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SARKISIAN: 'AUSCHWITZ IS THE DER ZOR OF THE JEWS'
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2010/03/24/sa rkisian-auschwitz-is-the-der-zor-of-the-jews/
Wed, Mar 24 2010
On March 22, at the invitation of the president of the Syrian Arab
Republic, Bashar Al-Asad, the president of Armenia, Serge Sarkisian,
arrived in Syria on a three-day official visit. On March 24 Sarkisian
gave the following remarks in the Der Zor desert in Syria, where
thousands of Armenians perished during the genocide.
***
Your Eminences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am here today since I could not but be here. It is the greatest
grief of my nation that has brought me here, the grief of the first
genocide of the 20th century and the greatest disgrace of civilized
humanity. Up to this moment, in the 21st century, the stigma of that
disgrace still remains on the foreheads of all those who have turned
the denial of the evident facts into their policy, turned it into
their bargaining chip and into their lifestyle and norm of behavior.
In the desert of Der Zor, the most monstrous acts of the tragedy took
place, and it is neither possible to articulate the particulars of
that tragedy in the language of human beings, nor am I going do that
since these particulars are well-known even to those who publicly deny
the veracity of the genocide. Bereft of home and property, bereft of
children and parents, bereft of health and the last hope, and finally
bereft of the most important-their homeland-these people were doomed
to lose the last thing they had-their life in accordance with the
state orchestrated and meticulously developed plan of extermination.
Quite often historians and journalists soundly compare Der Zor with
Auschwitz, saying that "Der Zor is the Auschwitz of the Armenians." I
think that the chronology forces us to formulate the facts in a reverse
way: "Auschwitz is the Der Zor of the Jews." Only a generation later
humanity witnessed the Der Zor of the Jews. Today, as the president
of the Republic of Armenia, the homeland of all Armenians, I am here
to ask: "Where and when will be held our Nuremberg?"
I'm here to commemorate and to pray for the vast majority of my
slaughtered nation that had suffered both physical and cultural
extermination. I will elaborate neither on the quality, nor on the
quantity of the loss. Let me recall a single fact: As a result of
the genocide the greatest share of the dialects of one of the most
ancient Indo-European languages-Armenian-was irreversibly eradicated
along with its speakers.
In spite of all that happened, we say that we are ready to establish
normal diplomatic relations with the modern Turkey, we are ready to
have open borders and economic relations, we are ready to make efforts
towards building confidence between the peoples of Armenia and Turkey,
we are ready to bring closer the two societies by breaking stereotypes
and myths that have nothing to do with the reality and were developed
in decades of dearth of any sensible contact.
We do this sincerely since we believe that there is no alternative to
the living and development between neighbors through the implementation
of what is proposed and still at the table, at least to start it. The
signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols presented us with an historic
opportunity that should have a logical destiny.
We, however, do not accept the style of references to the
Armenian-Turkish dialogue in attempts to avoid the recognition
of the genocide. I do not think it helps the process. Moreover,
it is irrelevant to cite some commission of historians since
the Armenian-Turkish protocols provide for merely a governmental
sub-commission on the historic dimension. I assume everyone understands
what it means and what the difference is. I ask all those who will
have an occasion to elaborate or express themselves on the topic of
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide: remember of this desert,
millions of ruined human fortunes, and this ancient people deprived
of their motherland and with pain in their hearts, before you make
up your minds.
In 1915 the greatest Armenian poets of the 20th century-35-year-old
Daniel Varoujan and 37-year-old Atom Yarjanian (Siamanto)-had also
been slaughtered. Before being tortured to death, they were undressed,
because they wore European clothes. In those times and places European
clothes were quite expensive. The executioners dressed up in European
clothing stolen from the Armenian geniuses encompassing millennia
old civilization, stolen from ordinary Armenians.
I would not interpret symbols signified in these images but I am
unequivocally convinced: While preaching European apparel, manners,
or values, no one has a right to cast these images into oblivion.
I am here to remind you of the well-known words: "It is impossible to
kill a nation that does not want to die." We mean to live and to grow.
It is no more possible to intimidate or blackmail us since we have
seen the most horrible. We shall continue to live and create with
double vigor for us and for our innocent victims. We look forward to
sharing with each other, and sharing with the world the brightness
and glow that Daniel Varuzhan and Atom Yarjanian did not have the
chance to share.
