Speech of H.E. Ambassador Armen Martirosyan,
Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations
at the 90th Anniversary Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
April, 24, 2005, New York
Your Eminencies, Your Graces, Reverend Clergy,
Distinguished Ambassadors,
Dear compatriots, Dear survivors,
Honorable Congressman,
Ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of the people and the government of Armenia, let me thank you for
being today with us on this memorable occasion.
There are three sacrosanctities for every Armenian. It is the Christian
faith, adopted 17 centuries ago as a state religion, being first in the
world then. It is the Armenian alphabet created 1600 years ago, and having
played a tremendous role in spreading the Christian belief and values, and
in preservation of the Armenian national identity. Alongside with those two
revered things there is a vigil on the Armenian Genocide. It brings us
together every year on this day to pay a tribute to the memory of 1.5
million martyrs.
The Armenian Genocide set the prototype of deliberate mass killings and
ethnocide in the twentieth century. The developments of the past 90 years
demonstrated that the characteristics of genocide, that is its planning and
implementation, its sweeping devastation, its trans-generational trauma, the
role of bystanders and their inaction have echoed down through every other
instance of state-sponsored genocidal act.
During the Armenian genocide the military and political establishment of the
world main actors allowed murder to take place confining to diplomatic
correspondence on the ongoing slaughter of an entire nation by the Ottoman
Turks and on the possible geopolitical consequences of intervention to stop
it. Thus the policy of annihilation became part of the political culture, an
“acceptable” way for solving problems.
The Holocaust also did not conclude the “age of genocide.” The adoption of
the Genocide Convention in 1948 and worldwide adherence to it did neither.
The world witnessed Balkans, Rwanda and Cambodia. Today it is Darfur.
There was one lesson the international community did not learn from the
Armenian Genocide: impunity, indifference and inaction pave the way for
repetition of the most horrible crime against humanity. As Archbishop
Desmond Tutu wrote: “…It is possible that if the world had been conscious
of the genocide that was committed by the Ottoman Turks against Armenians,
the first genocide of the twentieth century, then perhaps humanity might
have been more alert to the warning signs that were being given before
Hitler’s madness was unleashed on an unbelieving world.”
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Armenian Genocide is an undeniable fact. The evidence is compelling. The
antihuman act of Ottoman Empire is acknowledged by a large number of
countries that putting aside the sensitivity of their bilateral relations
with the successor of Ottoman Turkey officially recognized and condemned the
crime of Genocide committed against my nation.
We are grateful to all these people and their governments for having the
political and moral courage to have their actions meet the words, those
words that all of us time and again eagerly and unanimously pronounce on
different commemorative occasions.
We deem the recognition of any genocide utmost important in our common
effort to uproot this crime against humanity and rule out any repetition. It
is our strong conviction that exposing such violations and stopping the
impunity, as well as restoring the dignity of victims through
acknowledgement of their suffering are vital for the prevention of this
ultimate violation of human rights. Any selectivity in recognition creates
new loopholes threatening with recurrences in different parts of the world.
Recognition of the deeds of a past government and the responsibility of the
current generation, even if not culpable, to remember and to condemn is an
indispensable component of reconciliation. Many of those advocating for
reconciliation most often put the idea of “looking to the future instead of
the past” in the core of their call. They tend to forget that reconciliation
starts from the acknowledgement of the crime committed: avowal is as vital
for the victim as it is essential for the perpetrator. Denial traumatizes
both sides hampering any possibility for de-linking the present and the
future from the past.
It is paradoxical, but it was the Turkish Government that after the end of
the WWI officially condemned the Armenian Genocide by a unanimous decision
of its Military Tribunal in 1919, at the inception of the present Republic.
This fact is being carefully silenced by the current Turkish leadership.
Instead, it refuses to accept this judgment of history and spares no effort
to impose its revisionism on the civilized world. The rejectionist policies
of the Turkish Government today have got even to the absurdity of changing
the Latin names of animals and plants that have the word “Armenian” in them
as hinting to the historic inhabitants of those lands.
A constant blindfolding of its own people cannot continue forever. The
current progress in the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide
has compelled the progressive cycles of Turkish society to raise questions
about the meticulously concealed past. The taboo over the use of the word
“genocide” is still prevailing, although it is no more a “non-existent”
issue. The decorative moves so far undertaken by the Turkish Government to
make a pretense of changes are currently being countered by the shaping
demand from its civil society to open up and face the truth.
Today Turkey is knocking at the doors of the European Union. Yet it forgets
that becoming a member of this noble family, one has to follow its rules and
respect traditions. Denial and revisionism is no means to get into. One does
not become a European by rewriting its history and expelling its own
scholars who dare to challenge the state policy.
Whereas European values among others profess acceptance of the past
wrongdoings, even the most tragic ones. There are numerous examples to
follow. Only 3 months ago there was another reaffirmation of the
condemnation of the past acts from the UN General Assembly podium. His
Holiness, blessed memory, Pope John Paul II has apologized for the mistakes
of his coreligionists from the Roman Catholic Church. Turkey also will come
to terms with its own history. The sooner they do it the more will our
region and the enlarging Europe benefit from it.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Armenian legacy counts decades of centuries. We have managed to come out
of all the ordeals and trials of the destiny hardened in their flames. We
are grateful to the Lord for our dramatic but rewarding journey through the
history.
We are given much, but the expectations are also high. We bear
responsibility to both the memory of our ancestors and to the future
generations. We believe that the Truth would prevail bringing peace to all
those who have perished. The best way to pay a tribute to their memory and
due respect to survivors is by strengthening the foundation for our future –
competitive and democratic Armenian state. I do think about such prospect
with all the hope that can come out of deep commitments and dedication
towards our Motherland.
Thank you.