A day after the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in April, I found myself at the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan.
Despite it being the day after, there was still a flow of people going up and down the hill where the memorial is located. Many came carrying flowers and taking a quiet moment to reflect on one of the greatest, if not the greatest, tragedies in Armenian history.
On display in the park adjacent to the memorial were the flags of countries that officially recognise the Armenian Genocide. I paused for a moment, looking at the short rows of flags — just over 30 — taking in, visually, how limited that number still is.
Years ago, as a teenager, with little understanding of international politics, I was deeply disappointed to learn that Israel, of all coutries, did not recognise the Armenian Genocide. As a nation who had endured a similar atrocity, I naively believed they could truly relate to our pain and acknowledge it with solidarity.
Years later, following all the failed attempts, some form of recognition has eventually come, but it has not brought any joy to my heart.
Earlier this week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to recognise the Armenian Genocide while speaking on a podcast.
This casual format, which appeared to emerge spontaneously, was accompanied with disinformation that the Israeli Parliament had already passed a resolution recognising the genocide. On top of that, it came in an inappropriate venue — during an interview with the controversial US podcaster Patrick Bet-David, known for spreading conspiracy theories and giving a platform to Holocaust deniers.
Putting the formalities aside, I can’t ignore the elephant in the room.
Recognising a tragedy of such scale should mean taking a principled stance against genocide ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, AGAINST ANYONE. It should signal a commitment to preventing similar atrocities in the future. But if Netanyahu’s government is currently orchestrating a genocide in Gaza, what moral value does his recognition hold?
Moreover, the apparent recognition came after Israel sold weapons to Azerbaijan, the very weapons which were used against my people, playing a crucial role in the defeat of Armenians in the second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020 and an eventual ethnic cleansing of the region a few years later.
The tragedy Netanyahu claims to acknowledge includes the suffering of our ancestors, including of my great-grandparents who survived the genocide. And yet, their memory is used as a pawn in a political game that betrays everything that remembrance and recognition should stand for.
