PRESIDENT SERGE SARGSYAN’S ADDRESS IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 24, 2008
Armenia
Dear compatriots,
Today we are paying a tribute of memory to the victims of the Armenian
Genocide.
As a result of the massacres planned and perpetrated by the Ottoman
Empire, a great number of Armenians were exterminated on their
native land and deprived of a living space. Traces of the Armenian
civilization, a lot of cultural and material values created by the
Armenian people in the course of several millennia were destroyed
and are still being destroyed.
The issue of the international recognition and condemnation of the
Armenian Genocide is a regular and inevitable part of Armenia’s
political agenda.
As the motherland of all Armenians, Armenia should multiply its
efforts towards the reinstatement of historical justice. Denial policy
with regard to the condemnation of the Genocide has no prospects,
especially now that a great number of countries of the world have
stood up for justice.
The recognition and condemnation of the Genocide is not in the
narrow interests of the Armenian people. A crime against humanity
has a universal significance and therefore, it should find a
universal response. Our goals have nothing in common with revenge
and hostility. With all our respect for the memory of the innocent
victims, we are ready to establish normal relations with Turkey in
the nearest future, without any preconditions.
Dear compatriots,
A lot has been written and spoken about the causes and prehistory of
the Armenian Genocide. A lot of new facts and analyses are awaiting
their publication, but one thing was clear from the outset: a crime
like that was possible to commit only in conditions of the absence
of the Armenian statehood.
Today, on the 24th of April, we are obliged to have special
understanding of the exclusive importance of the Armenian
statehood. All the Armenians must develop and become powerful, clinging
on their state, as this is the pledge of our people’s security.