Pan-Armenian declaration reveals plans for legal claims against Turkey

LOS ANGELES, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS:The Presidents of the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh along with leaders of major Diasporan organizations issued an unprecedented joint declaration last week, announcing the preparation of a comprehensive dossier of “legal claims” from Turkey to restore “individual, communal and pan-Armenian rights and legitimate interests.” As reports "Armenpress" the Publisher and Editor of "California Courier" Harut Sassounian stated this in his new article. The article runs as follows:

“The declaration does not detail the specifics of Armenian demands, since a legal team headed by Gagik Harutyunyan, President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, is in the process of finalizing a thorough analysis of Armenian claims against Turkey.

The January 29 declaration was issued during the session of the State Commission on the Coordination of Programs Dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide with the participation of over 50 regional Centennial Committees from around the world. Later that night, Pres. Serzh Sargsyan read the full text of the declaration during a somber wreath-laying ceremony at the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex in Yerevan.

When Catholicos Aram I inquired if the declaration would become the official policy of the Republic of Armenia, Pres. Sargsyan responded by assuring everyone that the adopted document would guide not only Armenia’s foreign policy, but all government officials!

Here are highlights from the Pan-Armenian Declaration:

- Condemning the genocidal acts against the Armenian people, plannedand continuously perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire and various regimesof Turkey in 1894-1923, dispossession of the homeland, the massacresand ethnic cleansing aimed at the extermination of the Armenianpopulation, the destruction of the Armenian heritage, as well as thedenial of the Genocide -- all attempts to avoid responsibility, toconsign to oblivion the committed crimes and their consequences or tojustify them -- as a continuation of this crime and encouragement tocommit new genocides;

- Considering the 1919-1921 verdicts of the courts-martial of theOttoman Empire on that grave crime perpetrated "against the law andhumanity'' as a legal assessment of the fact;

- Appreciating the joint declaration of the Allied Powers on May 24,1915, for the first time in history defining the most heinous crimeperpetrated against the Armenian people as a "crime against humanityand civilization" and emphasizing the necessity of holding Ottomanauthorities responsible, as well as the role and significance of theSevres Peace Treaty of 10 August 1920 and US President WoodrowWilson's Arbitral Award of 22 November 1920 in overcoming theconsequences of the Armenian Genocide:

- Reiterates the commitment of Armenia and the Armenian people tocontinue the international struggle for the prevention of genocides,the restoration of the rights of people subjected to genocide and theestablishment of historical justice;

- Expresses gratitude to those states and international, religiousand non-governmental organizations that had the political courage torecognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide as a heinous crime againsthumanity and even today continue to undertake legal measures to thatend, also preventing the dangerous manifestations of denialism;

- Appeals to UN member states, international organizations, and allpeople of good will, regardless of their ethnic origin and religiousaffiliation, to unite their efforts aimed at restoring historicaljustice and paying tribute to the memory of victims of theArmenian Genocide;

- Expresses the united will of Armenia and the Armenian people toachieve worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide andelimination of the consequences of the Genocide, preparing to this enda file of legal claims as a point of departure in the process ofrestoring individual, communal and pan-Armenian rights and legitimateinterests;

- Condemns the illegal blockade of the Republic of Armenia imposed bythe Republic of Turkey, its anti-Armenian stance in international foraand the imposition of preconditions in the normalization of interstaterelations, considering this a consequence of the continued impunity ofthe Armenian Genocide, Meds Yeghern;

- Calls upon the Republic of Turkey to recognize and condemn theArmenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire, and to face its ownhistory and memory through commemorating the victims of that heinouscrime against humanity and renouncing the policy of falsification,denialsm and banalization of this indisputable fact;

- Expresses the hope that recognition and condemnation of theArmenian Genocide by Turkey will serve as a starting point for thehistorical reconciliation of the Armenian and Turkish peoples;

-Considers the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide animportant milestone in the ongoing struggle for historical justiceunder the motto "I remember and I demand."

It is noteworthy that the Pan-Armenian declaration counters the persistent Turkish falsification that the claims against Turkey are being advanced by the Diaspora and not the Republic of Armenia. The unanimously adopted declaration clearly reflects that Armenians worldwide, both in the Homeland and Diaspora, are firmly committed to pursuing their just demands from the Republic of Turkey!