Enzo Cannizzaro: With denial of Armenian Genocide Turkey avoids moral and financial consequences

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. With the denial of the Armenian Genocide Turkey tends to avoid both moral and financial consequences, in an interview with “Armenpress” professor of International Law and European Union Law at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” Enzo Cannizzarosaid this who arrived in Yerevan to participate in “Against the Crime of Genocide” second Global forum.

-Professor Cannizzaro, more than a century later after the Armenian Genocide the Turkish state continues to refuse from the historic truth. How would You comment on this official position of Turkish Republic?

-The position of the Turkish Republic is, in all evidence, a political position, by which it tends to avoid the moral consequences of that event. I believe that the international community should intensify its efforts to obtain the recognition and some symbolic form of reparation.

-How would you evaluate the position of international community on this issue?

-The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is gaining ground. Although with great prudence, many European States have expressly qualified this event as a genocide. Much more could be done, at the European as well as at the global level. A more resolute position, however, could hardly be expected, in consideration of the role of Turkey in the Western system of alliance. The Armenian Genocide constitutes a clear example of the delicate balance between realpolitik and moral imperatives.

-Taking into account the fact that while adopting the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948 the United Nations emphasized the necessity of international cooperation in the struggle against that crime, don't You think that the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide will be a significant step for the prevention of genocides in future?

-In my opinion, prevention of genocide will be a key issue in the future. The ICJ has already said that the obligation to prevent is a legal obligation and lack of compliance with it entails international responsibility. The recognition of the Armenian Genocide would certainly give more impetus to the international cooperation to prevent further genocides from occurring.

-Today Turkey arms the terrorist groups that are committing crimes against humanity in the Middle East. Don’t you think that this kind of activities of Turkey come from the impunity for committing the first Genocide of the 20th century?

-I do not have much information on the relationship between Turkey and the terrorist groups active in the Middle east. The intensification of the efforts for a wider recognition of the Armenian Genocide would certain deter States and State-like entities from committing or from supporting genocidal conduct in the future.

-What steps are needed towards the recognition of Armenian Genocide? How important, in Your opinion, are the claims and compensations?

-This is probably a very important issue. A State may be reluctant to recognize the role of past governments in genocide in order not to bear the financial consequences of these conducts, as demonstrated by the recent case Germany vs. Italy, decided in 2014 by the International Court of Justice. Under international law, compensation must be paid to the individuals injured; however, the States concerned may limit the financial burden by recourse to forms of global compensation. In my view, the moral responsibility for genocide is more important that the compensations to be paid. A claim for integral compensation may constitute a further obstacle to the recognition of genocide.