Marco Pighin: Turkish people – victims to anti-Armenian governmental propaganda

April 24, 2010 - 17:51 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On the day of Genocide Remembrance, I regret to see how people are governed by merely political interests, Italian photographer Marco Pighin told PanARMENIAN.Net reported.

As he stated, Turkish people are victims to anti-Armenian governmental propaganda, their issue being lack of history knowledge.

''I hope for the peaceful future both for Armenian and Turkish nations. However, I was a witness to the negative attitude of Turkey people, who went on telling me about the genocide of Turks, with me having nothing to add to the issue,'' Italian photographer concluded.

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.