110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide marked in Armenia

Armenia has marked the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The memorable date revealed a deep split in society. Some Armenians are burning Turkish flags, demonstrating their determination to continue their traditional feud with their neighbors. Others are ready to forget old grudges for the sake of a peaceful future.

It should be recalled that from 1915 to 1923, according to various estimates, at least 1.5 million people were killed. The genocide was carried out both through physical destruction and forced deportation (people died of starvation, disease, and the like). After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, a tribunal was held in Turkey against the organizers of the extermination of Armenians. They were found guilty and sentenced to death. However, it was not possible to carry out the sentence, as they fled from justice. Later, Armenian avengers from Dashnaktsutyun, as part of Operation Nemesis, searched for and killed those involved in organizing the genocide.

Despite this, the Turkish authorities still refuse to recognize the extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Official Ankara claims that people died of natural causes during the resettlement from the war zone, as well as as part of the war that claimed the lives of not only Armenians, but also many Turks. This position is shared by the Azerbaijani authorities. Nevertheless, Russia, France, Germany, the United States and 30 other countries around the world recognize the Armenian Genocide in one form or another.

The 100-year-old story has become one of the pillars of the Armenian national identity. Until recently, the Armenian authorities have made serious efforts to ensure that the world does not forget about the genocide. However, after the second Karabakh War, Nikol Pashinyan’s government decided to change its priorities. Now Yerevan is trying to reconcile with its neighbors, so it tries to avoid topics that will be obviously negatively perceived in Baku and Ankara.

For example, on the night of April 24, a traditional torchlight procession was held in the Armenian capital, during which local nationalists burned the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan. “Pashinyan condemns this practice, considering it irresponsible and unacceptable. The burning of flags of an internationally recognized State, especially neighboring States, cannot be considered otherwise by the head of State. This is a provocative and inflammatory practice,” said Nazeli Baghdasaryan, a spokeswoman for the Armenian leader.

In addition, addressing the people of Armenia, Pashinyan stressed that the best way to deal with the trauma caused by the genocide is to build a strong country. “Only a developed, sovereign, secure Republic of Armenia, which has delimited and demarcated borders, is a means to experience the tragedy of Metz Yeghern (the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. – “NG”), a proof of our loyalty to the memory of all the victims of our people,” said the Prime Minister.

In turn, Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan explained that the tragedy of a century ago should be a lesson for his compatriots. “Our goal is to build a united, strong and peaceful Armenia based on the lessons of the past and aimed at a sustainable future. We don’t forget about what happened, but we don’t want the memory to become just a source of pain and sorrow.: This should make us more determined and far-sighted in our future steps. We bow to the memory of all the martyrs and reaffirm our commitment to defend our statehood, value peace and ensure a decent future for our generations,” Simonyan said.

Opponents of Pashinyan and his team, on the contrary, consider them “Turkish agents.” In particular, former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan linked the Armenian Genocide to the liquidation of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and Azerbaijan’s policy of erasing the Armenian trace from the history of the region. In this regard, he stated that “more than a million lives interrupted these days 110 years ago can never become a subject of bargaining, and the indisputable fact of genocide cannot be presented as an “obstacle to peace.” According to Sargsyan, the opposite approach means “moral degradation and betrayal of the nation.”

The Pan-Armenian Council of Diplomats, created by former employees of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, completely accused the Pashinyan government of joining the struggle of Ankara and Baku against the Armenians.

The issue of historical memory has also become an occasion for heated discussions in Parliament. The opposition Armenia bloc has proposed criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide. The ruling “Civil Contract” considered the proposal excessive, since the country already has a law prohibiting the denial of any genocide. Disputes on this topic even led to a scuffle among the deputies.

Political scientist Mikael Zolyan told NG that since Armenia gained independence, approaches to the genocide have alternated. The first President of the Republic, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, believed that it was important to remember the tragedy, but it should not be the cornerstone of relations with Turkey. The second president Robert Kocharian, on the contrary, paid great attention to the genocide. His successor, Serzh Sargsyan, tried to maneuver. When Pashinyan came to power, he supported the topic of genocide, but after 2020 he revised his approach.

“It became clear that it would be very difficult to ensure Armenia’s survival without relations with Turkey. Therefore, official Yerevan has switched to a pragmatic policy. The memory of the genocide is an important part of the identity of all Armenians and the Armenian state. But now the majority tacitly supports Pashinyan’s position. Of course, there are plenty of critics too, but they mostly live in the Diaspora, and there are not enough of them inside Armenia to talk about a critical mass,” says Zolyan.

Anton Yevstratov, associate professor at the Russian-Armenian University, noted that Kocharyan and Sargsyan also tried to establish relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, but this caused less criticism than Pashinyan’s efforts, since there was no defeat in the war and the expulsion of Armenians from Karabakh. “Because of this, society perceives attempts to establish a dialogue with Baku and Ankara much more negatively. In particular, the refusal to promote the topic of genocide is perceived as a national humiliation. But for Pashinyan, the “peace agenda” is the only reason he remains in power. At the same time, the Armenian-Azerbaijani and Armenian-Turkish relations are closely linked,” Yevstratov told NG.