NO POLITICAL FORCE IN ARMENIA QUESTIONS THE GENOCIDE
Naira Khachatryan
Azat Artsakh Daily
10 Dec 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR
The Person in Charge of Armenian Cause and Political Issues of ARFD
Bureau Kiro Manoyan was the guest of "Pastark" club yesterday.
>From the events dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Convention
on the "Prevention and Punishment of Genocides" he separated the
report made yesterday by the special working group formed by the US
authorities, where they demand to be more active in preventing and
punishing genocides.
His said certain activeness is noticed in Turkey as well: "According
to the available information the collection of signatures initiated
by the Turkish intellectuals will become more active in January. The
intellectuals express sorrow for what happened in 1915 (though
instead of genocide they call it "great massacre") they apologize
to Armenians. Anyway I don’t question the sincerity of these people,
though they seem to be a bit scared."
The open letter of the Armenian intellectuals addressed to the Turkish
President is another significant event: "They remind the Turkish
President that they have no other alternative to the recognition
of the Genocide. They must recognize the Genocide not only to have
progress in Armenian-Turkish relations but also Turkey will finally
release itself from the heavy load=2 0of the past. In my view this
letter was also important because it was Armenia’s initiative and
expresses the opinion of our society."
Kiro Manoyan says the world community has actually recognized the fact
of the genocide. "The states, the public organizations formulating
public opinion only enshrine the fact. For example not to allow
the publication of articles denying the Genocide, or to include the
Armenian Genocide in the textbooks.
As regards the recognition of the Genocide by the states, in my
view we have approached the refuge where the Turkish society finally
recognizes its history. The main goal of the process of recognizing
the Genocide is that Turkey itself must recognize it.
Though Turkey is far from recognizing the fact of the Genocide,
"Turkish society has already started to speak about recognizing their
history, though Turkey continues to create obstacles to the free
examination of their history. Lots of people are detained or even
convicted only because their approach differs from that of the state."
As regards the probability of the recognition of the Genocide by the
USA: "It is based on the promises made by the President-elect Barrack
Obama, his commitments and, why not, his political appointments. He
has already announced the name of the new US Ambassador to the UN
who is the champion of condemning not only Armenian but also all the
other genocides. Samantha Power is also in his surrounding, who is
one of the active supporters of reconfirming the Armenian Genocide.
Besides that Obama repeated in his promise when Turkey sent a
delegation to warn Obama not to recognize the Genocide. So all the
before mentioned gives grounds to think that Obama will use the word
"Genocide" in his speech delivered on April 24."