PM: Armenians can defy neo-Pan-Turkic threat by building strong state

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenians can defy the neo-Pan-Turkic threat only by building a modern country, strong with powerful allies, a country based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in his message on the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

"106 years ago, the first genocide of the 20th century was perpetrated by the Young Turk government in the Ottoman Empire. What happened in those days was described by the great powers as a crime against mankind and human civilization," Pashinyan said.

"Millennia will pass, but we, the Armenians, will continue to commemorate the Genocide; we will not let the world forget that on April 24, 1915, the brass of the Armenian intelligentsia was arrested and sentenced to death in the Ottoman Empire. Top intellectuals, clergy and the cultural elite were beheaded at one stroke."

Pashinyan said it is undeniable that only the condemnation of a crime may prevent it from recurring in the future.

"We highly appreciate the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by different countries of the world. This, however, can in no way be interpreted as a denial of regional dialogue. We are open for dialogue. However, the dialogue we imagine cannot be engaged from a position of strength. It can only succeed if underpinned by the principle of equality," the PM said.

"We will never question the fact of the Armenian Genocide; let no one think that any Armenian, any political entity in both Armenia and the Diaspora will ever abandon the memory of our innocent victims and will become an accomplice of the Armenian Genocide. Acknowledgement and condemnation is the only way to preventing new genocides."

On April 24, 1915, a large group of Armenian intellectuals was rounded up and assassinated in Constantinople by the Ottoman government. Today, on April 24, Armenians worldwide are commemorating the 106th anniversary of the Genocide which continued until 1923. Some three dozen countries, hundreds of local government bodies and international organizations have so far recognized the killings of 1.5 million Armenians as Genocide. Turkey denies to this day.