Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan refuted Armenian allegations on 1915 incidents once again in an interview with American Television PBS. Erdogan said, "If you call it a genocide, we would be upset. We would never accept such accusation. That is totally lie. I call those people to prove their allegations."
Attending to "Charlie Rose Show" in American PBS television, Erdogan replied the questions about Armenian allegations on 1915 incidents.
Over the question, "How much more evidence is required for history on the issue of Armenian genocide?", Erdogan said, "Before anything else, if you call it a genocide, we would be upset. We would never accept such accusation. That is totally lie. I call those people to prove their allegations."
Stressing that Turkey opened its archives, Erdogan reminded that he sent a letter to former Armenian President Robert Kocharian in 2005 and asked him for Armenia to open archives for historians to make researches on 1915 incidents. Erdogan said that it is not a correct behaviour to pass resolutions on the issue in the parliaments instead of letting historians to study on the events.
When he is asked whether this issue was on the agenda in their meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Erdogan said that they discussed Armenian issue too. Underscoring that Turkey is the party that initiated process of normalization between Turkey and Armenia, Erdogan said, "We are sure of ourselves."
Touching on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, Erdogan said, "This place is under occupation. This problem is needed to be solved. Why Minsk Group couldn't solve the issue since 20 years? As fast as this dispute is resolved, region will become a region of peace. Why? Because when two countries solve their problems, there will not be any hostility remaining. There is decision of United Nations Security Council on the issue. That decision will be put on effect. And therefore, the problem between Turkey and Armenia will also be settled."
Erdogan said that the decision on ratification of Turkey-Armenia protocols will be made by Turkish Grand National Assembly and said that ratification will not be easy unless Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved.
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