Ruben Melkonyan, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of YSU, believes that the enthusiasm that exists in German Bundestag after the adoption of the resolution on the Armenian Genocide proves that we continue remaining in the domain of moral victories. Note that the German parliament passed the resolution on the Armenian Genocide, which describes the killings of Armenians a century ago as genocide. In an interview with Aravot.am, Mr. Melkonyan noted that this excessive enthusiasm is not perceivable for him. He also does not consider the series of gratitude appropriate, “Maybe the diplomatic etiquette requires giving some response, for example, the Foreign Ministry’s response was necessary, but this overall euphoria and enthusiasm are not appropriate. The Bundestag decision is politically interesting, but it does not imply compensation, some financial obligation for the losses caused by the Armenian Genocide.”
Drawing a parallel with the Jews, Mr. Melkonyan noted that he does not think that the Jews could be encouraged by the adoption of such a document that has no specific legal consequences. We reminded Ruben Melkonyan’s forecast a day before that it is less likely that the Bundestag will adopt the resolution on the Armenian Genocide. Mr. Melkonyan responded, “Let me be mistaken.” Addressing the question of whether the adoption of this resolution in the Bundestag was a surprise, the Turkologist replied, “If we look from the perspective of real political interests, the decision really was a surprise. All those present in the German parliament consisted of 630 lawmakers expressed their commitment to the democratic values, but the whole parliament was not represented there.
The second factor is that the Pope’s famous statement made in 2015 continues to have some impact. It should be noted that there are Catholic parliamentarians in the Bundestag, to whom the Pope’s posture is decisive.” Appreciating the courage of German parliamentarians, Mr. Melkonyan calls on to be more restraint and view this issue in the context of Germany’s confrontation with humanity and to prove its loyalty to democracy, and then see an Armenophile trend in it.
According to the Turkologist, in the context of all this, it is more the desire to restrain the Turkish extreme aggressive ambitions, the problem of refugees and Erdoğan’s and his government’s day by day more aggressive behavior. As interpreted by Ruben Melkonyan, the Armenian Genocide becomes the trump card, which the German authorities used. To the question of what problem Germany solved, Mr. Melkonyan replied, “First of all, it is the problem of Sirian refugees since it is no secret that Germany on behalf of the EU is negotiating to keep these refugees in Turkey and giving money for it. On the other hand, Germany being an EU leading country is concerned about the growing aggressive political behavior and aspirations in Turkey, which are associated with the person and government of Erdoğan. Hence, Germany and the world needed certain restraining mechanisms to Turkey.”
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
