ArmInfo. Attempts to manipulate history are always aimed at justifying crimes and criminals, Armenia's ex-president Serzh Sargsyan stated on the occasion of the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.
"On important occasions I carry a forget-me-not, a symbol of struggle against genocide. A crime committed against our people over a century ago can never be forgotten," Mr Sargsyan wrote.
By committing the Armenian Genocide in 1915 the Ottoman Empire committed the greatest crime against humanity and civilization the Turkish government has been trying to consign to oblivion at any cost for decades. At present, it is making abortive efforts with unprecedented cynicism to put the butcher on a level with the victim, distort the reality entirely and wipe out the Armenian traces in Western Armenia. By turning the denial of the Armenian Genocide into its government policy, the Turkish government is hostile to the nations recognizing the first genocide in the 20th century.
"The intellectuals recognizing the indisputable fact of the Armenian Genocide and not sinning against the truth are being persecuted in Turkey. The more that state is trying to accuse others, the more it become an accomplice in the crime committed 108 years ago. Just as a century ago, before the very eyes of civilized humanity, the Turkish nationalist government is seeking to make its forefathers' long-standing dream come true at the neighboring peoples' expense by implementing a government programme of Pan-Turkism.
"Under the guide of pacifism and humaneness, it, often in an overt manner, it continues its predecessors' cause. What was the Armenian Genocide possible? It was possible due to treachery, unreasonable trust of the enemy, inaction and disappointment, our folly and indifference, refusal to struggle to the end, being divided instead of combining our physical, intellectual and other resources. Was it possible to prevent that? Yes, it was.
"For this very reason our generations' future and last part of our Homeland are in danger. The blood- stained Turkish yataghan-turned-Bayraktar is again hanging over our people and will certainly do its do the dirty deed if it is at the butcher's disposal. The law is in force when it is convenient even in the world of the 21st century. Both in the past and in the present, slashing geopolitical interests did and do disturb a balance between force and rights in the favor of force. Before the eyes of everyone, international law is outweighed by force, which is cynically demonstrating its superiority. We must come to realize that we, as well as other peoples of the world, have the right to a free and secure life in our God-given cradle. Even if we do not have enough strength now because of those squandering it with folly, we must not renounce our right. Rather, we must seek to get stronger. Remember history and learn lessons, demand it from traitors and struggle for your rights, be string at any price and take your future into your own hands. It will be our credo," Mr Sargsyan's message reads.