YEREVAN (Armenpress) — A prominent Armenian political analyst, Ara Papian, has called for the creation of a governmental body for the development of a legal portfolio of Armenian reparation demands from Turkey. The body, Papian says, should be given the authority to invite experienced specialists of international law from around the world.
Speaking at a press conference on May 1, Papian said, “The process of the Armenian Genocide recognition is meaningless without a clear legal formulation of our demands, because we do not gain anything from it. But, if we put forward clearly formulated legal demand to Turkey, then we can get some assistance in that issue from certain countries, which are interested in restraining Turkey and seeing it geographically more limited.”
He noted that the lawsuit brought forth by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, who has demanded the return of the historical Catholicosate of Sis, has been initiated at the right time. “Years ago, His Holiness Aram I convened a conference on the issue of the return of the Catholicosate of Sis, during which we decided to raise that issue. I think that Catholicos Aram I was right in putting forward the aforesaid issue during the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, which was a justified step from a political viewpoint,” Papian said.