The Turkish Grand National Assembly (parliament) Speaker Cemil Cicek, who is known for his anti-Armenian statements, delivered remarks at a symposium entitled “First Step in Sharing the Pains and Healing the Wounds.”   

Cicek linked the 1915 Armenian massacres to World War I, and stressed that in those years the Armenians were forced to leave their homes, Istanbul’s Agos Armenian bilingual weekly informs.    

In his words, Cemil Cicek also reflected on the incidents in Khojaly and claimed that the Armenians had massacred 613 Azerbaijanis there.