Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır MP Garo Paylan has submitted an inquiry to the Turkish Grand National Assembly in the 105th year of Armenian Genocide.
Speaking to bianet, Paylan said “until a few years ago, the society of Turkey took very important steps to face the great calamity that happened 105 years ago.”
“The vast majority who did not know or recognize the issue could, at least, realize that a bad incident took place in 1915. Maybe, they did not call it a genocide, but they came to the point of condemning what happened back then and comprehend that what happened was terrible,” he said.
Paylan added however, that with processes of both peace and democratization coming to an end in 2015, all doors that were opened about Armenian Genocide have started to be closed one by one.
In other words, there was an attempt to hinder the steps that were taken to face, talk about and comprehend this issue and to serve justice with a fair memory, he said.
“As a matter of fact, the ones who talked about this issue faced investigations. There are five summaries of proceedings against me for talking about it. Others who want to talk about this issue are also faced with the stick of the judiciary. Seen in this light, I can say that we are in a worse situation than five years ago,” Garo Paylan added.
Today, he has submitted a Parliamentary inquiry to the Speaker’s Office.
“Armenian Genocide has been debated at dozens of parliaments around the world, it has been recognized as a genocide. But none of them has healed the wound of Armenian people,” the MP said.
“As a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, I know that the only Parliament that will heal the wound of the Armenian people is the Grand National Assembly of Turkey,” he stated.
“It is only when our Parliament faces this issue and justice is served that the wound of Armenian people will heal. Armenians of Turkey all around the world have been expecting this from the parliament of their homeland for 105 years. That is why, I have another Parliamentary inquiry,” Paylan said.
The lawmaker says he could use the word genocide with ease in the years 2015 and 2016, but after 2016, the word genocide has been banned at the Parliament and his Parliamentary questions and inquiries have been rejected on the ground of using the word genocide.
In his Parliamentary inquiry submitted to the Speaker’s Office today (April 24), HDP MP Garo Paylan has reiterated that “while the great calamity faced by the Armenian people in this land has been debated and recognized as a genocide by the parliaments of several states, it has not yet been debated at the Parliament of Turkey until today.”
Accordingly, Paylan has requested that a Parliamentary investigation be launched “so that the responsible parties of Armenian Genocide can be identified and justice can be served, albeit late.”
