Talay: Armenians Had A Distinguished And Very Special Place During Ottoman Period

ISTANBUL, March 15(A.A)- Culture Minister Istemihan Talay said on Friday, ''Armenians had a distinguished and very special place during the Ottoman Empire period. The same situation has still been valid in our period. We do not feel any direct emmity or hatred against Armenian society.''
A symposium organized in cooperation between Armenian Studies Center and the Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine on ''An Overview of International Terrorism on the 81st Anniversary of Demise of Talat Pasha'' started at Istanbul's Pera Palas Hotel.
Speaking at the symposium, Culture Minister Talay said, ''the terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York, the United States, on September 11, 2002 drew attention of the world to the international terrorism. International terrorism do not have anty religious belief. Ottoman pashas such as Talat Pasha and Sait Halim Pasha became victim of the international terrorism. 34 diplomats were massacred by Armenian terrorist organizations in 1970s and 1980s. Nearly 35 thousand people lost their lives in the terrorist attacks in Southeastern Anatolia.''
''Recently, Armenian diaspora in foreign countries have been expending efforts to make allegations on so-called Armenian genocide accepted by the world. Unfortunately, many countries have taken decisions describing the incidents in 1915 as genocide. However, some countries such as Switzerland and Germany rejected these baseless allegations,'' he said.
Talay continued, ''I visited the Holocaust Museum in Israel four years ago. The translator who was accompanying me, said, 'you should be proud of your country. Turkey was the only country that did not commit genocide against Jewish people during the World War II.' The Ottoman Empire saved all Jewish people fleeing from the Inquisition 510 years ago. A number of Iranians took shelter in Turkey after the revolution in Iran. Northern Iraqi Kurds fleeing from President Saddam Hussein came to Turkey. Having regard to all these historical processes, it is obvious that Turkish nation has a cultural heritage protecting other nations. Armenians had a distinguished and very special place during the Ottoman Empire period. The same situation has still been valid in our period. We do not feel any direct emmity or hatred against Armenian society. We are opposed to terrorism. Terrorism cannot have any religious belief, nationality and race.''
''Historical facts should be left to the historians. Historical facts cannot be distorted with political decisions,'' he added.