Türkiye rejects EU report on 1915 events

ISTANBUL

Spokesperson of the Turkish Foreign Ministry has rejected a recent European Parliament report on EU-Armenia relations, which made some allegations with regards to the 1915 events.

"It is seen that the European Parliament insists on including baseless allegations about our country and the 1915 events in its ordinary report," Tanju Bilgic said on Friday.

"These views, which are incompatible with historical facts and international legal norms, have no validity for us," he added.

He asked the European Parliament "to act in accordance with political morality and international law, rather than repeating such unilateral and baseless claims."

Türkiye's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Türkiye objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Türkiye and Armenia plus international experts to tackle the issue.