Armenia's Prime Minister Pashinyan: \"The narrative of Armenian genocide was fabricated by the USSR to disrupt Türkiye-Armenia relations.\"

According to a report by the Hraparak newspaper, which broadcasts in Armenia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a striking statement about the 1915 events during a closed-door meeting of his party's Young Democrats School.

News reports from the Armenian and Russian press quickly spread to the Turkish press as well. According to reports citing the Hraparak newspaper, Pashinyan allegedly said that "the Turks did not commit genocide against the Armenians, and the 'genocide' claim was made to worsen relations."

According to a report by the Hraparak newspaper, which broadcasts in Armenia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a striking statement about the 1915 events during a closed-door meeting of his party's Young Democrats School.

News reports from the Armenian and Russian press quickly spread to the Turkish press as well. According to reports citing the Hraparak newspaper, Pashinyan allegedly said that "the Turks did not commit genocide against the Armenians, and the 'genocide' claim was made to worsen relations."

According to the news report, Pashinyan said in a speech in front of a large audience that there was no genocide against Armenians during the time of the Ottoman Empire, and that these claims were put forward by the Soviet Union (USSR) after World War II to organize the citizens coming from those territories against Turkey.

In recent months, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has taken extraordinary decisions in his relations with Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), such as refusing to pay the membership fee for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and giving the Russian troops until August 31st to leave the country. The words he uttered during his speech on April 13th regarding the "genocide" slanders against Turkey are also considered revolutionary.

The claims about the so called "Armenian genocide" were exacerbated by Russia, or rather the Soviet Union, starting from 1946 during the process of increasing tensions between Turkey and the USSR and the establishment of NATO.

Pashinyan said, "The USSR's organization of the arrival of refugees fleeing the 'genocide' further inflamed the court's claims and demands."

Throughout his speech, Nikol Pashinyan did not use the words "genocide", "Mets Yeghern" (Great Calamity), or "disaster" even once.

However, Armenians have always accused U.S. presidents who avoided using the word "genocide" in their April 24th messages.

The day after Pashinyan's speech, Andranik Kocharyan, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs and a member of the ruling "Civil Contract" party, called for the names and surnames of the Armenians who died in the events of 1915 to be determined.

In his statement published on the National Assembly's YouTube page, Kocharyan argued that their purpose is to identify the names and locations of these individuals, stating "The number of victims may be more than 1.5 million or it may be less. Why has our country not addressed this issue so far? The Jews have accomplished this, can't we? This is also important for the relationships we will establish in the future. If we haven't done this, if we have fallen short, this issue should start and end, and no one should exploit it."

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention in the United States, reacting to the statements of Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan and a member of his party, said, "We condemn Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's support for the denial of genocide."

In a lengthy statement condemning Pashinyan, the Lemkin Institute said, "Pashinyan's statement does not acknowledge the role of ethnic, religious, and cultural hostility towards Armenians in the Turks' campaign of extermination targeting Armenians during World War I."

The statement said, "The Prime Minister of Armenia, by repeating the Turkish narrative on the events of 1915-1923 and belittling all previous recognition efforts, is greasing the wheels for Turkey's efforts to exculpate itself from responsibility in the Armenian Genocide. Moreover, this situation can significantly impede ongoing efforts to internationally recognize the Armenian Genocide and hold Turkey accountable - something that the global Armenian diaspora as well as genocide scholars and activists have been fighting for. Many points in Pashinyan's statements serve the denialist agenda of Turkey and Azerbaijan in an inexplicable way."

On the other hand, it was stated that Pashinyan's remarks were included in his statement on April 24.

The Russian TASS News Agency reported that "Pashinyan said that the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire was the result of geopolitical intrigues."

In the TASS news report, "Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the genocide did not carry the death penalty, and that the Armenian people should stop searching for their lost homeland. In his message to citizens on the occasion of the commemoration of the victims of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, Pashinyan characterized the events of 1915 as the result of geopolitical intrigues. As stated in the message, the Prime Minister of Armenia said, 'This great tragedy occurred during World War I, and the Armenian people, who had no state, lost their statehood centuries ago and actually forgot the tradition of statehood, and became the victim of geopolitical intrigues and false promises.'"

The TASS report also included the following statements:

"According to Pashinyan, the genocide is not a death sentence, and the Armenian people should stop searching for their lost homeland, because 'we have found that homeland, the promised land flowing with milk and honey.' 'For us, honoring the martyrs of the genocide is not a loss, but should be a symbol of a competitive, legitimate, thoughtful and creative policy of the Republic of Armenia, which can prevent the recurrence of genocide.'"

According to Pashinyan, in a speech he gave in front of a large audience, he stated that there was no genocide committed against Armenians during the Ottoman Empire era, and that these allegations were fabricated by the Soviet Union (USSR) immediately after World War II in order to organize the citizens from those territories against Turkey.