Member of Parliament of Armenia from the opposition “Armenia” faction Armen Gevorgyan delivered remarks at the PACE spring session, touching upon the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide.
Gevorgyan said that the Armenian Genocide is a crime against humanity that is denied by two members of the Council of Europe – Turkey and Azerbaijan.
“The International Association of Genocide Scholars calls the “denial” the last stage of the crime of genocide. There is also another thing that nowadays Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey, denies the right of Armenians to live in their historic homeland.
After the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan in autumn 2020, the Armenian people in the Republic of Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh are facing a dilemma: either to continue the path of their independent development and dignified life by preserving their national identity, or repeat the terrible fate of our compatriots who have lived in a region called Nakhijevan that is now part of Azerbaijan.
Within 70 years in Soviet Azerbaijan, the entire Armenian population of Nakhijevan has been completely eliminated. The Armenian cultural and religious heritage of Nakhijevan has been totally destroyed. Now Azerbaijan is trying to force the Artsakh-Armenians to suffer the same fate”, Gevorgyan said.
The MP called on the Council of Europe to send a clear and strong signal to all sides of the Karabakh conflict that the international community will continue supporting the three main principles of the conflict settlement, set by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.
“One of that principles – the non-use of force or threat of force, has been repeatedly violated and continues to be violated these days. Therefore, the international community cannot demand the Armenian people of Artsakh to live under the rule of Azerbaijan, which is conducting a state policy of ethnic cleansings against Armenians. A country which has unleashed three large-scale wars against them within three decades. A country which is trying to rewrite the history of the region to deny the pure existence of the Armenian heritage and culture. And finally, a country that is not ashamed to publicly announce also its territorial claims against Armenia”, Armen Gevorgyan said.
The lawmaker believes that peace in the region has no alternative.
“Mutually acceptable solutions are necessary for long-term and stable peace”, he said.
Gevorgyan also commented on Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s Grey Wolves salute in Uruguay directed against Armenians.
“It was shock to see that Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu, a person who chaired this Assembly for two years, is communicating with the descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors with gestures of a well-known Turkish nationalist terrorist organization. Such behavior must be unacceptable and condemned by the Council of Europe. I call on the representatives of Turkey to start working with the same diligence towards the recognition of the Armenian Genocide”, he said.
