ARMENIAN GENOCIDE EXPRESSED NOT ONLY VIA MASS SLAUGHTER

PanARMENIAN.Net - Genocide was perpetrated against Armenians not only in 1915, but also throughout 1906-1923, and it expressed not only in mass slaughter, Academic Advisor of the Commission for Commemoration of Heroes and Victims of the Holocaust of Yad Vashem Yehuda Bauer stated during an international conference in Yerevan devoted to the 90-th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915. In his words, the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust differ from others in the aspect that when these were perpetrated the world powers could not or did not wish to prevent them. Specifically, Mr. Bauer considers that the world could not prevent the Holocaust, however it did not wish to prevent the Armenian Genocide, as at the time Turkey was the ally of the Austrian-Hungarian Block in World War I. The recent genocides, specifically in Rwanda and Darfur were not but could be prevented, the Israeli scholar considers. In his opinion, to prevent future genocides it is necessary to avoid academic discussions, as scientists can only define this misdeed. Meanwhile, Bauer believes that the international community needs to activate efforts to form legal mechanisms to prevent and reduce the risk of future genocides, as it is impossible to fully rule out their repetition. The first real step in this respect was the creation of the international court in Rome, which then was moved to Hague, the reporter stated. The formation of legal mechanisms to be used by international structures in order to reduce the risk of future genocides should be the next step. Touching upon Turkey's denial stance in the issue of the Armenian Genocide, Mr. Bauer stated that it is not so important for Turkey to officially acknowledge the misdeed. In the scholar's opinion, it is more important that there are many people in the Turkish society, who qualify the occurrence as a genocide and censure the past Turkish authorities, Arminfo news agency reported.