Author: Turkey hasn’t changed much since 1915

November 13, 2013 - 16:32 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey must apologize for the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire ahead of the 100th anniversary of the massacres in 2015, Hasan Cemal, a Turkish journalist, the grandson of the Genocide perpetrator Cemal Pasha said.

“Armenians have been a native population of Anatolia until 1915. Even now Turkey hasn’t understood or shared their pain from losing their lands and property. The border between Armenia and Turkey must be opened, with diplomatic ties to be restored without preconditions,” Cemal urged.

He further called on Turkish government to alter their attitude towards Armenians and issue textbooks reflecting the historic truth. “Does Prime Minister Erdogan give it any thought? Well he should, seeing as Turkey hasn’t changed much since 1915,” T24 quoted Cemal as saying.

Hasan Cemal (born 1944) is a Turkish journalist, writer and grandson of Cemal Pasha. He was the editor of Cumhuriyet from 1981 to 1992, and of Sabah from 1992 to 1998. In 2013 he resigned from the Milliyet newspaper after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had criticised his article supporting Milliyets publication of minutes of a parliamentary visit to Öcalan, and Milliyet suspended him and refused to publish his returning column.

He is best known for acknowledging and apologizing for the Armenian Genocide, a crime which was perpetrated by Pasha. His 2012 book on the subject (written in response to the 2007 assassination of his friend Hrant Dink) is titled 1915: Ermeni Soykırımı (1915: Armenian Genocide).

Related links:

http://t24.com.tr

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.