Statement by ARF Youth Organization and Nikol Aghbalian Student Union

03.05.2005 17:32

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Youth
Organization and the Nikol Aghbalian Student Union issued a statement
on May 3 regarding an earlier statement made by the Armenian Youth
Party.

Below is the text of the statement.

According to the reports in the April 30 issues of the newspapers
Hayastani Hanrapetutiun and Aravot, a conference, organized by the
Armenian Youth Party at the Metropol hotel of Yerevan on April 29 and
titled “The World’s Perception of the Armenian Genocide,” had passed
a decision to send a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip
Erdogan. The letter states, in particular: “Mr. Prime Minister: Yes,
the Armenian Genocide did happen but today’s Turkey is not responsible
for the Genocide.”

Everyone is well aware of the statements regarding the Armenian
Genocide and the Armenian-Turkish relations made by the leader of
the aforementioned party during his recent visit to Turkey and the
subsequent denials under public pressure after his return to Armenia.
The ARF’s Youth Organization and the Nikol Aghbalian Student Union
announce that nobody has the right to violate the rights of the
Armenian people on behalf of the Armenian youth.

Protesting some of the views expressed in the letter, we see it
as our duty to once again underscore that today’s Turkey must not
only officially recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide but also
compensate the Armenian people. The issue is the restoration of our
rights and the justice.