Erdoğan Accuses Armenian Diaspora Of Exploiting 1915 Events

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has criticized the Armenian diaspora for exploiting the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 and said Turkey will not acknowledge the 1915 events as “genocide” just because others push Turkey to recognize them as such.

In an interview with the state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), Erdoğan said on Thursday that the Armenian diaspora is pushing for the acknowledgement of the 1915 events at the end of the World War l to be recognized as “genocide” in other countries and is trying to create pressure for Turkey, but this issue needs to be handled by the historians.

He said Turkey has opened its archives and is ready to do what is necessary. “We don't have to acknowledge the so-called Armenian genocide by the order of others. What we say is, if you are sincere about this discussion, leave this issue to the historians and let them work on it,” said Erdoğan.

Yerevan commemorates the incident of the mass killings of Armenians every April 24 and often uses the anniversary as an opportunity to lobby Western countries to brand the killings a genocide. Ankara denies claims that the events of 1915 amounted to genocide, arguing that both Turks and Armenians were killed when Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire during World War l in collaboration with the Russian army, which was at the time invading Eastern Anatolia.

President Erdoğan said the Armenian diaspora is trying to exploit the issue and drag Turkey into a fight.

In a historic first for the Turkish Republic last year, Erdoğan, who was prime minister at the time, extended Turkey's condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians who had lost their lives 1915. The statement, which did not include the word “genocide,” was welcomed by the West and Armenians living in Turkey, but fell short of satisfying Yerevan.

When speaking to TRT, Erdoğan also said after the evaluation of the 1915 events by the historians, if Turkey needs to pay a price, Turkey is ready to take the necessary steps.

Erdoğan also said Armenians have a strong lobby around the world and it is a fact that Turkey's exerting efforts against them is somewhat weak on this issue.

President Erdoğan continued by saying that Turkey is ready to sit down and talk about these issues but the Armenian side is the one avoiding doing that.

When asked about the latest “Freedom in the World 2015” report of US-based watchdog Freedom House and its heavy criticism of Turkey with regards to increasing interference in the media and judiciary, Erdoğan claimed that no one really takes Freedom House seriously.

The Freedom House report, which was released on Wednesday, said Erdoğan has a “shadow Cabinet” in his presidential palace and he is governing the country via this cabinet.

Erdoğan refuted this claim and said: “Freedom House doesn't have any dignity. Zero dignity. They think they are so valuable. There may be others behind organizations like Freedom House. We need to know these facts.” He also said no one actually him any question about a so called “shadow cabinet” in the palace, saying that their sources are not good.

In other remarks, Erdoğan once again criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attending a march in Paris after the attack against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo earlier this month. Leaders around the world, including Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, marched arm-in-arm for the victims of the Paris attack in a show of solidarity. Erdoğan had said he did not understand how Netanyahu dared to attended the march, considering Israel's increasingly aggressive behavior, especially with regards to the violation of holy sites in Jerusalem.

Speaking on TRT, Erdoğan said Netanyahu's acts against Palestinians are “state terror.” Erdoğan also claimed that Israelis like to shed blood and find peace in “sucking blood.”

President Erdoğan also talked about Greece's left-wing party Syriza's election victory last Sunday, and said he expects the good relationship between Turkey and Greece to continue under the new Greek administration.

“I wish him [head of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras] all the best and I believe together we'll bring Turkish-Greek relations to a much better, ideal point,” said Erdoğan.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)