Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has responded to an October 13 open letter from the President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, William Schabas. In the letter, addressed to both Sarkisian and Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Schabas, said: “Acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide must be the starting point of any ‘impartial historical commission,’ not one of its possible conclusions.”
Below is Sarkisian’s response to the Schabas letter, which can be read here.
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Prof. William Schabas, Ph.D
President, International Association of Genocide Scholars
Washington, D.C.
Nov. 13, 2009
Dear Mr. Schabas,
I am grateful for your letter and the concerns raised in it.
We, in Armenia, are well aware of the unbiased scientific research conducted for many years by your Association on the crime of genocide, including the Genocide of Armenians, and we attach great importance to it. Your contribution to the cause of the international recognition of this crime and keeping the international community informed regarding the issue is invaluable.
Today, Armenia has chosen the path of establishing normal relations with Turkey without any preconditions. Nevertheless, any relation with neighboring Turkey does not question the fact of the Armenian Genocide and deprivation of Homeland. The Genocide of Armenians committed by Ottoman Turkey in 1915 is an acknowledged fact and must be recognized and condemned by progressive people.
As for the matter of the establishment of the inter-governmental sub-commission aimed to discuss the historical dimension, envisaged by the Protocols signed by Armenia and Turkey, I should assure you that it is not a commission of historians. The purpose of that commission is to give an opportunity to Armenian and Turkish peoples to find common grounds for mutual trust and dialogue. I fully agree with your approach that the contribution to the elimination of the consequences of the Genocide should be the goal of the sub-commission’s work, and the fact of the Genocide itself can in no way become a subject of discussion within the agenda of the commission.
With this exact perception, we signed the Protocols with the Turkish side, and this was what I stated in my address to the nation prior to the signing.
Once again, I thank you and the International Association of Genocide Scholars for conducting principled, unbiased and objective activity, and would like to assure you that the Republic of Armenia, alongside you and other organizations conducting scientific research, will be in the vanguard of those pursuing the cause of the struggle against the crime of genocide. We believe this is the moral duty of every nation that survived genocide.
Sincerely,
Serzh Sarkisian
So does this mean that turkey signed the protocols knowing that the inter-governmental sub-commission is not a commission of historians to re-examine the fact of the Armenian genocide???
So in accordance with what sarkisan has written above, the turks have either agreed to accept the Armenian genocide as fact OR
the turks have agreed to avoid the topic entirely (highly unlikely as the protocols don’t imply that at all) OR
sarkisian is backpedaling on the particulars of a signed agreement regarding the so called sub-commission OR
there is a HUGE misunderstanding between both erdogan and sarkisian.
“I fully agree with your approach that the contribution to the elimination of the consequences of the Genocide should be the goal of the sub-commission’s work….”
“‘Elimination’ of the consequences”? Shouldn’t that read as “‘settlement’ of the consequences…by way of reparations”?
One of the definitions of “elimination”: “the act of making a quantity disappear from an equation.”
So, how do “they” define “elimination of the consequences”? My understanding (or, perhaps, misunderstanding) of it is that the matter of the Armenian Genocide would end with recognition.
I hope that I’ve misunderstood.
Great advance. But more should (will) be said. /// If you agree that ” The acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide must be the starting point of any ‘impartial historical commission”, then you have to agree that the acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide must be the starting point of any giving “an opportunity to Armenian and Turkish peoples to find common grounds for mutual trust and dialogue”. /// For instance, Trust and dialog starts AFTER a sincere handshake. The sincere handshake comes AFTER the honest acknowledgment of misdoing.
What does Sarkissyan make of Erdogan’s outright denial of the Armenian Genocide? President Sarkissian has entered a game where he already knows he is the loser, but is backpedalling and trying to cover up his mistakes. Nowhere in the Protocols is there a mention of “impartial historical commission”. Historical commission itself means looking over and examining the facts. Mr. Sarkissyan should resign!!!!
Schabas’s letter is a slap on the face, but S. Sargsyan is still trying to defend his un-defendable position. Mr. President, in plain English, Schabas is saying to amend the confusing wording of the protocols which right now is an open invitation to interpretation:
Start the dialog with Turks on the precondition they accept the Armenian Genocide at the outset.
Deal with the consequences of the Genocide by having Turkey pay for reparations, return of confiscated lands, set the border in the right place.