"TURKEY: INITIATIVE TO APOLOGIZE FOR ARMENIAN 'CATASTROPHE' SPARKS RANCOR
Yigal Schleifer 1/16/09
An online campaign launched in December that allows Turks to sign on to an apology for the 'great catastrophe' that the Armenians suffered during World War I has to date been signed by more than 27,000 people.
Observers say the campaign, launched by a group of some 300 Turkish academics and intellectuals, is another indication that the tight social, political and legal limits that control the discussion of the Armenian issue in Turkey are being loosened. At the same time, the bitter backlash the effort has engendered is exposing worrying strains of intolerance in Turkish society, supporters of the campaign say."
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