‘It was not a slip of the tongue, Ararat Mirzoyan said what he wanted to say’: Suren Manukyan

There have been much fewer discussions on the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide since 2019-2020, genocide scholar Suren Manukyan told Alpha News, commenting on the statement of Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan during the preliminary discussion of the 2025 state budget in the National Assembly, according to which “international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not the number one priority” and “studying the tragic pages in history, the Armenian Genocide or making it the top priority is certainly not the agenda of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.”

“People who study the Armenian Genocide have repeatedly emphasized that there is something wrong with Armenia’s foreign policy priorities because, at least for the last 15 years, international recognition of the Armenian Genocide has been the top priority for the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

Moreover, the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a provision enshrined in Armenia’s Declaration of Independence, on which our statehood is built. It is also reflected and logically continued in the national security concepts. In the latest National Security Concept adopted in 2020, the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide was a priority. But, in my opinion, it has ceased to be a priority since 2019-2020. We have always raised this issue as a priority in all organizations, but lately, in the rhetoric of top officials of the state—both in terms of annual work and on various platforms of parliamentary diplomacy—discussions on this issue have significantly decreased,” Manukyan said.

According to him, Mirzoyan’s statement contradicts the election program of the Civil Contract Party.

“The statement of the Foreign Minister contradicts both the provision enshrined in the Declaration of Independence of Armenia and the current concept of national security. Moreover, it contradicts the election program of the Civil Contract Party. There is a special provision in the program that notes that this topic will remain among Armenia’s foreign policy priorities, and in this regard, it is not entirely clear to me how this issue will be resolved. If something has changed, these changes must be made to the basic documents. Let’s wait and see what clarifications will be given. So far, they remain silent. I believe Mirzoyan said what he wanted to say. It was not a slip of the tongue or poorly worded idea,” Manukyan concluded.