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April 23, 2009 Statement of Heritage’s Executive Board On 24 April 2009, the progressive people of the world will join the Armenian nation in paying their respects, for the 94th time, to the memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide and the resultant great dispossession of Armenian homeland, which the Turkish state had carried out at the turn of the 20th Century. The immediate recognition of this first crime of the past century, perpetrated against mankind and civilization, and the elimination of its consequences stand as the most important factors for never again permitting—anywhere and anytime—the recurrence of such a genocidal action. Against the backdrop of awaiting this prospect, the Heritage Party is truly concerned over the signing on April 22—just two days before the remembrance day of the Genocide and on the threshold of its continuing international recognition—of the joint declaration by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Turkey and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Heritage finds that the “tangible progress and mutual understanding” which, according to the joint statement, were reached among the sides, in fact, have not been reached. This is because on the road to resolving such intricate and painful matters, we solely acknowledge the societies of the two countries and the Genocide victims’ legal heirs, who now are scattered in every corner of the world, as the real “sides”. The Armenian authorities had neither the public empowerment nor vote of confidence to sign under such a declaration and, in essence, by taking advantage of the precept of secrecy, they have jeopardized the Armenian national interests. The understanding held by the “two sides”—which are holding talks that are undisclosed for the general public of both countries—with respect to the “progress” in Armenian-Turkish relations surely do not reflect the understanding held at least by the Armenian body politic. Heritage continues to maintain that, at this crucial juncture with Turkey, a joint statement with such “mutual understanding” should have been signed only if, as confidence-building measures, Turkey had:
The absence of the aforesaid measures by Turkey, and, moreover, under the conditions when the Turkish prime minister Erdogan has threatened to call Armenia an “occupier,” such a position by Armenia can cause irreversible losses for the country in terms of the protection of national interests. And the entire responsibility for this situation will fall on the former presidency, its extension in the form of the incumbent administration, and the latter’s political coalition forces. The Heritage Party demands that the current authorities lift the secrecy without delay and disclose to the people of both countries the contents of the “road map” and the “comprehensive framework for the normalization of their bilateral relations.” 23 April 2009
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