Thursday, November 14 2019 11:17

ArmInfo.The distortion of history for the sake of opportunistic political interests is  unacceptable. This statement was made by Turkish President Recep  Tayyip Erdogan at the American Religious Center in Maryland.

At the same time, the Turkish leader strongly condemned the  resolution of the US House of Representatives on the recognition of  the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman state.

"Attempts to rewrite history for political purposes will not affect  Turkey's position in any way. Ankara previously showed goodwill by  inviting Yerevan to open all archives for historians, archaeologists  and politicians. We are ready to include third-country experts in the  joint commission, which will ultimately put an end to this question,  "said Erdogan, quoted by Anadola.

At the same time, the Turkish President noted that the archives of  the Turkish General Staff alone contain more than a million documents  dated from the last years of the Ottoman state's existence,  forgetting to indicate that the Museum and Institute of the Armenian  Genocide in Yerevan have enough documentary evidence of the  atrocities of the Young Turks in those years and which do not need in  declassification, as available to any visitor to the museum.

"We showed a clear political will, but Armenia and the Armenian  diaspora refused to open their archives.  Why? Because they are well  aware that the commission will not come to a conclusion that suits  them," the Turkish leader assured, for some reason so confident that  what conclusion will historians come to in cases of the creation of a  joint commission, again ignoring the fact that the fact of the  Armenian Genocide has already been recognized by several dozen  states, international organizations, individual states, cities and  regions on different continents.

Erdogan noted that only the conclusion of a joint commission can  become the basis for estimates and judgments. "Any other steps are  perceived by Ankara as politically motivated and biased, and will be  ignored by Turkey," the president said, and in order to be more  convincing, Erdogan went further, calling the Armenians nomads, and  Armenia a young state, created only in 1991. , with such images,  apparently trying to justify the expansion of the entire territory of  Western Armenia (now East Turkey - ed.). "Until this period,  Armenians moved from one place to another. On the territory of  Turkey, Armenians also constantly changed their areas of residence.  Then a decision was made on forced relocation. Today, there are about  100 thousand Armenians in Turkey, 60 thousand of whom are Turkish  citizens, the rest are migrant workers" - stated the president.

According to Erdogan, the Turkish authorities do not deport tens of  thousands of illegal workers from Armenia, speaking from the position  of humanism. "We could return 40,000 citizens of this country to  Armenia, but we don't do it. This is an indicator of the humanity of  the Turkish people! However, Yerevan does not want to see this.  Armenia has not approved the Turkish-Armenian protocols of 2009, and  the rich Armenian diaspora continues to spread lies about Turkey,  "the Turkish president did not calm down.  He did not bypass the  resolution of the House of Representatives of the US Congress,  calling it scandalous and claiming that it was adopted under the  influence of the Armenian lobby and anti-Turkish circles, including  supporters of the "terrorist organization" Fetullah Gulen.  "Unfortunately, they are trying to use the theme of the events of  1915 as a kind of political revenge. The text of the resolution has  nothing to do with the concept of historical realities. Sooner or  later, the authors and supporters of such documents realize that such  steps cannot affect Ankara's position," summed up Erdogan.