The Response of Armenian Foreign Ministry Speaker to Azeri Speaker's Statement

Comment by MFA Spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan regarding the statements made by official Ankara ahead of the Armenian Genocide anniversary

Question. The Turkish government has stated that "Armenia is afraid to open its archives of 1915. because after that the world will have proofs that the events of 1915 are not "the genocide of Armenians", but rather the genocide and destruction of the Muslim population by the Armenian gangs in the Ottoman Empire." And the other day, the Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu said that they are proud of their ancestors and history because their history has never had any genocides and colonialism. How would you comment these statements, especially, amid the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide?

Answer: On the eve of the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide I must note with regret that all this time we have witnessed various forms of denial of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey. The denial has been consistent, but the forms and the substance of denial have not.

They have always been subjected to changes, either attempting to equalize the perpetrators and the victims of the genocide, or as in this case to accuse the victims of the genocide and justify the perpetrators. Often pure falsifications are put into action, for example the allegation about our closed archives, while all genocide experts are aware that the archives of Armenia are open. These turbulences in the denialist mind attest to their powerlessness if exposed to the truth, while the truth of the Armenian Genocide is an acknowledged fact in the international community.

Justification of genocide under the veil of denial is shameful and dangerous. It encourages new crimes against humanity and civilization, and the primary responsibility of the international community is to fight against it.