Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement that the world must be ready to learn the truth about the events of 1915 is the result of the activities of the commission set up by Ankara as early as in 2001 "to combat the statements on the so-called Armenian-Genocide", Ruben Safrastyan, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Armenian National Academy of Sciences, says in his interview to ArmInfo.
"The commission is headed by the deputy prime minister of Turkey and it includes representatives of state structures, ministries, police, secret police, intelligence service, science, etc. The commission has been operating in strict secrecy for over 10 years. And Erdogan's statement is the result of its activities", Safrastyan says. He thinks that the commission is searching for ways to avoid accusations against Turkey in relation to the arrangement of the Armenian Genocide and the policy of its further denial.
The expert says that the phrase "truth about the events of 1915" itself distorts the truth, because the Genocide is a fact that needs no confirmation, and such statements by Erdogan are nothing but desecration. "His statement itself demonstrates that Turkey is seriously preparing for the Armenian Genocide centenary and doing its best to mitigate the international community's negative response to the denial of the Genocide", he says.
To note, during a conference of diplomats, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said that the world must be ready to learn the truth about the events of 1915. TRT Haber quoted him as saying that in order to understand what is going on today, one should more often refer to history. "To forget history is a crime," Erdogan said. Now that the 100th year of the Armenian Genocide is near, more and more such crucial statements are being made.
The Armenian-Turkish protocols signed in Zurich on Oct 10 2009 suggested forming a commission of independent historians. Turkey was thereby trying to turn the Armenian Genocide into a historical issue. But the protocols were not ratified because of Ankara's preconditions. Turkey's official position on the Armenian Genocide is that the events of 1915 were a result of WW1.