Pope Francis calls killings of Armenians in Ottoman Empire genocide

During the Mass of April 12, Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, called the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 the first genocide of the 20^th century. In response, Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Vatican City for consultations.

The year of 2015 marks the 100^th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923. Armenian Genocide was recognized by more than 20 countries. The Turkish side has its own opinion towards the events of 1915. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Turkey notes that "experts can study the common history of Turkish and Armenian nations only on the basis of impartial scientific evidence."

Pope Francis has explained that his duty is to honour the memory of innocent men, women, children, priests, and bishops, who were senselessly killed during the events that took place a century ago.

"In the past century, the humankind has gone through three massive and unprecedented tragedies. The first tragedy, treated by many people as 'the first genocide of the 20^th century', affected the Armenian people," said Pope Francis during the Mass, dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

Pope Francis has added that, "Nazism and Stalinism are responsible" for two other genocides.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.