U.N. bows to Turkish objections to genocide reference in new exhibit

Turkish officials demanded and succeeded in blocking this week’s opening of a United Nations exhibit commemorating the 13th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Turkey objected to references in the exhibit mentioning the Armenian genocide in Turkey during World War I. The New York Times takes Ankara to task for these moves in an editorial today.

Turkey has always vehemently denied claims and repressed discussion of the Armenian genocide, in which Turkish nationalists brutally murdered 1.5 million Armenians, the editorial says. The Times goes on to say that it is also disappointing that the U.N. granted Turkey their wish and did not fulfill their role as a leading voice against genocide.