`Auschwitz is the Der Zor of the Jews,’ Says President
of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sarkisian

By Asbarez Staff on Mar 24th, 2010

YEREVAN-`Auschwitz is the Der Zor of the Jews,’
said President Serzh Sarkisian in a speech delivered Wednesday at the
historic mass grave-site of Armenian Genocide victims, adding that the
details of the atrocities that took place at Der Zor were well known
even to those `who publicly deny the veracity of the [Armenian]
Genocide.’

Sarkisian also made an apparent reference to recent comments by, among
others, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that a so-called
`historic commission,’ as cited in the Armenia-Turkey
protocols, will be tasked to address the Genocide issue. Sarkisian
provided perspective by saying that `It is inappropriate to cite
some commission of historians, since the Armenia-Turkey protocols task
the creation of a mere governmental sub-commission on historic matters.
I assume everyone understands what it means and what the differences
are.’

He then blasted the use of the Armenian-Turkey normalization process as
a justification for not recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian president went on to urge all those who are discussing the
Armenian Genocide and its recognition to `remember this desert,
remember the ruined fate of millions and this ancient people deprived of
their homeland.’

`What has brought me here is the greatest pain of my
nation-the first genocide of the 20th Century and the greatest
disgrace of the civilized world. The stigma of that shame, even in the
21st century, stains those who have turned the denial of obvious facts
into their policy, have turned into a bargaining chip and into a norm of
their behavior and lifestyle,’ said Sarkisian.

Armenians in Der Zor, Sarkisian said, were doomed to lose their life
`in accordance with the state orchestrated and meticulously
developed plan of extermination.’

`The most horrifying acts of the tragedy took place in the
desert of Der Zor. It is neither possible to describe the specifics of
the tragedy in a language known to humankind, nor will I attempt it,
since those details are well-known even to those who publicly deny the
veracity of the Genocide,’ said Sarkisian.

`Quite often historians and journalists correctly compare De Zor
with Auschwitz saying that `Der Zor is the Auschwitz of the
Armenians.’ I think the chronology of events forces us to
formulate the facts in a different manner: `Auschwitz is the
Deir ez Zor of the Jews.’ Merely a generation later humanity
witnessed the De Zor of the Jews,’ said Sarkisian.
`Today, as the President of the Republic of Armenia, the
homeland of all Armenians, I am here to ask: `Where and when
will our Nuremberg [trials] be held?’

Despite the Genocide and all that has happened, Sarkisian said Armenian
stands ready to normalize relations with the republic of Turkey.
`We are ready to have open borders and economic relations; we
are ready to take steps toward building confidence between the people of
Armenia and Turkey; we are ready to bring closer the two societies by
breaking stereotypes and myths that have nothing to do with reality and
have developed throughout decades in the absence of any meaningful
relations,’ he said.

`We do this sincerely since we believe that neighboring people
have no alternative but to coexist and develop, and, at least as a
start, through the implementation of what has been proposed and is still
on the table,’ the Armenian leader added. `The signing
of the Armenian-Turkish protocols presented us with an historic
opportunity that should have its logical conclusion.’

`However, we do not accept the manner in which the
Armenian-Turkish dialogue is being used as reasoning to refrain from
recognizing the Armenian Genocide. It is inappropriate to cite some
commission of historians, since the Armenia-Turkey protocols task the
creation of a mere governmental sub-commission on historic matters. I
assume everyone understands what it means and what the differences
are,’ he said.