24 June 2016, 21:33
Pope Francis reaffirms Armenian Genocide
Pope Francis, who has begun his visit to Armenia today, has reaffirmed his attitude to massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, treating them again as genocide.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that during the Mass on April 12, Pope Francis described the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as the first genocide of the 20th century. In response, Turkey recalled its ambassador from Vatican for consultations.
"Unfortunately, this tragedy, the genocide, headed the sad list of inhumane catastrophes of the last century, which were committed under the blinding racist, ideological and religious pretexts, which clouded consciousness of the killers, who set out to liquidate entire nations," the Pontifex said, speaking at the meeting, dedicated to outcomes of his talks with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
However, the text provided in advance to the press had no term "genocide", the "Interfax" reports.
"Pope Francis, who never hesitates to voice out his opinion, added this word at the last minute during his speech at the presidential palace," the "NEWS.am" quotes the message of the Associated Press.
Turkey has not yet made any new official statement to this end, the BBC reports.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
