Your Majesties, Your Royal Highness, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Secretary General of the United Nations, Excellencies, Distinguished Participants,

Let me greet all participants and organizers of this forum and wish all of us goal-oriented discussion and fruitful work in the spirit of mutual understanding. Let me also express our most sincere gratitude to the Prime Minister and the government of Sweden for this very important initiative. Armenia attaches great importance to the purposeful examination and fundamental analysis of the genocide- related issues. It is the only way to lift the veil of silence and overcome the burden of intentional somnolence.

Nothing contributes more to reconstitution of pre-genocidal atmosphere and possibility of repetition of genocides in the future than denial of veracity by those who once perpetuated this crime. This incontestable presupposition ought to be applied to the well-known individual cases of denial by some states and governments.

The most practical and useful supposition for the prevention of genocide in our days is the notion that took precedent over years of societal and historical experience that is – the new is the well-forgotten old. And that is true indeed, both in positive and negative senses. It is worth to note that we mainly review and assess the crime of genocide from the angle of ethical responsibility. The fact is that events we evaluate according to our moral today had happened in the past through the application of force; therefore the veracity and evaluation are not comparable, per se. Frequently protean nature of ethical norms in a given deficiency of any steadfast code of conduct that is in exposure to the political hazard abets to this inconsistency. Consequently this issue should at best be discussed in the context of altering ethical norms equilibrium with moral limitations as the most significant definition for any given situation.

As we limit ourselves to a feebly marked moralistic assessment in the context of altering ethical norms equilibrium when a genocidal action takes place and launching a preventive action needs at least some definite historical as well as a nowadays situational wisdom, I would like to share with you some of my thoughts. I will do that in a manner of an open public debate rather than try to prescribe and impose my views. I particularly mean that to understand the roots of the problems existing in the South Caucasus and consequently to outline possible paths for resolution of our conflicts, it is important to address those not only from the angle of historically formed power equilibrium but also from the angle of tragic heritage burdened by the psychological trauma of the Armenian Genocide.

Here I would like to draw your attention to the statement on the Armenian Genocide – one that is very much congruous to my thoughts – dated March 29, 2000, by the parliament of Sweden – the country that has organized this conference: “An official statement and recognition of the Genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire is important and necessary. In 1987 the European Parliament recognized the fact of that the Ottoman Empire had committed genocide against the Armenian people in the beginning of the 20th century. The Committee on Foreign Affairs is of the opinion that the greater openness Turkey presents, the stronger Turkey's democratic identity will be. It is therefore important that unbiased, independent and international research on the Armenian genocide is conducted. It is of great importance that an increasing openness and historical understanding of the events of 1915 and thereafter can be developed.

An improvement in this respect would also be of importance for the stability and development in the whole Caucasus region.” In this respect Armenia attaches great importance to the encouragement of continuity of the process of the Armenian Genocide recognition by the subjects of international law, especially those that are successors to the states where genocides were perpetuated. Those nations, then, will further contribute to their own democratic development. It has been perfectly proved by the case of Germany that had recognised the reality of Holocaust, condemned it, restituted and made amends to aggrieved victims and survivors.

In this sense Armenia is consistent to the defense of her positions, and our actions are concordant with the views deeply rooted in nowadays practice of international community. Unanimous adoption of the Resolution on the 50th Anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by the UN General Assembly that was put in motion upon Armenia's initiative, is the best evidence of it. It is noteworthy to follow the EU and European solidarity around different national and international issues. During the recent years the movement for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the European Parliament and by individual parliaments of different European countries has expanded significantly. Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Russia and very recently, on December 15, 2003, the Parliament of Confederation of Switzerland, adopted resolutions that recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide.

It is obvious for the Armenian government, that in the contemporary world we would reinforce our argument on the need to tackle and recognise internationally the issue of the Armenian Genocide only if we put this issue in a larger frame and context of new processes and perspective. Those may be aimed at the gradual redemption of the wrecked trust of Armenians and Turks towards each other for the sake of further development of regional security and cooperation, and that are contingent for the diversification and/or revision of the political priorities for the countries of our region. Armenia wants to see Turkey as a country that is free of the past marred by the Armenian Genocide and of the present burdened with the denial, and as a state that is intending to be integrated into the European structures.

Armenia welcomes and supports activities of The Genocide Watch – Genocide Early Recognition Institute that is located in Washington D.C. and has branches around the world that emanates from the need of practical research for the implementation of the Genocide Convention. Armenia supports eight basic principles developed by Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, President of The Genocide Watch, that are anchored in the fundamentals of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

We also welcome The International Campaign to End Genocide that is initiated and coordinated by the above mentioned institution and encompasses leading international organizations that pursue research and development activities in the sphere of genocide prevention. We hail four basic principles – concentrating on prediction, prevention, stopping and punishment of genocide and other forms of mass murder – adopted as guidelines for this initiative.

Armenia considers the strengthening of political will towards stopping genocides to be a prioritised task. Regarding the prevention and condemnation of the crime of genocide in the contemporary world, Armenia stresses the significance of the further joint actions within international security system towards the fight against organised crime, re-enforcement of the anti-terror coalition, as well as actions within the circle of challenges put ahead by the process of the dialogue of civilisations.

Armenia also welcomes the involvement of the crime of genocide within the circle of authority of the International Criminal Court as the most execrable crime, sticking, at the same time, to its previously expressed point of view, that to elicit, prevent and condemn the crime of genocide as the most contemptible crime against humanity and civilisation, a separate specialised international court is to be established.

For contemporary humankind the primary precondition of future genocides' prevention, possible threats' neutralization and comprehensive assurance of responsibility, is the recognition of whatever happened in the past. This recognition will cause the prevention of future threats and thus will assure our factual implementation of political and moral responsibility.

To conclude I would like to suggest, that in commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th Century and the 60th anniversary of the end of the World War II – the most horrifying conflict in the history of humankind, as well as to mark the successful conclusion of the Stockholm for a Four-year marathon the upcoming year of 2005 be proclaimed by the United Nations to be the Year of Commemoration and Struggle against Wars, Genocides, Deportations and Violation of Peoples' Rights. I hope this proposal will be included in the final document of the Conference.

 

Thank you.