Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that "international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not among our foreign policy priorities today.”

According to a press release from the government’s press service, he said this during a meeting with Turkish media representatives, in response to a question from Hürriyet Daily News correspondent Serkan Demirtaş.

Here are excerpts from Nikol Pashinyan’s answer to that question (subtitles are ours - Mediamax).

Is not among our priorities

International recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not among our foreign policy priorities today.

This is an official formulation, but in this context there are issues the clarification of which is very essential and important, and I mainly constantly talk about these issues in a working mode both in Armenia and abroad, in conversations with our compatriots, and I think this is a good opportunity to talk about it publicly.

Photo: Press service of the Armenian government

Because these discussions and speculations also take place in Armenia, and not only in Armenia, it is talked about denial, denying or forgetting the Medz Yeghern.

I want to be very clear that in Armenia and among Armenians, this is an indisputable truth. In other words, it is simply impossible to deny or disavow it in our reality, because it is an undeniable truth for all of us, but this is not what we are talking about.

Tensions in our immediate environment

Recently during a meeting with Armenians in Munich, when I said the following: when the parliament or government of a distant country makes a decision, we are very excited about that decision. When they make such decisions and when the excitement or joy from that decision fades, the next moment the following question arises: what does that decision give us in our relations with our immediate environment? When we have tensions in our immediate environment, to what extent do those tensions contribute to stability, peace, etc. in our country, in our region, and so on.

It is also here that the question arises, where and how should we focus on serving the state interests of Armenia, and how and where should we focus on emphasizing what we know, including historical truths, and relying on those truths. Because the period in which that great tragedy occurred was a period when there was no Republic of Armenia.

Photo: Press service of the Armenian government

Armenia is not a unique country

Today there is the Republic of Armenia, an internationally recognized state, and that internationally recognized state has the opportunity to ensure the security and well-being of its own citizens, but certain conditions are necessary for this, and in this regard Armenia is not a unique country. And I again emphasized this during the meeting with our compatriots, I said, look how much all countries and we all attach importance to peace, but peace is first and foremost a regional phenomenon.

There is no expression of Western Armenia in our Constitution

There is no expression of Western Armenia in our Constitution, there is an expression of Western Armenia in other places, but it is not in the Constitution. I recently publicly announced to everyone on air that in my perception, Western Armenia is the Armavir region of the Republic of Armenia, and specific settlements of the Armavir region and Shirak region.

Photo: Press service of the Armenian government

And why, why am I making that statement? There are different versions about it in Armenia, why am I making that statement, because I have a practical task, as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, to answer the question that I mentioned a moment ago. Because I am speaking very directly to our public.

The average statistical perception

The average statistical perception in the Republic of Armenia is that Turkey is a threat to the security of Armenia. And I suppose that sometimes the vocabulary, even the political vocabulary, that is used in the Republic of Armenia, not necessarily at the official level, but sometimes also at the official level, can be perceived as a threat for Turkey.

It may turn out that we have already lost the causal relationship, we have already lost that point of which is the cause, which is the effect. Because of losing that point and because of these perceptions, we have gone through many complications and cataclysms. But now there is an opportunity to change the perception and the answer, the formulation of this issue.

The opportunity arose from the fact that Armenia and Turkey exchanged messages that there is a desire on both sides of Armenia and Turkey to change the formulations of these issues, to change those emphases, to change the perspectives.

And this is why, including the press and experts, sometimes say that there is a historical opportunity.