Armenian president addresses forum on genocide

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan addressed the International Social and Political Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide.

"The impressive and venerable list of this forum’s participants gives us hope that the forum will become an important platform to comprehensively discuss, and further improve the mechanisms for the prevention of genocide that is the crime of all crimes. I strongly believe that the remarks delivered, and the views expressed here will trigger a broad international reaction that in its turn may produce an invaluable impact on the raising of global awareness on this key issue." he said.

"This forum is one of the central events to mark the Armenian Genocide Centennial. As you are aware, commemoration events are being held in different countries of the world, supported by the four fundamental pillars. Those are remembrance, gratitude, prevention, and revival. These are also the messages that the Republic of Armenia, and Armenian Diaspora communities that emerged because of the Genocide in different countries wish to deliver to the international community and coming generations upon the Centennial. These four notions are also deeply symbolic for the commemoration of all other crimes of genocide committed throughout the human history," he added.

"One of the topics to be discussed during the forum refers to the role of the memory and truth in overcoming the consequences of genocide. That is, truly, the most accurate way to pin it down since, as far as the crimes of genocide are concerned, the remembrance and contemporary reality are unavoidably interlaced. Genocide is a crime of such a vast scale, with such a severe damage inflicted that even many decades later its impact is felt by the descendants of both the victims and perpetrators, as well as by the entire international community," the president noted.

"For us, Armenians, remembrance is a moral obligation and, at the same time, inalienable individual and collective right. It is our moral duty and right to commemorate the one and a half milion of victims, inhumane sufferings endured by the hundreds of thousands, loss of the material and spiritual heritage accumulated by our people throughout millenia, extermination of the substantial part of the early 20th century Armenian intelligentsia, who mainly resided in Constantinople, that led to the mass slaughter."

"It is because of this cohesion of the right and duty that we have adopted the motto “I remember and demand” for the commemoration events," he said.

"In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that today’s Forum, along with the discussions to be held, shall send the following powerful and pragmatic message to the international community: the crimes of genocide have not in the least ceased to be a threat to the humanity, and the overcoming of their consequences, and prevention shall become a top priority. The lessons of the past simply oblige us to do so. The civilized humanity shall joint its efforts to eradicate eventually the evil of genocide, and its underlying circumstances."