In a statement issued on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the deeply contested deaths, Erdogan unexpectedly described the events of 1915 as “inhumane”, using more conciliatory language than has often been the case for Turkish leaders.
A Turkish government official said it was the first time a Turkish prime minister had offered such explicit condolences, but it was not immediately clear if it would be enough to bring about a thaw in relations between Ankara and its neighbor.
The exact nature and scale of what happened during fighting that started in 1915 is highly contentious and continues to sour relations between Turkey and Armenia, a former Soviet republic.
Turkey accepts that many Armenians died in clashes, but denies that up to 1.5 million were killed and that this constituted an act of genocide - a term used by many Western historians and foreign parliaments.
Earlier in April, for example, a U.S. Senate committee resolution branded the massacre of Armenians as genocide.
Erdogan's statement - unusually released in nine different languages including Armenian - repeated previous calls for dialog between the two countries, and the setting up of a historical commission to probe events surrounding the killings.
“It is with this hope and belief that we wish that the Armenians who lost their lives in the context of the early 20th century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to their grandchildren,” he said.
“Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences - such as relocation - during the First World War, should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among towards one another.”
On the defensive
Although striking a conciliatory tone, Erdogan re-iterated a longheld Turkish position that the deaths of millions of people during the violence of the period should be remembered “without discriminating as to religion or ethnicity”.
Turkey is a Muslim state, while Armenia is Christian.
“Using the events of 1915 as an excuse for hostility against Turkey and turning this issue into a matter of political conflict is inadmissible,” he added.
Armenia has up to now declined the offer for a joint historical commission, as it regards the alleged genocide as an established historical fact and believes Turkey would use such a commission to press its own version of events.
Armenia accuses the Ottoman authorities at the time of systematically massacring large numbers of Armenians, then deporting many more, including women, children and the elderly and infirm in terrible conditions on so-called death marches.
Last December, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made Turkey's first high-level visit to Armenia in nearly five years, raising the prospect of a revival in peace efforts between the historical rivals which stalled in 2010.
Turkey cut ties and shut its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan, which was then fighting a losing battle against Armenian separatists in Karabakh. The frontier remains closed.
[voanews.com]
23/4/14
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Erdoğan stresses 'shared pain' in statement on Armenian issue...
ReplyDeleteTurkey has issued a first-ever statement offering condolences to the descendants of slain Ottoman Armenians just a day before of 99th anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of empire during World War I.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan highlighted the “shared pain” endured during the 1915 events in a historic statement April 23 on the Armenian issue, expressing condolences on behalf of the Turkish state to the grandchildren of Armenians who lost their lives “in the context of the early 20th century.”
In a first-of-its-kind statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Erdoğan said April 24 carries “particular significance for our Armenian citizens and for all Armenians around the world.”..............http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pm-erdogan-stresses-shared-pain-in-statement-on-armenian-issue.aspx?pageID=238&nID=65437&NewsCatID=510
23/4/14
Le premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a présenté mercredi les premières condoléances de la Turquie aux familles des victimes du génocide arménien de 1915....
ReplyDelete"Nous espérons que les peuples anciens qui ont des rites et des traditions semblables et partagent une même géographie complexe mais unique, pourront bien commémorer ensemble leur passé et leurs pertes. Nous souhaitons que les âmes des Arméniens morts au début du XXème siècle reposent en paix et exprimons nos condoléances à leurs descendants", a indiqué M.Erdogan lors d'une réunion du parlement à l'occasion de la Journée de commémoration du génocide arménien sous l'Empire ottoman.
La Turquie et l'Arménie n'ont pas de relations diplomatiques depuis l'accession de l'Arménie à l'indépendance en 1991. Leur frontière commune longue de 330 km est fermée depuis 1993 à l'initiative d'Ankara. Les relations complexes entre les deux pays s'expliquent par une série de facteurs, notamment par le soutien d'Ankara à la position azerbaïdjanaise sur le conflit du Haut-Karabakh et par la réaction violente de la Turquie à la reconnaissance internationale du génocide arménien de 1915 dans l'Empire ottoman.
Le 24 avril 1915, l'Empire ottoman a arrêté puis tué plus de 800 intellectuels arméniens. En mai-juin 1915 ont commencé des massacres et des déportations de masse. Le génocide a conduit à la mort de 1,5 million d'Arméniens et à l'éradication de la population autochtone des régions historiques de l'Arménie occidentale. Le génocide arménien a été perpétré en 1878-1922 sur les territoires de l'Empire ottoman (la Turquie), historiquement appelés Arménie occidentale (actuellement Anatolie orientale), peuplés à l'époque majoritairement par des Arméniens (65-75% de la population).
Lire la suite: http://french.ruvr.ru/news/2014_04_23/Genocide-armenien-la-Turquie-presente-ses-premieres-condoleances-7015/
23/4/14