"Genocide recognition is a must"
Serzh Sargsyan continues his pan-Armenian tour. On October 6 the delegation headed by President Sargsyan arrived in Beirut (Lebanon), where he had a meeting with more than 100 representatives of the Armenian communities and organizations of the Middle East, Egypt, Iran and the Persian Gulf.
Before the meeting, the President had a meeting with His Holiness Aram I, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. Serzh Sargsyan and Aram I talked about the process of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations and issues related to the pre-signed protocols.
The participants of the meeting in Beirut highly appreciated President Sargsyan's initiative to visit Diasporan Armenian communities and listen to the views of world-spread Armenians on the normalisation process and the pre-signed documents.
"The artificial situation between Armenia and Turkey benefits neither side. The establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of the border will provide an opportunity for creating a platform for furthering the dialogue and the negotiations," President Sargsyan said in his speech.
President Sargsyan referred to the main concerns connected with the normalisation of the Armenian-Turkish relations. "We have stated many times that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not just an issue of restoration of justice, but also an important factor from the perspective of security of Armenia and the Armenian people. It is a necessity," Serzh Sargsyan noted.
Turning to the concern that Turkey could assume a role in the settlement of the Artsakh issue, President Sargsyan noted: "The Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be solved only when we see that we have what we have been striving for since 1988."
President Sargsyan reiterated that the settlement of the Karabakh issue and the normalization of the Armenia-Turkey relations are separate issues, and this has been confirmed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.
