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By Ricardo Ruiz de la Serna

Why should a Spanish professor be writing on an Armenian newspaper about the Armenian Genocide? Maybe I should first apologize for daring to tackle with such a topic? My family is not of Armenian origin. I had nothing for the Armenians or against anyone – the Turks, the Kurds, the Ottomans – involved in the first genocide in Modern History. I have studied the Medz Yeghern from the legal point of view and with a humanistic and cultural approach. I think we would all agree that the Armenian Genocide is not part of the Western popular culture. We seldom see movies or read books on the destruction of the Armenians between 1915 and 1918. We are not taught at school about the Hamidian mass killings of 1894-1896 or the Adana Massacre of 1909, which paved the way to the genocide. We don’t learn about the terrible fate of the Western Armenians or the systematic slaughtering in the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. However, it is obvious that every human being should be touched by the suffering of every human being. How could I not be moved by severed heads or the crucified women? Hence, the Armenian Genocide poses a question which has to do firstly with the notion of human dignity, that is, with the very roots of the Western civilization. Therefore I write – not because of my nationality, but because the Armenians are right and it is unfair not to recognize and remember the genocide.

The Great Crime happened and it should be remembered not out of resentment but for the sake of justice. A civilization built on impunity and oblivion cannot survive. Indeed, it was the very soul of mankind which was injured by the atrocities committed against the Armenians by the Ottomans first and the Committee of Union and Progress afterwards. Sometimes silence becomes a way of complicity, the subtlest and the most effective. That is the reason why we should speak on behalf of justice.
Nonetheless, I don’t need to present a case for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The German officials and doctors, the foreign diplomats, the missionaries and even the Turkish documents have done it already. The pictures, the diaries, the witnesses describe the extermination of the Armenians. Whence, it is not for me to justify why the Great Crime should be recognized; it is for the Turkish Government to justify why it is a criminal offence to claim for the recognition or why they use pressure to prevent anyone from admitting the truth. Of course, I know that this year PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has admitted the “killings” but it seems obvious to me that it is an understatement. Moreover, the notion of “shared pain” sounds even worse. Anyhow, I am familiar with the contention about History but it doesn’t make any sense to keep on discussing well-known and proven facts. I deeply respect Turkish academics and intellectuals. There are lots of them serious and honest and that’s the reason why they have the responsibility to present the case for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, which is the case for the truth and the reason.

There is also the problem of oblivion. I find it shocking that we don’t have many movies about the Great Crime. Furthermore, they are very few and most of them are just unavailable. Popular culture is basically made through the media industry. We have Spielberg’s Schindler’s List or Lanzmann’s Shoah but all attemps to make a movie about the Armenian Genocide have suffered pressures and boycotts. It happened with the first movie ever made about genocide: “Auction of souls”, also known as “Ravished Armenia” (1919) which was based on the book “the Story of Aurora Mardiganian, the Christian Girl, Who Survived the Great Massacres”. The movie was censored in the British Empire because they authorities were afraid that the Muslim population would feel offended. Decades later, some productions like “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” (1980) kept on failing. This movie was supposed to be a Hollywood blockbuster but it ended up as a B film for television due to pressures and fear. Of course, the situation is changing and some productions like Ararat, by Atom Egoyam, have introduced the Armenian Genocide in the public and cultural discourse.

I have visited Armenia once as member of a jury of the Golden Apricott Festival. I went to Tsitsernakaberd two times. The first time was to learn. My second visit was to pray. I have Armenian friends whose hospitality and generosity I will never forget. Nvard, Tatevik, Armine, Ripa, Sussanna, Elada, Eduard or Arthur and so many others made me feel at home and taught me a lot about Armenia and –more surprisingly- about myself. I had to talk with HC Bishop Gevorg Saroyan to understand the close relationship between the Cross and the Armenian people, who was crucified in History. It was necessary to watch Harutyun Khachatryan´s movies – “Poeti veradardze”, for instance- to understand the deep sensitivity of this fascinating people whose history was carved in khachkars and written in books. Mr. Khachatryan himself is an irrefutable proof of the generosity of the Armenians.

Since I live in a country which has not recognized the Armenian Genocide yet –although two Spanish regions, Catalonia and the Basque Country have- the case for the recognition is my moral obligation as a lecturer and lawyer and my commitment as a citizen as well. I have confidence that someday Spain will join the United Stated, France, Germany, Russia, Argentina and The Vatican among others which have recognized the Armenian Genocide.

Next year it will be the 100th anniversary of the Great Crime. Crowds of Armenians will gather once more to remember and pay homage to the victims. I hope and pray I will be able to join my Armenian friends and take some flowers to Tsitsernakaberd for the sake of memory and justice.

Ricardo Ruiz de la Serna is a lawyer, Professor of Communication and law at San Pablo CEU University (Madrid). He has written the article exclusively for Panorama.am.