Yalim Eralp: neither historians nor parliamentarians are competent authority in Genocide issue

PanARMENIAN.Net - From legal viewpoint, Turkish government has no right to recognize the Armenian Genocide, as it wasn't provided with any resolution of international instances. No Turkish government has the authority to acknowledge 1915's events as Genocide until it's done by the international court, former Turkish diplomat, foreign policy expert Yalim Eralp stated.



As the expert told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, he neither denies nor acknowledges the Armenian Genocide. The expert said adoption of Genocide resolution by dozens of states worldwide does not equal a legal judgement.



"I'm exasperated at the position of Turkish government maintaining it lost the issue by one vote. What if we won by one vote, would the resolution of parliament be able to transform the history?"



Yalim Eralp offered applying to arbitration tribunal for final resolution of the issue. "I do not consider historians to be a competent authority in Genocide issue," the expert said, noting that Armenia -Turkey rapprochement should be continued in any case.



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.