armenian-row-germany-to-defy-ankara/a-18395170
Deutsche Well, Germany
April 21 2015
Turkey's prime minister has said the government "shares the pain" of
descendants of Ottoman Armenians killed in 1915. Germany, meanwhile,
looks set to follow the pope and others in calling the killings
"genocide."
Ahmet Davutoglu sought to reach out to Armenians on Monday, saying
Turkey wanted to heal the wounds of the past 100 years after the
mass killings of their ancestors under the Ottoman Empire. However,
the Turkish prime minister's statement stopped well short of recent
comments by Pope Francis and the European Parliament, never referring
to the events as "genocide."
"We once again respectfully remember and share the pain of
grandchildren and children of Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives
during deportation in 1915," Davutoglu said in a statement released by
his office to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the killings,
observed on Friday, April 24.
The pope angered Ankara this month by calling the deaths the 'first
genocide of the 20th century'
Armenians consider the mass killings to be genocide, a term Turkey
has consistently rejected; the prime minister again criticized the
debate on Monday.
"To reduce everything to a single word, to put responsibility through
generalizations on the Turkish nation alone ... is legally and morally
problematic," Davutoglu said. The prime minister also said that the
"Ottoman Armenians" would be remembered at a service to be held in
Istanbul on Friday, saying Turks and Armenians should "heal their
wounds from that century and reestablish their human relations."
In apparent reference to recent debate over the term genocide, he
also warned "third parties" to refrain from reopening "historical
wounds," saying efforts should be made for a peaceful future based on
"fair memory."
Germany to use G-word, but softly
Germany's grand coalition government on Monday supported a statement
with stronger-than-expected language on the killings of up to 1.5
million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces during World War I.
German Green politicians Cem Ozdemir and Ekin Deligoz, both with
Turkish roots, visited an Armenian monument to the dead in Eriwal
last month
"The government backs the draft resolution in which the fate of the
Armenians during World War I serves as an example of the history of
mass murders, ethnic cleansings, expulsions, and, yes, the genocides
during the 20th century," Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman,
Steffen Seibert, told reporters in Berlin, citing the document agreed
to by Merkel's Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats.
The federal Bundestag parliament will hold a ceremony in memory of
the victims on Friday, while German President Joachim Gauck is also
expected to use the term "genocide" at a religious service scheduled
for Thursday in the capital.
Previous official comments from government officials had avoided
the word, prompting speculation that Germany would not join France,
Pope Francis and the European Parliament in using the designation.
In 2011, when France first used the term, Turkey responded by
suspending diplomatic ties with Paris. In recent weeks, both President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Davutoglu have been highly
critical of Pope Francis and the European Parliament's use of the word.
"We now have to wait," a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said when
asked how Ankara might react to Berlin's move.
msh/cmk (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
http://www.dw.de/turkey-softens-tone-in-armenian-row-germany-to-defy-ankara/a-18395170