Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Armenian Assembly of America Van Krikorian, who is member of the so-called Turkish-Armenian commission, accepted the invitation to be present and speak to the 22-nd Assembly of the American-Turkish Associations’ Convention. The organization unites some fifty Turkish organizations in U.S. and Canada. The forum took place in Washington early in November. Krikorian stated in his speech that creation of the Armenian-Turkish Reconciliation Commission had been quite pertinent. He stressed the commission was not a body that had the right to come out with conclusions on whether the events in 1915 had been a genocide or not. Noting there were 2989 Armenian churches and cloisters in Western Armenia in 1914, Krikorian said, “Extermination of people and sanctuaries cannot make anyone proud. But if there is such a feeling in somebody, then the significance of the Reconciliation Commission increases.” “We are trying to learn from the experience of other reconciliation commissions, that have operated in the world. Some of them succeeded, some – did not. If we can close this chapter of our history with a successful reconciliation, and start a new chapter based on mutual understanding and friendship, our goals will be reached,” – Van Krikorian stated.
ԻմPANը
