Turkey criticizes Obama over remarks on Armenian killings

Turkey on Sunday criticized U.S. President Barack Obama over his remarks on Armenian allegations on the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, the semi- official Anatolia news agency reported.

The remarks were "one-sided," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying in the northwestern city of Canakkale.

He voiced "deep regret," and added that "the statement of Mr. Obama is one-sided and looks at history from a single perspective. ", Xinhua reported.

"We wished that the president of the U.S., our friend and ally, had shared the pain of the Turks as well and issued a message ... with a fresh perspective," he added."Issued by domestic political considerations, such statements serve no purpose but making it difficult for Turks and Armenians to reach a just memory.

One-sided statements that interpret controversial historical events by a selective sense of justice prevent understanding of the truth," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on Sunday. Turkey expected the United States "not to render difficulty but to facilitate the normalization process" between Turkey and Armenia, the statement said.

In an annual message, Obama on Saturday used the Armenian expression "Meds Yeghern", meaning "great tragedy" in Turkish describing the incidents of 1915.Turkey and Armenia have been bogged down in a row over the World War I-era killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule, which Armenia says was a genocide.

Turkey denies that charge and insists the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the 600-year-old Ottoman Empire collapsed before modern Turkey was born in 1923.


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