99 - all you should know about the Genocide April, 2014 | Page 111

The main objective is, of course, recognition and
reparation. Our biggest loss was our homeland.
Even if not a single Armenian had been killed in the
Ottoman Empire and they had all been deported
safely and calmly, that would have still constituted
an act of genocide. Those people would have been
simply deprived of their homeland, from that vital
territory where they took shape as a nation and
a civilization. In today’s conditions, that seems
difficult to fulfil, but if we are determined and take
the right steps, there is no issue that cannot be
resolved.

Vladimir Vardanyan
Candidate of law, expert in international law

Genocide, as a crime that is punishable by
international law, is a component of modern history,
and not just that of the Armenian people. So this is
not a tragedy that belongs only to the Armenians, it
should concern the whole international community.
It is no coincidence that the concept of genocide
developed as a part of crimes against humanity,
and that act is seen as an offense against the whole
of humanity. Irrespective of the position that the
Republic of Armenia and the Armenian nation
adopt regarding the recognition and condemnation
of the Armenian Genocide, we must understand
and realize the important fact that this crime was
a transgression against the whole international
community, not just the Armenian people. In
the case of Genocide, it is not just the symbolic
condemnation of the act that is important, but