‘Armenians had to leave homes’ - Cemil Cicek

Late in the 19th and early in the 20th century, hundreds of Armenians had to leave their homes.

It should be remembered, Cemil Cicek, Speaker of Parliament of Turkey, said at the symposium “First step to share pain and heal wounds.”

Each person residing in Turkey finds it difficult to face the reality. However, it should be admitted that both the nations share one pain, the Agos quotes Cicek as saying.

During World War I Anatolia witnessed great tragedies. Armenians were pressed into leaving their homes. In the Ottoman Empire, like in any other empire, wars would cause massacres and deportation. That caused people to feel pain and society to show varied reactions. “We preferred to forget that pain. We buried the Anatolian events in our hearts. The most pragmatic solution is to stop clinging on to the past. Pain causes anger, anger causes hate and hate causes revenge,” Cicek said. 

He called for preventing events similar to those late in the 19th early in the 20th century.