ISTANBUL (Agos)—Turkey’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair, Figen Yüksekdağ, during a group meeting, discussed the Armenian Genocide. Yüksekdağ said, “On 101st anniversary of the genocide, we apologize to Armenian people. We apologize to Aunt Elizabeth, to Uncle Krikor. We apologize to our friends, comrade Garo and to our sister Roza.”
Yüksekdağ started the meeting by saying, “I would like to begin by commemorating the Armenians, Syriac and Chaldean people who were exiled and killed 101 years ago.”
She continued by saying “The mentality that led to the genocide avoids recognition today. However, recognition doesn’t demean a state, it only relieves pain. These lands will eventually spill out the bloodshed, regardless of your [the Turkish governments’] wishes. Our history is a history of massacres. Recognizing the massacres is a historical responsibility.”
“The ones who withhold their apologies have the same mentality. They use “Armenian” as an insult. This means that the genocidal mentality is still alive. We apologize to Armenian people. As I said, the mentality that led to death and destruction in the past is still active today.”
I don’t care if they apologize. I want my land. I want the arbitration award to be enforced. I want the de-jure border to go de-facto. Everything else distracts attention from the most important thing — Our Armenian Land.
Kurdish politicians should also publically recognize that Western Armenia SHALL be returned back to Armenians. Apologies alone are empty statements without acknowledgement that stolen lands belong to their rightful owners.
Do you suggest that 40 million kurds should go up in smoke and give away their territory(wich the dont even control themselves) to the decents of the 1,5 million victims from the armenian genocide? Do you believe that kurds didn’t live in the same region at the time seyfo occured?
Thank you, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step (Lao Tzu)
This woman is very brave and deserves lots of respect. Just listening the truth brings a piece to our hearts and minds.
Thank you and be safe please. Humans need people like you!
This is an important step forward for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the aftermath of Garo Paylan’s speech in the Turkish parliament session on April 21, in which he reminisced about the 13 Armenian deputies who were executed on April 24, 1915, and both incidents in the parliament sessions few days ago in which Erdogan’s ruling Islamic party AKP members physically attacked the deputies of the HDP party including Garo Paylan.
It’s a good beginning, and I admire her for speaking up! The denial of the Genocide is a crime too— a nation should look at its past and learn from it. Look at what happened to Germany. Why isn’t there a case in World Court about the Armenian Genocide? Where is our Nuremberg? Reparations must be paid to the descendants of the victims because we suffered too…..
But they’ll never return the lands! This is planet earth, remember?
I see first two comments and noticed that the fascism is fascism no matter it is done by a turk, kurd or armenian. Yes, there has been a genocide against armenians. Yes, the armenian people are driven from their homes. I curse every kurd and turk participated in those barbaric actions. But I must admit I hate armenian fascism to based on ultra nationalism. We kurds are not interested dirty land an my suggestion that you also give up dreams of love for a state. States belong the dumb politicians not people! Long live unified of people of armenia and kurdistan. Curse to repetition of same ultra nationalist drwams cost lives!