Turkish historians to discuss Armenian genocide claims

ANKARA

Turkish historians will discuss claims about the genocide and forced deportation of Armenians in 1915, at a symposium on Thursday. 

The chairman of the Turkish Historical Society said the historians will study documents obtained from British, American and German archives during the two-day event. 

Metin Hulagu told the Anadolu Agency that academics across Turkey will meet in eastern province of Van, where Armenians were deported from after conflict in the province in 1915. 

"We are open to discuss these allegations with Armenian historians who say "There is a genocide" and also with other domestic and foreign historians, but there is not much participation from them," said Hulagu, noting that the issue would be on the international agenda with the centenary of the alleged genocide in 2015. "These lecturers will not present heroic Turkish studies, otherwise, they will depend on findings of foreign studies."

The chairman also said the Turkish Historical Society would hold panels about the topic in the provinces of Sakarya, Kayseri, Erzurum, Ankara and Karabuk in April and May.

The Armenian diaspora and state of Armenia call the 1915 events a genocide and has asked for compensation. Turkey claims that while Armenians died during deportation, many Turks also died from attacks by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.

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