Mourad Papazian: Listing genocide victims is an anti-Armenian move

Andranik Kocharyan would not have made such an important announcement without Nikol Pashinyan’s instruction, Mourad Papazian, co-chair of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations in France, told Tert.am, referring to the statement by Civil Contract’s MP Andranik Kocharyan on “listing” genocide victims.

“Isn’t it clear what is happening? With this anti-Armenian move, Pashinyan questions the reality of the Armenian genocide. It reminds us of the commission of historians proposed by Turkey, which was supposed to re-examine history to decide whether the events of 1915 could be considered genocide or not. This approach is completely unacceptable. The fact of the genocide is a reality. Historians have examined it, 30 countries have recognized it, that’s it,” he said.

According to Papazian, Pashinyan’s government has completely surrendered to the enemies of the Armenian people by accepting that the four villages of Tavush are part of Azerbaijan and that Artsakh is Azerbaijani territory, questioning the reality of the Armenian genocide, and protecting the interests of the enemies.

“What is the point of counting and verifying the names of 1.5 million victims? Let’s imagine that it’s Turkey that proposed this. The whole Armenian nation would have condemned it, right? I suggest condemning it. Let us all reject the move of the Armenian government, which wants to rewrite the history of the Armenian nation,” Papazian urged.

He emphasized that Pashinyan’s government is pursuing a clear policy of not accepting national values.

“The government does not accept that we should continue the work of recognizing the genocide and that we should put the return of the people of Artsakh on the agenda. It does not accept the Diaspora as part of the nation; it does not accept the fact that it should provide a dignified future for the people of Armenia. Pashinyan wants to establish an atmosphere of fear in Armenia and agrees with Aliyev,” he said.

Earlier, Andranik Kocharyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Pashinyan aims to build “real foundations” related to the genocide and “make the entire list of compatriots subjected to the genocide more objective”. On Monday, Kocharyan reiterated this thought during the parliamentary briefing.

Yesterday, referring to this topic, Andranik Kocharyan said that this was his “personal approach” and “there was not any political decision”.