This Is Not Pashinyan's Program, It Is My Personal Approach: Kocharyan

The statement regarding the completion of lists of genocide victims is my personal approach; there is no political decision, clarified Andranik Kocharyan, the chairman of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee, in an interview with Azatutyun today, emphasizing that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not involved in this matter.

Kocharyan stated that he does not doubt the fact of the genocide or the figure of 1.5 million. However, his approach is that additional evidence should enrich the existing information, which would help to reveal not only the data of those who perished in the genocide but also to claim compensation, as these individuals lost capabilities and wealth as well.

On Sunday, Kocharyan had announced on Azatutyun’s broadcast that Pashinyan aims to establish real grounds related to the genocide and to make the complete list of compatriots who suffered from the genocide more substantive. Yesterday, Kocharyan reaffirmed the same during parliamentary briefings.

Genocide scholar and former deputy director of the Genocide Museum Suren Manukyan considered the government’s initiative extremely dangerous, reminding that the idea of compiling lists is one of the Turkish denialist theses that have been circulated since the 1960s.