A number of members of the Majlis of European Peace and Democracy (Avrupa Barış ve Demokrasi Meclisi – ABDEM), who introduce themselves as representatives of the Turkish Diaspora, held a press conference in Yerevan, on Tuesday.

They announced their intention to visit the Memorial to Armenian Genocide victims in Yerevan on April 24 and make a statement, demanding that Turkey admit the Armenian Genocide and assume responsibility for it.

ABDEM member Rojda Yıldırım, who is a citizen of France, noted that the group is visiting Armenia to encourage the Armenian people and advocate for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

“We are here for the sake of peace and we want a peaceful settlement to the issue. All the peoples that survived genocide are important for us, and we want the Armenian Genocide be recognized everywhere,” he said.

Turkey must admit its history. Otherwise, it will never be a democracy.

Founded in Europe and headquartered in Germany ABDEM has nothing in common with the Turkish government and has over 1m members in different countries.

“Our organization was founded in 2013. We want peace and democracy for Turkey,” Yıldırım said.

ABDEM does not see democratic Turkey without its admitting the Armenian Genocide.

Turkish citizen Aliekber Pektaş said:

“We recognize the [Armenian] Genocide and we are here now. We have come to bring the Alevis’ voice here as well as Alevis constitute a third of Turkey’s population.”

 

Source: Tert.am