Pashinyan: We need to revisit the history of our Genocide to  understand what happened and why

ArmInfo. We need to revisit the history of our Genocide (the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman  Turkey) in order to comprehend the events, reasons behind them, our  perceptions of it, and who was involved. Prime Minister of Armenia  Nikol Pashinyan made a similar statement during a meeting with  representatives of the Armenian Diaspora in Switzerland.  

He also wondered why there was no discussion of the Armenian Genocide in  1939, but it became a topic in 1950. <How did this shift occur?  Should we understand these questions or not? > he asked.

Let us recall that in October of last year,  Armenian Foreign  Ministry Ararat Mirzoyan stated in parliament that  promotion of the  agenda of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the  Ottoman Empire is not the prerogative of the Armenian Foreign  Ministry. He then repeated Ankara's long-standing narratives that  historians should address the issue. Mirzoyan's recent statement only  confirms  experts' previous concerns that the current Armenian  authorities are willing to prioritize normalizing relations with  Turkey over their national interests, including the international  recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Furthermore, in April of last year, the secretary of the ruling  Civil Contract Party (CCP), Artur Hovhannisyan, responded to Prime  Minister's use of the term Mets Eghern (Great Massacre) instead of  Armenian Genocide on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.  He assured journalists that the CCP's agenda does not include  abandoning the term genocide. "This is not an option. We are a people  who have survived genocide," he said.

Following this, the Lemkin Institute for the Prevention of Genocide  expressed concern and confusion regarding certain aspects of  Pashinyan's April 24, 2024 statement. <Rather than attributing blame  for the genocide to the leaders of the Ottoman Empire during World  War I, Pashinyan shifts the focus to the Armenians and their apparent  failure to understand the politics of the time. He seems to be  referring to the actions of the Russian Empire and Western powers  during that period, who had promised to protect the Armenians but  failed to do so. This failure exacerbated the Ottoman leaders'  perception of external threats to the empire and cast the Armenians  in a negative light as "foreign agents."

However, he does not state this directly; instead, he appears to  believe that the Armenians brought the genocide upon themselves  through their misunderstanding of the political situation.  Pashinyan's points in this passage seem ironic, given that he himself  has accepted Western offers to save Armenia from its hostile  neighbors. However, his points also echo Turkey's official position  on the Armenian Genocide, which has justified it. By repeating the  Turkish version of the events of 1915-1923, the Armenian Prime  Minister risks absolving Turkey of responsibility for the Armenian  Genocide, and downplaying all previous efforts for recognition. In  addition, it may significantly complicate the ongoing work for  international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and holding Turkey  accountable - something that the worldwide Armenian Diaspora, as well  as genocide scholars and activists, have been fighting for," the  Institute's statement runs. 

Recall that the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire was the first  genocide of the 20th century.  Armenians honor the victims of the  tragedy every year on April 24. Turkey traditionally denies  accusations of mass extermination of over 1.5 million Armenians. 

The Armenian Genocide is acknowledged by many states and respected  international organizations.  Uruguay was the first country to  recognize the Genocide in 1965, followed by Cyprus, Russia, Greece,  Canada, Lebanon, Belgium, France, Paraguay, Argentina, Sweden,  Bolivia, Great Britain, Holland, Slovakia, Germany, Lithuania,  Venezuela, Poland, Chile, Switzerland, Brazil, Luxembourg, Austria,  the Vatican, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Portugal, as well as the  interim government of Libya, the USA, Syria, the European Parliament,  and the World Council of Churches.