Eduard Minasyan considers the offer of setting up a Committee of historians an absurd. “On the threshold of the Genocide centennial, we – the scientists, really have problems to solve,” said the De3an of the Faculty of History of YSU Eduard Minasyan on February 26 during the meeting with the journalists at the “Debate” press club. He considers the number one issue not only the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the condemnation, but also the demand for compensation, which was also enclosed by the Pan-Armenian Declaration. He believes that the Armenian nation has achievements in terms of recognition, for example, more than two dozen countries have recognized and condemned the Armenian Genocide. “Today, Turkey is constantly insisting on setting up a Committee of historians, discussing issues jointly, which is an absurd and would mean casting a doubt on the issue of the genocide, in the event when there are international archives of Germany, Austria-Hungary, America and almost all countries that had embassies in Constantinople, the archives are open. It is not a matter of discussion.”
Mr. Minasyan said that by saying compensation it should be noted also the material side. “We know that even during the war of 1915, the Turkish gold was sent to the German banks, which at the time amounted to approximately 30 million, and today, when calculating, it goes beyond 320 million dollars. Let’s not forget the calculations by our national delegation, Avetis Aharonyan’s calculations, the amount was 14.5 billion francs, of course, by today’s standards this amount reaches 100 billion dollars. In addition, we are deprived of the homeland, which is a very important factor; we have to solve regional matters.”
Ami CHICHAKYAN
