YEREVAN. – The installation in Diyarbakir of the memorial, which is devoted to the Armenians and other nationalities that were massacred, is not enough for us, but it is a step forward on the road to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey.   

Turkologist Andranik Ispiryan stated the abovementioned during a press conference on Friday (PHOTOS).

In the turkologist’s words, Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir had informed about the idea for creating a “Joint Memorial of Conscience” in the city, two years ago.  

Ispiryan noted that the memorial was installed in Diyarbakir on September 12 of this year, but the word “genocide” is not on the monument.

The turkologist commented on this fact by stating that Baydemir and Mayor Abdullah Demirbas of Diyarbakir Province’s Sur city—where the memorial is installed—did not add the word “genocide” to avoid possible judicial prosecution and roadblocks against the installation of the memorial.        

“Since the word ‘genocide’ is not on the memorial, it does not satisfy us. But this step by the Diyarbakir authorities is a step forward on the road to the recognition of the Genocide in Turkey.

“The Assyrian community likewise has responded to the installation of this memorial stressing that another memorial is needed, [but] on which the word ‘Genocide’ would be written,” Andranik Ispiryan noted.           

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am