Tweet
Erdogan Tells Charlie Rose There Was No Genocide
Tuesday, April 29th, 2014
by Ara Khachatourian
Charlie Rose interviews Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan last week
On Sunday's edition of Charlie Rose, the veteran reporter asked
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who on April 23 issued a
statement offering condolences to the grandchildren of what he termed
Armenians who suffered during the Ottoman Empire, whether the Turkish
Prime Minister would use the word Genocide in describing the events of
1915.
Erdogan's response: `If such a Genocide occurred would there have been
any Armenians living in this country?'
Throughout the portion of the interview dedicated to the Armenian
issue, Erdogan reiterated the reality that there were Armenians living
in Turkey, citing that as proof of his continued denial of the
Armenian Genocide.
He also went on to claim that Turkey `would never a turn a blind eye'
to Genocide, as the Turkish people view that as a crime against
humanity.
After reiterating the long-standing Turkish position to establish a
commission to study the Armenian Genocide, Erdogan also blamed the
Armenian Diaspora for `exploiting the situation,' saying that the
Diaspora's efforts should be rejected.
Interestingly, Rose followed up his questions about the Armenian
Genocide with one that focused on an apology offered to Erdogan by
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu and Turkey's belief that it
deserves compensation from Israel for the Mavi Marmara incident.
Erdogan said that Turkey should be compensated as a pre-condition to
establishing normal diplomatic relations with Israel.
Watch the entire interview and read below a transcription of the
portion about the Armenian Genocide.
Charlie Rose: This has been an important week for you because of the
statement you made on Armenia.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: This has been something I have been saying for a
long time. Every time I said this I said they were ottoman citizens.
There were Armenians and people belonging to other ethnicities who
died in many events. And, I always said that it is very natural for
all ethnicities to remember their suffering and we have to respect
that. We have in our territory many Armenian citizens, some who have
passports and some don't. There are some who live here without
passports and we do not send those people away. Those Armenian
continue to live here. We also respect the belief and freedom of
thoughts of Armenians and we will continue to protect those rights.
C.R.: They would obviously like you to use the word Genocide. Is it
possible for the prime minister of Turkey to characterize it as
Genocide?
R.T.E.: It would not be possible, because if such a Genocide occurred
would there have been any Armenians living in this country?
We have citizens here who have passports and also Armenians who have
left Armenia. We don't exclude them. We don't send them back. They
make a living in our country and they continue to live in our country.
We are a people who see Genocide as a crime against humanity. We would
never turn a blind eye to such action. And, we always say this is a
responsibility for historians. Our archives are open and historians
can come and look at our archives. We have military archives as well.
If Armenia has archives they can open theirs and if third countries
have documents, they too could make them available and we can
establish a commission made up of historians and legal experts and
political scientists who can them look at those documents and they can
then come up with a report and we can all respect those reports.
The [Armenian] Diaspora is exploiting that situation and I don't think
we should accept that. There is no reason why we should have any doubt
or suspicion. That should not be the case and no one has the right to
say that.
C.R.: But you are saying we have to recognize their suffering¦ and is
there an apology there?
R.T.E.: These are our ancestors. This is not something that happened
during the Republic of Turkey. This was during the Ottoman Empire.
These are events that happened during migration and documents are very
interesting. If the documents show that our ancestors made a mistake¦
if the historians can show that then we would pay whatever the
consequence of that is.
http://asbarez.com/122412/erdogan-tells-charlie-rose-there-was-no-genocide/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Tuesday, April 29th, 2014
by Ara Khachatourian
Charlie Rose interviews Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan last week
On Sunday's edition of Charlie Rose, the veteran reporter asked
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who on April 23 issued a
statement offering condolences to the grandchildren of what he termed
Armenians who suffered during the Ottoman Empire, whether the Turkish
Prime Minister would use the word Genocide in describing the events of
1915.
Erdogan's response: `If such a Genocide occurred would there have been
any Armenians living in this country?'
Throughout the portion of the interview dedicated to the Armenian
issue, Erdogan reiterated the reality that there were Armenians living
in Turkey, citing that as proof of his continued denial of the
Armenian Genocide.
He also went on to claim that Turkey `would never a turn a blind eye'
to Genocide, as the Turkish people view that as a crime against
humanity.
After reiterating the long-standing Turkish position to establish a
commission to study the Armenian Genocide, Erdogan also blamed the
Armenian Diaspora for `exploiting the situation,' saying that the
Diaspora's efforts should be rejected.
Interestingly, Rose followed up his questions about the Armenian
Genocide with one that focused on an apology offered to Erdogan by
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu and Turkey's belief that it
deserves compensation from Israel for the Mavi Marmara incident.
Erdogan said that Turkey should be compensated as a pre-condition to
establishing normal diplomatic relations with Israel.
Watch the entire interview and read below a transcription of the
portion about the Armenian Genocide.
Charlie Rose: This has been an important week for you because of the
statement you made on Armenia.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: This has been something I have been saying for a
long time. Every time I said this I said they were ottoman citizens.
There were Armenians and people belonging to other ethnicities who
died in many events. And, I always said that it is very natural for
all ethnicities to remember their suffering and we have to respect
that. We have in our territory many Armenian citizens, some who have
passports and some don't. There are some who live here without
passports and we do not send those people away. Those Armenian
continue to live here. We also respect the belief and freedom of
thoughts of Armenians and we will continue to protect those rights.
C.R.: They would obviously like you to use the word Genocide. Is it
possible for the prime minister of Turkey to characterize it as
Genocide?
R.T.E.: It would not be possible, because if such a Genocide occurred
would there have been any Armenians living in this country?
We have citizens here who have passports and also Armenians who have
left Armenia. We don't exclude them. We don't send them back. They
make a living in our country and they continue to live in our country.
We are a people who see Genocide as a crime against humanity. We would
never turn a blind eye to such action. And, we always say this is a
responsibility for historians. Our archives are open and historians
can come and look at our archives. We have military archives as well.
If Armenia has archives they can open theirs and if third countries
have documents, they too could make them available and we can
establish a commission made up of historians and legal experts and
political scientists who can them look at those documents and they can
then come up with a report and we can all respect those reports.
The [Armenian] Diaspora is exploiting that situation and I don't think
we should accept that. There is no reason why we should have any doubt
or suspicion. That should not be the case and no one has the right to
say that.
C.R.: But you are saying we have to recognize their suffering¦ and is
there an apology there?
R.T.E.: These are our ancestors. This is not something that happened
during the Republic of Turkey. This was during the Ottoman Empire.
These are events that happened during migration and documents are very
interesting. If the documents show that our ancestors made a mistake¦
if the historians can show that then we would pay whatever the
consequence of that is.
http://asbarez.com/122412/erdogan-tells-charlie-rose-there-was-no-genocide/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress