"GENOCIDE RECOGNITION IS A MUST"
/serge-in-lebanon
02:43 pm | October 07, 2009
Official
Serzh Sargsyan continues his pan-Armenian tour. On October 6 the
delegation headed by President Sargsyan arrived in Beirut (Lebanon),
where he had a meeting with more than 100 representatives of the
Armenian communities and organizations of the Middle East, Egypt,
Iran and the Persian Gulf.
Before the meeting, the President had a meeting with His Holiness
Aram I, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. Serzh
Sargsyan and Aram I talked about the process of normalization of
the Armenian-Turkish relations and issues related to the pre-signed
protocols.
The participants of the meeting in Beirut highly appreciated President
Sargsyan’s initiative to visit Diasporan Armenian communities and
listen to the views of world-spread Armenians on the normalisation
process and the pre-signed documents.
"The artificial situation between Armenia and Turkey benefits neither
side. The establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of
the border will provide an opportunity for creating a platform for
furthering the dialogue and the negotiations," President Sargsyan
said in his speech.
President Sargsyan referred to the main concerns connected with the
normalisation of the Armenian-Turkish relations. "We have stated many
times that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not just an
issue of restoration of justice, but also an important factor from
the perspective of security of Armenia and the Armenian people. It
is a necessity," Serzh Sargsyan noted.
Turning to the concern that Turkey could assume a role in the
settlement of the Artsakh issue, President Sargsyan noted: "The
Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be solved only when we see that we
have what we have been striving for since 1988."
President Sargsyan reiterated that the settlement of the Karabakh issue
and the normalization of the Armenia-Turkey relations are separate
issues, and this has been confirmed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress