On April 24, during the spring session of the PACE, Zaruhi Postanjyan, a member of the Armenian delegation to the PACE and the secretary of the Heritage Party parliamentary group, stated in her speech at the discussion on violence against religious communities that the report raised concern particularly because violence against religious minorities is not only physical, but also psychological. Z. Postnajyan said in the PACE: “I represent Armenians who have been victims of violence; that violence continues. In 1912, according to official Turkish data, there were more than 2 000 functioning Armenian churches and monasteries in the Ottoman Empire. They have been illegally appropriated by the Republic of Turkey and today remain under the ownership of the Turkish Government. They should be returned to their rightful owners. We should ask the question: what happened to the Armenians who built those churches? I stand in this Chamber wearing a special T-shirt to urge you, once again, to heed the requirements not only of Armenians but of the humane world community.” Talking about one of the aims of the Armenian Genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire, Ms. Postanjyan stated that the ultimate goal had been Islamization, which continued in Turkey today. Z. Postanjyan stated: “In the Armenian world, April 24 is a day of demanding justice and remembrance. However, April 24 is also a day of loss. We were dispossessed of our land; it was the great Armenian dispossession. Since justice has not been restored, I call on you to remember and honor the memory of the victims of the Armenian genocide by placing flowers and candles at the monument to the Holocaust outside this building.” www.aravot.am inquired of Tevan Poghosyan, a member of the Heritage Party parliamentary group who had been a proponent of improving the Armenia-Turkey relations, whether they didn’t fear that such speeches made by the Heritage Party secretary might render even a slight chance of reconciliation hopeless. He replied: “I still say that the Armenia-Turkey relations should be normalized. However, the issue is what should lead to that. Raffi Hovhannisyan also said on April 24 that the Armenia-Turkey relations should be normalized without any precondition, with which I agree. Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide; Turkey should confront its history. Yes, the Armenia-Turkey relations should be improved without preconditions; Turkey should be held accountable for the Armenian Genocide. As for the concern about rendering the relations hopeless, let me ask you this; are there any relations now? Turkey itself has stopped every
process of improvement; it seems to me that no statement can impede a process that doesn’t exist.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
