Turkey acting in its own style – Ara Papyan
In an interview with Tert.am, Director of the Modus Vivendi center Ara Papyan said that Ankara has no means of pressing the Vatican, and will send its ambassador back in a few months.
Turkey is only pretending the Pope’s statement proved a surprise, thus claiming that the Armenian Genocide is “unbelievable.”
Mr Papyan, according to Turkish mass media, the Pope’s statement on the Armenian Genocide came as a shock to official Ankara. Was it a real surprise to Turkey?
I think they are playing the hypocrite when they say it was a surprise. They are just showing that it is such an unbelievable thing – they put the word genocide in quotes – the entire world admits except for Turkey. Even the states that have not officially recognized it - Barack Obama himself. They hoped that they would be able to blackmail the entire world into silence, which is really a difficult task for them in certain cases because, besides state interests – Vatican is a state – the church must advocate certain moral values.
It did take place and I think the liturgy was of high importance, and the media coverage will inform the world of the Armenian Genocide.
Mr Papyan, at first sight, it was a religious event, with broad political implications. What is your opinion?
It is normally said that canonization or commemoration of killed Armenian Christians by means of religious services carries religious implications. I think, it is both true and not because the fact is that the Armenian Genocide carried religious implications - whether we accept it or not. They accuse Armenians of staging a rebellion against Turkish Empire, but it was not so because it was a resistance by a few hundred people. For example, Arabs actually staged a rebellion, but Turks did not organized Arabs’ massacres because when Islam says ‘you must not murder’, it, in contrast to Christianity, means ‘do not murder an Islamite.’ And the fact is that all those converted into Islam immediately after the Armenian Genocide began were not murdered. This is the reason why know about millions of people of Armenian descent professing Islam. That is, the religious factor did play its role just as it was in the case of the Jewish Holocaust. Jews became a nation of a religion like Christians or Muslims. Therefore, when the Holocaust is decried, no one says it has religious implications.
Is such a religious implication politically good or bad?
It has both its positive and negative aspects, but the positive is more, as both the Turks and Azerbaijanis really use their factors. I mean, we have seen voting in both the conference of Islamic countries and at different Arab assemblies. And there are states today – such as Pakistan or Saudi Arabia - whose actions are against us only from the religious point of view. Let us not forget that there are also Christians in the world – apart from the Muslims, – so that’s an important factor for them.
What we have to do now is to hold the scales even to decide whether or not awakening solidarity among people is important. Many say that we will thus bias the Islamic world against us. But I have my disagreements on that, because those who are biased will be biased regardless of anything. But the positive can be said to be outweighing [the negative].
What steps do you think Ankara will take in this direction?
Ankara will issue threats to different countries and probably even recall ambassadors. It doesn’t have any levers, because all the countries which have acknowledged the Armenian Genocide have been threatened. So the bargaining with those countries has assumed larger scales, being the biggest leverage so to say. Ankara cannot take any action against Rome; pressures against the Catholics may be the maximum, but they will not be great, as the Catholics are not Armenians.
Videos
Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director
Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide
Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News
Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank
'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24
Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors
Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan
Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh
UN's Guterres Issues Global Appeal to Make 2021 'Year of Healing'
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations
Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Drone
Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
Artsakh Defense Army Releases Video Featuring Damaged Azerbaijani Military Equipment
Artsakh Defense Army Units Inflicting Manpower Losses on Azerbaijan
Gas Pipeline Damaged in Azerbaijani Fire Targeting Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital
President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace
Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizes Azerbaijani Military Hardware
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Military Infrastructures
President Armen Sarkissian Meets with NATO Secretary-General in Brussels
Buildings and Homes Lying in Ruins in Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital After Azerbaijani Shelling
Artsakh Defense Army's Precision Fire Gives Deadly Blow to Enemy
Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements
Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles
Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage
Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizing Adversary's Transport Column
Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)
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War Situation in Karabakh on European Parliament's Agenda
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Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital Under Azerbaijani Strikes
Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions
ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline
There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR
EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh
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- 12:41 • 23.10.20 President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace
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- 14:11 • 09.10.20 Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
- 15:52 • 08.10.20 Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)
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- 13:49 • 03.10.20 Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions
- 10:12 • 29.09.20 ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline
- 23:42 • 28.09.20 There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR
- 18:45 • 28.09.20 EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh
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