Erdogan says deporting Armenians was ‘Appropriate’ at the time

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the deportation of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century was "appropriate at the time.”

Erdogan made the comment Wednesday at a symposium where he slammed France for marking what is widely regarded as a deliberate campaign by the Ottoman Empire to exterminate Armenians.

The "deportation of Armenian gangs who were massacring Muslims including women, children and elderly people in the Eastern Anatolia region was the most appropriate act at that time,” Erdogan said. "No group or state has been able to prove their claims on the Armenian issue with archive documents,” Erdogan added, accusing the French of committing genocide in Africa.

Armenians say 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed from 1915 to 1923 in a deliberate campaign of genocide in Anatolia, the heartland of present-day Turkey. Ankara maintains the deaths occurred in clashes with Ottoman forces after Armenian groups sided with an invading Russian army. The conflicting narratives lie at the core of tensions between Armenia and Turkey, which have no diplomatic ties and face each other across a closed border.

Armenia marks April 24 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, and earlier this year, France said it would do the same.