V. HOVHANNISIAN: 1915 GENOCIDE WASN’T TURKEY’S ONLY CRIME AGAINST ARMENIANS
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 11 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s letter to President of Armenia
Robert Kocharian was an attempt cleverly to cheat the international
community. Vahan Hovhannisian, the Vice Speaker of the RA National
Assembly, a member of the ARF Bureau, characterized in this way
the proposal of the Turkish party to create a joint commission of
historians to study the Armenian cause in his speech at the NATO
“Rose Roth” seminar held in Yerevan.
According to him, besides the 1915 genocide of Armenians living on the
territory of Ottaman Turkey, Turkey conducted another crime as well,
this time against the independent Republic of Armenia.
According to him, in 1919 the Republic of Armenia had a territory of
70 thousand square meters, but as a result of Turkey’s agression which
the Russian Bolshevics also supported, Armenia lost the marzes of Kars,
Ardahan, Surmalu as well as a considerable part of their inhabitants.
According to Vahan Hovahannisian, this crime was already an agression
against another state as a result of what the most part of those
problems arose which have caused an instability in the South
Caucasus today. All issues connected with the Armenian-Azerbaijani
and Armenian-Turkish relations were among those problems.
That’s why, according to the rapporteur, the mutual proposal of
Robert Kocharian, the President of Armenia, to create an interstate
commission instead of a commission of historians was more correct.
According to the NA Deputy Speaker, the interstate commission’s work
can have more practical result: “I think that’s why the proposal
remained without answer.”
According to Vahan Hovhannisian, ideas of penance and confession
which are in the basis of European values aren’t accepted by the
Turkish society. “Turkey which today attempts to become a member of
the European Union, should be ready for this from inside, the Turkish
society should still change itself.”
Welcoming Turk historian Halil Berktay’s position concerning the
Armenian cause, according to what, the 1915 events are qualified as a
genocide, Hovhannisian mentioned: “I think that it will be useful to
listen to his speech for those Armenian figures who, like the Turkish
state historiography, consider that the Armenian Genocide took place
as a result of the activity of the Dashnaktsitiun (Federation).
Touching upon Berktay’s idea that the Turkish society should be
supported in the issue of accepting the real historic truth, Vahan
Hovhannisian mentioned: “I think that the propaganda led by the Hai
Dat offices all over the world serves first for that purpose and
shouldn’t make nervous those Turk figures who themselves consider
that this way should be passed.”