Azernews.Az

ANKARA – Armenians who are seeking "to pose as the oppressed" have made claims on the alleged World War I-era killings in Turkey their image in the world, a well-known journalist told the BBC’s Turkish program.

Scott Taylor, editor and publisher of the Canada-based Esprit de Corps magazine, said the Armenians "like it very much to appear as the oppressed, but change their personality when confronted by the Turks and Azerbaijanis".

According to historians, from 1915 to 1923, Armenians began an uprising, taking up arms against Turkey, and assisted Russia, one of Turkey’s enemies in WWI. To counter these actions, the Ottoman Empire decided to resettle the Armenians. However, the latter claim that their predecessors suffered "genocide" in the process. Ankara dismisses the claims and has repeatedly offered to research the events through a joint commission of historians. The so-called genocide has been one of the core issues fueling long-standing tension between Turkey and Armenia.

"During our conversations, the Armenians said they named military units in Nagorno Karabakh [the Armenia-occupied region of Azerbaijan] after the generals who fought against the Ottoman army," Taylor said. "Nonetheless, they don’t want the international community to know that, because this could reveal the truth about the riots they staged against Ottoman Turkey and the killings of hundreds of thousands of Turks there. The Armenians, who want to be seen as the oppressed, committed similar killings in Nagorno Karabakh in 1992 when they got a chance. But they don’t want the world to be aware of that, because this could deal a blow upon the image of ‘the oppressed Armenians’."

Azerbaijan and Armenia waged a brutal war over the mountainous region of Nagorno Karabakh in the early 1990s. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory has been under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces since a ceasefire was signed in 1994. Peace talks, brokered by US, Russian and French mediators, have been largely fruitless so far.

Taylor said the Armenians have been seeking to inflate the number of those killed in 1915. According to initial estimates, 300,000 to 600,000 people died, but in recent years the figure has increased to an alleged 1.5 million, though a total of 1.6 million Armenians are said to have lived in the entire Ottoman Empire at the time, the journalist said.

"To reveal the actual figures, the Armenians have to accept Turkey’s offer to open up archives, but they are refusing to do so because this would not suit them. If it goes on like this, according to the Armenian claims the number of their ancestors killed will exceed that of the Jews who died during World War II. These baseless claims are angering the Jews."

Taylor said Turkey will never accept the Armenian claims. He said "no parliament in the world has the legal or moral right" to recognize the genocide allegations.

"It would be good if US congressmen who accuse the Turks firstly refer to the Indians [killed in the United States]," Taylor added.