THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, April 13, 2015, 12:06 AM
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the slaughter of Armenians by calling the massacre by Ottoman Turks “the first genocide of the 20th century” and urging the international community to recognize it as such.
Turkey responded by recalling its ambassador and accusing Francis of spreading hatred and “unfounded claims.”
Francis issued the pronouncement during a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica commemorating the centenary that was attended by Armenian church leaders and President Serge Sarkisian, who praised the Pope for “delivering a powerful message to the international community.”
“The words of the leader of a church with 1 billion followers cannot but have a strong impact,” he told The Associated Press.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey, however, denies a genocide took place. It has insisted that the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
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