“We believe there is possibility to live in peace and solidarity. The Peoples’ Democratic Party recognizes the Armenian Genocide and knows Turkey will fail to solve the Kurdish issue and become a democratic state without confronting the historical past, Armenian member of the Turkish parliament Garo Paylan of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) stated on Tuesday during remarks at the 6th Pan-Armenian Armenia-Diaspora conference underway in Yerevan.
“The Kurdish population demanded equal rights, and the Armenians started speaking of the Genocide. In 2012, for the first time since 1920, we gathered at Istanbul Taksim square to commemorate the Armenian Genocide victims. Everyone knew that Mets Yeghern (Great Catastrophe) took place. Regretfully, today the Turkish parliament bans to employ the ‘G -word,’ and lawmakers speaking in contravention of the new parliamentary regulations can face expulsion or sanctions,” Paylan said.
In his words, under President Erdogan’s rule Turkey is living a period of ‘dark winter’ as it lived exactly 100 years ago, while the West continues keeping a close eye on human rights violations in Turkey as it did on the Armenian Genocide.
The Turkish-Armenian lawmaker reminded, the battle for democracy is a long and hard struggle amid the nationalism gaining ground in Turkey.
“Only democratic Turkey can recognize the Armenian Genocide, likewise only democratic Turkey may open the border with Armenia,” Paylan stated, adding the matter should not be passed to coming generations since four generations have struggled for achieving justice.
“Turkey lives a dark period, as our fears grow with predictions of a new crime, like the one that took place 100 years ago. Allowing crimes to go unrecognized and unpunished will provoke future crimes. Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide, and I vow to struggle for that,” Paylan concluded, receiving a standing ovation of the forum participants.
It is noteworthy, that Paylan has refused to give interviews to media outlets since Monday, when the Pan-Armenian conference opened, instead asking reporters to address all questions at a press conference slated on Friday.
