LYON, France
Turkish diplomats have complained to French authorities after an Armenian group attacked the Turkish stand in Lyon Consul’s Feast in France, said the Consul General of Turkey in Lyon on Tuesday.
Hilmi Ege Turemen told Anadolu Agency that members of the Armenian Nor Seround Association attacked the Turkish stand during the feast Saturday and injured a vice consul.
“We call on French authorities to investigate the event and give the necessary penalty to those responsible,” Turemen said, adding that “it is unacceptable for a cultural event to be used for political propaganda.”
The consul general said that the group came to the Turkish stand, threw flyers attacking Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and harassed Turkish citizens and consular employees for about 30 minutes.
Turkish authorities say they called the police, but although the police came to the stand, they did not intervene but just watched on.
Turemen said that the group then left on its own, and that Armenian deputy consul visited the Turkish stand Sunday apologizing for the attack, stressing they had nothing to do with it.
Turemen added that many other consul generals visited the Turkish stand and condemned the attack.
Turkey and Armenia remain at odds over the 1915 events that took place after part of the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the invading Russians and revolted. The subsequent relocations led to numerous casualties.
Turkey does not dispute that there were casualties on both sides but rejects the claim that these amounted to "genocide". It has called for a joint commission of historians to uncover what happened.
