Serzh Sargsyan invites Turkey president to visit Yerevan on April 24, 2015

The 4th sitting of the State Commission on Coordination of the Events dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was held in Yerevan today. The commission chairman, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan chaired the sitting.

“Taking the opportunity, I officially invite the Turkish president – whoever is elected in the upcoming elections in Turkey – to visit Armenia on April 24, 2015 and face eloquent evidence of the history of the Armenian Genocide,” S. Sargsyan said at the sitting.

He announced that he also sent invitations to heads of several other countries.

“Crimes against humanity have no period of limitation. The only formula for genocide prevention is the recognition and condemnation of the horrible pages of history. We again call upon all the countries and the international community to recognize and condemn that unprecedented crime. Turkey must recognize the Armenian Genocide, recognize the history so as not to become an accomplice of the Ottoman Empire. There is no alternative to recognition and condemnation. It is impossible to achieve a serious result with half-measures,” Serzh Sargsyan said.

In his words, Armenia does not feel hostility towards the Turkish people.

“Moreover, we are trying to create conditions, in which the Armenian and Turkish peoples could communicate with each other and find a reconciliation way. With this aim we were and remain committed to the normalization of our relations without preconditions and the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border, although we hear only the statements of the Turkish side about such wishes. If it is a sincere wish, then Turkey knows well the path of reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey,” the Armenian president stated.

According to him, Armenia will continue its struggle for the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and against the recurrence of this crime anywhere in the world.

“We have an important message to the world: with renewed energy and determination, we will continue our struggle for the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, a crime against humanity,” the president of Armenia declared.