"Genocidal anti-Armenianism has intensified in the 2020s" - international experts

Today, a press conference was held in Yerevan, "Day of Remembrance of Armenian Genocide Victims. recognition, justice, prevention, from 1915 to ethnic cleansing in Artsakh. The event was held against the background of the continuing consequences of the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, which many experts and human rights organizations view as a direct continuation of the genocidal policy that began in the Ottoman Empire. "The destruction of Artsakh did not end with the ethnic cleansing of 120,000 Armenians in 2023. Its consequences - the Armenians kept in Baku prisons, the denial of the right to return, and the destruction of Armenian heritage - continue to this day. All European countries are parties to the Genocide Convention and, according to its Article 1, are obliged to prevent genocide. Geopolitical agreements cannot replace these obligations," said Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. American Genocide scholar, Worcester State University vice-rector for academic affairs, Henry K. Theriault warned in his speech: "The violence of 1915-1923 was never overcome by those who carried it out. The success of 1915 only strengthened Turkish anti-Armenian sentiment and contributed to its spread in Azerbaijan." According to him, "the genocidal anti-Armenian sentiment, instead of fading over time, has deepened, spread in different societies and in 2020 was activated again with full force." He emphasized that "survival depends at least on asserting the right of Armenians to compensation for Artsakh in 1915, 1890s and now in 2020s." The culture or identity of the people cannot be erased. The knowledge and the enrichment that comes from the union of cultures cannot be erased. My initiatives support factual investigations, protection of historical heritage and grassroots peace-making efforts so that dialogue and cooperation can overcome division," public figure Pierre de Gaulle, grandson of the first French president, emphasized the importance of historical memory and access to the truth. Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan made a direct connection between the 1915 genocide and the deportation of Armenians from Artsakh, pointing out common methods of destroying the Armenian presence: mass murders, deportations. and destruction of cultural heritage. Head of "Hay Dat" special programs Gevorg Gukasyan and political scientist Beniamin Matevosyan discussed the idea of ​​"West Azerbaijan" as a tool of revanchism. In Argentina, the head of the Armenian Cultural Union of Armenia, Adrian Lomlomjian, called on the Latin American diasporas to more actively achieve the recognition of Artsakh's crimes and support international lawsuits. In the absence of real justice, reparations and enforcement of international law, the lessons of 1915 risk being repeated, already in the eyes of the international community.