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Turkey's 2015 Plan: Avoid Word 'Genocide' at All Costs

Turkey  is preparing a diplomatic offensive to prevent the US and European countries from recognizing the events of 1915 as genocide, writes Orhan Kemal Cengiz.
Armenian protesters shout slogans against Turkey during a demonstation near the Turkish embassy in central Athens, April 24, 2013. Hundreds of Armenians marched to commemorate the 98th anniversary of the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Twenty one countries worldwide, including Greece, Russia, and France as well as the European parliament recognize the mass killings as an act of genocide, despite strong objections from Turkey. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE - Tags: CIVIL UNREST ANNI
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The groups that call the 1915 events in Turkey “genocide” filled Istanbul Taksim Square on April 24, along with Armenians who came from abroad to remember millions of Armenians who lost their lives and suffered untold agony on this land. Only five or six years ago, it was unthinkable that such an observance could be held in Turkey. These developments encourage optimism, but even as democratic and forward-looking Turkish faces were displayed in Istanbul, we also noticed that the Turkish Foreign Ministry was still repeating the clichés of the last 98 years that we all know so well.

The Foreign Ministry criticized the April 24 statement of US President Barack Obama with a tone bordering on condemnation: “We find this statement that ignores historic realities troubling in all its aspects, and regret it.” What led to this critical tone was Obama’s saying that the Armenians were mercilessly massacred and forced on a death march in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.

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