İbrahim Kalın, Spokesperson and Chief Adviser for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today issued a statement on the 1915 Armenian Genocide, reiterating Turkey's policy of denying the historical fact.

 Kalin posted his statement on his Twitter microblog.

"The Republic of Turkey, on all levels, will never give in to this speculation, lies and slander," Kalın said in the statement.

Soykırım yalanıyla Türkiye’ye zarar vereceğini sananlar yine yanılacak. Türkiye, tarihi gerçeklerin çarpıtılmasına ve yeni düşmanlıklar üretilmesine izin vermeyecektir. Türk milletini mahkum etmeye çalışanlar önce kendi karanlık tarihlerine bakmalıdır. https://t.co/dtEEqYPe4h

— Ibrahim Kalin (@ikalin1) April 24, 2020

Kalın said that the decision to deport and resettle Armenians amidst the devastating conditions of World War I was not the result of a policy to annihilate the Armenian people, described as “loyal” by the Ottomans.

"All those who think that they can harm Turkey with lies and political plans about the genocide will be disappointed once again. The Republic of Turkey will never allow historical facts to be distorted and new enmity to be sown.”

Kalın recalled a proposal made earlier by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to set up a joint commission of Armenian and Turkish historians. According to Kalın, the topic of the genocide is being manipulated and lobbied by some groups, which, being anti-Turkish political circles, are falsifying and distorting historical facts, trying to sow enmity between the two peoples.

"The losses of World War I are the joint suffering of all of us. The killing of our Armenian citizens who had to migrate with the relocation decision, the killing of innocent Anatolian people during Armenian rebellions, and the killing of almost 5 million Muslims during migrations and wars in between the dates of 1850 and 1920 are all our joint pain. Comparing pains would not heal the wounds. The ones who are pursuing anti-Turkey stance for minor political gains cannot cover the historical facts," Kalın highlighted, adding that the hostile rhetoric of the genocide lobby would not be beneficial today nor in the future,”  Kalın said, adding that the hostile rhetoric of genocide lobbying cannot be beneficial today or in the future.”

According to Kalın, Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the killings of Armenians in Eastern Anatolia (Western Armenia) took place when some Armenians crossed over to the side of the Russian troops invading the territory of the Ottoman Empire and rebelled against Ottoman troops. He added that the later resettlement of Armenians led to many casualties.

Of note is that since 2014, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, every year in a letter to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, has repeatedly stated that the killings of Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire are painful for the state.

Nevertheless, Turkey does not recognize the Armenian Genocide and blames Armenians for inciting anti-Turkish sentiments during