Gegham Khalatyan: Meds Yeghern means Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire

PanARMENIAN.Net - "I am an Armenian, but I do not consider myself to be deceived, as, in my opinion, Barack Obama's address contains all the promises given during the pre-electoral period and even more. His address is a political document, it has a moral and not juridical importance," Vice President of the Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR) Gegham Khalatyan said. According to him, one person's assessment of events took place with Armenians in the Ottoman Empire has no any legal consequence, even if this man is the US President and irrespective of the language, in which this assessment is done. An address is not a legal document or normative act of compulsory nature.

"This document has exclusively political importance. And from this point of view, the US President's stance and his assessments, of course, are important for moral impact on the process of the Armenian Genocide international recognition. Meds Yeghern is a term, which means the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923.

What did Obama say? Analysts stress that he avoided using the term genocide, saying the Armenian term – Meds Yeghern instead. Meanwhile, Meds Yeghern is incorrectly translated as huge massacre, as it is a proper noun – term, which unequivocally means the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923. Nobody would literally translate Holocaust, as everyone knows that it is a term, which means Jewish genocide during the World War II. Meanwhile, the same thing is not observed in case with the term Meds Yeghern. Possibly, it happens due its rare usage outside the Armenian world. Anyway, analysts should pay attention to the capital letters and ask Armenians what this term means for them. In such case, they would find out that it is the name of the hugest Armenian genocide throughout the Armenian nation's history. Thus, Meds Yeghern and Genocide of 1915-1923 are absolute synonyms for any Armenian. And Barack Obama addressed Armenians," Khalatyan stressed.

He also noted that it is difficult to imagine that the US President, who has an army of experts and assistants, could commit an error by using the Armenian term equivalent to the word genocide, if he wanted to avoid this word. "And the most important thing: possibly, to avoid various interpretations of his stance, Barack Obama once again stated that his stance and assessments on this issue have not changed. It proves that his stance has not changed since the pre-electoral period, when he expressed it using the English terminology. Thus, we have grounds to state that the US President ranks with those countries, structures and politicians, who recognize the fact of Meds Yeghern – Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923, and condemn it," the Vice President of UAR said.

Khalatyan stated that the fall debates in the US Congress and the behavior of the President's Administration in this process will show how morality influences the US authorities' legislative activity. "Hopefully, there will be no discrepancies. However, we, Armenians, should first of all rely on ourselves in gaining justice and liquidating the consequences of Meds Yeghern," he said.