Genocide Factor in Armenia's Foreign Policy

Prof. Ruben Safrastyan, Ph.D. - 4/30/2005

This article outlines how the Armenian foreign policy on the genocide question evolved from bilateral policy to a successful global recognition policy and how Turkey is trying to redirect it towards a bilateral issue.

[...]
The Genocide issue is the only vector of Armenia's foreign policy, which reaches far beyond the regional context and enters modern global politics.[...]

In the past decade, global political processes have been aiming noticeably at strengthening their moral component, as manifested by the growing attention to issues, falling under the category of protection of human rights. In this context, Armenia's policy of promoting the universal recognition of the Genocide and its condemnation as a crime of sweeping and massive violation of the fundamental right to live of the whole nation, takes the central stage of significance.

[...] the new Armenian leadership made to the foreign policy agenda upon coming to power in 1998 was the official acknowledgment of the Genocide factor as a priority issue.

[...]Armenia, as a state established by the nation victimized by genocide right after its unacknowledged and unpunished occurrence, now includes on its foreign policy agenda the question this gravest crime under the international law be affirmed and condemned by the genocide perpetrator's successor-state, as well as and by the international community.

Turkey, however, is trying, firstly, to downgrade the problem to a level of bilateral relations, and secondly, to falsify the very essence of that policy by portraying it as conspiracy built on hatred, confrontation, even hostility. At the same time, Turkey has actively been taking steps, increasingly reminiscent of a full-scale diplomatic offensive, aimed at inflicting her point of view on the international community.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears on:
http://globalpolitician.com/articleshow.asp?ID=661&cid=4
Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...].The bold emphasis is mine.