Karekin describes killings of Armenians as ‘genocide'

Tuesday, June 27, 2006
ANK - TDN with AP

The head of the Armenian Orthodox Church, Karekin II, described on Sunday the killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in the last century as genocide.

Turkey denies that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I was genocide, and several cases have been brought against those who say otherwise. The cases have been opened under a law making it a crime to “insult Turkishness.”

Karekin II, whose official title is Catholicos of All Armenians, has been facing protests since he arrived in Istanbul last week.

Karekin II was unreceptive to Turkey's requests that Turkey and Armenia, which are neighbors but have no diplomatic relations, open their historical archives to researchers from both countries to try to ease tensions and reach an objective conclusion about the killings.

“For our people research is not an issue. This is something that happened and it needs to be recognized,” the Doğan News Agency quoted Karekin II as saying. “The genocide issue has been researched for 90 years by academics.”


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