On Thursday, April 14th, 2022, the Armenian Representative, Vartkes Mahdessian, addressed the plenary session of the Parliament of Cyprus, following a moment of silence in memory of victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Below is the full text of the speech:
Honorable Madame Speaker, dear colleagues,
Just like every year, this year as well we remember the tragic events of the Armenian Genocide, the first great genocide of the turbulent 20th century. At the same time, we honor the memory of more than 1,500,000 innocent Armenian martyrs, who between 1915-1923 were massacred, murdered or deported and were led to forced death marches to the inhospitable Der Zor desert in present-day Syria. Moreover, at least 95,000 Armenians were Islamized, resulting in their existing descendants being unaware of their ancestry.
Along with the physical extermination of the “gâvur” (infidel) Armenians, the Turks also perpetrated a cultural genocide, in order to eradicate the centuries-old Armenian presence in Asia Minor, the Pontus, Western Armenia and Cilicia, where between 1894 and 1923 a total of 450 monasteries, 1,950 schools and 2,430 churches were seized and destroyed or changed use, whereas the names of about 3,600 towns and villages were Turkified.
The 800,000 surviving refugees were scattered across the globe, forming the Armenian Diaspora. Haunted by the terrifying memories of the great disaster, they set up a new life, contributing to the commerce, sports, scouting, sciences, arts and culture of their adopted homelands.
Amongst these new homelands was our little Cyprus, which widely opened its arms and welcomed over 9,000 Armenian refugees, who arrived in Larnaca and all its other harbours, including my family. With effort and toil, the 1,300 who eventually remained managed to find their feet and carry on the good name that Armenians have had on our island for centuries.
Cyprus has always been a constant supporter of the Armenians and of Armenia. In 1975 it became the second country in the world and the first one in Europe to recognize the Armenian Genocide, with Resolution 36 that the House of Representatives passed on this very floor, while in 2015 it criminalized its denial. The practical and moral support it offers us is constant and continuous, whereas on a state level the two countries co-operate excellently in commercial and geostrategic domains. Once again, I feel the need to thank all the governments of the Republic of Cyprus for the above.
Having suffered from the same enemy, Armenians and Cypriots are fighting for justice, and we are sailing in the same boat with Ukraine and other countries that have great powers against them. Unfortunately, the powerful of the Earth have always settled for condemnation statements, leaving the weak at the mercy of the invader’s desires and eternal victims of their interests.
The global agitation about the recent Russian invasion in Ukraine is striking, while the public opinion remained impassive to the Turkish invasion in Cyprus in 1974, the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the American invasion in Iraq in 2003 and, more recently, the violations of the buffer zone in Cyprus and the status quo violations in Famagusta by the Turks, the war in Artsakh and the ongoing violation of Armenia’s borders by the Azeris.
The international community must finally stop pretending, acting based on financial and geostrategic interests, and it must assume to role of guardian of international law, putting words into practice, as the poet Homer wrote in the Iliad. Thank you.
