Dec 12, 20221 min read

Elisa von Joeden-Forgey: There has not been enough pressure on Turkey to recognize Armenian Genocide

All cases of genocide must be recognized at the international level, especially by the countries that committed genocide. Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, Co-Founder of the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Chair in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College in the US, announced this Monday at the 4th Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide being held in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

She recalled that the aforementioned forum is being held in Yerevan at a time when Armenia is facing threats of new genocide from neighboring countries.

Von Joeden-Forgey, however, noted that the Armenian Genocide of 1915 has been recognized worldwide by genocide scholars.

Since the Genocide Convention was signed in 1948, we cannot now conduct retrospective trials on the issue of the Armenian Genocide. None of the guilty are even alive. Therefore, we do not have a legal decision about the Armenian Genocide as a “genocide,” using this word, she said, adding, however, that there is a consensus in the international community that what happened to the Armenians is a genocide.

Such forums simply bring together the brightest minds in the field of genocide research and prevention, who unanimously declare that what happened to Armenians is actually genocide. Therefore, the more such forums are held, the greater the global awareness of this issue becomes, she added.

According to her, the most powerful tool we have now is diplomatic pressure on Turkey.

Until now, there has not been enough diplomatic pressure on Turkey to recognize the genocide. This is due to Turkey's very important geostrategic position and the power it has in the world, especially in NATO, Elisa von Joeden-Forgey added.