ANKARA—The Turkish foreign ministry issued a statement Saturday slamming Armenia’s Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan, who last week said that Turkey must return all churches and territories as fair reparation for the Armenian Genocide.
Speaking at the conference of Diaspora lawyers on July 5, Hovsepyan said, “Indeed, the Republic of Armenia should have its lost territories returned and the victims of the Armenian Genocide should receive material compensation. But all these claims must have perfect legal grounds.”
“I strongly believe that the descendants of the genocide must receive material compensation, churches miraculously preserved in Turkey’s territory and church lands must be returned to the Armenian Church, and the Republic of Armenia must get back its lost lands,” added Hovsepian.
The Turkish foreign ministry deplored the statement saying: “Such a declaration made by an official occupying a position as important as that of Prosecutor General reflects the prevailing problematic mentality in Armenia as to the territorial integrity of its neighbor Turkey and to Turkish-Armenian relations and also contradicts the obligations it has undertaken towards the international organizations of which it is a member, particularly the UN and the OSCE. One should be well aware that no one can presume to claim land from Turkey.”
Turkey-Azerbaijan War Games
Turkish and Azeri armed forces launched joint military exercises on July 12 aimed, according to a statement released by the Turkish General Staff “at strengthening cooperation between the two countries.”
Land forces of the Turkey and Azerbaijan will be involved in the war games in which an infantry division will be involved in the Baku exercises and a mechanized infantry division will take part in exercises in Nakhichevan.
Good, let them be angry. Playing the role of the offended and whatever is corollary to this is the one thing these people are capable of. Oh and breeding like rabbits.
Why Armenians news media underlines their opinion! Who gives a damn about a turkey!
yeah yeah yeah Turkey is angry all of a sudden? Remarks like this are routinely (and correctly) made by Armenians at all levels of government. For Turkey to get upset now is a bit suspicious as they (government officials in Turkey) are having difficulty controlling the strong held rebellions in the country. Turkish anger at this point in time is nothing more than to distract the locals from their shortcomings as officials. It’s about time Turkish authorities take matters into their own hands and face the heat instead of scapegoating their problems away.
why are we not getting more involved with the kurds in turkey? they have apologised numerous times for the Armenian genocide, admitted their guilt and responsibility and invited Armenians to come back to “their lands”.
its insane that we havnt yet had a more hands on approach to helping the kurds. if we show the kurds we are their friends and allies it could help us a lot in the future. they’ve gotten independence in Iraq and Syria will probably be next. they don’t have any real allies, here is where Armenia could step in.
Turkey has to respect territorial integrity of Armenia; in which the Eastern territories (now) in Turkey belong to Armenia.
There are no claims against Turkish lands. The claims are for Armenian territories expropriated illegally and through a policy of genocide of Armenians from their own ancestral lands. The government should deliver a forceful riposte to the Turk FM. Turks and Azeri Turks in war games. War will come, and we shall see how Russia and Iran will react. Armenia has no options , she will have to be assisted and aided in her defense by Russia and Iran. The Turks are the cannon fodder for the USA hegemon , and they will spare no effort to delete us from the map.
TURKEY KNOWS BETTER ENTIRE SO CALLED EASRTEN TURKEY IS WESTERN ARMENIA ,HISTORICALY , LEGALLY, THE OTTMAN MURDERERS, AND SKUNGS WHO COMMITTED ARMENIAN GENOCINED AND THEIR PRESENT HEIRS STILL CONTINUE OCCUPIYING ARMENIAN LANDS AND TERRITORY. SO WHY ARE THEY SURPRIZED FOR , THEY MUST AND I AM INSISTING THEY MUST RETURN ALL ARMENIAN TERITORIES TO ITS RIGHTFUL OWNERS. THE ENTIRE ANATOLIA BELONG TO ARMENIANS GREEKS ASYRIANS AND OTHER ANCIENT PEOPLES WHO LIVED THERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS , YOU TURKS, BELONG TO CENTRAL ASIA. GO AND LIVE WITH YOUR UYGUR CUSONS .
Turkey will eventually return all the lands that Rightfully belong To Armenia. As Armenians we demand Justice
Armenian Protocol must have given the impression to Turkey, that by signing the Protocol there will be NO claims for land and compensation, what kind of Protocol is this that such a Smaaaal detail leaves such a Biiiiig misunderstanding?
The Armenian churches were not built by mosques or Turks or Azeris or even by Christian Greeks. they were built by Armenians. So, they belong to the Armenian people. Otherwise, the international community must consider the occupiers hooligans and thieves.
