TURKEY

The Prime Minister’s Office of the Republic of Turkey has published an official statement on the eve of 24 April. The statement concludes with the words “…we once more commemorate with deep respect the Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives during the relocation in 1915 and we share in the grief of their children and grandchildren.”

Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Cemil Çiçek, has made a statement regarding Pope Francis’s words during the commemoration mass held for the victims of the Armenian Genocide, saying “It is unacceptable for someone occupying that seat to cast such slander. What the Pope has done constitutes slander”. President of the Directorate of Religious Affairs Mehmet Görmez, on the other hand, claimed that the Pope had made his statements on the Genocide under the influence of lobbies and PR companies.

President Erdoğan has joined those who have reacted against Pope Francis’s statement that ‘the Armenian Genocide is the first genocide of the 20th century’. Erdoğan said, “I condemn and warn the Esteemed Pope hoping he probably won’t make such mistakes again”.

The 100th Anniversary End to Denial Initiative has announced its Genocide Commemoration Program for Istanbul and Diyarbakır.

Access to Twitter, YouTube and Facebook has been banned across Turkey in the most comprehensive access blockage on social networks so far.

Minister of Energy Taner Yıldız has announced that the General Director of TEİAŞ (Turkey Electricity Transmission Company) has resigned following the massive 9-hour countrywide blackout on 31 March 2015.

İstanbul Bilgi University has made a statement regarding the blocking of the conference titled “The Armenian Genocide: Concepts and Comparative Perspectives” planned to be held at the university on April 26.

The conference titled “The Armenian Genocide: Concepts and Comparative Perspectives” jointly organized by Istanbul Bilgi University, the History Foundation [Tarih Vakfı] and UCLA is being prevented from taking place.

The appeal to the Constitutional Court regarding Sevan Nişanyan’s cases for opposition to the Code of Protection of Cultural and Natural Properties for which he received long term prison sentences has been rejected. The next legal step is the ECHR.

Raymond Kévorkian’s book ‘Armenian Genocide’, based on years of comprehensive research, has been published in Turkish with Ayşen Taşkent Ekmekçi’s translation. We talked to Ekmekçi about the translation process, and the importance of the publication of the book in Turkish.