Turkey Condemns France For 'Unjust' Stance On 1915 Events

Turkey criticized French leaders on Saturday for statements about the killings of Anatolian Armenians a century ago, accusing Paris of pursuing a “discriminatory” stance on history.

In a statement that followed a series of criticism against Russia, the United States and Germany over the same issue, the Turkish Foreign Ministry slammed French President François Hollande and Prime Minister Valls for their remarks made in Yerevan on April 24 – on the anniversary of what Armenians claim was genocide of the Ottoman Armenians – and today in Paris.

Hollande attended a commemorative event in Yerevan, where he defended a law adopted by France in 2001 on recognition of the killings as genocide as "an act of truth."

Turkey denies Armenian claims that 1.5 million Armenians were victims of a systematic genocide campaign during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, saying both that the death toll is inflated and that there were deaths on both sides during civil strife as the Ottoman Empire was disintegrating.

“French President François Hollande participated, as he had announced long time ago, at the ceremony held in Yerevan on 24 April 2015, which instead of being a commemoration for the losses incurred in the past, turned out to be an occasion to slander Turkish identity, history and society,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said. “Regrettably, he once again reiterated his support to the Armenian nationalist narrative.”

Prime Minister ManuelValls “distorted historical facts and violated legal principles” during a speech that he delivered at an event in Paris, which, the Turkish statement said, “was not held with the understanding of harvesting peace and friendship from history but rather hostility.”

“It would have been expected from President Hollande that during these ceremonies he would acknowledge that, regardless of religion or ethnicity all Ottoman citizens endured tragic sufferings during the process of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire,” it said, adding that such an approach would have been welcomed by France's 600,000-strong Turkish community.

“However, France unfortunately preferred to continue its discriminatory approach,” the statement said. “Turkey unequivocally rejects and condemns France's unjust and partial attitude.” (Cihan/ Today’s Zaman)