Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has called on Armenia and Turkey to return to Armenian-Turkish normalization process.
“If there is a reason and an opportunity to return to Armenian-Turkish protocols, it will be great. I call on both parties not to let that chance slip through their fingers. I hope the conflict of 100 years won’t erase the possibility of peaceful coexistence,” Jagland said, speaking at the global forum “Against the Crime of Genocide” that kicked off in Armenian capital Yerevan today.
CoE Secretary General said he hopes Armenia and Turkey will sooner or later find the way to reconciliation.
Speaking about the Armenian Genocide, Thorbjorn Jagland said “what was committed against the Armenian people hundred years ago was the loss of not only Armenians but also the entire world.”
“I am sad, I am thinking about those people who lost their lives during that tragedy. I am excited to be here. I am from Fridtjof Nansen’s country, and I am even more excited in this connection, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, stated at the International Social and Political Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide.
He noted that one hundred years ago the Armenians were brutally killed, and thousands of Armenians were driven to poverty. “This was not only the loss of the Armenians, but the loss of the world,” he said.
“To prevent new tragedies, we should sympathize with those who suffered and paid with their lives,” Jagland said.
In his words, politics hampers sympathy. “All states have the responsibility to prevent violations of rights against innocent people. First of all, it is the states that have the duty to prevent ethnic cleansings and the international organizations should support them.”
“Armenia is a state that inspires hope. You have been able to turn your suffering into strength, and the entire world can see it this week,” Mr. Jagland stressed.
