SARKISIAN TO IAGS PRESIDENT: NO TO COMMISSION OF HISTORIANS, YES TO ELIMINATING CONSEQUENCES OF GENOCIDE

Armenian Weekly Staff
December 14, 2009

Below is the response of Armenia’s President Serge Sarkisian to
the letter of IAGS President William Schabas on the issue of the
historical commission.

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Prof. William Schabas, Ph.D President, International Association of
Genocide Scholars Washington, D.C.

Nov. 13, 2009

Dear Mr. Schabas,

I am grateful for your letter and the concerns raised in it.

We, in Armenia, are well aware of the unbiased scientific research
conducted for many years by your Association on the crime of genocide,
including the Genocide of Armenians, and we attach great importance to
it. Your contribution to the cause of the international recognition of
this crime and keeping the international community informed regarding
the issue is invaluable.

Today, Armenia has chosen the path of establishing normal relations
with Turkey without any preconditions. Nevertheless, any relation with
neighboring Turkey does not question the fact of the Armenian Genocide
and deprivation of Homeland. The Genocide of Armenians committed by
Ottoman Turkey in 1915 is an acknowledged fact and must be recognized
and condemned by progressive people.

As for the matter of the establishment of the inter-governmental
sub-commission aimed to discuss the historical dimension, envisaged by
the Protocols signed by Armenia and Turkey, I should assure you that
it is not a commission of historians. The purpose of that commission
is to give an opportunity to Armenian and Turkish peoples to find
common grounds for mutual trust and dialogue. I fully agree with your
approach that the contribution to the elimination of the consequences
of the Genocide should be the goal o the sub-commission’s work,
and the fact of the Genocide itself can in now ay become a subject
of discussion within the agenda of the commission.

With this exact perception, we signed the Protocols with the Turkish
side, and this was what I stated in my address to the nation prior
to the signing.

Once again, I thank you and the International Association of Genocide
Scholars for conducting principled, unbiased and objective activity,
and would like to assure you that the Republic of Armenia, alongside
you and other organizations conducting scientific research, will be
in the vanguard of those pursuing the cause of the struggle against
the crime of genocide. We believe this is the moral duty of every
nation that survived genocide.

Sincerely, Serge Sarkisian