Former ambassador-at-large Edmon Marukyan has urged authorities in Armenia stop discussions about “verifying” the names of 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide.

In remarks denounced by critics as advancement of a Turkish narrative a close ally of Prime Minister Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has pronounced in favor of essentially “verifying” the number of victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey that is widely believed to be 1.5 million.

Andranik Kocharian, a senior member of Pashinian’s ruling Civil Contract part and lawmaker who heads the parliament’s defense committee, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in a TV program aired on Sunday that Pashinian’s goal is to build “real foundations” related to the Genocide and “make the entire list of compatriots subjected to genocide more objective.”

He stressed that it is necessary to have the names of all Armenians subjected to genocide and verify “where, how and under what conditions” they were killed.

After Kocharyan’s interview was broadcast, Marukyan said the discourse is a “trap” and that it’s Turkey that wants to make the matter a subject of discussion.

The Armenian Genocide is a recognized fact at the scientific, academic, and political levels, more than 30 countries, 50 US states have recognized and condemned the fact of the Genocide,” Marukyan added.