Turkish-Armenian lawmaker says Erdogan is glorifying the Genocide

November 15, 2019 - 10:48 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Garo Paylan, a Turkish-Armenian lawmaker from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), has reacted to comments made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who recently called Armenia "a state born yesterday" and described Armenians as "refugees".

"The Armenian people, together with other nations, have lived in this land for thousands of years. They have created civilizations everywhere they have lived," Paylan said in a tweet.

"Shame on you!" he wrote addressing Erdogan.

"Denying the genocide, Erdoğan glorifies it."

Garo Paylan's tweet

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.