A candidate running in Turkey’s presidential polls has promised to recognize the Armenian Genocide if elected.
In an interview with the Turkish-Armenian weeklyAgos, Selahattin Demirtas, an ethnic Kurd, said he would every respect the Armenian victims’ memory on the April 24 Genocide Remembrance Day.
“I am a human right advocate. And I have been in politics for eight years. I have been interested in politics since I was a student, and I have always perceived and recognized as genocide what was committed against the Armenians,” he told the publication.
Demirtash said he personally believes that what happened to the Armenians in 1915 constituted coordinated massacres and an extermination policy that also claimed the lives of Kurds.
“Anyone who wishes to elect me as a president must know that I recognize the 1915 [events] as Armenian Genocide. And during the years of my presidency, I will fulfill my duty to awaken memories about the Genocide committed against the Armenian people. That’s the result of the condemnable policies of that period.
“It is important, on behalf of the state, to apologize not only to the Armenians but also all the nations which have seen brutalities, and to confront [the past],” he added.
A candidate running in Turkey’s presidential polls has promised to recognize the Armenian Genocide if elected.
In an interview with the Turkish-Armenian weeklyAgos, Selahattin Demirtas, an ethnic Kurd, said he would every respect the Armenian victims’ memory on the April 24 Genocide Remembrance Day.
“I am a human right advocate. And I have been in politics for eight years. I have been interested in politics since I was a student, and I have always perceived and recognized as genocide what was committed against the Armenians,” he told the publication.
Demirtash said he personally believes that what happened to the Armenians in 1915 constituted coordinated massacres and an extermination policy that also claimed the lives of Kurds.
“Anyone who wishes to elect me as a president must know that I recognize the 1915 [events] as Armenian Genocide. And during the years of my presidency, I will fulfill my duty to awaken memories about the Genocide committed against the Armenian people. That’s the result of the condemnable policies of that period.
“It is important, on behalf of the state, to apologize not only to the Armenians but also all the nations which have seen brutalities, and to confront [the past],” he added.
