Erdogan Made a Desperate Attempt, But Received a Firm Response: Robert Kocharian

The second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, addressed the events of 2005 on his Facebook page when then-Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wrote a letter to the President of Armenia.

“In April 2005, Armenia was preparing to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide with great solemnity, within the framework of the 90th anniversary. In previous years, thanks to the efforts of the Armenian authorities and diplomacy, the recognition process of the genocide had made significant progress,” Kocharian noted.

According to the former president, this could not fail to disturb neighboring Turkey. Erdogan had sent a letter to President Kocharian.

“Erdogan was making a desperate attempt to hand over the issue of the Armenian Genocide to historians, but he received a deserved firm response,” emphasized Kocharian.

In his reply, the Armenian President stated: “The responsibility for the development of bilateral relations lies with the governments, and we are not authorized to delegate it to historians; therefore, we again propose to establish normal relations between our two countries unconditionally.” There was no follow-up response from Erdogan.

Kocharian pointed out that it was difficult to respond to a politically literate, fact-based, and visionary letter.