Mer Hokhere…
Since Turkey abuts the Mediterranean, I am confident that the Turkish Ministry will find a glass of cool water to drink and appease itself. Perhaps our President can send him a bottle of cold Jermuk.
I want to criticize Asbarez’ reporting. 5 of the 13 lines of the article have the Turkish Minister’s exact words. Why are you giving him such a chance to broadcast his thoughts? It’s as if you are on his side. You can just state that he was unhappy and that’s it. I’m not trying to kill the messenger. However, you unknowingly contribute to his propaganda by restating his carefully worded sentiments. To me, the writer either fails to understand these nuances or is trying to foment anger and anxiety from the readers.
Here is my version:
The Turkish foreign ministry WAS SHAKEN BY THIS STATEMENT AND RESPONDED (this makes him look less powerful) BY STATING THAT MR. HOVSEPYAN’S VIEWS SEEM TO REFLECT THE MENTALITY IN ARMENIA, WHICH RUN COUNTER TO THEIR CURRENT STANCE.
ԱՍՈՒՄ ԵՆ ԵՐԲ ՍԵՒ ԿԱՏՈՒՆ ՄԱԾՈՒ Է ԳՈՂԱՆՈՒՄ ԲԵՐԱՆԸ ՍՐԲՈՒՄ Է ԲԱՅՑ ՀԵՏՈ ԻՆՋՔԱՆ ՓՈՐՁՈՒՄ Է ՈՐ ԲԵՂԵՐԻ ՄԱԾՈՒՆԸ ՄԱՔՐԻ ՉԻ ՀԱՋՈՂՈՒՄ
ԱՍՈՒՄ ԵՆ ԵՐԲ ՍԵՒ ԿԱՏՈՒՆ ՄԱԾՈՒ Է ԳՈՂԱՆՈՒՄ ԲԵՐԱՆԸ ՍՐԲՈՒՄ Է ԲԱՅՑ ՀԵՏՈ ԻՆՋՔԱՆ ՓՈՐՁՈՒՄ Է ՈՐ ԲԵՂԵՐԻ ՄԱԾՈՒՆԸ ՄԱՔՐԻ ՉԻ ՀԱՋՈՂՈՒՄ
Good for you Aghvan
Finally an Armenian politician with guts. We need a president like him.
The Turkish foreign minister must accept the fact that all Armenian territories must be handedover to the Armenian MotherLand as compensation for the victims of the Armenian killed by the Ottoman Empire.
I don’t blame the Turkish foreign ministry, if you want Turkey-Armenia normalization of ties, that means you have to lay off all territorial claims. Because territorial claims equals to plotting to wipe a nation off the map. We know your evil plans to wipe Turkey off the map. All ethnicities in Turkey will fight for Turkish territorial integrity, including Turkish-Hemshens.
Don’t be so sure. Independent country is better than living in slavery, under the brutal Turkish regime.
I actually am a big critic of the current government in Turkey (AKP) actually and support it’s opposition party (CHP). I consider it the main threat to Turkish nationhood. So what treaty should be set up for Turkish-Armenian normalization. Sevres? Kars? Most I will go for is Kars. Because if Sevres happens, your people will have to end up absorbing a Kurdish population and I don’t think they would like to live under Armenian rule. By the way, I have many Kurdish cousins as well, too.
This is a message from your beloved mountain Turks !!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/19/us-turkey-kurds-idUSBRE96I08N20130719
Edward – This is the President talking, through someone else – Do you really think the top lawyer of Armenia would make such a calculated statement without permission?
I already see the trolls and agents provocateurs running wild after reading these comments. “Oh, you Armenians are delusional, never going to happen, Turkey is so important to us/US.”
A hint to those people: grab a history book, preferably not one from Turkey, and realize that far more coherent, culturally sound, well armed, and commercially solid states in far more stable regions of the world have crumbled. Turkishness alone, not so long ago a synonym for barbarism (see Voltaire, Frederik the Great), as great as it works for middle age conquering (or current age, see Germany), is simply not build to reign absent massive plundering from outside or inside sources. Just wait and see. But you are right, they do have 500 K people armed with an Ak47 or something, for all its worth.
For better or worse, the international law environment is not equivalent to the domestic law environment. The domestic laws of a state can be enforced by courts of the land, whereas disputes between sovereign states are not so readily resolved. It’s more like the law of the jungle out there. This is where diplomacy comes in. The other distinction that needs to be drawn is that private ownership of land is not the same thing as state jurisdiction over land. These distinctions unfortunately make this whole question much more difficult to discuss rationally, and impossible to solve simply by the application of law.
Turks are nothing but a problem to the world period.