ARS opposes Armenian-Turkish protocols

Yerkir
30.09.2009 15:43
Yerevan

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Armenian Relief Society Central Executive Board
issued on September 25 a statement denouncing the Armenian-Turkish
protocols pre-signed on August 31.

Below is the text of the statement.

Since August 31, 2009, the Armenian people have been focused on the
mutually agreed protocols for the establishment and development of
relations between Turkey and Armenia.

We realize that Armenians and Turks are bound to live as neighbors,
but we also believe that peaceful coexistence between the peoples of
any neighboring countries should be based on the premises of justice
and mutual respect for each other’s rights in an atmosphere of trust
and sincerity.

Based on this belief, we conclude that the Armenia-Turkey protocols,
drafted with mediation by Switzerland, to be a document that, once
again, tramples upon the dignity and rights of the Armenian people,
and instead of establishing peace between the peoples of Armenia and
Turkey, they pave the way for renewed tensions and crises.

We were expecting that during this period of public discussion
announced by the President of Armenia, it would be possible to amend
and improve this document with the input of Armenians from Armenia
and the Diaspora, basing it on principles of justice and human
rights. These principles envision Turkey to assume responsibility
for the Genocide and agree to repa rations. However, to our great
disappointment, we learned that the protocols cannot be amended and
are to be accepted, or rejected, as they stand.

Under these circumstances, the Armenian Relief Society finds the
protocols, which clearly counter the national interests of the Armenian
people and pose a threat to the national security of Armenia, totally
unacceptable. We reject the protocols in the name of chapters and
members of the organization, which is active in 26 countries around
the world. This organization, whose scattered presence around the
globe is the direct result of the Genocide itself and for decades
since 1915, has been gathering the orphaned and widowed survivors
of the Genocide under its humanitarian umbrella, and has spared no
effort to keep the torch of Armenian cause alive in the hearts of
generations of Armenians.

In the name of all Armenian women widowed by the Turkish scythe and
their orphaned children, we ask the Armenian Government to take a
step back from the edge of the precipice, and to realize the grave
consequences, and to join the protest raised globally against these
dubious protocols, and to reinstate the unity of the people and
the state.