Ruling Republican Party of Armenia National Assembly (NA) Faction member Naira Karapetyan, who is also a member of the NA delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), addressed at the PACE Winter Session.
“We were all shocked by the horrendous attack committed in Paris against Charlie Hebdo magazine. It was a direct and violent assault on freedom of expression, which is a cornerstone of democracy. These barbaric acts are unacceptable, and we condemn them in the strongest terms.
“We are also very much appalled by the fact that this pattern of barbarism has become repetitive. Eight years ago, on 19 January, a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, was assassinated in Istanbul near the office of the Agos newspaper. ‘We are all Hrant Dink’ was the slogan those days. Hrant Dink was assassinated because of his views and his courageous efforts to tell the truth about the Armenian Genocide. He was a victim of Turkish propaganda, which portrayed him as an enemy of Turkey who insulted Turkish identity. That whole chain of events fitted well with Turkey’s traditional policy of denial.
“Yet another example of this notorious policy is the shameful attempt of the Erdoğan Government to cast a shadow over the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. To meet this end, the Turkish authorities are planning to use the 100th anniversary of the Allied attempt to invade Turkey in 1915. Year by year, Turkey is ‘improving’ the tools of its distortion of history. This year, Turkey will for the first time mark the anniversary of the battle of Gallipoli on 24 April, although it began on 18 March 1915 and lasted until late January 1916. It is a historical fact that the Allied landings at Gallipoli began on 25 April; that is the day on which Australia and New Zealand mark Anzac day. Only two years ago, Abdullah Gül, then President of Turkey, marked the 98th anniversary of this Great War battle on 18 March 2013. What is this, if not a naïve yet insidious attempt to distract the attention of the international community from events commemorating the centenary of the Armenian genocide? Turkey has a much more important obligation towards its own people and all of humanity, namely the obligation to recognise and commemorate the Armenian genocide.
“Notwithstanding its innovative and refined policy of denial, the Turkish authorities should understand that peace and friendship hinge on having the courage to confront one’s past and historical injustices. Each of us has a duty to transmit the real story so that future generations can prepare the ground for rapprochement and future co-operation between neighbouring peoples.
“Sadly, I must conclude that 100 years of a policy of denial means that we have a situation in which the genocidal Islamic State army operates in the same killing fields. Our response must be to stand firm on our shared values,” Karapetyan specifically stated.
