The Struggle Will Continue Until the Turkish Government Finds Strength to Recognize the Armenian Genocide - Armenian Foreign Ministry

The Armenian Foreign Ministry's statement on the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide:

“Every year, on April 24, the entire Armenian nation commemorates the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. This planned atrocity, unprecedented in its scale, targeted and subjected the Armenian people living in the Ottoman Empire to forced displacement and mass killings. Over the years, the Young Turk government, guided by the ideology of Pan-Turkism, extended the policy of Armenian Genocide to Eastern Armenia.

As a result of these actions, between 1915 and 1923, 1.5 million people were killed, hundreds of thousands of lives were destroyed, and an entire nation was stripped of its spiritual, educational, cultural, and economic properties, along with the right to live in significant parts of its historical homeland. In 1878, at the Berlin Congress, the Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire committed to guaranteeing the safety of the Armenian population in its provinces. By planning and executing the Armenian Genocide, the Young Turk government nullified the international guarantees of safety given to the Armenian people and set a precedent for solving the issue of human rights protection through the execution of an entire nation.

These actions later formed the basis for the definition of the crime of genocide and were reflected in the international convention on the “Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” Nevertheless, the organizers of the Armenian Genocide have not stood before international justice. The impunity of the Armenian Genocide continues to inspire those who plan new international crimes today. The recent war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh and the genocidal actions of the Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance during it have illustrated that approaches to 'solving' international issues through force have not changed.

The crimes committed against the Armenian people of Artsakh have confirmed that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is crucial not only for historical justice and truth but also for the security of the Armenian people. The purpose of the Armenian Genocide was the complete extermination of the Armenian people. Thanks to the collective efforts of Armenians and the support shown to the survivors of the genocide by various peoples and countries worldwide, the Armenian people have dignifiedly survived their greatest catastrophe in history.

Today, the Armenian people in Armenia and the diaspora demonstrate their resilience in fighting for justice and truth. This struggle once again affirms that neither the brute force of the Young Turk government, nor the denialist maneuvers of successive Turkish governments, nor the hostile actions against the Armenian people in the region can erase the memory of the first genocide of the 20th century and its martyrs. This struggle will continue until the Turkish government finds strength to recognize the Armenian Genocide and takes steps to eliminate its consequences.”