- Tweeter
republish
104 years ago, April 24, 1915, the Ottoman government ordered the roundup of more than 250 Armenian notables in the capital of the Empire, Istanbul. The beginning of a deportation campaign that would erase a large part of the Armenians from the map of Anatolia. France has established since this year an official day of commemoration on this date. But the Turkish authorities, who categorically refuse to recognize genocide, have welcomed the French initiative, accusing Paris of having dealt a new blow to the Franco-Turkish relationship.
With our correspondent in Istanbul , Anne Andlauer
In January 2001, France was the first major European country to officially recognize the genocide of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire. This official day of commemoration makes the Turkish authorities angry, accusing France of "manipulating history" and sharply reminding it of its colonial past.
According to Uluç Özülker, Turkey's former ambassador to Paris, Ankara will never recognize the existence of genocide. " Accepting genocide is something. You only have to look at Germany: they committed genocide and they still live under the very heavy weight they carry on their backs. "
" There were Armenian deaths, but no genocide. It is the affair of historians, not of politicians. This is, in a few words, the Turkish position. On the bottom, she never changed. In form, it had evolved a little after the arrival in power of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In 2014, the current Turkish President had expressed condolences to the descendants of the Armenians.
A timid advance that does not rule out further setbacks, said Sinan Ülgen, director of the Center for Research on Economic and Diplomatic Studies in Istanbul: "There is an alliance with the nationalist party MHP, which was not the case in 2014-2015. So there is more pressure to push back Turkey's position. "
This also applies to diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia, as non-existent as the border between the two countries remains closed.
► REPORT
Every year, Armenians around the world pay tribute to the victims of April 24, 1915. For the first time this year, France makes these commemorations a national day, inscribed on the calendar. In Paris, they began Tuesday night with the rekindling of the flame of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe in the presence of many French Armenians.
We expect from Macron many things, that it makes recognize Erdogan the Armenian Genocide, at the diplomatic level there is a lot of work
Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Paris 23/04/2019 - by Alexis Bedu Play