TURKEY OVER-REACTING TO POPE’S WORDS, ITALIAN FM
ANSA English Media Service, Italy
April 13, 2015 Monday 6:52 PM CET
On ‘Armenian genocide’
(ANSAmed) – BARCELONA, APRIL 13 – Italian foreign minister Paolo
Gentiloni on Monday said that Turkey was reacting excessively to Pope
Francis’s calling of the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule
in WW1 “genocide”.
Gentiloni told journalists on the sidelines of an EU-Mediterranean
conference that Pope John Paul II had “expressed himself in a similar
manner” 15 years ago.
“Italy has repeatedly expressed solidarity and condolences to the
Armenian population and government for the victims and suffering
inflicted 100 years ago,” he said, adding that “we have always urged
the friendly nations Armenia and Turkey to engage in dialogue” on
the issue of a legal recognition in order to prevent the issue form
hindering good relations.
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