Epress.am News from Armenia
Nobody uses the term Holocaust to describe the Armenian Genocide, said Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian, responding to a journalist’s question in Armenia’s parliament yesterday to comment on media reports in which Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the term Holocaust is not applicable to the Armenian Genocide.
“Medz Eghern in Armenian is described by the term ‘Genocide’. And not only because dozens of countries and international organizations have recognized the Armenian Genocide.
“When [American attorney of Jewish descent] Raphael Lemkin suggested the term ‘Genocide’ for the first time, he was referring to the example of the Armenian Medz Eghern. Later this term began to be used by different international organizations, in diferent international documents.
“I would also like to point out that director of Jerusalem Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Israel Charny has said that it is time to end this wordplay, this charade and that Israel has to finally recognize the Armenian Genocide.
“While saying this, Charny was not guided by any political considerations. Everyone in Israel realizes that Charny knows too well the meaning of the Holocoust and the Genocide,” he said, according to a statement published on the ministry’s official website.