RUSSIAN POLITICAL ANALYST: EUROPEAN EXPANSION IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT RECOGNIZING LESSONS OF THE PAST

Regnum, Russia
May 11 2006

“European expansion, as well as developing cooperation within
CIS framework are impossible without recognizing lessons of the
past. It concerns not just the Armenian Genocide in 1915, but all
the consequences it caused for states, including legal, political and
moral ones,” chair of comparative politics department of Moscow State
Institute of International relations of Foreign Affairs Ministry of
the Russian Federation (MGIMO), Mikhail Ilyin, PhD, has said to a
REGNUM correspondent.

According to the analyst, the issue of recognizing the Armenian
Genocide in 1915 is settled for Russian society “naturally and
clear.” “Our ancestry as long ago as during World War I expressed
their solidarity with the Armenian people, and for me as a Russian,
this issue is clear as well.” “As for international recognition, I
am sure, without final and overall settlement of the issue, certain
countries, certain nations and the international community will face
difficulties in their movement forward,” the analyst is sure.

Earlier, eleven years ago, Russia officially recognized the Armenian
Genocide. The fact of the Armenian Genocide was recognized by many
countries, including France, Uruguay, lower chamber of the Italian
parliament, several US states, parliaments of Greece, Cyprus,
Argentina, Belgium, Wales, Swiss National Council, House of Commons
of the Canadian Parliament and Seym of Poland.