Tension between Israel and ‘genocide monument’: Turkey’s call for a ‘step back’

On the Türkiye-Israel line, where relations have normalized, there is a crisis of “Armenian genocide monument”.

The municipality’s decision to erect a monument to those who lost their lives in the events of 1915 in Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, after the municipality accepted the “So-called Armenian Genocide” two months ago, sparked a crisis in Ankara. – Tel Aviv Line.

The unveiling ceremony of the “Armenian Genocide” memorial was held in Haifa on March 20. Speaking at the ceremony attended by Haifa Mayor Einat Kalish-Rotem, Armenian Ambassador to Israel Arman Hakobyan said that this monument is “an important step for the recognition of the Armenian genocide in Israel.”

LETTER OF PROTEST FROM THE AMBASSADOR OF Türkiye

According to the news in the Israeli newspaper Times of Israel, the ceremony provoked a strong reaction in Ankara. Turkey’s ambassador to Israel, Şakir Özkan Torunlar, was reported to have protested the incident by sending a letter to Haifa Mayor Kalisch-Rotem.

In the letter, Torunlar demanded that the decision be reversed, using the expressions “This situation has the potential to worsen the relations that the peoples and governments of Israel and Turkey hope to develop.”

Eliran Tal, the spokesman for the Haifa municipality, where the Armenian population is dense, called on the Israeli government to “recognize the genocide,” arguing that Turkey is pushing to have the decision overturned.

The Israeli press commented that this tension could disrupt the newly improved Turkey-Israel relations.

An “Armenian Genocide Memorial” was unveiled in 2020 in the Petah Tikva region near Tel Aviv, Israel.