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Turkey’s leading opposition party condemns pardon campaign for Armenia

Politics Materials 17 December 2008 14:59 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 17/ Trend , B.Hasanov/ Turkish leading opposition party condemns the pardon campaign for Armenia.

"Not Turks but Armenians should ask pardon for the atrocity they committed in Turkey and Azerbaijan," MP Mehmet Shandir, deputy chairman of Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (NMP), told Trend in a telephone conversation from Ankara on Dec. 17.

A Turkish website, created several days ago, states that the Ottoman Empire committed crimes against Armenians in 1915, and conducts a pardon campaign for Armenia. A total of 5,000 people have passed registration on the website and have asked pardon from Armenians, says Turkish media.

Armenia and Armenian lobby worldwide state that in 1915 the Ottoman Empire, Turkey's predecessor, committed genocide against Armenians living in Anatolia. Armenians striving to make their statements recognized worldwide have strengthened their propaganda of the so-called genocide in several countries and have achieved recognition of the "Armenian genocide" at several Parliaments.

Shandir says there is no reason for the Turkish nation to beg pardon. "From whose behalf and for what reason do they ask pardon?" he asked, adding that those asking pardon make treason and are psychologically diseased. "Not Turks but those who betrayed the Ottoman Empire, those who committed the Khojali genocide, and those who shut their eyes to these atrocities should beg pardon from all Turks," he said.

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