The Executive Council of Mesopotamia Peoples Congress (MHK) reminded in the statement that the Ottoman Empire had carried out a genocide against the settled Christian peoples living in Anatolia and Mesopotamia geography 105 years ago.

"As a result of this genocide, 1.5 million Armenians and half million Syriacs-Assyrians were massacred. Hundreds of thousands of people were either Islamized or forcibly dispersed all over the world."

The statement added: "The mentality shown 105 years ago is that of the present-day Republic of Turkey. If the President, who is the symbol of this state, still says 'gavur' to non-Muslim peoples, there is a big problem here. He still speaks to the crowds he gathered in the squares and to those who watch him on television, in terms of one nation, one country, one state, one language. It almost says that there is nobody other than the Turks. So denial continues."

The statement continued: "The Turkish state should start a dialogue with those who suffered the genocide. This dialogue should start and the events of 1915 should be addressed. The Republic of Turkey should accept that there was a genocide, that there are victims who are Armenian, Assyrian-Syriac, usurped villages, churches, monasteries, schools and property: If this recognition doesn't happened, the wound will never heal."

Paying tribute to the victims of the Seyfo Genocide, the MHK said it will continue to "struggle against this racist state until it recognises this genocide."