Past massacres by Armenians go unrecognized: Historian

By Ruslan Rehimov

BAKU (AA) - Large states frequently “avoid seeing the truth,” an eminent Turkish historian told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

Telling how Armenians carried out massacres in eastern Anatolia and Azerbaijan during the early 20th century, Refik Turan of Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, said: "For some reason, the great states do not recognize this."

Citing the 1992 Khojaly massacre, one of the bloodiest incidents of the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over control of the now-occupied Upper Karabakh region after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Turan, head of the Turkish Historical Society (TTK), said such massacres continued in later years as well.

But “great states show such weakness,” Turan told Anadolu Agency. “They often avoid reality.”

Turan, speaking in Azerbaijan at the invitation of the Turkey-Azerbaijan Businessmen and Industrialists Association, also noted historical events that have served to bring Azerbaijan and Turkey closer together as peoples and states.

For example, he praised the Azerbaijani people's support for Turkish forces during the 1914 Battle of Sarikamis against Russia’s Caucasus Army, which claimed the lives of nearly 90,000 Ottoman Turkish soldiers due to devastating weather conditions.

Turan also cited the Caucasian Islamic Army, which protected Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity on Sept. 15, 1918 and paved the way for the country’s independence in 1991, decades later.

-'Brotherly countries'

On the geopolitics of the Caucasus region and Azerbaijan in particular, Turan described Turkey and Azerbaijan as “brotherly countries” with deep historical and cultural ties.

He said his history foundation works in conjunction with the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, which is planning a number of joint projects with the Turkish Language Association.

Karabakh, a territory disputed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 with military support from neighboring Armenia.

Three UN Security Council resolutions and two UN General Assembly resolutions refer to Karabakh as being part of Azerbaijan.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe refers to the region as being occupied by Armenian forces.

The Armenian occupation of Upper Karabakh has led to the closure of the region’s frontier with Turkey, which sides with Baku in the drawn-out dispute.