Garo Paylan (Member of the Turkish Parliament) - Unfortunately, now everyone will shout. The President said that this was a betrayal, and this type of deputy should not be in the Parliament. His nationalist friend said the same thing, now, unfortunately, I'm in danger.
The pressure of the Turkish Government is most evident on April 24 every year, when Garo Paylan, an Armenian opposition member of Parliament, introduces a bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide. In an interview with ‘Lurer’, Paylan singled out the main provisions of the bill.
Garo Paylan - The first is the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish Parliament, the second, of course, there are other people responsible, however, the removal of the names of the main perpetrators of the Genocide, Talat Paşa, Enver Paşa and Cemal Paşa, from schools, roads and centers.
According to Paylan, public spaces should be named after Turkish anti-genocide officials. The bill also proposes granting Turkish citizenship to Genocide victims and their families as a small but important step in apologizing. When the Parliament says that such projects or topics offend the Turks, Paylan responds that the only insult is denial. Although the Turkish Parliament rejected Paylan's draft this time as well, reasoning that it does not correspond to the internal procedure, Paylan's position is clear.
Garo Paylan - I said that this is not the US Parliament’s business, it is not the business of the parliaments of Germany, France and Argentina. We have to talk. This crime took place in Turkey, there is only one Parliament to heal our wounds, and that is the Turkish Parliament.
Paylan positively assesses the process of normalization of Turkey-Armenia bilateral relations, supporting it to the best of his ability. The Turkish-Armenian MP notes with regret that Turkey leaves the first step, that is Armenia’s proposal to open the border for holders of diplomatic passports un-responded.
Garo Paylan - Turkey has now adopted not a democratic but a nationalist path. We are losing all kinds of democracy in Turkey. Erdogan imprisons Kurds, all my opposition friends. There is pressure on us, but I hope for the normalization of the Armenia-Turkey process.
Of course, we are living in difficult times, there are concerns about many issues, Paylan says, however, I do not lose hope that everything will be settled, our struggle will not be in vain.
