ABDEM: We are Here to Share the Pain of the Armenian Nation

YEREVAN (Alisa Gevorgyan, Public Radio of Armenia) — Members of the European Peace and Democracy Assembly (Avrupa Baris ve Demokrasi Meclisi – ABDEM) will visit the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial on April 24 to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.

“It’s our pain and shame that we have been silent and have failed to respond to the denial of the Armenian Genocide both in Turkey and around the world. On April 24 at the Genocide Memorial we should demand from the Turkish government to recognize the Armenian Genocide and assume the whole burden of responsibility. We demand justice for all victims of the Genocide,” ABDEM members told reporters in Yerevan.

“We are here to share the pain of the Armenian nation and support it in the struggle for justice. Turkey should face its history and recognize the Armenian Genocide. Otherwise, the democratic perspective of Turkey will never become a reality,” President of the organization, member of the Kurdish liberation movement Rozhda Yuldirim said.

The European Peace and Democracy Assembly (ABDEM) was founded in Brussels in 2013. It has more than one million members in different countries of the world. Among them there are Kurds, Greeks, Circassians, Alawites, Assyrians and Armenians – representatives of the nations subjected to Turkey’s policy of racist pressure and annihilation that have become a minority in the country over time.

According to the members of the Assembly, the nations that suffered from genocide are considered “suspicious foreigners” among the Turkish society. Kurds are seen as a threat to the territorial integrity of the Republic of Turkey, and Alawites are considered a “perversion” in Sunni Islam. There are different reasons for those not complying with the notion of the “Turkish tribe” to be considered enemies in the country.

“Alawites comprise 1/3 of the 75 million population of Turkey, about 25 thousand Alawites live in the country, and about 1.5 million live in Europe. We recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide and demand that Turkey accept its crime. It should fulfill all requirements Armenians will present as compensation,” representatives of Turkey’s Alawite community Alekbaf Pektash said.