Mnatsakanyan: Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not a matter  concerning only Armenians

ArmInfo. The recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide is the work of several generations and all Armenians, and a lot of work has been done from  this point of view. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan  stated this on April 21 during a press conference in Yerevan.

According to him, the political message today is that we are in  difficult conditions in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, but  in other years there were different situations and difficulties, but  the memory of the holy martyrs was never stopped and a single  exclamation was voiced against genocidal crimes.  According to him,  the format that was chosen this year contains an important message  when Armenians around the world will have the opportunity to  participate in this process together and once again with a single  voice to remind that even after 105 years, the Armenian people  continue to fight for restoration justice, and that recognition of  the Armenian Genocide is not a matter that concerns only Armenians.   "The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is an important tool, a  step towards the prevention of new crimes against humanity," he  stressed.

Touching upon the question of changing the slogan "Remember and  demand," Mnatsakanyan recalled that the issue of recognition of the  Armenian Genocide is an all-Armenian issue, and concerns every  Armenian.  "The above-mentioned slogan is the pan-Armenian slogan  adopted by the Pan-Armenian declaration. This is a pan-Armenian issue  and all decisions, including those on changing the slogan, are made  on the basis of this logic," the minister said.

Touching upon further steps on the international recognition of the  Armenian Genocide, he recalled that 105 years ago the Armenian people  were left alone with the criminals, and today should not have been  wiped off the face of the earth. "However, the Armenian people won,  develops and flourishes in this battle, but the unhealed wound of the  rejected justice continues to bleed and remain a serious challenge,  and the struggle will continue in this direction," the minister said.

He emphasized that efforts to recognize the Genocide are ongoing, as  well as the prevention of new crimes against humanity.

Answering ArmInfo's question about Armenia's steps to prevent new  crimes against humanity in the international arena, the minister  emphasized that the tradition of taking steps to prevent has been  rooted in the Armenian side since 1998, when the UN General Assembly  first adopted a resolution on the 50th anniversary of the Convention  on genocide. "Since then, Armenia has consistently created a  sufficiently deep and meaningful international agenda for the  prevention of crimes against humanity," he said, adding that Armenia  is initiating various resolutions in various UN structures, which are  designed to complement various tools in preventing mass crimes and  genocides .

According to him, this year, Armenia, as a member of the UN Human  Rights Council, introduced the next resolution, which sums up the  activities at past stages and outlines further activities in this  direction. The Foreign Minister added that the resolution is now on  the agenda, but because of the new type of coronavirus, the Council's  work is stalled and as soon as the work resumes, the process will be  brought to its logical conclusion. Mnatsakanyan once again emphasized  that this issue is among the priorities of Armenia's foreign policy.