"Turkish proposal of establishing the so-called commission of historians has only one goal, which is to delay the process of the Armenian Genocide recognition," President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Hurriyet.
"I do not know which representatives of the European Parliament you have met but the resolution of April 15, 2015, was adopted by a sheer majority in the European Parliament that represents 28 European states, and around half a billion people. That in itself is already a very vocal fact that testifies the clear cut position of the European family with regard to the Armenian Genocide," he said. "By adopting that document, the European legislative body paid tribute to the memory of 1.5mln victims of the Armenian Genocide, and once again underscored its commitment to the protection of human rights and universal values."
On the notion of leaving history to historians, the president said, the veracity of the Armenian Genocide has been studied by various scholars, social and political figures, international law experts, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, lawmakers, and also a number of Turkish historians for about a century now. "The unanimous view of all of them was that what happened to the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire definitely constituted genocide. Under the light of this, it becomes obvious that the Turkish proposal of establishing the so-called commission of historians has only one goal, which is to delay the process of the Armenian Genocide recognition, and divert the attention of international community from that crime. That is not only our view but also the view of the international community that goes on recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide.
The protocols contain no clause of establishing any commission on historical studies. The respective paragraph in the protocol envisages a dialogue aimed at restoring mutual confidence between the two nations, which entailed the establishment of a sub-commission. Throughout the negotiations the Armenian side has stressed on numerous occasions at various levels also to the Turkish side that the veracity of the Genocide cannot be questioned under any circumstances," the president said.
Genocide of Armenians was recognized by over 20 countries and the CoE, European Parliament, the UN Subcommittee to prevent discrimination and protect minorities, the UN Committee for Military Crimes, the World Church Council.