AZG Armenian Daily #073, 23/04/2005
Press release
STATEMENT OF CEC ON THE OCCASION OF THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE
The Presidium of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) has issued the
following Public Statement on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide:
“On 24 April 2005 the peoples of Armenia will commemorate the 90th
Anniversary of the Genocide under the Ottoman Empire. At the commemoration
in Armenia, the Conference of European Churches (CEC) will be represented by
its President, Rev Jean-Arnold de Clermont, President of the Federation of
Protestant Churches in France.
The Presidium of the Conference of European Churches, meeting in Västerås
(Sweden), 6-10 April 2005, subscribes to the words, which the Catholicos of
All Armenians, Karekin II and Catholicos Aram I have repeatedly expressed:
the horrific crimes in connection with the Armenian genocide should never be
forgotten. Guilt must be admitted and the truth must be told. Reviewing
one’s own history opens the path to forgiveness, to healing bitter memories
and to gaining a common future.
The CEC Presidium joins the World Council of Churches in inviting all its
member churches “to make April 24 a Day of Memory of the Armenian Genocide
and to consider further appropriate actions related to the 90 years
Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide”. Churches all over the European
continent and beyond can play an important role in offering a platform for
encounter and in supporting projects towards reconciliation.
The Presidium urges the Turkish government to initiate a process of
reconciliation between the Turkish and the Armenian peoples, in which the
recognition of guilt and the proclamation of the truth need to be integral
elements. In this regard, the Conference of European Churches welcomes the
announcement of Prime Minister Erdogan to open Turkish archives. It is
important that Armenian and Turkish as well as independent researchers have
full access to the documentation.
We also urge the Turkish government to establish the conditions, which allow
for a free and honest debate in public as well as in educational
institutions about atrocities, deportations and massacres committed against
the Armenian peoples.
Atrocities on the territory of today’s Turkey, however, were not only
committed against the Armenian peoples, but also against other Christian and
ethnic minorities.
On 1 October 2005, negotiations will begin between the European Union and
Turkey with the aim of Turkey becoming a member state of the European Union.
As already stated on 3 October 2004 by the Conference of European Churches,
the Copenhagen criteria for accession must be fulfilled and the accession
negotiations need to be accompanied by an honest elaboration of history,
particularly that part of it which concerns the relationship of Turkey with
its neighbouring states and which includes recognition of wounds and
offences inflicted. This is a pre-condition to healing of memories and to
true reconciliation in society, which has not yet been reached in Turkey.
The relationship with the Armenian peoples as well as with other Christian
and ethnic minorities is, in this respect, of special importance.
The Conference of European Churches will continue to monitor the
negotiations between the European Union and the government of Turkey very
closely. The EU is a community of States, which is built on human rights,
democracy and the rule of law and in which values of justice and peace,
solidarity and pluralism, reconciliation and tolerance, freedom of speech
and mutual respect are declared by the documents the EU committed itself to;
effort are underway to make them an integral part of everyday life. The
commitment to implementing these values in Turkey, not at least with regard
to its minorities and the relations to its neighbouring countries, will be a
pre-condition for Turkey’s accession to the European Union”.
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 125
Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all countries
of Europe, plus 40 associated organizations. CEC was founded in 1959. It has
offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg.