RA MFA: Cynical neglect of world history inadmissible for Armenia

11.04.2007
PanARMENIAN.Net

There are certain principles in life one should not compromise, the recognition of a genocide is one, otherwise life looses to hold its meaning.

“It’s not enough for the Turkish government to conceal the truth from its own people. The denial campaign has run up to blocking an exhibition on the Rwanda Genocide,” Armenian [...] Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said when commenting on postponement of UN exhibit on the Rwanda Genocide by Turkey’s demand.

The exhibit on the 13th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide has been delayed after Turkish objections to a mention of the killing of Armenians in Turkey during World War I. Turkey objected to a sentence in which lawyer Rafael Lemkin states that such mass killings are described as genocide.

Vartan Oskanian said Rafael Lemkin’s work is a part of international protocols and world history. “It’s inadmissible for a UN member state, which undertook to maintain world peace, to demonstrate intolerance in the United Nations Organizations. Armenia cannot resign to the fact that the world history, sufferings of the people of Rwanda and Darfur, the memory of the Armenian people are subjected to cold-blooded and cynical neglect. It’s shameful that the postponement refers to an event aiming at protection of human rights and genocide prevention. We can witness complete absence of respect for history and historical memory instead,” Oskanian said, the RA MFA press office reports.

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