Speaking on the occasion of the Day of Youth and Sports, Chief of General Staff of Turkish Armed Forces Isik Kosaner criticized the condemnation of masterminds of Armenian Genocide by Turkish Government of the time.

General Kosaner stressed that many Turkish “patriots” were vainly punished for neglect and ill-treatment during the deportation of Armenians. Nowadays the struggle of Ataturk and his associates is portrayed differently in an effort to re-write the history, he added.

“To please the national minorities, their representatives are being appointed to a variety of positions without imposing compulsory use of Turkish. In any case historic events may recur and we have to draw lessons from our history,” said the Chief of Turkish General Staff.

In 1919 the organizers of Armenian Genocide were condemned in absentia to death in Istanbul. Some Turkish officials were condemned with varying rates of punishment, however got released in a short notice.