Tweet
European Churches Call on Turkey to Recognise Armenian Genocide
23/04/2005
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) on Saturday called on Turkey to recognise that it committed genocide against Armenians and urged reconciliation between Ankara and Yerevan.
"The Presidium subscribes to the words which the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II, and Catholicos Aram I have repeatedly expressed: the horrific crimes in connection with the Armenian genocide should never be forgotten.
"Guilt must be admitted and the truth must be told," the CEC said in a statement.
Armenia marks on Sunday the 90th anniversary of mass killings in the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of modern Turkey, which Armenia and many other countries qualify as genocide but which Turkey denies ever took place.
"The Presidium urges the Turkish government to initiate a process of reconciliation between the Turkish and the Armenian peoples in which the recognition of guilt and the proclamation of the truth need to be integral elements," it said.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen perished in orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.
Ankara counters that 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were killed in "civil strife" during World War I when the Armenians rose against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
The Conference of European Churches, founded in 1959, is a fellowship of 126 Orthodox, Protestant and Old Catholic Churches, along with 43 associated organisations from across Europe.
Link