Pope John Paul II yesterday described the pogroms of Armenians by Turks at the start of the last century as "genocide", the first time he used the charged word since arriving in Armenia.
The comment is likely to anger Turkey, which insists the massacre of some 1.5 million Armenian Christians in 1915 should not be classed as genocide. He made the remark in a joint declaration with Catholicos Karekin II, head of the Armenian Church, on the final day of his three-day visit to Armenia. "The extermination of a million and a half Armenian Christians, in what is generally referred to as the first genocide of the 20th century, and the subsequent annihilation of thousands under the former totalitarian regime are tragedies that still live in the memory of the present-day generation," the declaration said.
The Pope first recognised the massacre as "genocide" during the Armenian spiritual leader's visit to the Vatican in November.