This
time it referred to the Armenian Genocide the ethnic separation and forced eviction
towards our compatriots.PACE discusses and didn’t accept /by 37 for and
30 against votes/ the report of Swede delegate, the committee reporter of Migration,
refugees and inhabitants Mites Einarson which referred to the victims of forced
eviction and ethnic separation. We must mention that before discussing it the
suggestion of French delegation’s chairperson Bernard Shrainer on sending the
report to the additional examination was put to the vote as it was rather ambiguous
and included conception disorders. As an example was mentioned that the concentration
camps were also considered as forced eviction. Einarson apprehended the criticism
rather painfully and declared that it was made an attempt to "kill"
his report so it would be clear after voting who was for and who was against the
problems included in his report. After such kind of "ultimatum" only
26 delegates dared to vote for sending the report back and 40 delegates were against
it. Let’s notice perhaps the Turkish delegation has also been dissatisfied at
the report so Einarson specified beforehand that he didn’t mean the Armenian Genocide
speaking on assassination of Armenians in his report. One of the main critics
of the report was the chairperson of Culture, Science and Education commission,
the deputy president of PACE Luis Maria de Pug. He said in his speech that document
might be improved and avoided of difficulties, which would be given because of
some contradictions of the report. Just he suggested excluding the second point
from the resolution: this point enumerates which peoples were evicted forcedly
from their places of residence in 20th century. The argumentation was that list
would never be complete and there was no guarantee that someone would be forgotten.
Though it was declared that the most absurd events were enumerated and the Armenian-Azerbaijani
issue was also mentioned, the correcting was accepted and two suggestions of our
delegation mechanically were failed, which referred to that second point of the
resolution. But the Armenians succeeded in gathering 24 signatures /among them
were Andreas Gross, Lord Resell-Johnston, Bernard Shtainer and others/ to mention
in the resolution that one of the most important facts of the 20th century was
the Genocide and ethnic separation towards over 2 million Armenians during the
World War First. The second suggestion of our delegation was about mentioning
the Armenians among evicted nations forcedly in the second point of the resolution.
Artashes Geghamian and Shavarsh Kocharian made speeches on this issue. The
latter especially spoke about Einarson’s suggestion to create a memorial European
center of the victims of forced evicted and ethnic separation. Shavarsh Kocharian
mentioned it would be desirable to create that center earlier: "But there
were and still are some discrepancy, there was also a fear not to discontent any
member country stressing the tragic events." He also considered symbolical
the suggestion of creation such kind of center in 2005 as this year will be the
90th anniversary of what the Osmanian empire realized towards the Armenians. "Those
victims didn’t have weapons on their arms, they were peaceful inhabitants of the
Osmanian empire: in war conditions the men were isolated from their families and
were killed. The unprotected women, children and old men were also killed with
the indescribable severity. They were killed only for being Armenians and Christians.
This crime, which is directed not only to the Armenians but the whole humanity
according to the UN General Assembly Convention of December 9, 1948, is Genocide.
Today a lot of European Parliament and CoE member countries condemned the Genocide.
But because of delay of condemnation the genocide repeated in the world. Adolph
Hitler’s expression "who does remember the Armenians today?" preceded
the Holocaust. The Armenian slaughters repeated at the end of XX century in Azerbaijan,
in Sumgait in 1988 and in the capital Baku in 1990." The member of Azerbaijani
delegation Giultakin Hajieva replied to these Armenian speeches, which is too
active in contrast to our woman delegate HermineNaghdalian. Hajieva quoted from
the German historian Muller that when the Armenians began writing history they
turned from historian into Armenian. Then the Azerbaijani delegate began producing
her nation as victims of the Genocide. But this time the Armenian-Azerbaijani
traditional dispute was meaningless in the European instance as both our name
and the whole report wasn’t accepted. This doesn’t mean that Einarson’s document
is out of the agenda. He has the opportunity to produce it again during a year
or half a year. This is a time out for our delegation to work up in the resolution
beforehand for mentioning the Armenian Genocide.Anna IsraelianStrasbourg