ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: THE FACT OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CANNOT BE A SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION

ArmInfo
2010-04-24 11:39:00

ArmInfo. I have repeatedly said that the fact of the Armenian
Genocide cannot be a subject for discussion. The ways to overcome
the consequences of the Genocide can be discussed but the very
fact cannot. The history of this horrible crime has been so deeply
studied and documented that there is no need to discuss the goals
and mechanisms of the Ottoman regime in planning and perpetrating
this act, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview
to RIA Novosti.

In 2005 the Turkish Prime Minister suggested setting up a
committee of historians for duscussing the Armenian Genocide
problem. The committee’s findings were supposed to clarify the
prospects of Armenian-Turkish relations. Turkey’s message was clear:
Armenian-Turkish relations would not be normalized until the committee
came to a conclusion that would benefit Turkey. Naturally, Armenia
dismissed this proposal as the establishment of bilateral relations
is the only normal way and, since Armenia does not claim recognition
of the Armenian Genocide as a precondition for rapprochement, Turkey
has no right to claim the opposite from Armenia.

Sargsyan said that the protocols signed in Zurich stipulate
establishment of an inter-state committee – a structure similar
to the ones Armenia has with many other countries – and one of its
sub-structures might study "problems of historical dimension" but this
does not imply discussion of the fact of the Armenian Genocide. "I
would like to note one important circumstance: this sub-committee will
be set up after the establishment of diplomatic relations unlike the
expert committee that was meant to predetermine the prospects of such
relations," Sargsyan said.