Erdogan and his subordinate Davutoglu using Mahçupyan to split Armenia & Diaspora
Moving Gallipoli commemorations from March 18th, to April 24 to shadow Armenian Genocide 100 year centennial.
The Turkish government’s move this year to invite more than 100 leaders around the world for the centennial commemorations of the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I to be held on the same day as the Armenians’ centennial commemoration “Armenian genocide” has been perceived as a crude attempt to distract attention from the Armenian commemorations.
wrote that the Erdogan had simply used “the age-old ‘everyone suffered’ denialist refrain.” Other comments made by Erdogan haven’t helped.
The Turkish president’s latest comments are unlikely to placate his biggest critics, who would argue that the historical record on the Armenian killings has already been set. Twenty-five countries currently call the 1915 killings a genocide, and many historians already use the term: In fact, the man who coined the word genocide, Raphael Lemkin, was thinking of the killings of Armenians in what is now Turkey when he created it.
On Twitter, Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, called Erdogan’s comments “doublespeak.”
doublespeak: #Turkey recognizes "inhumane" deportations, #Armenian suffering, but still talks "if" found guilty? http://t.co/JH8p5kYkX6
— Sarah Leah Whitson (@sarahleah1) January 30, 2015
The anniversary of the Armenian killings will place renewed focus on the matter and a high-profile case at the European Court of Human Rights may draw further headlines. The Turkish government has been accused of attempting to detract attention from the anniversary by hosting centennial commemorations of World War I’s Gallipoli Campaign on the same day as Armenia’s events, and Erdogan has said he would “actively” challenge a campaign to recognize the events as a genocide. Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post.
Photo by Lusin Kasbarian/ Լուսին Գասպարեան