Armenia says up to 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians were killed in a genocide starting in 1915. Turkey denies that the deaths amounted to genocide, saying the death toll of Armenians killed during mass deportations has been inflated and that those killed in 1915 and 1916 were victims of general unrest during World War I.
In response to the pope’s comments on April 12, Ankara recalled its Vatican ambassador and accused Francis of spreading hatred.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that Ban took note of the pope’s comments and is fully aware of "the sensitivities related to the characterization of what happened" in 1915 and the April 24 commemoration of the 100th anniversary of "the tragic events" by Armenia and others around the world, according to the Associated Press.
He said the secretary-general firmly believes that the commemoration and continuing cooperation between Armenians and Turks "with a view to establishing the facts about what happened should strengthen our collective determination to prevent similar atrocity crimes from ever happening in the future."
Dujarric said in response to a question that Ban did not envision an international commission to examine the facts, saying: "There’ve been discussions with the countries concerned, and communities concerned and I think it’s important that those discussions continue."
He sidestepped several questions on whether the secretary-general agreed with the pope’s characterization, and whether Francis was right to raise the issue.
"The U.N. has sought to strengthen the capacity of the international community to prevent such atrocity crimes from ever occurring," Dujarric said.........hurriyetdailynews.com
14/4/15
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US calls for 'full, frank' recognition of 1915 events..
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. on Tuesday called for a complete and fair 'acknowledgement' of the facts surrounding the 1915 events.
“The president and other senior administration officials have repeatedly acknowledged as historical fact, and mourned the fact, that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman Empire,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.
“A full, frank and just acknowledgement of the fact is in all our interests, including Turkey's, Armenia's and America's,” she said. “Nations are stronger and they progress by acknowledging and reckoning with pretty painful elements of their past.”.....www.aa.com.tr
14/4/15