Armenians expect genocide recognition from Turkey – Catholicos Aram I
Yerevan, April 25, Interfax – The Armenian people expect not only condolences but the recognition of the Armenian Genocide from Turkey, Catholicos Aram I of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia.
“We have read the Turkish prime minister’s statement on the eve of the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Falsification of historical facts cannot overpower indisputable truth. What happened in Turkey in 1915 was not a result of war, Mr. prime minister. This is genocide of Armenians – in both the political and legal sense of this word,” Catholicos Aram I said in commenting on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement in the run-up to the Genocide Remembrance Day.
The Turkish prime minister for the first time expressed condolences to the descendants of Armenians massacred in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 in a Wednesday statement.
“It is with this hope and belief that we wish that the Armenians who lost their lives in the context of the early 20th century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to their grandchildren,” Erdogan said in his statement.
“The incidents of the First World War are our shared pain,” he said.
In commenting on the Turkish prime minister’s words, Catholicos Aram I said on the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia’s official Facebook account, “This is genocide organized and committed by your ancestors – Talaat Pasha and Enver Pasha. Therefore, the Armenian people expect not condolences and lectures from Turkey but the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and compensation.”
