Iranian-Armenian students call on Rouhani to recognize Genocide

April 10, 2015 - 09:44 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iranian-Armenian students have appealed to Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani with an open letter urging his government to recognize the Armenian Genocide, according to Asbarez.

The authors of the letter have drawn the President’s attention to the unconstructive policy pursued by Turkey in the region, noting that today Ankara “not only denies the Genocide committed against around 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, but also sponsors the terrorist groups in the region which slaughter numerous innocent civilians in Syria and Iraq.”

Highlighting the peaceful coexistence of various ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, the Iranian-Armenian students are calling on Rouhani to recognize the Armenian Genocide, in a step to help prevent such atrocities in the future.

Despite their serious disagreements concerning regional issues, Iran and Turkey maintain economic relations.

As a Muslim country, Iran has been conducting a moderate and cautious policy regarding the Armenian Genocide over the last years. Remarkably, however, the members of parliament of the 6th Majlis of Iran condemned the Armenian Genocide.

Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, then President of Iran, visited Tsitsernakaberd during his official visit to Yerevan on Sept 9, 2004.

Vice president of Iran, Hamid Baghaei, used the word “genocide” during a conference in Aug 2010. “The government of Ottoman Turkey committed genocide in 1915,” he said. However, the statement was refuted to prevent aggravating relations with Turkey.

The former Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, avoided going to Tsitsernakaberd during his official visit to Armenia in 2007.

The recent years have seen some changes in the position of official Tehran regarding the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian community of Iran has recently been allowed to hold a number of events without facing substantial obstacles, including protests in front of the Turkish Embassy in Iran in the past two years.

However, both the political and religious elite of Iran, as well as ordinary citizens, admit the fact of the Armenian Genocide, as, according to Iranian sources, the Ottoman Turks also slaughtered many Armenians in Iran’s Urmia region in 1918.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.