AAA CONSIDERS SENSELESS PROPOSALS TO SUBMIT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE FOR DISCUSSION
WASHINGTON, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN. In the issue of acknowledgement
of the Armenian Genocide the US will do what other countries have
done some time or later, Armenian Assembly of America Executive
Director Ross Vartian stated, the Milliyet Turkish newspaper
reported. “France has recognized the Genocide, however it did not
damage the Turkish-French relations at all,” he added. According to
“PanArmenian.net”, Ross Vartian considered senseless the proposals
to submit the Genocide issue for discussion, grounding it with the
historians having discussed it long ago and have come to a certain
conclusion. Answering the question that “genocide is merely the
problem of the Diaspora,” Ross Vartian noted, “the acknowledgement of
the Genocide is one of priority tasks of Armenia’s foreign policy.
Some 1 million people visit the Memorial of the victims of the
Genocide victims April 24 each year – this makes 1/3 of the population
of Armenia. We – the Diaspora representatives – are not hostile
towards the Turkish people.” Answering the questions referring to the
territorial integrity of Turkey and the Armenian-Turkish relations,
Ross Vartian did not deny that the acknowledgement of the Genocide
will have certain consequences for Turkey. Simultaneously, he noted,
“however the definition of the consequences of the acknowledgement of
the Genocide does not concert the Diaspora. It is the affair of Yerevan
and Ankara. As of the land demands, the authorities of Armenia have
made an unilateral statement on respecting the territorial integrity
of Turkey.” “Armenia and Turkey should be able to discuss all problems
available. It is necessary to open the borders. The acknowledgement
of the Genocide is not a precondition to settlement of the relations
between Yerevan and Ankara and it cannot be. The sound dialogue is
important. The Genocide will be recognized when the Turkish people
themselves want it and make the Turkish Government do it, but not under
pressure from the outside. Turkey is being gradually reconstructed,
challenges the history, otherwise Orhan Pamuk would have not been
able to make a public statement on the murder of 1 million Armenians,”
Ross Vartian stated.