27 April 2017•Update: 27 April 2017
By Ugur Cil and Burcu Arik
ANKARA
Turkey on Thursday condemned a resolution adopted by the lower house of the Czech Republic's parliament on the 1915 events.
"We condemn and reject in the strongest terms the resolution adopted by the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic on April 25," the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on its website.
"We are also disappointed by President [Milos] Zeman’s letter of 24 April 2017 addressed to the Armenian diaspora in his country with regard to the events of 1915, as it includes serious inconsistencies," it said.
According to the statement, Czech President Zeman said in his letter that history should not be interpreted by politicians but instead analyzed and interpreted by historians.
The president therefore "contradicts his own words as he makes political assessments with regard to the events of 1915", the ministry statement said.
"Our reaction to these political actions that openly contradict historical facts as well as the basic tenets of law has been conveyed to the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Ankara," the statement added.
The adopted resolution accused the Ottoman Empire of allegedly carrying out “systematic genocide” against Armenians, as well as other Christian minorities.
Turkey denies the alleged Armenian “genocide” of 1915, but acknowledges that there were casualties on both sides during the events during World War I.
According to Turkey's viewpoint, deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia occurred after some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians that began in 1915 resulted in numerous casualties.
Ankara describes the 1915 events as a tragedy for both sides.
