President Serzh Sarkisian criticized Turkey for refusing to acknowledge the 1915 Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire as Armenia hosted an international forum on crimes against humanity on Wednesday.
The Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide, which brought together about 600 participants from over 50 countries, began its work in Yerevan as part of events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the mass killings and deportations of Armenians.
“Genocide denial is fraught with inciting a new xenophobic wave and is often accompanied by intolerance and justification of the already committed crimes of genocide,” Sarkisian said in a speech at the conference. “In case of strong international pressure, denial acquires a seemingly softer yet equally dangerous nature or is dissolved in history revision campaigns.”
He clearly referred to a softening of a long-standing Turkish policy which denies that Armenians were victims of a genocidal policy pursued by the last rulers of the Ottoman Empire. Earlier this week, the Turkish government again offered its condolences to descendants of Armenians massacred by the Ottoman Turks during the First World War. But it insisted that the massacres did not constitute genocide.
Sarkisian said that a greater international recognition of the 1915 tragedy would not only do justice to the Armenians but also prevent future crimes against humanity. “One of the reasons for the recurrence of the crimes against humanity and genocide has been the international community’s lack of consistency, unity and determination in recognizing and condemning the committed genocides and eliminating the genocidal environment and denialism.”
Also attending and addressing the forum was Thorbjorn Jagland, the secretary general of the Council of Europe. “There is potential in every man, woman and child,” he said in a speech. “A hundred years ago too many Armenians were denied the chance to realize that potential when they were brutally murdered.
“Hundreds of thousands more were condemned to poverty. And this was not just Armenia’s loss, it was the world’s loss … But we can – we must – try to stop it happening again.”
Jagland was careful not to term the mass killings a genocide and upset Turkey, a member of the Council of Europe. He praised instead growing contacts between the Turkish and Armenian civil societies and expressed hope that the governments of the two neighboring states will eventually normalize Turkish-Armenian relations.
“If there is a chance of returning to the 2009 Protocols, establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey, I urge both sides to seize it,” added the Norwegian politician.