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SARKISIAN CALLS FOR BROADER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/24090437.html
03.05.2011
Switzerland -- President Micheline Calmy-Rey (L) and her visiting
Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian, inspect a Swiss honor guard,
3May2011.
President Serzh Sarkisian on Tuesday urged more countries of the
world to recognize the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire as genocide, saying that would not damage their
relations with Turkey.
Making an official visit to Switzerland, Sarkisian cited a relevant
resolution that was adopted by the Swiss parliament in 2003. He argued
that its passage, strongly condemned by Ankara, did not prevent the
Swiss government from mediating in Turkish-Armenian fence-mending
negotiations held in 2008-2010.
"By recognizing the genocide, Switzerland condemned that despicable
crime against humanity and thereby ... prevailed over all geopolitical
and military-economic considerations," Sarkisian said after talks
with his Swiss counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey.
"Most importantly, that absolutely didn't prevent Switzerland from
supporting the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations within
a short period of time," he told a joint news conference. "In this
regard, Switzerland's example is the best one, and it should serve
as a lesson for many countries of the world."
Sarkisian similarly stressed the importance of Armenian genocide
recognition during Calmy-Rey's visit to Yerevan in late March. He
said he has personally asked U.S. President Barack Obama to utter
the word genocide in reference to the deaths of some 1.5 Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey.
Obama has declined to do that since taking office. In a statement
issued in April 2009, Obama implied that he is not using the
politically sensitive term to avoid antagonizing Turkey and setting
back its rapprochement with Armenia facilitated by Switzerland and
the United States.
The rapprochement led to the signing in Zurich in October 2009 of
two Turkish-Armenian protocols on the full normalization of bilateral
relations. Turkey subsequently made their parliamentary ratification
conditional on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh.
Sarkisian on Tuesday again condemned this precondition. He also
accused Ankara of trying to "drive a wedge" between Armenia and its
worldwide Diaspora. The latter has for decades been at the forefront
of the genocide recognition campaign.
From: A. Papazian
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/24090437.html
03.05.2011
Switzerland -- President Micheline Calmy-Rey (L) and her visiting
Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian, inspect a Swiss honor guard,
3May2011.
President Serzh Sarkisian on Tuesday urged more countries of the
world to recognize the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire as genocide, saying that would not damage their
relations with Turkey.
Making an official visit to Switzerland, Sarkisian cited a relevant
resolution that was adopted by the Swiss parliament in 2003. He argued
that its passage, strongly condemned by Ankara, did not prevent the
Swiss government from mediating in Turkish-Armenian fence-mending
negotiations held in 2008-2010.
"By recognizing the genocide, Switzerland condemned that despicable
crime against humanity and thereby ... prevailed over all geopolitical
and military-economic considerations," Sarkisian said after talks
with his Swiss counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey.
"Most importantly, that absolutely didn't prevent Switzerland from
supporting the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations within
a short period of time," he told a joint news conference. "In this
regard, Switzerland's example is the best one, and it should serve
as a lesson for many countries of the world."
Sarkisian similarly stressed the importance of Armenian genocide
recognition during Calmy-Rey's visit to Yerevan in late March. He
said he has personally asked U.S. President Barack Obama to utter
the word genocide in reference to the deaths of some 1.5 Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey.
Obama has declined to do that since taking office. In a statement
issued in April 2009, Obama implied that he is not using the
politically sensitive term to avoid antagonizing Turkey and setting
back its rapprochement with Armenia facilitated by Switzerland and
the United States.
The rapprochement led to the signing in Zurich in October 2009 of
two Turkish-Armenian protocols on the full normalization of bilateral
relations. Turkey subsequently made their parliamentary ratification
conditional on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh.
Sarkisian on Tuesday again condemned this precondition. He also
accused Ankara of trying to "drive a wedge" between Armenia and its
worldwide Diaspora. The latter has for decades been at the forefront
of the genocide recognition campaign.
From: A. Papazian