ROBERT KOCHARYAN: STRONG, DEMOCRATIC ARMENIA MUST BE RESPONSE TO ORGANIZERS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Arka News Agency, Armenia
April 25 2007

YEREVAN, April 25. /ARKA/. Strong and democratic Armenia must become
the Armenian people’s response to the organizers and perpetrators
of the Armenian Genocide, RA President Robert Kocharyan stated on
the occasion of the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the
Ottoman Empire.

"Every year we revere the memory of the innocent victims of the
Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. However, the memory of that
heinous crime has always been in our hearts," says the President’s
message.

Together with the Armenian people, this day is commemorated in many
countries of the world.

"The international community has come to realize that the Genocide
is a crime not only against one people, but also against the entire
humankind. Denial and concealment of this crime are as dangerous as
organization and perpetration," Kocharyan said.

According to the Armenian President, hardships and the sense
of injustice are uniting. "The Genocide made Armenians unite,
strengthened their feeling of identity and aspiration for independent
statehood. The Republic of Armenia, as a realization of all the
Armenians’ centuries-old dream, must develop as homeland for all
Armenians," Kocharyan said.

The RA President, accompanied by his wife Bella Kocharyan, laid a
wreath to the Memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide in the 20th century
organized by the Government of Young Turks in 1915-1923. The
recognition of the Armenian Genocide is of principal importance for
the entire Armenian people, for the Genocide was aimed at doing away
with the Armenian Cause.

The Armenian Genocide has been officially recognized by a number of
countries, 40 US states, as well as a number of foreign Parliaments.

The best representatives of the world’s intelligentsia raised their
voice in support of the Armenian people.

The international community is now more active is expressing its
indignation over the crime against the Armenian people. Politicians
and intellectuals state that timely denouncement of the Armenian
Genocide would have prevented such tragedies as the Jewish Holocaust,
genocides in Cambodia, Sudan and Rwanda.