Minister Oskanian: It is humbling to think that today, the children of the survivors and the Government of Armenia, both, have been transformed from victims to activists working with the international community to right a historical wrong, to acknowledge a crime against humanity and to advocate prevention of such crimes in the future. We have the opportunity to do all of that because this process has evolved in ways that are both surprising and gratifying. Look at the history of the evolution: Up to 1965, there was no talk of recognition, there were only tortured, victimized survivors. From 1965 to the 1980s, survivors, their descendants, a handful of political activists, and a few lone scholars, attempted to focus the world's attention on what was almost uniformly referred to as the 'alleged' genocide.

Beginning in the 1990s, things changed dramatically. There were various overlapping factors -- A younger generation of survivors' descendants was more vocal and confident in using its political influence. The flow of information about yet new genocides piqued the interest of international scholars who also began to study the Armenian Genocide. As Europe and the US became more engaged in Turkey's modernization and inclusion in Euro-Atlantic structures, Turkey's own democratization process brought this taboo topic to the surface. Today, in its search for European Union membership, Turkey is having to deal history and memory and identity. And of course, the existence of an Armenian state means that we can raise these issues at an official government level.

There can be no doubt that our search for genocide recognition has become internationalized. It is not an Armenian claim any longer. Today, this is an acknowledged historic reality by most of the scholarly world, and by most major media and journalists. Further, the international political community, too, knows well what happened in 1915, and together, we are seeking ways to enable more open discussion of why and how the Genocide happened, and its implications for members of the world community today - and most of all for Turks and Armenians.

Armenia TV: Some think it is surprising, and perhaps even unwise, for the Government of Armenia to be engaged in this effort to achieve Genocide recognition, given its vulnerability. The Turks, too, would like to portray this as the Diaspora's cause, and keep wishing that the Armenian government would put this matter aside.

Minister Oskanian: The Genocide affected every single Armenian. The responsibility to right the memory of that wrong rests with all of us. The Armenian Government has the moral responsibility to speak about the Genocide of the Armenians, and to call for Genocide recognition. This responsibility is one we fully acknowledge. In fact, the active involvement of the Armenian Government and its representatives has also played a role in the progress of the recognition process. The podiums and forums that are available to the representatives of a state are many and we use them to make our case to the international community. At the same time, as a responsible member of that community, we are not making Genocide recognition a pre-condition to our relationship with the Republic of Turkey. The irony is that we, the survivors and the victims of Genocide don't make normal relations conditional on its recognition, yet the Turkish side often suggests that Armenia should put Genocide recognition aside if it wants normal relations with Turkey. Clearly we cannot. The international community today considers the threat of Genocide a very real 21st century challenge. Our responsibility, together with the Diaspora, is to speak out against past and future uses of Genocide as a political tool by states.

Armenia TV: What is the answer to the repeated charge that Armenians continue to focus on the past, that Armenians are trapped in the past?

Minister Oskanian: One might accuse us of being trapped in the past if we made the present conditional on the past. But we do not. Instead, we are saying we must learn about the past, remember it, understand it, and move on. Armenians understand that the present is connected to the past, it's the consequence of the past. Otherwise why teach history? This is the purpose of learning and teaching history. The Turkish government, on the other hand, is demanding that today's relations be based on a specific interpretation of the past. Turkey's authorities and Turkish society do not fully comprehend or recognize what happened in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, why it happened, and they have not come to terms with those implications. They are the ones who are trapped in the past and are not ready to move on. There is perhaps a fear that entering this realm, embarking on a relationship with Armenians will place them in a morally uncomfortable and undesirable situation, and that they will be held responsible for those events. I cannot repeat this often enough: Armenians are able to distinguish between the perpetrators and today's Turkey. But Turks themselves must be willing to do what is morally right and reject and denounce the crimes of the Ottoman Empire. Otherwise, today's denial means implicit endorsement or acceptance of those past crimes.

Armenia TV: Yet they are far from denouncing those crimes. On the contrary, they are using their educational system to teach that Armenians killed Turks, their historians are digging up bones and saying these are the bones of Turks killed by Armenians.

Minister Oskanian: Justifying, even revering the genocidal state policy of one regime has become the state policy of another regime. Denial is state policy, just as genocide is state policy. It is today's Turkish state that is wasting money and credibility on denying, distorting, dismissing serious crimes against humanity committed during the Ottoman years. Not only are they denying history, they are also legislating denial by making it difficult, if not impossible, to actually dig into this painful issue and come face to face with difficult historic and political realities. It is safe to say that Turkish society - writers, historians, journalists - are in fact seeking and trying to reach their own conclusions about what really happened. It is the state that insists on rejecting those questions even. The people of Turkey are searching for answers. The memoir of US Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, the British Blue Book, the works of Vahakn Dadrian and Peter Balakian can be found in Turkish, in Turkey. We welcome this, because before there can be dialogue with Armenians, there must be internal questioning and dialogue in Turkey.

Armenia TV: Will there really be dialogue between Turkey and Armenia? What happened to the Erdogan-Kocharian dialogue about dialogue?

Minister Oskanian: We want there to be dialogue about all of the issues that stand between us. Prime Minister Erdogan had suggested a commission to study history. But that suggestion comes at a time when the use of the term 'genocide' or even reference to certain facts and events in Turkish history are legally punishable. How can such a proposal be taken seriously? Further, the proposal is to convene a commission composed of historians from two countries with a closed border between them. In the absence of any relations whatsoever, in a political, social, economic vacuum, a commission is to be convened to thrash out issues and events that can't be discussed? That is why President Kocharian's response was that this kind of offer can be taken seriously only if there is som semblance of normalcy between our two countries. Then, discussions on all other aspects of our relations, including the border and genocide, can and should be carried out. We have not received an official response to that suggestion, but we still hope it will come. It has been nearly a century that we have had this impasse between our peoples and our societies. We don't want to spend another century trying to unravel this knot. Instead, we want our peoples to have the opportunities to have new experiences to replace the old ones. The longer we wait for this to happen, the longer it takes for Turks to repudiate those acts, the more today's Turks and yesterday's Ottomans will become synonymous in people's minds. On the other hand, with repudiation of those acts, with recognition of the crimes of the past, we can move on to a dialogue of reconciliation. That is the mandate of the 21st century, that is what our ancestors who did live together for centuries would want.

Armenia TV: Minister Oskanian, thank you very much for taking the time to talk with Armenia TV. We look forward to having you visit again.

Minister Oskanian: Thank you very much.