{"id":47755,"date":"2011-12-14T05:38:51","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T03:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=47755"},"modified":"2022-11-27T17:07:24","modified_gmt":"2022-11-27T14:07:24","slug":"pres-sargsyan-makes-major-strategic-shift-in-armenias-demands-from-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2011\/12\/14\/pres-sargsyan-makes-major-strategic-shift-in-armenias-demands-from-turkey\/","title":{"rendered":"Pres. Sargsyan Makes Major Strategic Shift in Armenia’s Demands from Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Pres. Serzh<\/span><\/span> Sargsyan<\/span><\/span> delivered\u00a0a\u00a0major\u00a0speech in Marseille<\/span><\/span>, France, last week,\u00a0during which he\u00a0introduced\u00a0a new strategy for the resolution of Armenia’s demands from Turkey. Until now, the Armenian government had merely pursued\u00a0the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
For the first time, the President\u00a0spoke about Armenia’s demand for \u201cjustice.\u201d To ensure that his message was received loud and clear, he\u00a0repeated\u00a0the word “justice” three times in three separate sentences:<\/span><\/div>\n
— \u201cEvery Armenian demands justice, whether\u00a0he or\u00a0she lives\u00a0in Armenia, Artsakh<\/span><\/span> or the Diaspora.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
—\u00a0\u201cWe were strong enough to survive the Meds<\/span><\/span> Yeghern<\/span><\/span> [Great Calamity], and\u00a0we are just as strong\u00a0now to demand justice.\u201d The President used the term \u201cArmenian Genocide\u201d six times in other parts of his speech.<\/span><\/div>\n
— \u201cThat was\u00a0the\u00a0joyful news\u00a0for justice, not revenge,\u201d Pres. Sargsyan<\/span> stated, describing the joy of Marseille<\/span><\/span> Armenians in 1921,\u00a0when they heard the acquittal<\/span><\/span> of\u00a0Soghomon<\/span><\/span> Tehlirian, <\/span><\/span>Talat’s<\/span><\/span> assassin, by a German court.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Surprisingly, not a single political\u00a0commentator in Armenia, Turkey\u00a0or elsewhere\u00a0took note of\u00a0the significant\u00a0shift in the approach articulated by Pres. Sargsyan<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Seeking \u201cjustice\u201d for the victims of genocide is a\u00a0completely different\u00a0objective than simply attaining recognition. In this context, the word \u201cjustice\u201d encompasses the undoing of as much of the damage as possible, by\u00a0demanding the restitution and return of all looted assets, confiscated properties, and occupied territories.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
While advancing a more comprehensive set of demands from Turkey, Pres. Sargsyan<\/span> expressed his\u00a0conviction that the day would come when Turkey’s leaders would acknowledge the\u00a0mass crimes\u00a0committed by\u00a0their predecessors: \u201cWe are confident that Turkey will repent. That is neither a precondition nor a desire to exact revenge. Turkey must face\u00a0its own history. Someday, Turkey’s leadership would find the strength to reassess its approach to the Armenian Genocide.\u00a0Our position has not changed — it is clear cut. We are prepared to\u00a0establish normal relations with Turkey, befitting neighboring countries. For example, neighboring countries Poland and Germany led by Chancellor Willy Brandt,\u00a0acknowledging his country’s terrible crimes, dropped to his knees\u00a0at the Warsaw Ghetto. Sooner or later,\u00a0Turkey, a\u00a0self-described European\u00a0country,\u00a0will have a leadership worthy of being called European, which will bow its head at the Tsitsernagapert<\/span><\/span>\u00a0[Genocide] Memorial. The sooner the better, but, that’s the prerogative of the Turkish people. We\u00a0cannot impose anything on them.\u00a0They should do that for the sake of the Turkish people, just as Willy Brandt did for the sake of the German people.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Egemen<\/span> Bagis<\/span>, Turkey’s Minister for European Union Affairs, perhaps not comprehending the\u00a0far<\/var> reaching\u00a0consequences of Pres. Sargsyan’s<\/span> demand for\u00a0\u201cjustice,\u201d reacted\u00a0angrily to other parts of the Armenian President\u2019s remarks. Bagis <\/span>arrogantly stated: \u201cThere is no power in the world that could bring the Turkish people to its knees. On the contrary, the Turkish people know full well how to bring to their knees those who make such ill-informed statements.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I fully\u00a0endorse Pres. Sargsyan’s<\/span> new approach\u00a0to the pursuit of Armenian demands from Turkey. Through my columns, speeches, interviews, and private meetings, I have repeatedly urged Armenia\u2019s leaders to demand \u201cjustice\u201d from Turkey, rather than simply\u00a0seeking\u00a0genocide recognition. One of my articles on this topic, \u201cGenocide Recognition and Quest for Justice,\u201d was published last year\u00a0in The International & Comparative Law Review<\/em> of the Loyola Law School of Los<\/span> Angeles<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Armenia is better off\u00a0presenting\u00a0its claims from Turkey\u00a0in terms of seeking \u201cjustice,\u201d\u00a0to avoid\u00a0the danger of making official territorial demands from\u00a0a\u00a0powerful and menacing neighbor. Nevertheless, the demand for \u201cjustice\u201d\u00a0is a code word or shorthand for a comprehensive set of claims from Turkey. Not even Turkey’s denialist<\/span> leaders<\/span> would dare challenge the universally-accepted notion of \u201cjustice\u201d\u00a0based on the\u00a0rule of law, specifically, international law.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
While Pres. Sargsyan’s<\/span><\/span> remarks\u00a0in Marseille<\/span><\/span> are highly commendable, it remains to be seen how this newly articulated\u00a0concept of seeking justice\u00a0for the Armenian Genocide will be translated into action. What practical steps will the Armenian government, particularly the Foreign Ministry, take to demand justice from Turkey? Will Armenia back the lawsuits filed by\u00a0Diaspora Armenian communities in American and European courts against Turkey, demanding restitution for Armenian losses during the Genocide or will\u00a0Armenia\u00a0bring its own lawsuit against the Republic of Turkey in the World Court?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Pres. Serzh Sargsyan delivered\u00a0a\u00a0major\u00a0speech in Marseille, France, last week,\u00a0during which he\u00a0introduced\u00a0a new strategy for the resolution of Armenia’s demands from Turkey. Until now, the Armenian government had merely pursued\u00a0the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. \u00a0 For the first time, the President\u00a0spoke about Armenia’s demand for \u201cjustice.\u201d To ensure that his message was received […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4101,"featured_media":774085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3488],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-harut-sassounian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}