April 24, 2005 - 08:32 AMT
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ADDRESS ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE 90-TH ANNIVERSARY
Armenian President Robert Kocharian has addressed the Armenian people on the 90-th anniversary of the the Armenian Genocide, reported the Press Service of the Armenian leader. The message specifically notes: «Today we commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide. This day 90 years ago the program of the Ottoman Turkish leaders to annihilate the Armenian people was launched by the state bodies. An unprecedented crime in the human history was perpetrated and it did not have a name before. We had millions of victims and innumerable losses of the cultural and material heritage. The year 1915 was a dividing line in the fate of the Armenian people and it abruptly changed and distorted the way of development of the Armenian people. Its grave consequences are felt in the life of both the Armenian Disaspora and the population of Armenia until now. The international acknowledgement and censure of the Armenian Genocide is not a merely Armenian problem. Today the issue should be considered within the regional and international context. We have expressed our stand many times - revenge is not our motive. Today we confirm our readiness to establishment of relations with Turkey. However, Turkey's denialist policy in the issue causes our regret and the regret of the international community. Implementation of the genocide programs was possible with the coincidence of several preconditions and causes. None of them can justify the criminals. However, the absence of Armenian statehood was the main precondition, whose availability made the events that are hard to imagine possible. Today we bend our heads to the memory of the victims, we grieve, however we are sure that the Armenian state is the guarantor of the security and eternity.»