Without facing the Armenian Genocide, Turkey can neither settle the Kurdish issue nor can it establish democracy, Turkish-Armenian lawmaker Garo Paylan said at the 6th Armenia-Diaspora conference in Yerevan on Tuesday, September 19.

According to him, the Turkish state was, unfortunately, founded without acknowledging the Genocide, Aysor.am reports.

Paylan said the use of the term Genocide in the Turkish parliament is considered a crime.

"The West is turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Turkey the same way it did when the Genocide was being perpetrated," the lawmaker said.

The fight for democracy is a rather difficult process, Paylan said, as Turkey has been turning into a nationalist country in the past two years.

"Only a democratic Turkey can recognize the Genocide and open the borders with Armenia," Paylan said, adding that "we don't have the right to leave the issue of Genocide to the next generation."