German Armenians Commemorate Armenia’s Past Tragedy in a Perilous Present

One speaker remarked that the Turkish republic, which celebrates its centenary this year, was founded on the genocide against the Armenians and other Christian minorities. Appeals were made to Germany, whose Bundestag (parliament) recognized the genocide in 2016, and the European Court for Human Rights, which condemned the blockade, to exert political pressure to open the lifeline corridor.

Armenian Ambassador to Germany Viktor Yengibaryan began his speech with reference to the German author and pacifist Armin Wagner, who served as a medic in World War I. Wegner documented the genocide in photographs, an unprecedented tragedy in human history. His testimony showed that the “most important lesson that the world had to learn is that the international community must combine its efforts to condemn and prevent genocide.”

Regarding recognition, Yengibaryan stressed Germany’s 2016 parliamentary resolution and its demand that Turkey “work through the massacres perpetrated and thereby establish the basis for necessary reconciliation with the Armenian side.”

He identified Germany’s own manner of dealing with its past as “exemplary for the whole world.” An important point Yengibaryan raised is that memory culture in the case of the Armenian genocide is not exclusive, but is part of remembrance in human history.

And commemorations are important not only for the descendants of the victims, but also those of the perpetrators, as a vital element in the education and development of the next generation. In this respect, he welcomed the fact that some schools in Germany have included genocide studies in their curriculum. The goal is to achieve recognition and reconciliation, the ambassador said, because “reconciliation and peace are the only way to prevent such tragedies in the future.”

Noting the potential today for normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations, he rejected any attempt to exploit the past for revenge, and called instead for making it a “means to build mutual understanding, justice, and solidarity.” This can occur only with mutually acceptable conditions for peaceful coexistence.