ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS IMPORTANT POLITICAL AND HUMANITARIAN ISSUE IN THE MEMORY OF EUROPE
PanARMENIAN.Net
03.03.2010 16:44 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Genocide Museum hosted a presentation of
human rights expert, Queen’s Counsel Geoffrey Robertson’s "Was there
an Armenian Genocide?" report in Armenian Wednesday, March 3.
"Armenian Genocide recognition issue has recently intensified in Great
Britain, with Geoffrey Robertson’s report significantly contributing
to the matter," European Integration NGO chairman Karen Bekaryan said
at the presentation.
Armenian Genocide Museum director Hayk Demoyan in turn noted
that the Great Britain, as the country which played a significant
role in Genocide recognition issue, was selected to implement the
report. Hayk Demoyan characterized Genocide as an important political
and humanitarian issue in the memory of Europe.
"Armenia has to make it clear to the international community that
normalization of ties with Turkey does not spell termination of
international recognition process," he emphasized.
Dwelling on Armenia-Turkey Protocols, Demoyan noted: "If it were not
for the Protocols in question, H.Res.252 wouldn’t probably have been
introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives."
The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.
The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.
To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially recognized
the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars and
historians accept this view.