Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 25
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
There was no "genocide" against the Armenians in the history of Turkey, the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly (parliament) of Turkey Cemil Cicek was quoted Feb. 25 by Haber7 TV channel as saying.
He said that Ankara intends to confront the Armenian diaspora worldwide that tries to denigrate Turkey.
"Turkey opened its archives to examine the events of 1915," he said. "If Armenia has such archives, let it also open them."
Armenia is trying to turn the propaganda of the 1915 events as "genocide of Armenians" into the source of income, Cicek said earlier.
"Turkey has nothing against the Armenian people," he said. "But this does not mean that the country will remain silent and inactive against anti-Turkish campaign of Armenia."
Turkey does not recognize the 1915 events as "genocide" of Armenians, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier.
Previously, Turkish authorities have repeatedly made gestures to Armenia. Recep Tayyip Erdogan's message to the Armenian people on April 24, 2014 is one of such recent gestures.
Erdogan said in that message that the events of 1915 were a difficult time not only for Armenians, but also for Arabs, Kurds and representatives of other nations living in the country.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said earlier that the emphasis on the 1915 events hinders the normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan.
He said that Ankara hopes for the normalization of relations with Yerevan, however, Armenia should break down its stereotypes associated with the mentioned events.
Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey's predecessor, the Ottoman Empire allegedly carried out "genocide" against the Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915. Turkey in turn has always denied "the genocide" took place.
---
follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Edited by CN