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Sky News
April 12 2015
Turkey's Anger Over Pope's 'Genocide' Remarks
The Pope provokes outrage in Turkey by calling the Armenian WW1 mass
killings "the first genocide of the 20th century".
Turkey has criticised Pope Francis' use of the word "genocide" to
describe the mass killings of Armenians during the First World War.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the Pope's comments "inappropriate".
"To read these sorrows in a one-sided way is inappropriate for the
Pope and the authority that he holds," he said.
Earlier, foreign minister in Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu, called the
Pontiff's allegations "baseless" and "far from the legal and
historical reality".
He added that religious authorities were "not the places to incite
resentment and hatred".
Turkey had earlier summoned the Vatican envoy to Ankara, Archbishop
Antonino Lucibello, to request an explanation over the Pope's use of
the word "genocide".
He made the comments during a mass in Saint Peter's Basilica to mark
the centenary of the Ottoman Turk murders of Armenians.
He said: "In the past century our human family has lived through three
massive and unprecedented tragedies.
"The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th
century', struck your own Armenian people."
The 78-year old head of the Roman Catholic Church had been under
pressure to use the word genocide to describe the bloodshed, despite
the risk of alienating an important ally in the fight against Islamist
militants.
According to a Turkish official speaking to the Reuters news agency,
the Vatican's ambassador has been told that the remarks have caused a
"problem of trust" - and that Ankara was "deeply sorry and
disappointed" by the comments.
While many historians describe the events between 1915 and 1917 as the
20th century's first genocide, Turkey strongly denies the accusation.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered as
the Ottoman Empire fell apart, and have long sought to win
international recognition of the massacres as genocide.
Turkey argues that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks died
in the civil war when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers
and sided with invading Russian troops.
The Pontiff said the other two genocides of the 20th century were
"perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism".
He added: "And more recently there have been other mass killings, like
those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia. It seems that humanity
is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent blood."
Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan also celebrated the mass, which
included elements of the Armenian Catholic rite.
Francis proclaimed a 10th-century Armenian monk a "Doctor of the
Church" - making Saint Gregory just one of 36 saintly theologians
whose writings are considered to hold key insights into the Catholic
faith.
The Vatican has a long history of support for the Armenians, with John
Paul II using the word genocide in a joint statement signed with the
Armenian patriarch in 2000.
He said: "The Armenian genocide, which began the century, was a
prologue to horrors that would follow."
But it provoked outrage in Turkey, and a year later during a trip to
Armenia John Paul II avoided using the term, instead choosing the
Armenian expression "Metz Yeghern" - meaning "Great Evil".
Last week, TV star Kim Kardashian, her husband Kanye West, daughter
North and sister Khloe, visited Armenia to celebrate her family's
roots and mark the centenary.
Kardashian, whose ancestors emigrated to the US from an area that now
lies in Turkey, is reportedly making a documentary about the Armenian
WW1 killings.
http://news.sky.com/story/1463322/turkeys-anger-over-popes-genocide-remarks
April 12 2015
Turkey's Anger Over Pope's 'Genocide' Remarks
The Pope provokes outrage in Turkey by calling the Armenian WW1 mass
killings "the first genocide of the 20th century".
Turkey has criticised Pope Francis' use of the word "genocide" to
describe the mass killings of Armenians during the First World War.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the Pope's comments "inappropriate".
"To read these sorrows in a one-sided way is inappropriate for the
Pope and the authority that he holds," he said.
Earlier, foreign minister in Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu, called the
Pontiff's allegations "baseless" and "far from the legal and
historical reality".
He added that religious authorities were "not the places to incite
resentment and hatred".
Turkey had earlier summoned the Vatican envoy to Ankara, Archbishop
Antonino Lucibello, to request an explanation over the Pope's use of
the word "genocide".
He made the comments during a mass in Saint Peter's Basilica to mark
the centenary of the Ottoman Turk murders of Armenians.
He said: "In the past century our human family has lived through three
massive and unprecedented tragedies.
"The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th
century', struck your own Armenian people."
The 78-year old head of the Roman Catholic Church had been under
pressure to use the word genocide to describe the bloodshed, despite
the risk of alienating an important ally in the fight against Islamist
militants.
According to a Turkish official speaking to the Reuters news agency,
the Vatican's ambassador has been told that the remarks have caused a
"problem of trust" - and that Ankara was "deeply sorry and
disappointed" by the comments.
While many historians describe the events between 1915 and 1917 as the
20th century's first genocide, Turkey strongly denies the accusation.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered as
the Ottoman Empire fell apart, and have long sought to win
international recognition of the massacres as genocide.
Turkey argues that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks died
in the civil war when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers
and sided with invading Russian troops.
The Pontiff said the other two genocides of the 20th century were
"perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism".
He added: "And more recently there have been other mass killings, like
those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia. It seems that humanity
is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent blood."
Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan also celebrated the mass, which
included elements of the Armenian Catholic rite.
Francis proclaimed a 10th-century Armenian monk a "Doctor of the
Church" - making Saint Gregory just one of 36 saintly theologians
whose writings are considered to hold key insights into the Catholic
faith.
The Vatican has a long history of support for the Armenians, with John
Paul II using the word genocide in a joint statement signed with the
Armenian patriarch in 2000.
He said: "The Armenian genocide, which began the century, was a
prologue to horrors that would follow."
But it provoked outrage in Turkey, and a year later during a trip to
Armenia John Paul II avoided using the term, instead choosing the
Armenian expression "Metz Yeghern" - meaning "Great Evil".
Last week, TV star Kim Kardashian, her husband Kanye West, daughter
North and sister Khloe, visited Armenia to celebrate her family's
roots and mark the centenary.
Kardashian, whose ancestors emigrated to the US from an area that now
lies in Turkey, is reportedly making a documentary about the Armenian
WW1 killings.
http://news.sky.com/story/1463322/turkeys-anger-over-popes-genocide-remarks