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YEREVAN, April 2
(AFP) - Mukhamed al-Razzaka heard all about
the killings of Armenians during 1915-1917 when he
grew up half a century ago in what today is northern
Syria amidst those who escaped the massacres.
"Armenians who grew up with us under our roof told
us about the genocide," the 61-year-old told
reporters in Yerevan earlier this week, where he had
come with 11 other tribal leaders from northern
Syria as part of ceremonies marking the 90th
anniversary of what Armenians and much of the world
calls a genocide.
"We came to Armenia in order to honor the memory of
thousands of innocent people," Razzaka said after
laying flowers at a memorial for the genocide
victims in the Armenian capital early in the week.
"Humanity should not forget the evil of the Ottoman
Empire," he said. "Our fathers and grandfathers not
only helped them survive but also taught them to
farm since most of the refugees were craftsmen."
"We are proud that we helped thousands of innocent
people survive and live through this tragedy," he
said, dressed in the traditional black robe and
wearing a white and black turban on his head.
The massacres of Armenians during World War I is one
of the most controversial episodes in Turkish
history.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen
were massacred in orchestrated killings nine decades
ago during the last years of the Ottoman Empire, the
predecessor of modern Turkey.
Turkey categorically denies the genocide
allegations, arguing that 300,000 Armenians and
thousands of Turks were killed in what was civil
strife during World War I when the Armenians rose
against their Ottoman rulers.
Tuesday's visit was one of a series of seminars,
visits and ceremonies that authorities in Armenia
planned to mark the 90th anniversary of the start of
the killings, leading up to the official genocide
remembrance day on April 24.
During the controversial period, Armenians were
uprooted from their homes and many fled to what
today is Syria.
"My grandfather used to tell me how in those far
away years, thousands of Armenians crossed the...
desert without food and water," said Nauf Rakhip al-Pashir,
who was among the delegation visiting Yerevan on
Tuesday.
"There were so many killed and injured that one
village was called 'margate," which means a
collection of corpses, and 'shatate,' which means
genocide," he said.
"Our mothers fed... orphans with their breasts and
took them in," he said. "Armenian women who lost
their newborns, fed Arab children."
Turkey faces increasing calls from within the
European Union, which it hopes to join, that it
accept the killings of Armenians as a genocide.
Last month Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan called for an unbiased study by historians
of the genocide claims.
"We have already opened our archives to those who
claim there was genocide. If they are sincere, they
should also open their archives," to allow
historians to work on documents that each side has
to determine what exactly happened, Erdogan said on
March 8 in Ankara.
"If there is a need for a political settling of
accounts with history after such a study, we, the
government and the opposition, are ready to do just
that," Erdogan added.
Turkey fears that if it recognizes the genocide, it
would be liable to claims from Armenians for lost
property.
"Turkey should acknowledge the genocide and return
Armenians their lost lands," Razzaka said during
Tuesday's ceremony
AFP
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