Turkey uses every bit of political leverage against the Pope’s remark on Armenian genocide – analyst

On Sunday the head of the Roman Catholic Church served a landmark mass in the Armenian Catholic rite in St. Peter’s Basilica. In his speech, Pope Francis used the world genocide in describing the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey a century ago. The Pope’s statement provoked anger in Turkey. Turkey recalled the ambassador to the Vatican, and called the Vatican ambassador to the foreign ministry for consultation. 

There is no more influential political, public or cultural figure than the Pope is, and Turkey’s efforts in response to the statement could be expected, Minasyan said. 

The Vatican is not a mere religious structure: it is connected with areas where historical truth and moral values play a great role, he said. 

Pope Francis’ statement on the Armenian genocide was not something new to the Catholic Church as Pope John Paul II made a similar statement back in 2001, the expert said, as cited by Novosti-Armenia. 

The Armenian genocide was the first genocide committed in XX century. Turkey rejects the accusation of massacres and the killing of one and a half million Armenians during World War I. 

The fact of the Armenian genocide is recognized by many countries, particularly by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, most of the U.S. states, as well as by the parliaments of Greece, Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium, Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Common House of Canada, the Seym of Poland and lower house of Italian parliament. –0--