Turkey left alone with burden of its gravest crime, Hayk Demoyan says
“After the German Bundestag recognized the Armenian Genocide, in fact Turkey was left alone with the burden of its gravest crime, because Germany also admitted its complicity in the Genocide,” director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Hayk Demoyan said during a press conference.
According to him, Germany made this decision, after 3-4 years of discussions, hearings, expertise. “Germany has been delaying the discussion of this resolution for various reasons. The German-Turkish portal coming from the second half of the 19th century has been very strong. A step-by-step work has been carried out by both Armenian-German and German intellectuals”.
As Demoyan noted, by admitting its complicity, Germany faced its history, for which Turkey isn’t yet ready, as always adopting the same position, making defiant statements, calling back its ambassador.
According to him, in case of thorough thinking, Ankara won’t resort to drastic measures, as it can lead to negative outcome, considering the Turkish working migrants in Germany, besides, any drastic move can ruin not only Turkish-German, but also Turkish-European relationships.
Demoyan also noted that he doesn’t think Turkey will prey on the Armenians living in Turkey, because there’s already tension with the Kurdish people.
Concerning Turkish President Erdogan’s statements on deporting Armenians who don’t have Turkish citizenship, Demoyan said that such statements are always voiced every time a country officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide.
“I think these statements must be responded on a state level, because silence isn’t an answer, they are our citizens,” he said adding that the Armenian side should also mention the hate speech against Armenians, which Turkey and Azerbaijan carry out on state level.
According to Hayk Demoyan, the adoption of such resolution had a very psychological significance, especially after the escalation of tension on the Line of Contact between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan in April.
He also noted that this kind of resolutions don’t have any legal outcome, yet they are important for undertaking the future steps. According to Demoyan, after this recognition, a logical question arises where the belongings of the Armenian victims are, which Turkey has kept in German banks.