Iran Raises Ire of Turkey After Vice President Mentions Armenian Genocide

Just after Turkey removed Iran from its enemy-watch list, a senior official in Teheran has carried out the proverbial “stab in the back,” by calling the mass killings and deportation of Armenians during the First World War a “genocide.” Iranian Vice President Hamid Baghaei made the statements in a speech at a conference on the damage done to Iran during World War II. The official Iranian news agency quoted him as saying “A hundred years ago the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against a certain number of Armenians. Although the Ottoman Empire does not exist now, Armenians have demanded official apologies and restitution from Turkey.” The issue of genocide is highly sensitive in Turkey, which demands others see the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians as a casualty of war and not a deliberate policy. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu demanded an explanation of Baghaei’s statements. Teheran is trying to cool the tempers, insisting that its policy had not changed. Turkey is now seeking an official statement from the Iranian government on the matter.