YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The Washington Post Wednesday published a letter by the Armenian Ambassador to the United States, Tatoul Margarian in response to an article entitled "Armenia’s Who Need Help Today," published on October 15.
The Washington Post article, written by Fred Hiatt, urged the Armenian Diaspora to work as hard for democracy in Armenia as for congressional recognition of the genocide.
"Imagine what the Armenian Diaspora might have accomplished had it worked as hard for democracy in Armenia as it did for congressional recognition of the genocide Armenia’s suffered nearly a century ago, said Hiatt in his article. "It’s even possible that modern Armenia would be as democratic as modern Turkey."
The same day Armenian Ambassador to the United States, Tatoul Margarian, responded by sending a letter to the Washington Post. The letter said Fred Hiatt’s "Armenia’s Who Need Help Today" leads the debate over recognition of the Armenian genocide in the wrong direction.
The Ambassador mentioned that the difficulties that Armenia has encountered during its successful democratic and economic transition are not taboo subjects for genuine discussion and members of our Diaspora have always provided economic assistance and been actively involved in issues such as the environment, civil and political liberties, and security. This activism, he added, has not come at the expense of the quest for genocide recognition, a moral duty for all Armenia’s and all of humanity.
"In addition, the Turkish state’s denial of the Armenian genocide translates into its continuing refusal to normalize relations with Armenia, leading us to believe that our only choice is to pursue both historical and contemporary justice," Margarian said.
"The fact that Armenia’s democratic transition is not yet complete should not prevent Armenia from condemning crimes against humanity, especially a genocide that killed 1.5 million of our ancestors, took their historical homeland and destroyed a millenniums-old culture, The Ambassador’s letter said. "The suggestion that Armenia’s routine transition problems and the genocide carried out by Ottoman Turkey can be weighed on the same scale is ill-founded, to say the least," the Ambassador wrote.
