ARFD: Turkey gained advantages in Genocide issue

March 23, 2010 - 14:33 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement on formation of Armenian-Turkish commission of historians proved that Turkey gained advantages in the Armenian Genocide issue, according to Armen Rustamyan, member of ARF Dashnaktsutyun.

"With the exception of Armenian ruling coalition, all sides engaged in the RA-Turkey normalization process are speaking about formation of a commission of historians to study the 1915 tragic events. It means that the issue of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide was placed in the framework of Armenian-Turkish bilateral relations," he said.

"I was in Zurich last fall with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Armenia, Russia, France, other countries to witness the signing of a set of protocols to normalize relationships between Armenia and Turkey. And in those protocols, there was an agreement between the two countries to establish a historical commission that would look at all of the issues that are part of the past," Secretary Clinton said in an interview with Vladimir Pozner of Russian First Channel Television. "And I think that's the right way to go, I think, to have the two countries and the two peoples focusing on this themselves. I have said many times we cannot change the past we inherit. All we can do is try to have a better future."

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.