“In our history there is neither colonialism, nor massacre, nor genocide. There is brotherhood and unity,” Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildiz told the Dogan news agency. Commenting on the recent Dutch Parliament decision to recognize the Armenian genocide, the Turkish Prime Minister said:
“The decision taken by the Dutch Parliament is an unfair decision. For us it has no validity. Those who call the events of 1915 genocide need to see their own shame in history and bear responsibility for these.”
He added “historical records are not secret. On the issue of inhumane behavior, those supporting these allegations have the most dirty criminal record. In our history there is neither colonialism nor massacre nor genocide. There is brotherhood and unity.”
The he Armenian Genocide also known as the Armenian Holocaust, was the Ottoman government’s systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians, mostly citizens within the Ottoman Empire and its successor state, the Republic of Turkey.
The starting date is conventionally held to be 24 April 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities rounded up, arrested, and deported from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to the region of Ankara 235 to 270 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders, the majority of whom were eventually murdered.
The genocide was carried out during and after World War I and implemented in two phases—the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly, and the infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian Desert. Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre.
Not to mention the systematic extermination of Pontus Greeks and other minorities.
While Turkey is suffering from “collective denial”, 28 countries, incl USA and several European countries have recognized the genocide through resolutions and declarations.
Meanwhile, Turkish media are targeting five Dutch parliamentarians with a Turkish background, calling them traitors. They’ve also received threats via social media, two of them confirmed to RTL Nieuws, NL media report.
