ISTANBUL (German Press Service)–German Nobel Prize-winning author Guenter Grass urged Turkey on Wednesday to acknowledge the country’s genocide against Armenians during World War I.
Speaking while on a visit to Istanbul, Grass said such recognition would be the most important step which Turkey could take in the direction of joining Europe.
“When will the moment arrive that the crime of the annihilation of the Armenians in 1915-1916 will be recognized as fact?” he asked.
“I hope it will be soon,” he added.
His remarks were the latest in the ongoing controversy over Turkey’s official stance regarding the Armenian Genocide, when the Ottoman Turkish government murdered 1.5 million Armenians, depopulating their homeland, now considered Eastern Turkey. Turkey vehemently denies the genocide.
