Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the Israeli government's decision to support a proposal recognizing the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide and accused Israel of the deaths of civilians in the Gaza Strip. This was reported by the Associated Press, writes UNN.
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Erdogan reacted to the decision approved by the Israeli Cabinet on Sunday. The document still needs to be approved by the country's parliament. According to AP, the initiative emerged amid deteriorating relations between Turkey and Israel.
Turkey has opposed the official recognition of the mass deaths of Armenians in 1915 as genocide for many years. At the same time, most historians believe that during World War I, the Ottoman authorities killed up to 1.5 million Armenians and consider these events the first genocide of the 20th century.
Erdogan stated that Turkey's history is "free from genocide"
"We completely ignore the slanders against our country from this criminal network, on whose hands is the blood of 73,000 innocent residents of Gaza, mostly children and women. Our history is free from genocide, massacre, oppression, and colonialism,"
At the same time, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan refused to comment on Israel's initiative.
"We do not see the need to respond, as we believe that refraining from discussing the issue of using the Armenian genocide as a weapon is in the interests of the Republic of Armenia,"
The Associated Press notes that Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations, and the common border between the countries has remained closed since 1993. At the same time, in recent years, the sides have been negotiating the normalization of relations.
Israel officially recognized the Armenian genocide amid tensions with Turkey29.06.26, 10:31