Discussion on 'Commemorating the Armenian Genocide: Reflecting on Historical Memory in Today's Context'

On April 16, a discussion on "Commemorating the Armenian Genocide: Reflecting on Historical Memory in Today's Context" was held in Leuven. The Ambassador of Armenia to Brussels Mr Tigran Balayan delivered the opening remarks.

Els van Hoof, Chair of the Belgian Federal Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, Mariam Harutyunyan, Founder of "Armenian Students Leuven" organization, and Nicolas Tavitian, Senior Specialist in Civil Society Advocacy, were among the speakers.

In his speech, the Ambassador mentioned that on May 24, 1915 the Entente Cordiale condemned the massacres of Armenians using for the first time the term "Crimes Against Humanity." Afterwards, in 1944, Raphael Lemkin used the term "Genocide" to describe the crimes committed against Armenians. Mr Balayan emphasized that despite 109 years have passed since the Armenian Genocide, but the same ideology and mentality still prevail in Azerbaijan, the clear proof of which was the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, committed in a blatant violation of the legally binding decisions of the International Court of Justice and the international legal order. Another proof of that ideology has been the destruction of the religious and cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh in a flagrant breach of the Hague Convention of 1954. Nowadays, the Armenian heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh is on the verge of complete destruction.

Ambassador Balayan also touched upon the necessity of a policy of consistency that should be adopted by the international community, particularly stressing the relevant EU toolbox, which, unfortunately, is still not being used to its full extent to prevent such heinous crimes from happening and to subject the organizers to justice.

In her speech, Els van Hoof condemned the fact of denying the Armenian Genocide and stressed that Azerbaijan spares no effort to silence criticism. She expressed her solidarity with the Armenian generations affected by the Genocide and presented the activities carried out by her and her colleagues on this topic within the Federal Parliament. Ms van Hoof referred to the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh committed by Azerbaijan, condemning the impunity of those criminal actions. Moreover, she added that the European Union should continue to exert diplomatic pressure on Azerbaijan in order to address criminal activities and punish the ones who are guilty.

Nicolas Tavitian presented his political experience and activities, and touched upon the process of recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

The speeches were followed by a Q&A session, during which the students had the opportunity to ask a number of questions to the speakers.