ISTANBUL. – In an interview with Istanbul’s Agos Armenian weekly, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP Ismet Ucma said the deportation of innocent people in 1915 was a mistake for which an apology must be given to the Armenians.

During the interview, when a reflection was made on 1915, the Turkish MP said a great tragedy had occurred in 1915. “If there are armed groups, they must be fought against, but the innocent people should not be harmed. [But] This is exactly what transpired in 1915. I do not recognize this as genocide, but I find that deporting innocent people was a huge mistake. In this context, I apologize to the Armenian people; truly, an apology must be made,” Ismet Ucma said.     

Agos weekly notes that until now no MP from Turkey’s ruling party had ever expressed such view with respect to 1915.