Edward Nalbandian:"Turkey should reconcile with its own past"

In the interview given to Austrian journal the “Profil” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian answered the question why it’s so important for Armenia that Turkey accepts the expression Genocide.

“From the very beginning of this process we have told our Turkish counterparts that in no way Armenia will question the fact of the Armenian Genocide or the importance of its international recognition. We see the recognition and condemnation of the first Genocide in the twentieth century not only as a tribute to memory of its victims, but also as an important tool to prevent further genocides.”

To the question whether future genocides will be prevented the RA minister reminded, “You probably know, that Rafael Lemkin the author of the term “Genocide” invoked the Armenian Genocide as an explanation for his wording on the crime against humanity. Although it is very hard for us, but we did not put the Armenian Genocide recognition by Turkey as a precondition for normalization of our relations. Turkey should reconcile with its own past to be able to build its future. Nelson Mandela once said. “True reconciliation does not consist in merely forgetting the past”.

At the same time, I have to mention that inside Turkey there are certain processes and movements calling for the Genocide Recognition. Right after we initiated the normalization process, several Turkish intellectuals started an internet campaign, which was called “Apology campaign”. Just in few weeks 35.000 people signed that petition. For the first time in 95 years, this year on April 24, Armenian genocide was commemorated at Istanbul’s Taksim square. I hope one day Turkey will recogise the Armenian Genocide. And that is important for Turkey itself. Many in Turkey are beginning to understand this and no one has any doubts almost about it outside of Turkey.”

To the question what Armenia calls for besides the acceptance of Turkey’s liability for a Genocide the Foreign Minster Edward Nalbandian mentioned, “Since its independence, Armenia has never made any statements on territorial claims. It is unfortunate that certain Turkish political forces are using such arguments in order to create fear in the Turkish society.”

As for the demands for financial reparation the Armenian FM thinks that, “This is a very hypothetical question. There are descendants of Armenians all over the world who lost their properties back then. They could have juridical ways to proceed with their demands with or without recognition. This is a very normal in a civilized and modern world. So where is the problem?”

President Serzh Sargsjan told the German newsweekly „Der Spiegel“, a joint historian commission would only make sense if Turkey would admit it’s guilt for the genocide: Ain’t this an unacceptable demand for a process intended to explore what exactly happened, the next question of the Austrian journal was.

“The fact of the Armenian Genocide can not be questioned. We told this to our Turkish colleagues right at the very beginning of this process. We agreed to establish subcomissions within an intergovernmental commission on the development of bilateral relations, and one of the subcomissions will have a goal - to restore confidence between two nations, but of course not at the expense of putting the Armenian Genocide under question.

You couldn’t reach the goal of restoring the confidence between nations by putting the Armenian Genocide under question,” answered the FM.

Recalling that four years ago the National Assembly of France has adopted a law that penalizes the renouncement of genocide against the Armenians the journalist of the Profil asked the FM to comment on the sense of adopting such kind of laws in countries that have nothing to do with the genocide.

It is the same as is the case of adoption of laws and bills on Holocaust by countries that have nothing to do with it. We still remember the chilling words of Hitler: "Go, kill without mercy. After all, who remembers the Armenians? Genocide is a crime against humanity. As such it concerns humanity as a whole, and not only the people that was its victim."

To the observation that Germany still refuses to use the expression „genocide“ in it’s official wording about the incidents of 1915 – although it bears joint responsibility for the massacres by looking the other way and being dormant and the question what Armenia expects of Germany, the Armenian FM answered, “In the German Bundestag's resolution entitled “Commemorating the expulsion and massacre of the Armenians in 1915” adopted exactly five years ago, we can read the following “Bundestag deplores the inglorious role played by the German Reich which, in spite of a wealth of information on the organized expulsion and annihilation of Armenians, has made no attempt to intervene and stop these atrocities”.

I believe that this wording speaks for itself. Every time the German leaders visiting Yad Vashem Memorial and paying tribute to victims of Holocoust are gaining the sympathy and veneration of the world community for that gesture. Germany has reconciled with its own past and we hope that Germany will serve as an example to Turkey to accomplish the same.”

At the end of the interview by the request of the journalist Edward Nalbandian answered the question of the journal what issues are to be discussed at this meeting with the Austrian foreign minister, “There are many of them. There is not too much accomplished in our bilateral relations. So this is a very good occasions to push them and develop new opportunities.”

And to the question “How does it come that the bilateral relations are weak?” he answered, “We couldn’t say that they are weak, but we have bi potential to be explored. So the visit of Minister Michael Spendeleggerger could be a good impulse to develop and enhance our relations.”