ARMENIA’S STRIVE FOR RECOGNITION OF GENOCIDE WILL YIELD NOTHING – EXPERTS

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 25 2008

Azerbaijan, Baku, 24 April /Trend News corr E. Tariverdiyeva,
R. Hafizoglu, N. Kirtskhalia / Armenia’s strive for getting ‘Armenian
genocide’ recognized may yield nothing, as striving for Turkey’s
recognition of the fact Armenia forgets of economic interests and
welfare of the country. "As soon as Armenia puts aside the genocide
issue, the country will make huge success in the economic field,"
Turkish political scientist Akif Emre said.

Each year on 24 April, Armenia marks the memory day of the victims of
the genocide that took place in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Official
Yerevan and countless Armenian diaspora try to pursue countries in
the world to pass a resolutions confirming ‘Armenian genocide’ and
urging Turkey to admit massacre of 1.5mln ethnic Armenians. Turkey
denies these accusations and in 1993 the country broke diplomatic
relations and blocked the frontiers with Armenia, which was an
important transport route for Yerevan.

"This utopian idea prevents Armenia from its economic development,"
Akif Emre, Director of Dunyabulteni news agency said to Trend News
via e-mail on 24 April. According to the expert, there is no ground
to demand recognition of the Armenian genocide. "Armenian genocide is
a notion which the West uses for blackmailing Turkey to manipulate it
in the political aspect. Armenians’ striving for universal recognition
of the genocide leads it to an economic and political deadlock".

"The idea of genocide is a ‘national’ idea of the Armenian nation
as in case of Holocaust for Jews", said Vladimir Pribilovski, the
Russian expert. "I believe that, the genocide was committed, but one
hundred years ago, it should be forgotten as it has bad impact on
Armenians themselves, and also on the social and economic situation
in the country,’ Pribilovski, the President of Panorama Analytical
Center said to TrendNews on a telephone from Moscow on 24 April.

According to expert, the recognition of genocide fact, which Armenians
demand from Turkey, is not possible. "But if we draw analogy with
Jewish Holocaust, there is a notion of ‘historical responsibility
of generations’ in world practice, which Armenians are most likely
relying on," said political expert.

"There are detractor of Armenia in the region and Armenia should make
concessions both to Turkey and Islamic world," Ramaz Sakvaralidze, the
Georgian political expert said. " Armenia is a country with inherent
self-torture and the country which provokes aggression of others. In
case of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia swallowed the bait of Russia which
caused further confrontations between Armenia and Islamic world,"
Sakravalidze said to TrendNews on a telephone on 24 April.

According to expert, Armenia’s demands to recognize the genocide
will further deteriorate the situation as different interests will be
mixed up though this issue is not an urgent one at the moment. "Though
the so-called Armenian lobby in U.S. actively demanded to recognize
the genocide earlier, this demand has lost its importance now,"
he said. The expert stated that the interests of U.S., Turkey and
Azerbaijan are running contrary to each-other because of the impact
of Armenian lobby.

"The recognition and non-recognition of genocide is nothing else than
political fact, as the recognition of the genocide will not change
anything in reality throughout the world," Sakvarelidze said.

Not Armenians, but Europe is in need of ‘Armenian genocide’ notion,
Muhammad Fatih, a Turkish political scientist said. "There is no fact
confirming the violence over Armenians during the Ottoman Empire. The
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan offered to research the issue with
the help of historical achieves of both countries, whilst Armenia did
not favour it," Fatih told Trend News via e-mail on 24 April. Instead
of the idle efforts to achieve recognition of the genocide, Armenia
should think over improvement of its own economic status.

Efforts for international recognition of the genocide were announced
as one of the priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy. So far, the
relevant resolutions have been adopted by over 20 countries.

Turkey rebuffs accusations by Armenia and confirms that during the
inter-ethnic conflict, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at
the beginning of the last century, many Muslim Turks were killed
along with Christian Armenians. Ankara’s principle position on the
issue states that in 1915 Armenians were internally displaced due to
political interests of Ottoman Empire and that cannot be considered
as genocide against the nation.

In order to establish bilateral relations, Ankara calls on Armenia to
refuse from policy pursuing international ‘recognition of Armenian
genocide’, territorial claims specified in the Constitution of the
country, as well as leave the occupied territory of Azerbaijan.