BERN, Switzerland (RFE/RL) — President Serge Sargisian on Tuesday urged more countries to recognize the World War I-era mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, saying that it would not damage their relations with Turkey.
Making an official visit to Switzerland, Sargisian cited a relevant resolution that was adopted by the Swiss parliament in 2003. He argued that its passage, strongly condemned by Ankara, did not prevent the Swiss government from mediating in Turkish-Armenian fence-mending negotiations held in 2008- 2010.
“By recognizing the Genocide, Switzerland condemned that despicable crime against humanity and thereby … prevailed over all geopolitical and military-economic considerations,” Sargisian said after talks with his Swiss counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey.
“Most importantly, that absolutely didn’t prevent Switzerland from supporting the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations within a short period of time,” he said at a joint news conference. “In this regard, Switzerland’s example is the best one, and it should serve as a lesson for many countries of the world.”
Sargisian similarly stressed the importance of Armenian Genocide recognition during Calmy-Rey’s visit to Yerevan in late March. He said he has personally asked US President Barack Obama to utter the word genocide in reference to the deaths of some 1.5 Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.
Obama has declined to do that since taking office. In a statement issued in April 2009, Obama implied that he is not using the politically sensitive term to avoid antagonizing Turkey and setting back its rapprochement with Armenia facilitated by Switzerland and the United States.
