Ankara lashed out on Wednesday at France’s plan to mark a “national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide” on April 24, accusing President Emmanuel Macron of seeking to politicize the tragedy which Turkey denies was a genocide.
“We condemn and reject attempts by Macron, who is afflicted by political problems in his own country, to try and save the day by turning historical events into a political matter,” Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a statement after the French leader’s announcement on Tuesday.
The Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were massacred during World War I as the Ottoman empire was falling apart, with almost 30 countries to date having recognised the killings as genocide.But Turkey — the Ottoman Empire’s successor state — argues that it was a collective tragedy in which equal numbers of Turks and Armenians died.
The country strongly denies the genocide charge.So far, parliaments in more than 20 countries have voted for laws or resolutions explicitly recognizing the Armenian “genocide”.An push by Israeli lawmakers in June 2018 to see the government recognize the Armenian genocide floundered over concern that the move would have worsened already tense ties with Turkey.