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POPE FRANCIS HOLDS SERVICE FOR ARMENIANS WHO DIED IN 1915
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
April 12 2015
12 April 2015 11:25 (Last updated 12 April 2015 22:34)
One-and-a-half hour service held at St. Peter Basilica in Vatican.
VATICAN CITY
Pope Francis has held a service in Vatican City for Armenians who
lost their lives in the 1915 incidents.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan; Catholicos Karekin II, the current
Catholicos of All Armenians and the supreme head of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, and Aram I Keshishian, the head of the Catholicosate
of the Great House of Cilicia, also attended the rite.
Quoting a declaration signed by Pope John Paul II and Kerekin II in
2001, the Pope said at the St. Peter Basilica: "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
twentieth century, struck your own Armenian people, the first Christian
nation, as well as Catholic and Orthodox Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans
and Greeks and, more recently, there have been other mass killings,
like those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia."
Pope Francis added: "We have not yet learned that war is madness ...
senseless slaughter."
'Rest in peace'
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences for the
first time in 2014 to all Ottoman citizens who lost their lives in
the events of 1915.
"Armenians who lost their lives in the events in the early twentieth
century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to their
grandchildren," Erdogan said.
The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of
the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the
invading Russians and revolted.
The Ottoman Empire relocated Armenians in eastern Anatolia following
the revolts and there were some Armenian casualties during the
relocation process.
'Great tragedy'
Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey has
officially refuted Armenian allegations over the incidents saying that,
although Armenians died during the relocations, many Turks also lost
their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.
The Turkish government has repeatedly called on historians to study
Ottoman archives pertaining to the era in order to uncover what
actually happened between the Ottoman government and its Armenian
citizens.
The debate on "genocide" and the differing opinions between the
present day Turkish government and the Armenian diaspora, along with
the current administration in Yerevan, still generates political
tension between Turks and Armenians.
Turkey's official position against allegations of "genocide" is that
it acknowledges the past experiences were a great tragedy and that both
parties suffered heavy casualties, including hundreds of Muslim Turks.
Turkey agrees that there were certainly Armenian casualties during
World War I, but that it is impossible to define these incidents as
"genocide".
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/492351--pope-francis-holds-service-for-armenians-who-died-in-1915
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
April 12 2015
12 April 2015 11:25 (Last updated 12 April 2015 22:34)
One-and-a-half hour service held at St. Peter Basilica in Vatican.
VATICAN CITY
Pope Francis has held a service in Vatican City for Armenians who
lost their lives in the 1915 incidents.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan; Catholicos Karekin II, the current
Catholicos of All Armenians and the supreme head of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, and Aram I Keshishian, the head of the Catholicosate
of the Great House of Cilicia, also attended the rite.
Quoting a declaration signed by Pope John Paul II and Kerekin II in
2001, the Pope said at the St. Peter Basilica: "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
twentieth century, struck your own Armenian people, the first Christian
nation, as well as Catholic and Orthodox Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans
and Greeks and, more recently, there have been other mass killings,
like those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia."
Pope Francis added: "We have not yet learned that war is madness ...
senseless slaughter."
'Rest in peace'
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences for the
first time in 2014 to all Ottoman citizens who lost their lives in
the events of 1915.
"Armenians who lost their lives in the events in the early twentieth
century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to their
grandchildren," Erdogan said.
The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of
the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the
invading Russians and revolted.
The Ottoman Empire relocated Armenians in eastern Anatolia following
the revolts and there were some Armenian casualties during the
relocation process.
'Great tragedy'
Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey has
officially refuted Armenian allegations over the incidents saying that,
although Armenians died during the relocations, many Turks also lost
their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.
The Turkish government has repeatedly called on historians to study
Ottoman archives pertaining to the era in order to uncover what
actually happened between the Ottoman government and its Armenian
citizens.
The debate on "genocide" and the differing opinions between the
present day Turkish government and the Armenian diaspora, along with
the current administration in Yerevan, still generates political
tension between Turks and Armenians.
Turkey's official position against allegations of "genocide" is that
it acknowledges the past experiences were a great tragedy and that both
parties suffered heavy casualties, including hundreds of Muslim Turks.
Turkey agrees that there were certainly Armenian casualties during
World War I, but that it is impossible to define these incidents as
"genocide".
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/492351--pope-francis-holds-service-for-armenians-who-died-in-1915