ARMENIA STOPS BEING SUBJECT OF INTERNATIONAL RIGHT – ARA PAPYAN

17:20 / 23.01.2015

Armenia stops being subject of international right and the
Armenian-Turkish relations have started being viewed in the context
of West-Turkey, Russia-Turkey, USA-Turkey relations while Armenia
could have played a primary role and the Armenian Genocide centenary
could have been a good occasion to voice our demands, Ara Papyan,
head of Modus Vivendi think tank told the reporters today.

“Unfortunately, we could not present a serious package on the
centenary. For me each statement, letter, response must be the core
issue. I am dealing with it for years. What was the chief aim of
the Genocide? My conviction is that it was aimed at occupying our
homeland, that is to say they exterminated people to reach their goal,”
Papyan said.

He stressed that the Republic of Armenia must not only voice the
issue of Armenian statehood but the circumstance of occupation of
part of the Armenian territory by the neighboring Turkey.

Referring to the letter Serzh Sargsyan sent to the President of
Turkey, the speaker said that it should had note of accusation as he
has been invited by a president of a country who has occupied part of
the Armenian territory. “If we fail to voice this idea on the eve of
the centenary, all the other events and initiatives become senseless,”
he said.

Papyan believes that we need scientific changes, serious high-quality
researches which have not been done by now. “If tomorrow Turkey will
have an opportunity to eliminate the Armenian state without getting
any proper counter-measures and without any serious political,
military and economic consequences for it, it will do it,” he said,
stressing that for it we must not necessarily give any reason, this
reason always exists.

The speaker also said that the circumstance that many countries
refer to the Armenian Genocide through films, books, is welcoming,
but it is not our merit. “Where are we as a state?” Papyan asked.