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As Armenians across the world commemorate the 1915 genocide against their ancestors, Rudaw English spoke to Armenian Consul General in Erbil Arshak Manoukian to discuss what a United States recognition means to members of the ethnic group, as well as his plans for enhancing Kurdish-Armenian relations.
The diplomat described the relationship between Kurds and Armenians as one “based on centuries-old mutual trust and respect,” noting a full slate of programming planned to take place in the Region.
This interview was conducted by email on Saturday prior to US President Joe Biden’s recognition of the genocide.
*This interview has been edited for clarity.
What is your reaction to the expectation that US President Biden will recognize Armenian genocide today. Why is this recognition important to Armenia?
Today, on April 24th Armenian people all over the world commemorate the 106th anniversary of Armenian genocide organized and perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire. On this day one hundred six years ago, the extensive enactment of one of the gravest crimes of the 20th century began with mass arrests of the Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and other cities of the empire. What subsequently happened in 1915 and the years that followed was unprecedented in terms of volume and ramifications.
The first international reaction to the violence resulted in a joint statement by France, Russia and Great Britain, in May 24th 1919, characterized what had happened to the Armenians as a “crime against humanity and civilization” agreeing that the Turkish government must be punished for committing such crimes.
The process of the international recognition of Armenian Genocide is irreversible. Armenia believes that the recognition and condemnation of the genocide is the first and important step of prevention of this crime against humanity in future. The motto "never again" is quite common, but how many times should we say "never again"? Because [...] the threat of genocide has not been eliminated. It starts with hatred, hate speech, human rights violations, discrimination, and it leads to the committing of the crime of genocide.
If the Armenian Genocide had been recognized and strictly condemned, if its perpetrators had been brought to justice, perhaps the international community would never have witnessed the Holocaust, Darfur genocide and a number of other grave crimes. This is why we consider the genocide prevention agenda as one of the priorities of Armenian foreign policy. For twenty-two years Armenia has been promoting within the UN the agenda of preventing genocides, crimes, and mass atrocities. In 1998, for the first time an initiative on adopting a UN resolution dedicated to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was presented.
In regard of the possible recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States current administration, it is to be noted that it would become an important step, taking into the account that the US will become the third UN Security Council permanent member state to recognize the Armenian Genocide, after Russia and France. It is important to mention that the US Senate on December 12, 2019 accepted unanimous resolution of recognizing and condemning Armenian Genocide and the US House of Representatives approved the US position on Armenian Genocide on October 30, 2019. But what is even more symbolic, that the US was one of the first countries to assist the genocide survivors in 1915. The US ambassador in Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau was one of the first foreign diplomats to witness the autocracies against Armenians and report to its capital about it. In his cable to Washington, Sir Morgethau named the policy of Ottoman Government the systematic plan to crush the Armenian race.
It is very important that new countries are recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Here I would like to emphasize very important steps made by Germany and Austria: the first on the level of President and second on the level of Parliament. I mean statements of German President and the Austrian parliament, not only recognizing the Armenian Genocide, but also mentioning their part of responsibility for what has happened 100 years ago. While Germany and Austria are talking about their part of responsibility, Turkey - the successor of the Ottoman Empire continues to its policy of denial.
Your consulate in Erbil is new. Why was it decided to establish it? What areas of focus are on your agenda?
The relations established between our peoples are based on centuries-old mutual trust and respect. Armenians have settled in this country, including in Iraqi Kurdistan, at various stages of history. Till today we have a vibrant Armenian community in Kurdistan Region, which is highly contributing to the public and cultural life of the Kurdistan Region.
The opening of the Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia in Erbil indeed proves the seriousness of the intentions of the Republic of Armenia to expand and deepen the multifaceted mutually beneficial and solid cooperation with Iraq, mainly with Kurdistan region, which is highly and sincerely respected in Armenia.
During a short period of time we have managed to establish a very promising agenda with the Kurdish side, which includes cooperation in the fields of education, science, technology, innovatory education, tourism etc.
It should be noted with satisfaction that the trade turnover between Armenia and Kurdistan in 2019 reached 150 million dollars. We have good potential to dynamically increase our trade volumes and economic cooperation in the near future.
How do you see Armenian and Kurdish historical relations and the current relations between Kurdistan Region and Armenia?
As it was mentioned our nations lived side by side during a long period and shared common history. Kurds were the witnesses of the most tragic page of the history of our nation. During those horrible events some Kurdish tribes, under the command of Ottoman army participated in massacres of Armenians, but at the same time thousands of our Kurdish brothers and sisters saved numerous Armenians from Turkish sword. While we acknowledge the historic facts, Armenian people highly appreciate the positive role of Kurdish people, their support and protection of genocide survivors.
Do you have plans to strengthen cultural relations between Kurds and Armenians by opening schools, cultural centers, language centers and others in the Kurdistan Region?
Cultural diplomacy is one of the most important points in our agenda with Iraqi Kurdistan. In February, we inaugurated the Armenian Cultural Centre at the Erbil citadel. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious obstacle for implementation of many programs. Nonetheless, currently we are working to establish framework of cooperation between the Scientific circles of Iraqi Kurdistan and Armenia, particularly in the field of academic study of the crime of genocide.
Armenia pays a great importance to the preservation of Christian cultural heritage in the Middle East. In this context, it is noted that Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts of Armenia expressed its readiness to cooperate with different museums of Iraqi Kurdistan and particularly assist in manuscript restoration.
How is the diplomatic relations between Armenia and Kurdistan Region? Is it easy for citizens of Kurdistan to gain Armenian visa and do Kurdistan people often visit Armenia?
We are very glad to say that Armenia is one of most preferred and popular tourist destinations for the people of Iraqi Kurdistan. The direct flight, which most probably will be launched shortly, will facilitate the travel and we believe that we will be able to exceed pre-COVID-19 tourism volumes.
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