The Turkish authorities' nervous response to Armenian Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan's statement about the need to retrieve the Armenian lands is explained by the fact that Turkey realizes the threat to lose what it had acquired illegally, Ara Papyan, Head of the Modus Vivendi Center, ex-Ambassador of Armenia to Canada, said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The expert thinks that Turkey is irritated with the fact that an Armenian official is for the first time speaking not only about the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but also about the need to compensate for the damage and to retrieve the lands. Papyan believes that Turkey has many weak spots and the Treaty of Sevres is one of them. "In case of serious changes in the world, the Treaty of Sevres will become one of the tools to exert pressure on Turkey. Subsequently, we should get ready and take advantage of the situation", he said.
To recall, during the July 5 Pan-Armenian Forum of Lawyers dedicated to the forthcoming centenary of the Armenian Genocide, Armenian Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan said that the assignees of the Armenian Genocide victims should receive material compensation, the Armenian Apostolic Church should be given back the churches and lands belonging to the Church, and Armenia should retrieve its territories. He stressed that one of the Armenian lawyers' goals is to detect the organizers and instigators of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
In response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the statements of the person holding such a high post allegedly run counter to Armenia's UN and OSCE accession commitments.