Turkey’s top oppositionist refused entry to Armenian church

June 30, 2014 - 17:12 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Germany-based Armenians refused to meet with the Republican People's Party (CHP) leader who was recently visiting Cologne, Demokrat Haber said.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu travelled to Germany to recruit votes for opposition candidate in Turkey’s presidential elections, Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu. Kılıçdaroğlu visited the German Alevi Unions Federation, Greek and Assyrian churches, also expressing a wish to meet Germany’s Armenian community.

However, spiritual leader of the community refused to receive the Turkish politician, noting that a permission to enter an Armenian church can’t be given to a leader of a party denying the Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.