AZG Armenian Daily #071, 21/04/2005
Armenian Genocide
SPEECH BY PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARYAN AT THE OPENING OF ‘ULTIMATE CRIME,
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE’ CONFERENCE
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
We pay tribute to the memory of vanished victims as we commemorate the 90th
anniversary of the tragic events. We do it with doubled pain, since we are
still bound to continue the struggle for the international recognition of
the committed crime.
The First World War aimed at global re-distribution of the world and the big
ideological controversy of the 20th century that followed became the major
obstacles to recognition of the legitimate rights of the Armenian people. We
became victims of the First World War even though we were not the initiators
of that war. And our right for memory was sacrificed to the Cold War even
though we were not its masterminds.
When the planned policy of extermination of the Armenian nation was executed
the term “genocide” did not exist. Nor was it defined. There were no
international structures that could serve as a floor for discussions to give
a united response to that crime of genocide.
Obviously the world is changing. It took time for the world to treat
genocides as crimes against humanity with all the relevant consequences. It
took time to prevent the practice of sacrificing fundamental humanitarian
values to the geopolitical interests of great powers and to include the
moral considerations into foreign policy making of the civilized world. The
avenue of that change was tragic for many peoples. For the Armenian people
the price of that change equals one and a half million of human lives. Today
also the Armenian question is kept hostage to some geopolitical interests.
Modern technologies allow watching live the military operations unfolding in
different parts of the world, the term “genocide” is well defined, and
numerous regional and universal international organizations are put in
place. Countries are more determined in responding to a threat or attempt to
commit genocide in any part of the world. However, all this did not protect
the humanity from new genocides. Yugoslavia, Rwanda, East Timor, Sumgait –
in all these places once again innocent people were slaughtered. This comes
to prove that there is a need to amplify the efforts aimed at effective
suppression of the genocidal attempts.
That is exactly why the recognition and condemnation of genocides is so
crucial. Recognition bears in it a huge potential for adequate response.
Prevention of that crime is particularly important.
Condemnation of genocides committed in the past is also very important. It
first of all comes to prove that the crime has no expiration clause, and
those guilty will be brought to justice in any case. It is important in
terms of containment of future genocidal intentions.
It is through recognition and condemnation that states educate their
citizens. The lesson is: the state machinery shall not become a tool in
implementation of that terrible crime. We have the duty of establishing
atmosphere that would exclude any extremist divisions based on the
nationality, .ethnos, and religion or along any other dividing lines, any
propaganda of hatred by one group against another.
Another important component is the future fate of a people that has survived
genocide. The Armenian people, due to genocide, were displaced, became a
refugee people and were scattered across the globe. International
recognition of the Armenian Genocide and necessity of restoration of
historic injustice were sacrificed to the grand politics. Most of the
criminals who planned and implemented the genocide escaped the punishment.
Moreover, the remains of Taleat pasha who was assassinated in Berlin, were
returned to Turkey and buried with honors in Istanbul. It was a sad evidence
of carrying on the baton in relay race of impunity. The humanity pays a
tremendously high price for forgetting such crimes.
Using this opportunity I would like to thank all those countries, which at
different levels have addressed the issue of the Armenian Genocide and have
recognized it, as well as all those individuals and organizations that have
contributed towards that recognition. The role of Diaspora in that regard is
absolutely inestimable. By such recognition states also say “no” to all
possible future genocides. The number of victims of the Armenian genocide
could be incomparably higher and the fate of survivors much more severe if
not for a number of outstanding individuals, including Morgenthau, Bruce,
Nansen, Verfel, Brusov, Wegner, Lepsius, and many others who stood by our
people in those terrible days.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
The Republic of Armenia, as an independent state, has put its position
straightforward: recognition of the Armenian Genocide is also important for
prevention of future possible genocides. Recognition is important for
Armenian-Turkish relations, since ii could give answers to many questions
that exist between our two peoples, it would allow to look ahead.
We remember the past with pain, but without hatred. For us it is difficult
to comprehend the response of the Turkish side, which is represented not
only by the denial of the past, but also by the blockade of nowadays
Armenia. We have came across a paradox that still needs to be apprehended.
The perpetrator, not the victim is furious with the past.
We are confident that international recognition of the Genocide will help
Turkey to come to terms with its own past and to overcome the complex which
is inherited from generation to generation and which creates additional
complexities in the relations of our neighboring nations.
I once again welcome all of you and wish you effective work. Thank you.