By Dr. Ömer Lütfi TAŞCIOĞLU PhD, Scientific Consultative Committee of ANKA Institute

Introduction

His  Holiness  Pope  Francis  addressed  in  his  Vatican  Liturgy  of  April  12,  2015  that  relocation  of  the Armenians under the Ottoman Empire regime was the first genocide of the 20th century. When information about the Pope’s possible speech started to appear in the media, Turkish public became irritated and   some intellectuals decided to write a letter to his Holiness Pope Francis explaining to him that the genocide claims are baseless. The letter was sent to Pope Francis and 24 clergymen of Vatican on April 10, 2015. I would like to thank Ret. Minister of State Sadi Somuncuoğlu, Associate Prof. Dr. Lale Olcay and Eng. Fatma Sarıkaya for helping me to prepare this letter.

UTNGO’s letter consists of six sections which are “Turkish Armenian Relations”, “the Armenian Uprisings During  World  War-I  and  the  Relocation  Decision”,  “Turks  Massacred  by  Russians  and  Armenians”, “ASALA  Terror  and  Assassination  of  Turkish  Diplomats”,  “the  Khojali  Massacre  Perpetrated  by Armenians”, “the Pope and the Ottoman Government’s Efforts to Help During the Famine Period in Syria” and “Armenians Raising Their New Generations with Animosity towards Turks”. [read more]