Reconciliation Impossible without Genocide Recognition, Says Armenian Official

Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan

YEREVAN—“Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey is working on new efforts to deny the Armenian Genocide, paving the way for the perpetration of such crimes in the future,” Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said at a parliamentary hearing Monday.

Noting that Turkey continues its policy of denial, he asked whether Turkey forgot about the post-WWI military tribunal’s verdict sentencing the organizers of the Armenian Genocide to death.

“The Armenian Genocide was a well-organized and planned crime, and all attempts by Ankara to present it in the light of World War I are ineffective. Four generations of Armenians have awaited recognition, and a true reconciliation between the two peoples is possible only in this case,” Kocharyan said.