YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Nearly 300 Armenian intellectuals and other public figures have appealed to Turkey to end almost a century of denial by recognizing the Armenian, saying that is a necessary condition for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation.
In an open letter to Turkish President Abdullah Gul made public on Tuesday, they said modern-day Turkey bears “hereditary responsibility” for the “monumental crime against humanity.”
“Genocide is a crime against humanity and present civilization values, and no individual, organization or even state authority can cast doubt on what happened,” the letter said, challenging Ankara’s vehement denial of any government policy to exterminate Ottoman Turkey’s Armenian population.
“Your generation of Turkish leaders must accept the undeniable truth and recognize the fact of the Armenian Genocide;Only in that case can there be a sincere dialogue and a process of real reconciliation between our peoples,” it said.
The unprecedented open letter to Gul was welcomed on Tuesday by Giro Manoyan, the political director of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which has warned that Turkey is manipulating Sarkisian’s diplomatic overtures to the detriment of Armenia’s foreign policy and national security.
“I think this letter is significant in the sense that it originated from Armenia and clearly reflects our public’s view that it is impossible to evade the issue of genocide recognition,” Manoyan told reporters.
The ARF Bureau urged the Sarkisian administration last week to exercise caution in the ongoing rapprochement with Turkey, saying that Ankara is using it to scuttle recognition of the Armenian genocide by more countries, notably the United States.