Armenian premier`s statememnts in Zurich in conflict with Armenia`s  Constitution, Criminal Code and Swiss laws - UAR

ArmInfo. The statements made by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in Zurich at a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community contradict the Constitution and the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the laws of Switzerland, distort historical facts, and are  another manifestation of the malicious policy of the Armenian  authorities towards the Diaspora and the history of our people. This  is stated in the statement of the Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR),  in connection with the statements of the Prime Minister of Armenia  during his meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of  Switzerland.

"The Prime Minister of Armenia, who is obliged, in accordance with  the laws of his country, to seek comprehensive recognition of the  Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, questioned the historically  proven and condemned by dozens of countries and international  organizations fact of the Armenian Genocide, calling for  "re-examining this issue and understanding what happened and why" and  why in 1939, in his opinion, "there was no agenda of genocide, but  already in 1950 it appeared on the agenda."

"Pashinyan chose Switzerland as a platform for promoting Turkish  narratives, thereby demonstrating his disdain for a state where the  denial of the Armenian Genocide, like the Holocaust, is a criminal  offense," the SAR said. "It is obvious that even Pashinyan, who  received a higher education diploma through revolutionary blackmail  after coming to power, like any Armenian schoolchild, is well aware  of what happened more than a century ago in Ottoman Turkey. And now  he is throwing in this discourse with the aim of drawing the public  into a shameful discussion imposed on him, leading to the devaluation  of our values and achievements, desecration of the memory of one and  a half million victims of the Armenian Genocide, canonized by the  Armenian Apostolic Church," the SAR added.

In this vein, the Union of Armenians of Russia drew attention to the  fact that Pashinyan's statements are assessed in the Constitution and  the Criminal Code of Armenia, laws and statements of dozens of  countries around the world, including Russia and other great powers  that condemned the Armenian Genocide, in the United Nations  resolution adopted at the initiative of Armenia, according to which  December 9 is annually celebrated as "Day of Remembrance of the  Victims of the Crime of Genocide", in the Joint Statement of the  Governments of Great Britain, France and Russia of May 2, 1915, as  well as in the decision of the Special Military Tribunal of  Constantinople, which in 1919-1920 sentenced the leaders of the Young  Turks for organizing the massacre and deportation of Armenians, as  well as in many other facts, testimonies and statements that until  today have been questioned only by the Turkish authorities - the  successors of the organizers of the Genocide. "Regarding other  offensive statements made by Pashinyan towards the diaspora during  the aforementioned meeting, the Union of Armenians of Russia will  soon publish a special statement," the statement continues.

The Prime Minister of Armenia, at a meeting with representatives of  the Armenian community in Switzerland, questioned the fact of the  Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. "We must understand what  happened and why it happened. And how we perceived it, through whom  we perceived it: how did it happen that in 1939 there was no agenda  for the Armenian Genocide, but in 1950 it appeared? How this  happened, we should understand or should not understand," the  Armenian Prime Minister noted.

Independent experts are inclined to believe that he is apparently  either unaware that the term Genocide was introduced into circulation  by genocide scholar Raphael Lemkin only in 1944, or he is  deliberately trying to create a narrative that "this issue was  artificially raised by the Soviet Union to put pressure on Turkey."

The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire was the first genocide in  the 20th century. Armenians remember the victims of the tragedy every  year on April 24. Turkey traditionally denies accusations of mass  extermination of more than 1.5 million Armenians. The fact of the  Armenian Genocide is recognized by many states and a number of  authoritative international organizations. The first country to  recognize the Genocide in 1965 was Uruguay. Then this fact was  recognized by Cyprus, Russia, Greece, Canada, Lebanon, Belgium,  France, Paraguay, Argentina, Sweden, Bolivia, Great Britain, Holland,  Slovakia, Germany, Lithuania, Venezuela, Poland, Chile, Switzerland,  Brazil, Luxembourg, Austria, Vatican, Czech Republic, Denmark,  Portugal, as well as the provisional government of Libya, the USA,  Syria, the European Parliament, the World Council of Churches.