Foreign Ministry issued an official statement protesting the unveiling of a statue of Armenian composer Komitas in Paris yesterday in commemoration of the so-called Armenian genocide by Turks in 1915. âIt is regrettable that third partiesâ mistaken ideas have been allowed to harm Turkish-French relations, especially in light of the negative effects of Franceâs so-called Armenian genocide law passed in 2001,â the statement said. The said French Parliament resolution was passed in 2001 and caused rifts in relations between Ankara and Paris. A plaque on statueâs pedestal made mention of â1.5 million Armenians, the victims of the first genocide of the twentieth century in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.â Contrary to the Armenian arguments, Komitas, who spent his last 16 years in France, was not among those who lost their lives during the Ottoman deportation of Armenians in Anatolia to Syria in 1915 as a part of the measures taken against the Tashnak and Hunchak Committees, two Armenian organizations which carried out terrorist activities against Turkish population in eastern Anatolia in 1915. 40,000 to 50,000 Armenian people died during the deportations because of epidemic and scarce of food as well as bad weather conditions.
I didn't realize Murat worked for the Foreign Ministry now. |