Turkey advised to follow Serbian parliament’s example and apologize to Armenians for Genocide

April 1, 2010 - 18:15 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Some representatives of Turkish intelligentsia urge Turkey, which seeks EU membership, follow Serbian parliament’s example, which recently condemned the 1995 killings of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and apologize to Armenians for 1915 Genocide.

The offer was advanced by Maya Arakon, assistant professor of International Relations from Yeditepe University and Soli Özel, professor of International Relations and Political Science at Istanbul Bilgi University.

According to Maya Arakon, Serbia which seeks EU membership, tries to whitewash its past; Turkey can initiate similar steps regarding Genocide issue.

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.