ARMENIA SEEKS GENOCIDE RECOGNITION TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH TURKEY
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.06.2008 18:38 GMT+04:00
Armenia’s Ambassador to the UK Vahe Gabrielyan addressed a letter to
the editor of The Economist.
The letter says,
"The great bulk of specialists in the time and region who refuse to
acknowledge the Armenian genocide, the peak of which was in 1915,
are in fact a handful of people of which almost all names he has
enumerated.
Among those who call the things by their names are the respected
International Association of Genocide Scholars (1997 and 2005), 126
scholars of Holocaust (2001), the Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel
and numerous others.
It is erroneous to believe that the Armenians in the diaspora-
primarily a consequence of the genocide- are the only ones who pursue
international recognition.
The Republic of Armenia aims at its recognition, and in the first
place by Turkey, not only because it is our moral responsibility,
but also for the very sake of normalization of relations and reasons
of security.
Nevertheless, the Armenian Government does not demand that the
recognition be a precondition for opening the border and establishing
bilateral ties.
It is true that a considerable number of Armenians have left the
country, partially because of the ground communications blockade
imposed by Turkey. However, "precipitous decline in population"
does not reflect the precise picture: there are now more Armenians
coming into the country than leaving it. And the GDP growth has been
steadily two-digit over the recent 6 years, without any oil or gas.
It is also true that Armenian businessmen would benefit from
open borders and cooperation, as would their Turkish counterparts
benefit. However, it would be hard for them to do that at the expense
of history: almost every family in Armenia has some kin who were killed
in or banished from Western Armenia. Therefore, we believe the border
should be opened and trade should start while problems can be settled
in a following intergovernmental and public discourse.
As your readers will certainly know well, today in most places debating
the 1915 Genocide the question is no more whether it happened – there
is ample evidence – it is rather how much the recognition affects their
relations with Turkey, a convenient ally of the West in various anti-
or pro- campaigns in time and space."