Armenian premier`s statements in line with Ankara-advocated  revisionist rhetoric - Vardan Oskanian 

ArmInfo.  The collective commemoration of the holy martyrs of the Armenian Genocide is under threat due to the unprecedented moral decline of the Armenian leadership.  This was written on his Facebook page by former Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan.

He recalled that these days, Armenians around the world are  remembering the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the  Ottoman Empire. "For generations, we have honored the memory of the  1.5 million victims who perished in a state-organized and  meticulously planned campaign of extermination.  This year, however,  our collective commemoration is overshadowed by a cloud that comes  not from outside forces, but from within. The clarity that has long  characterized our ritual of remembrance is now under threat due to  the unprecedented moral decline of Armenia's leadership. Nikol  Pashinyan is accused of a once unthinkable sin: he publicly  questioned the reality of the Armenian Genocide and the scale of the  tragedy," Oskanyan noted.

The former Armenian Foreign Minister noted that Pashinyan's latest  statements, formulated evasively and ambiguously, although not an  outright denial, are dangerously in line with the revisionist  rhetoric long promoted by Ankara.

"By insisting that Armenians should ask themselves 'why' the Genocide  happened and hinting at the responsibility of the victims, Pashinyan  is using one of the most insidious tools of distorting history.

Genocide denial is not a matter of intellectual exercise or  diplomatic subtlety. It is an act of violence. As Elie Wiesel said:  'Genocide denial is the final stage of genocide.' Its goal is to  erase not only lives, but also memories, identities, and truths. That  is why our commemoration is more important today than ever. We are  now facing a double threat: denial from without and devaluation from  within," the Armenian diplomat warned.

Oskanyan recalled that the Armenian Genocide is one of the most  thoroughly documented crimes of the 20th century. "The testimonies of  survivors, the orders of the Ottoman government, the records of  missionaries, foreign diplomatic communications and indisputable  demographic data all testify to a systematic campaign to exterminate  an entire people. This was not the chaos of war, but a cold,  calculated policy. To question all this is neither courageous nor  sophisticated. It is a moral failure," the former head of the  Armenian Foreign Ministry is convinced.

According to him, Pashinyan's failures are not limited to memory.  "His rule was marked by a national catastrophe: the loss of Artsakh,  the displacement of 120,000 Armenians, the deaths of thousands of  young soldiers and a humiliating defeat.

Under his leadership, Armenia's territorial integrity has been  undermined, our prisoners are locked in Baku dungeons, and new  concessions lie ahead. Pashinyan is also the main obstacle to the  right of the Armenians of Artsakh to return, despite clear signals  that the international community is ready to address this fundamental  problem," Oskanyan added.

At the same time, the diplomat believes that Pashinyan's recent  statements about the genocide are reprehensible and unacceptable.  According to him, the distortion or belittlement of the greatest  tragedy in Armenian history by the leader of Armenia should outrage  every Armenian who has borne the burden of memory for generations.

"Turkey has denied the Genocide for decades, portraying it as mutual  wartime suffering, dismissing the documents as propaganda, and  advocating for global oblivion. Now, that rhetoric has found an  alarming resonance in Yerevan. Pashinyan's words not only undermine  Armenia's moral authority abroad, they also threaten to destroy the  collective memory that has held our people together. These actions by  Pashinyan are not an error of judgment, but an act of division. A  leader charged with protecting Armenia's sovereignty cannot  simultaneously undermine the foundations of our moral and historical  identity. Pashinyan's rhetoric emboldens deniers and undermines the  foundations of national unity.

On April 24, as we come together as a nation to honor the memory and  pay tribute, we must also be determined to restore Armenia's dignity  and cherished national ideals. Pashinyan has been stripped of all  rights to lead the country: moral, political, and legal. The path to  justice and national revival lies in his removal." - Oskanyan summed  up.