ISTANBUL (Bloomberg) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the deportation of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century was “reasonable” at the time.
Erdogan made the comment on April 24 at a symposium where he slammed France for marking the Ottoman campaign against the Armenians as a genocide.
“The relocation of the Armenian gangs and their supporters, who massacred the Muslim people, including women and children, in eastern Anatolia, was the most reasonable action that could be taken in such a period,” Erdogan said in a Twitter post in English.
“The relocation of the Armenian gangs and their supporters, who massacred the Muslim people, including women and children, in eastern Anatolia, was the most reasonable action that could be taken in such a period. The doors of our archives are wide open to all seeking the truth.”
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan labeled Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s April 24 speech “a new high in denialism” of the Armenian Genocide, and a “justification of nation murder.” The Armenian leader urged the international community to respond to the Turkish President’s hate speech.
“Calling victims of the Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Empire’s entire Armenian population, which was sent to death marches, as “Armenian gangs & their supporters,” killing 1.5 million [people] & justifying it by “most reasonable action” is not just new high in denialism, but justification of nation murder,” Pashinyan tweeted.
