The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia has issued a statement regarding the statements made by the President of Turkey in the United States concerning the Armenian Genocide, noting that they contain assertions aimed at justifying the genocide by insulting the dignity of the victims.
In the statement issued by the Armenian MFA, it is said that in light of the further expansion of the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the President of Turkey has in recent days been making contradictory statements that distort reality.
On 24 April of this year, Turkish President Erdogan had already justified the perpetration of the Armenian Genocide, describing it as “the most sensible action” and the victims of the genocide as “Armenian gangs and their supporters.” Now the President of Turkey is depriving the victims of the Armenian Genocide even of their historical homeland, calling them nomads, forgetting the history of his own ancestors and the natives of the region.
“The recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide are undoubtedly necessary for truth and historical justice. However, they are needed not so much by history or historians, but by all of humanity today, and especially by the victims of crimes committed on the basis of identity. They are needed by those people and peoples whom the Republic of Turkey today, on the grounds of religious and ethnic national affiliation, calling them terrorists, subjects to violence and forced displacement on the territory of its own neighbouring country. It is necessary for overcoming genocidal perceptions and the universal protection of human rights.
For the descendants of the victims of the genocide and the international community, the Armenian Genocide is a reality that also served as a basis for the development of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and, subsequently, for the introduction of ways to prevent genocides and crimes against humanity on its basis.
By justifying and denying the Armenian Genocide, pursuing a policy of rejection through the use of force towards its neighbours, continuing Armenia’s land blockade for more than two decades, and providing military-political support to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkey continues to be a threat to the security of the Armenian people who survived the genocide.
Turkey must reconsider its current hostile policy towards Armenia and the Armenian people, the first step of which could be work on overcoming the consequences of the genocide and reducing regional threats,” the statement said.
