Turkey summons Vatican envoy over Pope's 'genocide' remarks

Rasa - Turkey has summoned the Vatican envoy in Ankara to hear Turkish government’s protest over the Pope Francis' remarks describing the massacre of Armenians a century ago as "genocide."

News ID: 2333

Date: 12 April 2015 - 20:01

RNA - The ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Ankara on Sunday, but the Turkish government has yet to make an official statement on Francis' comments.

The pontiff used the word "genocide" to describe the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I. He made the controversial remarks during a Sunday solemn mass in Saint Peter's Basilica.

Referring to a statement signed by John Paul II and the Armenian patriarch in 2001, Francis said, “The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th century', struck your own Armenian people."

The 78-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church added, "We recall the centenary of that tragic event, that immense and senseless slaughter whose cruelty your forebears had to endure."

"It is necessary, and indeed a duty, to honor their memory, for whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester," Francis said.

Pope said he felt obliged to honor the memory of innocent men, women, children, priests and bishops, who were 'senselessly' murdered.

Ankara rejects the term “genocide” and instead says the 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians, and at least as many Turks, who perished between 1915 and 1917 were the casualties of World War I.

Armenia, however, says up to 1.5 million of its people were killed and demands that their death be recognized as genocide.

Armenia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay formally recognize the incident as genocide.

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