The Turkish president urges Pope not to repeat the erroneous statements regarding the 1915 events, the Turkish TV channel TRT Haber said Apr.14.

The Pope`s statement that the events of 1915 are the “Armenian genocide” is a gross error and a one-sided assessment of the events, according to the president.

“The events of 1915 affected not only Armenians, but also other peoples of the region,” said Erdogan.

He also went on to add that Turkey is ready, as before, to open the archives in order to establish the truth about the events of 1915.

“If Armenia has archives, let the country also open them,” Erdogan said.

At the beginning of the Mass, dedicated to the centennial of the so-called Armenian genocide, Pope Francis said on April 12 that in the XX century, mankind experienced three “big unprecedented tragedies” - the so-called Armenian genocide, Nazism and Stalinism. The Pontiff described the tortures endured at the beginning of the last century by Armenians, Syrian Catholics and Orthodox, Assyrians and Greeks, as “the first genocide of the twentieth century.”

Statement by Pope Francis regarding the 1915 events doesn’t mean anything for Turkey, said the message of the Turkish foreign ministry earlier.

The message said that Vatican unilaterally evaluates the events of 1915, turning a blind eye to the fact that these events led to death of both a part of the Muslim population of Turkey and representatives of other religious minorities.

Previously, Turkish authorities have repeatedly made gestures to Armenia. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s message to the Armenian people on April 24, 2014 is one of such recent gestures.

Erdogan said in that message that the events of 1915 were a difficult time not only for Armenians, but also for Arabs, Kurds and representatives of other nations living in the country.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey`s predecessor, the Ottoman Empire allegedly carried out ”genocide” against the Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915. Turkey in turn has always denied "the genocide" took place.

While strengthening the efforts to promote the "genocide" in the world, Armenians have achieved its recognition by the parliaments of some countries.

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