And here, in Der Zor, we firmly and loudly say over and over again
that we are, shall exist, and will flourish.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2010/03/24/sa rkisian-auschwitz-is-the-der-zor-of-the-jews/
Wed, Mar 24 2010
On March 22, at the invitation of the president of the Syrian Arab
Republic, Bashar Al-Asad, the president of Armenia, Serge Sarkisian,
arrived in Syria on a three-day official visit. On March 24 Sarkisian
gave the following remarks in the Der Zor desert in Syria, where
thousands of Armenians perished during the genocide.
***
Your Eminences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am here today since I could not but be here. It is the greatest
grief of my nation that has brought me here, the grief of the first
genocide of the 20th century and the greatest disgrace of civilized
humanity. Up to this moment, in the 21st century, the stigma of that
disgrace still remains on the foreheads of all those who have turned
the denial of the evident facts into their policy, turned it into
their bargaining chip and into their lifestyle and norm of behavior.
In the desert of Der Zor, the most monstrous acts of the tragedy took
place, and it is neither possible to articulate the particulars of
that tragedy in the language of human beings, nor am I going do that
since these particulars are well-known even to those who publicly deny
the veracity of the genocide. Bereft of home and property, bereft of
children and parents, bereft of health and the last hope, and finally
bereft of the most important-their homeland-these people were doomed
to lose the last thing they had-their life in accordance with the
state orchestrated and meticulously developed plan of extermination.
Quite often historians and journalists soundly compare Der Zor with
Auschwitz, saying that "Der Zor is the Auschwitz of the Armenians." I
think that the chronology forces us to formulate the facts in a reverse
way: "Auschwitz is the Der Zor of the Jews." Only a generation later
humanity witnessed the Der Zor of the Jews. Today, as the president
of the Republic of Armenia, the homeland of all Armenians, I am here
to ask: "Where and when will be held our Nuremberg?"
I'm here to commemorate and to pray for the vast majority of my
slaughtered nation that had suffered both physical and cultural
extermination. I will elaborate neither on the quality, nor on the
quantity of the loss. Let me recall a single fact: As a result of
the genocide the greatest share of the dialects of one of the most
ancient Indo-European languages-Armenian-was irreversibly eradicated
along with its speakers.
In spite of all that happened, we say that we are ready to establish
normal diplomatic relations with the modern Turkey, we are ready to
have open borders and economic relations, we are ready to make efforts
towards building confidence between the peoples of Armenia and Turkey,
we are ready to bring closer the two societies by breaking stereotypes
and myths that have nothing to do with the reality and were developed
in decades of dearth of any sensible contact.
We do this sincerely since we believe that there is no alternative to
the living and development between neighbors through the implementation
of what is proposed and still at the table, at least to start it. The
signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols presented us with an historic
opportunity that should have a logical destiny.
We, however, do not accept the style of references to the
Armenian-Turkish dialogue in attempts to avoid the recognition
of the genocide. I do not think it helps the process. Moreover,
it is irrelevant to cite some commission of historians since
the Armenian-Turkish protocols provide for merely a governmental
sub-commission on the historic dimension. I assume everyone understands
what it means and what the difference is. I ask all those who will
have an occasion to elaborate or express themselves on the topic of
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide: remember of this desert,
millions of ruined human fortunes, and this ancient people deprived
of their motherland and with pain in their hearts, before you make
up your minds.
In 1915 the greatest Armenian poets of the 20th century-35-year-old
Daniel Varoujan and 37-year-old Atom Yarjanian (Siamanto)-had also
been slaughtered. Before being tortured to death, they were undressed,
because they wore European clothes. In those times and places European
clothes were quite expensive. The executioners dressed up in European
clothing stolen from the Armenian geniuses encompassing millennia
old civilization, stolen from ordinary Armenians.
I would not interpret symbols signified in these images but I am
unequivocally convinced: While preaching European apparel, manners,
or values, no one has a right to cast these images into oblivion.
I am here to remind you of the well-known words: "It is impossible to
kill a nation that does not want to die." We mean to live and to grow.
It is no more possible to intimidate or blackmail us since we have
seen the most horrible. We shall continue to live and create with
double vigor for us and for our innocent victims. We look forward to
sharing with each other, and sharing with the world the brightness
and glow that Daniel Varuzhan and Atom Yarjanian did not have the
chance to share.
And here, in Der Zor, we firmly and loudly say over and over again
that we are, shall exist, and will flourish.