Pan Armenian Decleration

Mavi Boncuk | PAN-ARMENIAN DECLARATION ON THE CENTENNIAL OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

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The State Commission on the Coordination of Events Dedicated to the
100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in consultation with its
regional committees in the Diaspora,
-expressing the united will of the Armenian people,
-based on the Declaration of Independence of Armenia of 23 August 1990
and the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia,
-recalling the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of
10 December 1948, whereby recognition of the inherent dignity and of
the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
-guided by the respective principles and provisions of the United Nations
General Assembly Resolution 96(1) of 11 December 1946, the United Nations
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
of 9 December 1948, the United Nations Convention on the NonApplicability
of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against
Humanity of 26 November 1968, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights of 16 December 1966 as well as all the other international
documents on human rights,
-taking into consideration that while adopting the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the United Nations
specifically underlined the importance of international cooperation in the
struggle against that criminal offence,
-emphasizing the inadmissibility of impunity of the constituent elements
of the crime of genocide and the non-applicability of statutory limitation
thereto,
-condemning the genocidal acts against the Armenian people, planned and
continuously perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire and various regimes
of Turkey in 1894-1923, dispossession of the homeland, the massacres and
ethnic cleansing aimed at the extermination of the Armenian population,
the destruction of the Armenian heritage, as well as the denial of the 
Genocide, all attempts to avoid responsibility, to consign to oblivion
the committed crimes and their consequences or to justify them, as a
continuation of this crime and encouragement to commit new genocides,
- also considering the 1919-1921 verdicts of the courts-martial of the
Ottoman Empire on that grave crime perpetrated “against the law and
humanity’’ as a legal assessment of the fact,
- appreciating the joint declaration of the Allied Powers on May 24, 1915,
for the first time in history defining the most heinous crime perpetrated
against the Armenian people as a “crime against humanity and civilization”
and emphasizing the necessity of holding Ottoman authorities responsible,
as well as the role and significance of the Sevres Peace Treaty of 10 August
1920 and US President Woodrow Wilson’s Arbitral Award of 22 November
1920 in overcoming the consequences of the Armenian Genocide:
1. Commemorates one-and-a-half million innocent victims of the Armenian
Genocide and bows in gratitude before those martyred and surviving
heroes who struggled for their lives and human dignity.
2. Reiterates the commitment of Armenia and the Armenian people to
continue the international struggle for the prevention of genocides,
the restoration of the rights of people subjected to genocide and the
establishment of historical justice.
3. Expresses gratitude to those states and international, religious and nongovernmental
organizations that had political courage to recognize and
condemn the Armenian Genocide as a heinous crime against humanity
and even today continue to undertake legal measures to that end, also
preventing the dangerous manifestations of denialism.
4. Expresses gratitude to those nations, institutions and individuals,
who often endangering their lives, provided multifaceted humanitarian
assistance and rescued many Armenians facing the threat of total
annihilation, created safe and peaceful conditions for the survivors of the
Armenian Genocide, thus promoting orphan care and the international
Armenophile movement.
5. Appeals to UN member states, international organizations, all people of
good will, regardless of their ethnic origin and religious affiliation, to unite
their efforts aimed at restoring historical justice and paying tribute to the
memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
6. Expresses the united will of Armenia and the Armenian people to
achieve worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the
elimination of the consequences of the Genocide, preparing to this end
a file of legal claims as a point of departure in the process of restoring
individual, communal and pan-Armenian rights and legitimate interests. 
7. Condemns the illegal blockade of the Republic of Armenia imposed by
the Republic of Turkey, its anti-Armenian stance in international fora
and the imposition of preconditions in the normalization of interstate
relations, considering this a consequence of the continued impunity of the
Armenian Genocide, Meds Yeghern.
8. Calls upon the Republic of Turkey to recognize and condemn the
Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire, and to face its
own history and memory through commemorating the victims of that
heinous crime against humanity and renouncing the policy of falsification,
denialsm and banalizations of this indisputable fact. Supports those
segments of Turkish civil society whose representatives nowadays dare to
speak out against the official position of the authorities.
9. Expresses the hope that recognition and condemnation of the Armenian
Genocide by Turkey will serve as a starting point for the historical
reconciliation of the Armenian and Turkish peoples.
10. Proudly notes that during the last century the Armenian people, having
survived the Genocide,
- demonstrated an unbending will and national self-consciousness and
restored its sovereign statehood, lost centuries ago,
- preserved and developed national values, achieved the renaissance
of their national culture, science and education, bringing its unique
contribution to the development of world heritage,
- established a powerful and effective network of religious and
secular institutions in the Armenian Diaspora, thus contributing to
the preservation of their Armenian identity in Armenian communities
worldwide, the shaping of a respected and esteemed image of the
Armenian, and the protection of the legitimate rights of the Armenian
people,
- united and restored the national gene pool that was facing extermination
as a result of the Genocide, through a pan-Armenian cooperation and
extensive repatriation program,
- made its valuable contribution to international peace and security during
the First and the Second World Wars and won glorious victories in the
heroic battle of Sardarapat and the Artsakh war.
11. Considers the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide an
important milestone in the ongoing struggle for historical justice under
the motto “I remember and demand”.
12. Calls upon the coming generations of Armenians to protect their sacred
native heritage with patriotism, consciousness and intellect and resolutely
struggle and serve for: 
- a stronger Homeland, free and democratic Republic of Armenia,
- the progress and strengthening of independent Artsakh,
- the efficient unity of Armenians worldwide,
- the realization of the centuries-old sacrosanct goals of all Armenians.
29 january 2015, Yerevan, Armenia