Turkey Recalls Ambassador After Pope Says “Genocide”
Vatican’s Ankara Ambassador was called to the Foreign Ministry to convey the message: “We experienced disappointment and sorrow. Our trust is shaken.”
Afterwards, Turkey recalled its ambassador to the Vatican, Mehmet Paçacı for a consultation. PM Ahmet Davutoğlu remarked, “[These words] did not suit the Pope or his position”.
Çavuşoğlu: Far from historical and legal facts
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu expressed his outrage, tweeting: “The Pope's statement, which is out of touch with both historical facts and legal basis, is simply unacceptable.”
The Pope: The first genocide of the 20th century
The Pope had said yesterday (12 April) in the mass held in the Vatican for the events of 1915: “In the past century our human family has lived through three massive and unprecedented tragedies. The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th century', struck your own Armenian people, as well as Catholic and Orthodox Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Greeks. Bishops and priests, religious, women and men, the elderly and even defenseless children and the infirm were murdered.”
Davutoğlu: It did not suit his position
Vatican’s Ankara Ambassador was called to the Foreign Ministry following the Pope’s words. The Ambassador was informed that Turkey “experienced disappointment and sorrow” and that its “trust is shaken.” Turkey did not stop at that but recalled its ambassador to Vatican City, Mehmet Paçacı for a consultation. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu also made a comment, saying: “[These words] did not suit the Pope or his position”.
14 years after Jean Paul II
Pope Jean Paul II had also recognized the events of 1915 as genocide. On his Armenia visit in 2001 he had published a joint statement with Armenian Apostolic Church Catholicos Karekin II that mentioned that the events of 1915 “are generally seen as the first genocide of the 20th century”.
The events of 1915 will be commemorated in numerous countries on their 100th anniversary on April 24th. (EÖ/PU/KU)
Click here to read this article in Turkish.