Armenian Turkologyst Hakob Chakryan believes that Ankara has used up all its possibilities to deny the Armenian Genocide.
Talking to media on June 27, Chakryan said Turkey's response to Pope's statement in Armenia was passive. "Turkey has no instruments to influence the Pope," Chakryan said recalling that the Pope departed from his speech and several times used the words Armenian Genocide during his meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sagrsyan. He said the Pope wants the Armenian and Turkish peoples to reconcile and his prayer in the Republic Square in Yerevan was dedicated to it.
The Turkologist addressed the German Bundestag's recent resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide, meantime Turkey that was Germany's ally in the WWI, now opposes its ally and denies its history, including the Armenian Genocide.
Pope Francis left the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Sunday in the evening, at the conclusion of his three-day pastoral visit to the first Christian country.
The Alitalia plane carrying the Pope and his entourage back to Rome took off following a farewell ceremony on the airport runway with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, alongside Catholicos Karekin II, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church and leaders of the small Catholic community here. The Pope was due to arrive back in Rome shortly before 9pm local time at the conclusion of this 14th international papal journey.
During the visit, the Pope signed a common declaration with Patriarch Karekin giving thanks for progress towards Christian unity, while also appealing for peace in the world. He visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial Museum, took part in an ecumenical prayer vigil for peace, travelled to the northern city of Gyumri and to the monastery of Khor Virap, close to the border with Turkey, where the country's rulers became the first to adopt Christianity as a state religion in the year 301. Talking to journalists in Yerevan, Cardinal Federico Lombardini said the Pope felt himself in Armenia like at home.
To recall, on 12 April 2015 Pope Francis held a mass at St. Peter's Basilica to commemorate the Armenian Genocide Centennial. He said that the killings of 1.5 mln Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were the first genocide of XX century.