Armenians feeling like hostage Turkey – ARF-D politician

The Armenians in Turkey are in the status of hostage at the hand of that country’s government, an Armenian politician said today, commenting on the Istanbul vicar’s controversial statement over the German Bundestag’s Genocide resolution.

Speaking to Tert.am, Giro Manoyan, the political affairs director of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D), described Aram Atesyan’s remark as an speech dictated by the Turkish authorities’ pressure.

 

“An important fact we must always consider and never forget is that the Armenian community in Turkey feels really like a hostage. But that doesn’t certainly justify Atesyan’s conduct,” he said, noting that general vicar was not the first Turkish-Armenian religious leader to yield to those pressures.

 

“An appropriate step at the moment would be the Supreme Religious Council’s absolutely positive attitude to the Bundestag resolution,” he noted.  

 

Commenting on Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Armenia, Manoyan said he has very great expectation of the tour “attracting the world’s attention to Armenia.”

 

“A lot depends on what the Pope will say. If he speaks of the Genocide, it will be essentially useful in the international Genocide recognition campaign,” he noted.