Pashinyan Creates Dangerous Geopolitical Precedent, Lemkin Institute

The recent statements by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarding the Armenian Genocide echo Turkish denialist rhetoric. This is stated in a declaration by the Lemkin Institute for the Prevention of Genocide.

“His nonsensical statements ignore, among others, decades of historical research on the Armenian Genocide by Turkish, German, British, American, and Armenian scholars, hinder the ongoing struggle for justice for the victims of the Armenian Genocide, and create a dangerous geopolitical dynamic, especially in the context of ongoing threats from Azerbaijan against the Artsakh Armenians and the Republic of Armenia,” the statement reads.

“We hope that the Prime Minister of Armenia will clarify his statements regarding the Genocide and will work to prevent any similarities between his remarks and those of genocide deniers in the future,” it adds.

Recall that on January 24, during a meeting with members of the Armenian community in Zurich, Pashinyan, in response to a question about the Armenian Genocide, stated, “We need to understand what happened and why it happened. And how do we perceive this, through whom do we perceive it? How come, in 1939, there was no agenda for the Armenian Genocide, and how come, in 1950, the agenda of the Armenian Genocide appeared? We need to understand how it happened.”