Ankara - A prosecutor in Ankara on Friday opened an investigation into whether an online campaign by a number of Turkish intellectuals in which they personally apologize for the First World War killings of Armenian constitutes "insulting the Turkish people," the Anadolu news agency reported.

The investigation will look into the "We apologize" campaign and whether it violates Turkey's notorious Article 301, which stipulates imprisonment for those found guilty of "insulting Turkishness".

In order for any trial to go ahead against the authors of the petition, permission must first be sought from the justice minister.

A group of academics, writers and journalists set up an online petition last month in which they make a personal apology for the "great catastrophe" of 90 years ago and which is still considered a taboo subject in Turkey.

"I cannot accept the denial of the great catastrophe of 1915 that Ottoman Armenians were subjected to. I condemn this injustice and acting on my own behalf I share the feelings of pain of my Armenian brothers," the webpage ozurdiliyoruz. com says, followed by the names of the almost 300 people who started the campaign.

As of early January more than 25,000 people had signed the petition. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and military chiefs, as well as opposition figures condemned the campaign.

The campaign is in direct contrast to official state policy that refuses to admit that the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the last days of the Ottoman Empire actually constitute a genocide.

Turkey says that while there were massacres of ethnic Armenians the events were the result of a civil uprising during the war. A group of former Turkish ambassadors have issued a counter statement declaring the petition as against Turkey's national interests.

Neighbouring Turkey and Armenia do not have any diplomatic relations and the land border between the two countries was closed by Turkey in 1993 in protest at the Armenian occupation of Nagorno- Karabakh.

A thawing in relations has begun in recent months with Turkish President Abdullah Gul in September becoming the first Turkish head of state to visit the Armenian capital Yerevan. (dpa)