Exhibit on Rwandan genocide opened

PanARMENIAN.Net - After a 3-week delay the exhibit on Rwandan genocide opened in the UN. The delay was caused by Turkey, which insisted on changes to be made in the exposition dedicated to the killings of Armenians during World War I. Originally, the Armenian Genocide sector was represented the following way: "After the World War I, during which 1.5 million Armenians were killed, Polish human rights activist Rafael Lemkin called on the League of Nations to acknowledge the barbarian crimes as international," a representative of Aegis Trust said.



The new text reads, "In 1944 human rights activist Rafael Lemkin called on the League of Nations to recognize mass killing against people by nationality as international crime. He mentioned of the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I and other mass killings in history. He was not heard."



Armen Martirosyan, RA Ambassador to the UN, said that Armenia is not absolutely content with such trade-off wording but it's better than constant delays of the exhibit.



Turkish diplomats did not attend the exhibit, Gazeta.ru reports.



During the opening ceremony UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said 'the exhibition is dedicated to the genocide in Rwanda and doesn't aim at making historical conclusions on other topics. The UN doesn't adhere to any stance on the events that took place before World War II.'