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TURKS REJECT IDEA OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Angus Reid Global Monitor, Canada
April 17 2007
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - A large number of people in Turkey
disagree with an initiative of the United States Congress to recognize
the death of thousands of Armenians as a state-sponsored extermination
campaign, according to a poll by Terror Free Tomorrow.
77.7 per cent of respondents oppose the "Armenian Genocide" resolution.
Relations between Armenia and Turkey are still tense due to historical
factors. In 1915, the government of the Ottoman Empire-formed by
members of the Turkish nationalist Committee of Union and Progress
(ITC)-ordered hundreds of thousands of Armenians to relocate from
the Caucasus to Mesopotamia.
The state-sponsored deportation campaign led to a high number of
Armenian fatalities, estimated at anywhere from 200,000 to 1.8
million. While some scholars believe the campaign was a deliberate
attempt to exterminate Armenians, Turkey has never formally accepted
the use of the term "genocide" to describe the event.
In March 2005, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called
for an impartial investigation of Armenian claims, saying, "We do not
want future generations to live under the shadow of continued hatred
and resentment."
On Mar. 28, a U.S. Senate panel condemned the murder of a
Turkish-Armenian editor, Hrant Dink, who had urged Turks to acknowledge
the mass killings of Armenians. The U.S. Congress is now considering
a resolution that would recognize the events as "genocide."
Following the Senate panel resolution, Foreign Relations Committee
chairman and Delaware senator Joe Biden said he would not back down
under Turkish pressure, saying, "A relationship that rests on a
requirement of a denial of an historical event, is not a sound basis
for a relationship."
In October 2006, France's National Assembly approved a bill that makes
it a crime to deny that the state-sponsored deportation campaign
undertaken by the Turkish government from 1915 to 1917 actually
constituted a genocide.
Polling Data
The U.S. Congress is considering a resolution, which will recognize-I
will now read to you its exact words: "the Armenian Genocide." Do
you strongly favour, somewhat favour, are neutral, somewhat oppose,
or strongly oppose this resolution?
Strongly favour 4.2%
Somewhat favour 3.2%
Neutral 8.5%
Somewhat oppose 11.4%
Strongly oppose 66.3%
Don't know / No answer 6.3%
Source: Terror Free Tomorrow Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with
1,021 Turkish adults, conducted from Jan. 27 to Feb. 8, 2007. Margin
of error is 3.1 per cent.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/f useaction/viewItem/itemID/15415
Angus Reid Global Monitor, Canada
April 17 2007
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - A large number of people in Turkey
disagree with an initiative of the United States Congress to recognize
the death of thousands of Armenians as a state-sponsored extermination
campaign, according to a poll by Terror Free Tomorrow.
77.7 per cent of respondents oppose the "Armenian Genocide" resolution.
Relations between Armenia and Turkey are still tense due to historical
factors. In 1915, the government of the Ottoman Empire-formed by
members of the Turkish nationalist Committee of Union and Progress
(ITC)-ordered hundreds of thousands of Armenians to relocate from
the Caucasus to Mesopotamia.
The state-sponsored deportation campaign led to a high number of
Armenian fatalities, estimated at anywhere from 200,000 to 1.8
million. While some scholars believe the campaign was a deliberate
attempt to exterminate Armenians, Turkey has never formally accepted
the use of the term "genocide" to describe the event.
In March 2005, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called
for an impartial investigation of Armenian claims, saying, "We do not
want future generations to live under the shadow of continued hatred
and resentment."
On Mar. 28, a U.S. Senate panel condemned the murder of a
Turkish-Armenian editor, Hrant Dink, who had urged Turks to acknowledge
the mass killings of Armenians. The U.S. Congress is now considering
a resolution that would recognize the events as "genocide."
Following the Senate panel resolution, Foreign Relations Committee
chairman and Delaware senator Joe Biden said he would not back down
under Turkish pressure, saying, "A relationship that rests on a
requirement of a denial of an historical event, is not a sound basis
for a relationship."
In October 2006, France's National Assembly approved a bill that makes
it a crime to deny that the state-sponsored deportation campaign
undertaken by the Turkish government from 1915 to 1917 actually
constituted a genocide.
Polling Data
The U.S. Congress is considering a resolution, which will recognize-I
will now read to you its exact words: "the Armenian Genocide." Do
you strongly favour, somewhat favour, are neutral, somewhat oppose,
or strongly oppose this resolution?
Strongly favour 4.2%
Somewhat favour 3.2%
Neutral 8.5%
Somewhat oppose 11.4%
Strongly oppose 66.3%
Don't know / No answer 6.3%
Source: Terror Free Tomorrow Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with
1,021 Turkish adults, conducted from Jan. 27 to Feb. 8, 2007. Margin
of error is 3.1 per cent.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/f useaction/viewItem/itemID/15415